Advice on using gro-clock for EW please

[fothers]

DD2 is almost 20 months and has been EW (realllly EW) for many months now.  I have posted before and tried various tweaks and things but nothing has helped so far so I am just coping with it/living with it.

Now she is slightly older and more verbal I have decided to try with a gro clock and see whether it makes any difference.

A loose plan of her day goes like this-

A- 4-5am (0345 this morning )
nap- often around 10am for anywhere from 1.5-3h.  Sometimes she goes earlier or later depending how grouchy she is.  She often asks to go.
BT- often around 6.30pm, sometimes as early as 5pm if a bad nap/really EW but not easy to physically achieve this time normally.  Sometimes later if she has had a longish lie- 5am or even 5.30am woo hoo- and a lunch time nap.


We have tried later nights, later naps etc.  Really early nights mean she gets more night sleep over all and might go slightly later for her nap but the normal result is not ready for bed until later and then up at 4am the following morning.

So, I have bought a Gro clock this morning in Tesco since they were cheap.  What time should I set it for in the morning?  I was thinking fairly early to get her into the swing of it and then moving it back.

Our other issue is that although they are in separate rooms and it is an old house if we leave DD2 to whinge and whine she will wake up DD1 who has her own lot of sleep issues (she is 3 and still parented to sleep ) When DD1 is woken at that time in the morning she struggles to get back to sleep then we are all grumpy for the day.

DD2 fortunately is fab at going to sleep at night/naps- just lay her down and leave her to it.  If she isn't suffering with teeth etc she mostly sttn fine.


Sorry, this has turned into a life story.  Given that she wakes anytime from 4am onwards, we are not expecting a miracle cure etc, what time should I set the light to come on at?

Thanks, Lisa

[sianie]

What time should I set it for in the morning?  I was thinking fairly early to get her into the swing of it and then moving it back.

Yes I would let her get used to the concept that sun coming up on the clock = wake up time. Even if she wakes before the sun comes up then it's about helping her to understand that she either needs to go back to sleep or to stay in bed as quietly as possible.

I would maybe start by setting it around half an hour later than she wakes up. Use the story book that comes with the clock, that's a good way of getting LO's used to it.

Good luck!

[fothers]

Thank you.

I have set it for 4.30am- chances are she probably will wake before then.  I didn't want to set it too late to begin with, with her being quite young so that she won't have to wait that long for it to come on initially, then will move it back gradually.

Do you think that time sounds ok?

Should I just leave her general routine as it is atm and tweak it later depending on how things go? or should I try and move naps and BT later right away?

Today-
A 0345 (9h 20mins overnight sleep)
Nap- 9.40am-noon (2h20mins)
BT- will aim for 6pm but may be 6.30pm

Thanks again x

[sianie]

4.30am sounds fine.

The nap is early & I wonder if this is reinforcing the EW, although it's always a vicious circle with EW's as LO's get tired so quickly in the AM.

I guess if it were me I would be trying to push it back gradually over a few days to see if this helps the EW.

[fothers]

Well, she was asleep by 7pm last night and did not hear a chirp until 4.30am which was the time the clock was set for. 

I am assuming this is a total coincidence!

Should I move it forward to 4.45am?

The girls are going to grandma's today for a few hours so I might see if she can do her a nap later in the morning nearer lunchtime.  She normally goes later there as she is excited.

Dp you think it is worth trying to force a later nap if we can anyway from now on?  We normally don't do much in the morning as she wants to go early but maybe next week I should plan lots of morning activities and force a lunchtime nap?

Thanks again x

[sianie]

I would keep the clock set at 4.30am for a few days until you think she's got the hang of it then gradually move it back & see what happens.

I work work towards getting to a lunchtime nap but you might want to push it back over a few days so that she doesn't get OT. Planning activities for the morning is a good idea to keep her distracted.

Good luck! 

[fothers]

Thanks.

She managed a nap from 11.30 for 90mins today at grandma's and has been to soft play this afternoon.  I will leave it at 4.30am until the weekend and see how we go from there.

[sianie]

That's a pretty good nap so FX! Let us know how you get on...

[firsttimemummy]

just wanted to quickly add that we bought a gro clock a couple of weeks ago for Murray - he sometimes wakens around 6.30am and so does Oliver (who then goes back to sleep and we don't want Murray starting his day earlier if he hears Oliver).

I explained it to him, then we had a test run (set for 5 mins time) then did it for his nap (set at a time that he ALWAYS sleeps past).  It is working really well - it doesn't stop him wakening but he just lies quietly (okay, quiet-ish!) until the sun comes up.  The star countdown really seems to help.  The second the sun comes up he shouts on us.  It means that even if he is awake, he is lying quietly (and so are we ). 

When I go in for him I ask if he wants to go back to sleep, so he knows that just because the sun is up doesn't mean he HAS to get up!

This afternoon he was fiddling with it and I forgot to child lock it - and set it for 3.20 instead of 2.20pm - Oliver woke around 3pm and I heard Murray as I went upstairs, so asked Murray if he wanted to get up.  He said yes - then I realised the sun was not out, which is why he was still lying quietly!

Personally I didn't find the book any use!

[fothers]

She went to bed at 6.30pm and got up at 4.10am but was quite quiet.  Went in to get her just after 4.30am when the sun came up.

Today and tomorrow she is at nursery so not sure when she will nap- she normally just lets them know when she wants to go.


firsttimemuumy- she is not hugely bothered by the book either.  Glad your clock seems to be helping!

[fothers]

Woke up at 0405 and got her at 0430 when clock was set for.

She only slept about 1h20mins at nursery yesterday and not sure at what time as DP forgot to ask.  Will get the sheet with everything marked when I get her tonight.

She went down at 6.15pm last night so just shy 10h sleep with a short nap on top.

[sianie]

More than likely OT I would guess after nursery.

[fothers]

Thursday-(nursery day)
A 0410 (9h30m)
N 1300-1420 (1h20m)
S 1815

Friday-(nursery day)
A 0405 (9h50)
N 1030-1200
S 1755

Today-
A 0305

She is getting so over tired it is unreal I think hence the even earlier wakings- would that be right?  I am at work again today so DP is in charge.  I am wondering whether she should do 2 naps possibly and try and catch up a bit- does that sound reasonable?  Or 1 nap and then a super early bedtime if possible?

It is difficult in some ways as I will be at work until 3.30pm at least and then have an emergency on call phone until 10am tomorrow morning that could call me out anytime so DP might need to wrestle the 2 of them at bed time and he isn't confident in doing the 2 on his own.  He often gets his mum to help but she is away for the weekend.  although I am secretly quite pleased about this as he needs to learn and get on with it, especially as number 3 is due in November

The groclock is set for 0430 so we have been leaving her until then before getting her.


Any words of wisdom??

[sianie]

I am wondering whether she should do 2 naps possibly and try and catch up a bit- does that sound reasonable?  Or 1 nap and then a super early bedtime if possible?

Either would work, I guess it depends which one is more feasible? It's always hard to get out of an OT loop...I have been there many times myself & it usually takes us up to a week for things to re-align. For us early BT's have worked better than adding in a 2nd nap but it depends on the LO...

BTW, congrats on the pg!!

[fothers]

She went for nap 1 at 8am this morning for 2h30 then a 2nd nap at 2pm for 1h15 and she was asleep tonight by 6pm.  Hopefully if she has caught up a bit we can do the nap at noon-ish tomorrow after a busy morning at soft play or something to keep her occupied.

If we could just get her sleeping until 5am every morning it would be a huge improvement!