Support Thread for 2-1 Nap Transition cont'd pt 4

[clairebear79]

Cyndie - I think if he naps more than 2.5hrs in the day now you are probably going to get a shorter night.  I find the same, in order to get a decent night from O on a 2 nap day he needs 2.25hrs max.  On a 1 nap day he can probably sleep a touch more in the day & still give a good night. 

There are also lots of babies who still do shorter A times at your LO's age - he's 13-14 months now right   My friend's LO is 15 months, he wakes at 7am & still naps at 9.30am for about 30mins & then again at 2.30 for 1-1.5hrs, BT at 7pm.  She's never done BW but has just stuck with the same nap times for months & he wakes up when he is ready, she never ever has to wake him.  As he has gotten older he still goes to sleep at naptime no problem but his naps have just shortened naturally, as he started to need more A.  It just goes to show that short AM A times can work for some!

I think if J is starting to wake earlier again he is trying to tell you he needs more A somewhere.  Since your PM nap is limited to a set time by school runs, I'd be inclined to perhaps cut that AM nap down to 15/20mins.  You might also need to push it a touch later, so it is from say 10-10.15am (obviously do this gradually though) as if you did 9.45-10am he might struggle to last all the way to 1pm. 

What's the latest he can sleep until before you would have to wake him to collect DD from preschool?  If he can sleep until 3pm the other option would be to gradually shift that AM nap later so it runs from 10-10.30 & then shoot for a 1.30-3pm nap.  That way you restrict his day sleep to 2hrs meaning he isn't getting too much, it gives him a good 4hr A time to BT after that PM nap & should also hopefully encourage him to wake later b/c his AM nap is later.  How about that

Sabs - thanks.  Alyssa does sound like a tricky one!  We too get longer nights if he short naps during the day - I guess they have to make up for it somewhere.  Try not to worry too much about the 6hr A.  We had 8hrs the other day & he slept OK overnight & we got back on track within a day.

lulunut - we sorted the EW by pushing out the AM nap.  It was brutal, but basically I had to stop letting him nap before 9.30am at the earliest.  He got very very tired & miserable for a few weeks & I had to avoid going in the pushchair or car around 8/9am in the morning for a while 9as he would just fall asleep) but it has really worked.  I also kept the AM nap short to stop him using it as an extension of night sleep, & then allowed a longer PM nap. 

Ladies - we did another 2 nap day today.

Wake:  6.30-6.50am  (not exactly sure when.  So 11h 40-12h sleep - but only due to rubbish naps yesterday)
Nap:   10.00 - 10.30  (STS in 2 mins flat - he was shattered)
Nap:    2.00 - 3.30   (he woke at 40mins & 1h 15 but resettled.  Think slightly OT.  I woke him from nap.)
BT:     7.00

I'm quite pleased with how today went & hope he does a good night tonight.  Still a little concerned 3.5hrs A isn't enough at the end of the day though. 

[scucci1979]

Claire has provided you with some great suggestions.

I do think you need to either slightly push that nap out or cut it to 20min,  and move up his pm nap. Hopefully, the longer A to bt will push out that wu time. your other option is to try the long am/short pm nap. Los tend to show tired cues at there usual A times. You can always try pushing out his last A out by 10min for 4days and see if that moves your wu time later. We need to figure out where he wants his longer A.

ladies, I hope your night goes well.

Claire, you should be so proud of yourself. You have come far along with these EWs.


Alyssa gave me an 11hr night. She was very fussy today.    I put her down for her nap at 12:15pm (wu time was around 7am) and she woke up at 1pm crying. Settled quickly and woke again at 2pm. Got another 5mins of sleep on my shoulder until my DD1 came into her room. Thinking she was either in pain or slightly Ot here as she couldn't transition sleep cycles. I am always on pins and needles when it comes to her sleep. Anyhow, in bed at 7:35pm and fell asleep at 7:45pm. last A was 5hrs and 35min. I am shocked at her A times. I just looked at Madi's EASY and at her age she was doing 4hrs. 

[scucci1979]

I am afraid that it may be one of those nights. she just started fussing 30mins into her night sleep. sigh

[lulunut]

Thanks Claire.  That's how I got him on one nap before.  It got better after a bit and then...I don't know what happened.  He went back on EW again!! 

I am sorry Sabs, I hope it's just a small wake!  Good sleep vibes for you!

