Help! I think we're hitting the 2-1 transition

[*foxy*]

Hi Everyone

My 10 month old daughter is waking earlier and earlier (4.45am this morning) and no matter what I do she will not go to sleep even though I know she must be tired. I'm getting more and more exhausted. Her naps are also a bit all over the place, the morning nap is generally 1 1/2 hrs although today it was only an hour and the afternoon naps are hit and miss. Generally only 30-45 mins. It's also taking her longer and longer to go to sleep at BT, some nights 1 1/2 hrs! Which is frustrating when I'm trying for an early BT.

Ive read the info posted about the 2-1 transition and I think I need to lengthen the first A time or cap the first nap? It always throws me when she wakes so early, I try and stick to her usual A times etc and then try for an early BT. I also think we might be stuck in an OT loop which I desperately tried to get out of today but she was having none of it. Being at nursery 2 days a week also doesn't help (this is her 4th week and although she takes 2 naps there they are short and she comes back exhausted)

Any ideas on where I should start would be very much appreciated

[*Kara*]

For sure cap that morning nap.. I would start by capping at 1 hr 15 and see if she then takes her PM nap without too much fight.  As well, you want to cap the PM nap at 1 hr 30 to keep BT feasible.  Give it a couple of days and see what happens... Also, any chance she is waking from hunger?

[*foxy*]

Thanks

She hasn't had a 1hr 30 pm nap for as long as I can remember, its usually only 30mins and thats it. I tried for an hour to get her back to sleep today but she just kept waking up again. Any ideas on what to do? Like I said, I try for an early BT if she has a short pm nap especially since she wakes from her pm nap at around 2pm due to her whole day being early due to the EW. But the early BT doesn't happen cuz she takes so long for her to go to sleep!

We have tried giving her a bottle when she wakes at 5am but it doesnt seem to make any difference. So I guess it might not be hunger?

[*Kara*]

a 30 minute nap is likely due to baby being overtired.  Capping the AM nap should make her tired enough to take a PM nap that is a good length

Not hunger if she isn't going back to sleep right away after that bottle

[clairebear79]

Hi bellymonster

Can you post your current EASY for us to see?  If you are getting 30 minute naps it sounds to me like she could be OT.  It might be you need to spend a couple of days really shortening up all of her A times and get as much sleep into her as you can, to eliminate the OT.

I agree with Kara that you then might need to start capping her naps - but in my experience its difficult when there is OT at play.  I would suggest just capping one nap to start with.  You can choose which - whether you want long am/short pm or vice versa.
For chronic EWers, short am/long pm is the route usually recommended, as this prevents them catching up on lost night sleep with the long morning nap.

Have you also seen the 2-1 info:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=95670.0

There is also a support thread you can post on:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=212216.0

Ooh - just posted at same time as Kara - great minds!!!

[*Kara*]

LOL!  And the shorter AM nap is easier for 2-1 transition

[*foxy*]

Ok great thanks that's really helpful. She's at nursery today so its a little out of my hands. She doesn't nap as well there as she does at home so I'll start tmw with trying to tackle the OT as I'm sure thats part of the problem. She woke at 6am this morning which was a bit better.

So today if she wasn't going to nursery our EASY would be:

Wake 6am
Bottle
Breakfast 7am
Nap 9.30 usually for 1hr 30mins. Bottle before nap.
Lunch 12.30-1
Nap 2.30 usually for only 30-45mins. Bottle before nap
Tea 5-5.30
Bath 5.30-6
Bed 6-6.30 (all depending on how tired she is and how long that pm nap was)
Usually asleep by 7 as its taking her so long to get to sleep at the moment

How long would you keep her A times if I'm going to try and tackle the OT? She's currently on 3 1/2.

[*foxy*]

Today she stayed at home with my dp because she wasn't well. And had a 3hr morning nap and a 45min afternoon nap. He decided to leave her to sleep in the morning because she obviously needed the extra sleep. So not a typical day and I'm currently waiting for her to go to sleep now.

[*Kara*]

If she is sick, wait until she is better for a couple of days before trying to mess with her sleep... best to follow their lead when they aren't well since eating/sleeping tends to be all over the place.

The 45 minute PM nap was likely UT after her monster AM nap...

How is she normally when she wakes from the short PM nap?  Does she get cranky half way to bedtime?  Just trying to figure out if the short nap in the PM is OT or UT...

[*foxy*]

Hi Kara

She's normally quite cranky when she wakes from her pm nap, that's why I try to get her back to sleep but it never happens. She's usually ok until BT, she doesn't get cranky half way to BT but is normally pretty cranky after we get her out of the bath. Shes currently playing in her cot, we put her to bed half an hour ago.

[*Kara*]

Okay... that sounds more like UT to me than OT.  And UT baby can be cranky, but an OT baby is a mess for the most part... not just cranky, but I find that DD gets really grabby/jumpy/jittery when OT.  UT naps are often impossible to extend since baby is not tired after a short nap...

To prevent your day from getting too long, I would cap her AM nap to get her more tired for the PM nap and hopefully get more than an hour there!  If she is normally napping 90 minutes in the AM, try cutting her by 15 mins and see what that does   It will take a couple of days and remember that she may need a little less A time between naps when you cut it short

[*foxy*]

That would make sense then. She'd fall asleep in my arms but as soon as I put her down she'd be wide awake again. Ok great, Ill try that once she's better. How long should A times be at this age? (10 months 1 week) She's on 3 1/2 at the moment.

[*Kara*]

She is average for her age at 3 1/2... but would still be in a normal range at 4 or just above

[*foxy*]

Thankyou so much for your help, I was getting very confused about what to do. Hopefully this will eventually stop the 5am wake ups!

[clairebear79]

Hiya

Some great advice from Kara.  I agree you ought to try shortening the AM nap and see whether it helps her to lengthen those pm naps.  Just shorten it by a little at a time.  Start with shortening it by 15mins for 3-5days, but you might find it needs to be 1hr or even 45mins.  I would leave the AM nap where it is ATM.  By shortening it you will likely need to do the PM nap a little earlier (as Kara said) & then if you get a longer PM nap, this will help her get through the longest A time to BT without getting OT.

Good luck!x