Very OT 2 yo - Now no nap!

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Well BT was better for sure.  Only 40 min of singing and then he was out at 7:45, so about an hour before he has been.  I completely forgot to give meds before bed.    DH had to go in there 3 times last night for NW, though, and he woke up and literally cried for about 20 min straight.    We couldn't even figure out what he wanted us to do for him!  It was really sad.  So we're clearly not caught up.

Planning on an early (hopefully long) nap, and an even earlier BT with meds tonight.  Sound reasonable?

[babybarr]

I think it definitely sounds worth a shot.  Good luck

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Ok so he was out cold at 11:25.  Woke up for a few min 1.5h in but went back down.  Then woke up at 1:30 screaming and crying.  Only took a couple of minutes to get him out of it and now he seems ok but

What time would you be putting him into bed, then?  Also planning on a low-key afternoon (read Blues Clues for a while! )...

[Mashi]

Not sure what time his normal bedtime is...but what DH and I always say is (as an example) aiming for 630 bed, but willing to do anytime between 600-700 as needed. So meaning, if at 545 he is melting down and yawning, all things will be prepared to scoop him up from the dinner table, take him to his room, PJs on and into bed at 600 if that is what needs to happen.  Otherwise he will be ready to go into bed at 630, but if things are going well and he is enjoying stories and does not seem tired and that we will end up with a UT-causing-OT situation, then we will read /watch cartoons until closer to 7pm.

So totally not helpful I am sure, but I do find that we just need to be prepared with a "window" and be ready to work within it as needed.  I would say expect 45-60 minutes before his normal bedtime and then judge from there on how things are going. We skip baths on these nights, no matter how dirty he is (!), because they just have potential to throw so much off kilter!

[Tweakster]

Do you think he'd go down by 7?  That's what I'd aim for but it really depends on his behaviour and whether you think 5.5 is enough A time for him?  If not then asleep by 7:30 with meds dosed at 7.  If the molars are really bad and you think you might get a NW then I'd plan on dosing again at 1 am, set your alarm.  Or do Tylenol for bedtime at 7 and a shot of Advil at 11.

Posted at same time as Mashi, agree on the bath and looking for that sleep window :-)

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Makes sense. 

Do you think he'd go down by 7?

That's the tricky part.  Whenever I put him down I have no idea what time he's actually going to go to sleep, yk?  Last night's in bed by 7:05 and asleep by 7:45 was the best we've had in a looong time.  I'm thinking I'll try to have him in bed by 6:45 and see what happens.  (with meds)

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Well this is not going well.  I had him in the crib at 6:55.  He's seemed really tired this afternoon.  But he must be having a 2nd wind since he's repeatedly screaming at the top of his lungs.  He's been resisting BT for weeks but has never done this.  Of course DH isn't here to help and I'm sure he's going to wake up Grace one of these times.  He screams bloody murder so I go in, tell him it's time to lay down and go to sleep, he laughs at me, I leave and 2 min later it's the same thing.  It's a game to him.  I tried sitting in there and doing GW a few times but he was quiet then and the minute I got out of there it was the same thing.

What do I do now?  Now and then tomorrow when he's in an even deeper OT hole?  This is so frustrating!!

[Tweakster]

Sorry Kate!  Do you think this is maybe an UT/OT loop?  Honestly when we have done no nap days it completely zonks him and he actually tend to sleep better the following days.  Not suggesting that you no nap Austin but I guess what I'm saying is that at this age I find he has to be really tired (not even tired but nearing exhaustion) to allow himself to cave in to sleep. 

The other thing is this could be some developmental shenanigans much like the crap we've got going on.  It's every sleep time now, we get called back for something. 

I guess what I'm saying is sometimes in our frantic quest to prevent OT we can miss that time when they catch up enough and then we unknowingly send them into an UT loop by throwing too much sleep at them.

Not sure I've actually said anything useful but I mean sometimes we need to step away from the tweaking and just let it play out. 

(((hugs)))

[tigerlilly905]

He's been resisting BT for weeks but has never done this.  Of course DH isn't here to help and I'm sure he's going to wake up Grace one of these times.  He screams bloody murder so I go in, tell him it's time to lay down and go to sleep, he laughs at me, I leave and 2 min later it's the same thing.  It's a game to him.  I tried sitting in there and doing GW a few times but he was quiet then and the minute I got out of there it was the same thing.

I'm not totally sure what to suggest here hun, but I can COMPLETELY relate. This is Charlie to a "t" lately. I do wonder though since both our older kiddies are going through this around the same time, perhaps it has something to do with the new baby in the house?  Someone suggested to me that C's SA could have returned b/c of the baby, which I can totally see happening... But then again, he's acting just like b/t is a game. Maybe it's b/c he wants extra attention since b/t is without the baby around? I don't know. And then of course C is teething too, which doesn't help.