Today he was up early so I decided to bring back the 2 naps.  URGH!  I let him sleep at 9:15 for 30 min.  Then put him down at 1.  He slept for almost 2 hours!  A good sign.  I aimed for 7:30BT but he went at 8pm.  We shall see if the EW work out tomorrow morning!!!

[scucci1979]

off topic here. Lulunt, I just noticed that you are expecting again. Congrats. 
Definitely go back to two naps. So sorry hun.

She did go back to sleep on her own and woke up at 6:50am. Put her down for her nap at 12:10pm. Trying to figure out what A time she likes in the am. Don't know what kind of nap we will get. It looks like she needs a good 5.5hours to give me a nap over two hours but then that just cuts into her nights. sigh

I hope everyone's having  good day.

[clairebear79]

Thinking she was either in pain or slightly Ot here as she couldn't transition sleep cycles. I am always on pins and needles when it comes to her sleep.

IKWYM about pins & needles!  I am having this exact same thing happen ATM - he keeps waking & crying mid nap.  Always after 40mins & then usually again after 1h 15, & then he will go on to sleep 2hrs+ if I leave him.  So I am thinking OT.  But who knows

Lulunut - sounds like a good idea to try a couple of 2 nap days.  Sounds like he has had a good catch up day today.  Maybe once he's caught up a little more you will be able to go back to 1 nap again.

Wait for this ladies...... today Oliver woke up at 7.15am    He did wake at 2.15am coughing for around 30mins, but didnt cry/fuss/chat or anything, so I'm sure this was purely down to his cough/cold rather than being an UT NW.

We did 2 naps again today, trying to be consistent with him & hoping to find A times that work for him:

Wake:  7.15
Nap:   10.05 - 10.35  (woke him from nap)
Nap:    2.05 - 3.35    (woke crying at 40mins but back to sleep.  Had to wake him from nap to keep BT at 7pm)
BT:     7.05

TBH I don't think he was *quite* ready for his AM nap (since the A time was pretty short but we were trying to be consistent with the 10am nap).  He settled ok anyway.  For PM nap I actually think he may have been OT, as 3.5hr A time after a 30min nap is pretty long, right?  We increased it a couple of days ago I got a 40min nap with a 3hr A time, but I am actually thinking that may have been down to his cold rather than him being UT.  Esp now, since he has woken at the 40min mark the last 2 days but resettled & gone on to sleep 1.5hrs.   

I am sure this won't last for long, b/c the better rested he becomes, the more difficult it will be to settle him for his AM nap.  I am also thinking nursery may struggle to get him down tomorrow.  But he is so much better rested with 2 naps & so much happier,  so I want to keep them for as long as I can.  Sometimes I think I am just prolonging the agony by hanging onto the morning nap, but in a way I'd rather he dropped the AM nap of his own accord, rather than me forcing him to make the jump before he is actually ready.

Here's hoping for a decent night for everyone.xx

[scucci1979]

Great wu time, Claire. Keep doing what you are doing. You are doing a great job.
Of course I had to settle A for her nap today, but instead of it being at the 1hr and 20min mark, it was at the 1.5hour mark. I had to hold her sleep as she refused to go back in her crib. I let her sleep for 2hrs(12:15-2:15pm) put her down for bed at 7:35pm and she chatted for 10min.

[lulunut]

Great news for both of you!!!

Thanks on the expecting a new baby!!  I am nervous about handling 3 under 3 but excited to complete my family!

Last night was a nut show!  He was up at 10:30 for a quick scream.  I did one PD and he went back to sleep.  He was up again at 3:45.  I am going to stop the AP.  I think he is getting into the habit and I am not helping him learn to fall asleep on his own.  I also think that he is old enough to understand a bit more.  He chatted for 30 min and cried for 45.  I maintained the PD and he finally went to sleep on his own with some back rubbing.  He was up 10 min later.  Got him PD after another 10 min.  Then he was up at 6:30.  By then I was exhausted so I brought him into my bed and he slept until 7am when I heard DD knocking on her door wanting out!

When I went to get her she had pood and it was everywhere, sheets, pillow, toys!  Awful mess!  Off to the tub for both.  

Nap at 12:30 for both.  He woke after an hour and I AP him for another 40 min.  I was too tired to fight from that morning!!!  

Slight AP tonight for about 15 min and then 2 PD and back rub and he was out on his own!  I am off to sleep to prepare for another NW!!!!

