What is making him wake after only 10mins at BT? (30months)

[~Jen~]

Hi, This is driving me nuts and I can't figure out why it happens or how to fix it.  Every night, we put K into his cot for BT and he usually falls asleep after about 10mins.  Great - but then EVERY night he wakes up after 10mins and jumps around/sings/plays for another 30-45mins.  It is like he gets a second wind and decides mid-sleep that he is not quite ready to be asleep for the night.   

Could this be UT/OT? Routine problem? Habitual waking?  Its been going on for at a least a month or two now and I've given up wishing he would just stop it.  IT is especially annoying because he is particularly loud during the second wind and usually will also wake up DD.      

How can I get him to stop doing this??   I've been cutting his nap to try and encourage an earlier BT as he is starting to fall asleep closer to 8:30 with these antics going on. 

6:30 Wake
12:30 Nap
2:00/2:15 Wake him
7:45 Fall asleep but wake after 10 mins
8:30 Asleep for the night

[~inbalance~]

Is he teething?  What if you tried putting him to bed at 7 in the hopes that he will fall asleep earlier? 

[babybarr]

I suspect he doesn't fall asleep for those 10 mins really, so therefore I would suggest maybe a tad UT at bed?  Otherwise what about something like restless legs?

[~Jen~]

hi, yes he is definitely teething.  I've tried everything - earlier BT, later BT, very relaxing bedtime routine - nothing seems to help.  He keeps falling asleep around 8:15. 

I've suspected UT and tried cutting his nap. But with teething it has been tricky - he is so tired and irritable!  I think he is getting caught in some sort of UT/OT loop. He fell asleep early for his nap today and I woke him at 2pm.  He seemed to be more relaxed going into BT - he still did the same antics but was more quiet and relaxed.  So today he still got 1hr45mins having fell asleep early.  Do you think I should cut his nap even further on days when he falls asleep later so that he is always awake by 2pm?  I've been hesitant to cut the nap even more while he is teething but maybe he needs it to settle for BT?

[babybarr]

Perhaps with the teething it'd be better to try an earlier nap full stop and then wake at 2pm? 

[~Jen~]

I think you are right and that will work best for right now.  HE has been so tired that we have been moving his nap earlier anyway.  In the past month or so it has moved from 1pm to 12:45 to 12:30 and yesterday was 12:15. I think we'll stick with that for now and then have him up at 2pm.  will let you know how we get on today...

[~Jen~]

So I've been waking him by 2pm but he also has been takin longer to fall asleep at naptime so his naps are down to 1:20 or 1:30mins. And he is still taking forever to fall asleep starting to push 8:30pm.   I'm so confused!! Is he getting OT? Or is it possible he is ready to drop his nap?

[babybarr]

I 'm not sure   you could try cutting the nap to an hour I know that is about what some 30mths LOs are doing.

[~inbalance~]

I think most of these antics are due to teething which really makes it hard to figure out what he needs.  I would be weary of cutting too much right now as it doesn't seem to be making a difference anyway, kwim?  I suspect that after the teething things will settle and you will have a better idea of what he needs. 

[~Jen~]

I think teething is definitely playing a big part in all of this.  Please just let them come through already!  We got a glimpse inside his mouth today and 2 teeth have just cut through. Great, only 6 more to go!   

I have been pushing his nap earlier and getting him up by 2pm.  It seems to help.  I just can't figure out what he needs right now which is killing me.  As you say, no matter what I do with the nap, he is playing up at BT.  He only had a 1.5hr nap today, and it took him 1.5hrs to fall asleep at BT.  ugh, it was a looong A this afternoon.  We'll get an EW for sure tomorrow AM.  And so the cycle continues.  His behaviour is AWFUL... I really can't take much more of this. 

[Tweakster]

I think at this age the longer nap you give him the more he's going to cut his night.  I know he's still got teeth to come through but we cut F back to 45 mins and it helped immensely - he was nearly begging to go to bed. The key was cut nap and early bedtime, yielded us longer nights.  I know Kieran is not low sleep needs like Finn but at 2.5 I suspect he just doesn't need as much day sleep and really needs to have more sleep drive at night.

It doesn't mean you are going to be able to just settle on a nap length (for example we're now back to 1.5 hrs because he's extra tired these days, it's super hot here and all the outdoor activity is killing him) because you'll need to respond to his needs as you go but I do think a cut right now to help lengthen his night may help get you out of the current loop.

Worth a shot - 6 teeth is a long way to go at 2.5 and unless they come fast and furious now, his sleep needs are going to be changing whether you want it or not :-)

[~Jen~]

I am coming to the same conclusion...  he used to fight his naps and go down so easily for bed. He'd always sleep for 11hr nights (yes we were very lucky!) but he would fight and fight the nap. He would be going down for his nap around 1:30pm and we'd have to wake him by 3:15pm to keep BT reasonable.  Then about two months ago - it all switched.  He is a mess by his naptime which has now become 12:15!  His nap seems to be robbing night sleep.  I need him to move to longer nights and shorter naps but we are in such a loop I don't know how to get there.  I'm capping his nap at 1.5hrs starting to walk him down to less and less day sleep. He is starting nursery in September and he is going to have to drop his nap at least 3-4 days a week so better get him used to it now...  I think I'll just have to stick to early BT's and be consistent with a 1.5hr nap and see what happens. If he still fights BT, then we cut again to 1:15 or even 1hr eventually.  As you say, he is teething but it just doesn't seem to make a difference.  He is a mess everyday and behavior worse and worse.  I think he could be ready to shorten day sleep - it might be what he has been trying to tell us but because of the fear of OT with teeth - we were always afraid.  AT least now... he is already OT and I really don't think it can get much worse so we should give it a try.  What do you think?

[babybarr]

I would give it a shot.  I agree with Wendy.

[~Jen~]

Help! We are having major BT antics. We've had K on a 1.5hr nap for a week now and down to 1hr20mins today.  It actually hasn;t made any difference.  If anything, he is playing up even worse at BT.  He called (with an incredibly annoying whiny cry) me back in his room at least 7 times tonight.  A different excuse everytime.  I've tried to ignore him but it is so hard because he gets himself into a full on cry and then he keeps waking up DD. I find this so annoying!  I'm starting to wonder could I be reading him completely wrong and he is just OT? He is still teething so I know everything is all out of wack.  I just can't keep doing this every night - I don't know what else to do....

[Tweakster]

I would try 45 mins and earlier bedtime.  It's the only thing that got us out of that loop.