5 mo bad napper had a routine now lost ???

[*Kara*]

I might  be wrong, but I think the NW did have something to do with it, and it would probably point to he needs more A time. He was TIRED enough to take a good nap after 2h25m (asleep time) after having been up during the night.

Not wrong at all.  A 2 hour crib party will always lead to a great AM nap  

I think the PM nap is UT... If he has a good night tonight without a crib party, I would extend A times throughout the day... try for an extra 10 mins in the morning over the 2 hr 25 you did and then push the PM closer to 2 hr 45 and see what that does after a couple of days

[NikNik]

I am going to throw in my two cents but please know that this is really the blind leading the blind here We were (hopefully past tense) having very, very similar problems with night wakings/short naps and trying to get A time right. So I went to the family care center (sleep school) earlier this week because I just felt so lost and confused in what I was doing and I needed someone physically there with me to help me see the woods for the trees, IYKWIM. I felt like you- I wasn't doing anything really different but one day it worked and the next it didn't. So maybe that is an option for you- you can ask the early childhood center near you about it for a referral if one is needed (I am assuming here that Adelaide would offer similar resources as Sydney for mums). Now, I will say they put a bit of pressure on you to let your baby CIO, but once they saw that I wasn't ready for that they worked with me on the resettling, tired signs, and A time and I left feeling like I had a few more tools. The best bit of advice I got was that DD has been OT for so long that she may need a few days to catch up on sleep, so some of her A times are actually a lot shorter than I realized because she wasn't getting good naps. Once I started putting her down earlier- as in the first yawn/eye rub- even when the A time was ridiculously short, she has been settling down to sleep a lot easier and sleeping longer. The hope is once she is catches up on sleep and is sleeping better, she will be able to extend her A time again without getting into another OT cycle.  I don't know if that makes any sense or not but it seems to be working for us (fingers crossed!)
Anyway, before I went, I was beside myself and had many mornings when I cried just because DD woke up early from her nap so I thought I needed to get some external help. Sometimes it just takes having someone with a fresh set of eyes take a look at what is going on. It was also really nice to talk to the other mums and compare notes and just realize that you are not alone in this. Hope this helps!

[*Kara*]

HUGS to you!!!  So glad that Ella is getting the sleep she (and her mommy) needs to have

[shresmummy]

HI ladies, thanks for the messages.

Niknik, thanks for the suggestions/ I had thought about it before. But it's very hard to find an early childhoold centre here in Adelaide. I was from Sydney and we moved to Adelaide onlhy a few months ago and I keep asking around but have yet to come across anyone who knows what I am talking about when I say ECC...But I will persist

So today was another strange type of day but with a bit of Aping I managed to get a looong pm nap. This was our routine today. He didn't have the best night last night, he was once again up for a bit around 2 am. But not for as long as the night before.

Wake - 6:25ish,
AM nap - 8:45 -9:30. (oh dear...He was rubbing his eyes so much around 8:40 I put him down. But i got a short nap and he woke up happy-ish and I couldn't resettle him)

PM nap - 12 - 2:45ish (i could not get him down sooner due to pre-school pick up for DD. But he went down no problems at 12 but I held him for about 30 minutes because I coudln't deal with another short nap. Then after he passed through 40 minutes then I put him down and he slept till 2:45.

So what do you think? should I really work on extending that AM A time eventhough he seems so fussy by around 2hr15 mins? I ran into problem today because after waking at 2:45 he didn't really want a cn or else bt would have been too late. I put him down at 6 pm tonigt. He went to sleep well but woke at 6:30 and was on and off fussing and sleeping till about 7:30. He may have been OT?

Do you think he is ready for 2 naps at this point? he is 26 weeks as of tuesday. But if you look at it terms of his actual birthdate he turned 6 months on the 28th of June.

I am not sure how I should extend his morning A time without getting into another OT loop cycle like the past few weeks. But clearly his current A time is not working.

On the same day if I extend the moring A time and he has a good nap, is it safe to increase the A time before the PM nap on the same day too? or is that too much?

[j.and.e]

We are having same issues. If he gets up at 2.30/3pm and has a cn at 5.30 he's wide awake and playing in his cot at 8pm, but if i put him down at 6/6.30 he cries out a lot and needs frequent resetling for a couple of hours. Havent found a gd routine yet. Our lo's are close in age (24/12/10). Today he did 3hr a in the am (woke at 5.25). Slept 8.20-10.15. I usually aim for 2.5hr but sometimes only get an hr nap. Xx

[*Kara*]

You are both in that terrible transition from 3 naps to 2... it's a tough couple of weeks and things will change from day to day... it's really best to just watch for those cues and go with the flow...

[shresmummy]

Hi hope you are all having a good weekend!