I've had to do a combo of GW and WI/WO.  It's hard... and can take a looong time. Not to mention the amount of energy it drains from you when you're already so tired. B/t tonight with C took 40 mins. Argh. Thankfully I got the baby to bed before hand, but still... not fun.

Anyways, still not totally sure what to suggest, but I'm right here with you. ((hugs))

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Thanks, ladies.  In classic fashion soon after I wrote this he went to just his usual singing and fell asleep around 7:50. 

Wendy, I completely hear what you're saying but I just can't imagine he's UT.  With all the crying and carrying on that's so out of character for him, I have to figure he's still OT.  I think this was actually a manifestation of the OT. I think it's making him crazy.  LOL. 

Rebecca, hugs. Sorry you're dealing with these antics, too!  There definitely could be a degree of SA going on, although we usually don't go back in there to respond to him although I did tonight since he was screaming.  I have been trying to play with him, etc, and I've been home for 2 days now  so he's gotten a lot of one-on-one from us both.   

Still wondering if there's a teething aspect.  I drugged him up before bed and I'll redose later.  Maybe that will help?  I can hope anyhow...

[Tweakster]

It should help somewhat.  Make sure you are dosing for weight :-)

To be honest we often get SA worse when we are around on weekends and extended times, more so than when we are on regular routine.  I chalk it up to too much of a good thing and he's overwhelmed by the closeness if that makes any sense.  If we've been with him in close quarters all day, it's like he doesn't want that time to end. We are his best friends :-)

I'm sure a lot of this is related to all the adjustment he's had recently and now you going back to work it's another change.  It's going to take him some time to adapt.

Fingers crossed for a longer night and if you still think he's OT then I'd start routine even earlier tomorrow. Have him down by 6:30 maybe.

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Make sure you are dosing for weight :-)

Check.  Only 1 NW last night and so short that DH didn't have to go in.  So a bit better.  Maybe the meds helped somewhat?  Hard to say.

I'm sure a lot of this is related to all the adjustment he's had recently and now you going back to work it's another change.  It's going to take him some time to adapt.

I know you're right here, Wendy.  Brings out the mommy guilt big time but I'm sure it's related.  He was happy this morning, even though we had to have a fill in babysitter he had never met (DH was here the whole time so he basically just had a playmate for the morning, but he was fine with her even though she was new).  He went down at 11:30 and it sounds like he's just waking up now - 1:50.  So hopefully that will help him even more. 

Fingers crossed for a longer night and if you still think he's OT then I'd start routine even earlier tomorrow. Have him down by 6:30 maybe.

I just got home so I'll check him out myself this afternoon but it sounds like he's doing better.  It's going to be a balance in terms of BT since last night was so ugh!  We're supposed to go to a BBQ at 4 so it probably won't be a super early night unless he's losing it at the party.  But I'll say that this kid, even when he's totally OT, has never really given us a reason to leave a party!  He knows how to get down.    We really should get him and Finn together. 

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Only have a minute but we still haven't solved things around here.  Last night and this morning were particularly bad.

5:30-6:30: Wake (this morning was the earliest and he woke screaming)
11:30: S
1:30-2:20: A
6:30-7:15: in bed - lots of screaming and carrying on before he'll sleep still.  We've been in there a dozen times or more.  Screams randomly but also for us to help with his lovey (which is in the crib, always!), etc etc.  Tried GW but it just wound him up so we're basically doing WI/WO.

I don't know what else, if anything, we can do.  The screaming at 5:30 today was a new low.  And of course the worst BT tend to be when there's only one of us here (although he usually doesn't know one has left) and Grace is also a mess so we're pretty stressed.

Thoughts?  Thanks....

[nelliestar]

Sending hugs and oopsing my spot as we are going through similar. Will be back later xxxxx

[C_mother]

Hi Kate,

We are starting sleep changes and OT here too - argh.  Seems like a lot of children this age are acting differently about sleep!

How much sleep is he getting overall each day?

I would have thought that the early nap and bedtime would work!  The one thing I would try given what is going on (and your previous efforts) is keep the early nap, but give a longer A time until bed (5.5+ hours before putting him down).  Hopefully, bedtime will still be reasonably early but he may be sleepier.

Could you make a change to his bedtime routine?  Perhaps play music while getting ready for bed have it turn off 30ish mins after putting him to sleep? Just brainstorming because I think part of the problem is that they are getting to the age where they don't want to go to sleep; and the beautiful summer weather and sound of other kids playing outside doesn't help!

Good luck