So the past 3 days we had some success with the am nap after a fairly decent night with about 3 wakings for feeds and no partying.I was doing 2.5 hr a time before am nap and he was sleeping 1.5th no waking! Yay!

But I tried 2.5h and both 2.75h a time before the pm nap but he still woke after between 35-45 mins and I couldn't resettle. But the worst of it washe refused his catnap!! Then with anearly bt he is up a lot the first 3 hrs,.

Even if I can extend the pm nap with ap he wakes around 2:45 but won't sleep at 5ish for a cn. He is happy for 3 hrs almost but with a 6 pm bt he is still up alot.

Should I just say enough is enough and then drop the cn?

I also noticed one more thing. If he has a short am nap he will only have a good pm nap (meaning he is only resettle able after 40 mins) if he is stretched out to 3h a time. Putting him down earlier just because he had a short am nap doesn't help him sleep better and he won't resettle after a waking either.

What do you think ladies? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Today we had a messed up am nap. Despite 2.5h a time he woke early. And wouldn't resettle. Then I put him down at 2hr40 mins when he first showed any tired signs. He woke but wasn't willing to resettle. He was happy to be up again for 2.5 hr and now I am holding hi hoping to get a 1.5hr nap or I will be in big troube tonight!

Oh and sherry, I can't believe E didnt nap that day! Hope he went back to it on the weekend!

[j.and.e]

we are trying am nap 8.30ish (2.5hr a) pm nap 1, then short cn 4.45ish, up just after 5, then bt 6.30ish. We are getting nws until 10ish if no cn. Xx

[annette.xx]

Hey ladies

been on hols so not up to date on all happenings on here!!

I have found that maximum sleep for DS needs to be 3hrs - anymore and I get a 2am party...it also needs to be distributed just perfect or I get OT!!

so this is roughly what works best but still can change around a bit

wake 7
A = 2HRS
nap - 9 - 10 (always wake at 1hr)
A = 2HRS 15
nap - 12.15 - 1.45 (always wake at 1hr 30 to protect catnap unless first nap shorter)
A = 2HRS 30
nap - 4.15 - 4.45 (anymore than 30 mins and I get more NW- think I may need to cut this to 20 now)
A = 2HRS 30
bed - 7.15

so basically what im now doing is stretching A very slowly so next will be moving the A times by 5 mins each and slowly pushing that catnap out - I will keep to a max 12.5hr day by cutting naps accordingly until the catnap is no longer needed...If that makes any sense?!!

this is so hard to master isnt it!!

Annette.xx

[j.and.e]

glad u have a gd schedule, we're still strugling. Dificult to get the evening right as we dont know what time works 4a cn, so cant plan well xx

[sherry lynn]

Hey Annette - that routine looks great. And there is a lot of great advice there. We also had to do the 20 min catnap before we dropped it completely (when Emory would take it!)
Less than 3 hours day sleep was key here also.
It looks like your LO might be a short AM napper and Long PM napper. Lots of sleep people believe that is the way to go Hopefully that means you will have an easy transition to one nap.

[shresmummy]

Hey Annette, welcome back! Hope you had a good holiday.

I'm glad you have a workable routine. My days keep getting worse no matter what I try.

Ugggh! What a day today! Woke at 7 and I put down at 9:30 for am nap. He took till 9:45 to settle then slept till 10:30 only. I tried to put him down at around 12:45 he refused to sleep till 1:15 then slept only til 1:45 and refused o resettle. He was chatting with dd who also skipped her nap today thanks to him! Then I tried at 3:45, 4, 4:15 to put him down again. Each time he screamed even when I started climbing upstairs! Finally I ap a nap at 4:35 in the sling when he first yawned nice he woke at 1:45! Then. He slept till 5:30 and now I'm doing bt at 7.

Seriously, I am lost! E had a good few days with that am nap. Then one day it was short and I cannot get back. I am with what a time to do after a crap nap. I try to shorten ut he refuses. Then if I ap a short a time nap he has another short nap and then is a mess.

Any suggestions?

[shresmummy]

Okay so what is a 50 minute nap? Ot? Ut? Waking out of hunger? He didnt cry when he woke. I left him for 10mins. Then it became clear he wasn't resettling. I went in and tried t rock. Then he cried! This was after 2.5 hr a time before am nap.

[sherry lynn]

The only thought I really have to share is that not all kids go with a shorter A time after a crappy nap There were plenty of moms on the BC (for Emory's age) that this was the case.

[shresmummy]

Oh gosh the days keep getting worse...three short naps today.refused to resettle for any of them. I am at my wits end. He had a 50 min am nap. Then was up for 2.5 hrs another 40 min nap. Then after 1.5 hrs he slept again for 45 mins. I tried bt at 6 but he was not ready and I have been trying till 6:30 when he finally seems to be settling.

I am scared as to even think about what tomorrow will bring.