[newmama12]

Thank you for the advice, Claire and Sabs! Yes, he's 13.5 months now! Claire, I absolutely agree that he cannot get more than 2.25 hours during the day. Maybe even no more than 2. I'm not sure, but will have to play around with it a bit. He'll probably end up with closer to 2 hours/day of naps on MWF when dd has school b/c I have to wake him up during his PM nap. I have to leave the house no later than 2:50 since it takes about 10 minutes to get to her school (she's done at 3). So, the absolute latest he can sleep is 2:45. On friday, I made it back home by 12:45 and rushed him right up to bed. He didn't fall asleep quite as quickly as I had hoped and then woke after an hour. Not such a good nap that day. I'm hoping that tomorrow will work a tad better. I'm going to push nap out (no matter when he wakes in the morning, right?!) a bit later. Actually, I did this today b/c he, oddly, slept till 6:30. Yipee! He did a 9:45-10:15 nap, then 1:10-2:50. So, just over 2 hours total today. We'll see when WU is tomorrow morning.

I'm hoping that by cutting the AM shorter and having it be later will help him with a slightly earlier PM nap (at least on MWF). I am still going to stick with a 7pm BT unless the PM nap is too short. Ideally, I was hoping to get closer to a 7:30 BT, but I'm not sure we'll be able to do that on the days when I have to wake him from the PM nap. He's just gonna have some wonky days during the week until we can get it worked out. LOL!

Also, Claire....YIPPEE on the later WU!! Awesome!

Congrats on baby #3, Lulunut!!! I have a friend who is due with her 3rd under 3. You guys are brave!

[scucci1979]

just having a moment and need to rest my head here. Alyssa woke up at 6:50am( i think). That is when I heard her. Anyhow, put her down at 12:15pm and just had to settle her at 12:50pm. OT for sure. Sigh

[scucci1979]

had to resettle again at 1:30pm and had to let her sleep on my shoulder. Going to try pain meds tomorrow. '

[clairebear79]

Cyndie - good plan.  And YAY for the later wakeup too!!!

Sabs - Oh bless.  I would give those pain meds a go for sure.

Oliver was at nursery today & he slept 40mins the whole day.   They said he was rubbing his eyes around 10am so they tried to put him down in the baby room which is light & full of other babies playing (not conducive to a good sleeping environment in my book ).  Of course he refused.  He eventually settled at 11.15am in the blacked out toddler nursery (why they don't have this for the babies too is beyond me!) & woke at 11.55am.  What are all these 40min naps/WU's about They tried for a PM nap but he refused again.  Siigh.   So I had to put him down at 6.30pm tonight.  I wish I didn't have to send him to daycare. 

[lulunut]

Thanks Newmama!  Yes, I don't know if brave is the right word, maybe crazy is better!!!LOL!

Oh Sabs!  I am sorry your LO isn't doing well.  Hugs!!

Last night was better here, 3:15 wake one PD he went down complained a bit but settled.  I had to stay for a bit because he kept waking and checking to see if I was still there!  After about 30 min I was able to leave.  DD however woke up coughing like crazy.  So I held her up in the chair so she could breathe better until 6am.  DS was up at 6:15!  That is progress for him.  Today's nap he woke after an hour.  One PD and he has now been down for 2 hours!  Yay!

[newmama12]

What a day.  

So...J woke up sometime around 5am, but went back to sleep till about 6:15. Not too shabby. He seemed really tired around 9ish, but I held him out till 9:45. I woke him at 10:15. Figured he'd be ready for the PM nap by 12:45 when I got back from dropping dd off. Well, he would not fall asleep!   Finally, he did a little after 1 and woke 30 minutes later.      No way he was UT with barely a 30 minute nap in the morning. So, yeah...he slept a total of 60 minutes today. Got him in bed for the night at 6:30 and we'll see what the morning brings. To add into this whole big mess, dd starts soccer at 10am tomorrow. Right in the middle of the AM nap. GRRRRR! In a way, I'm hoping he'll wake at 5am, so he'll want to nap from 9-9:30. Then we'll be ok. Otherwise, if he sleeps in, I think I'm going to leave early and bring him to my parents. Then he can play for a few minutes and take a 30 minute CN there. My only other option is to not have him nap until closer to 11/11:30, but I don't know if that'll work at all. I think he'll fall asleep in the car on the way home.
If these PM naps keep becoming a problem, I'm going to have no choice but to either do a long AM/short PM (like around 3:15 when we get back from picking dd up or try and go straight to 1 nap sometime mid-late morning. IDK.

What a disaster this is. If only we could have gotten into the AM preschool class.  

[scucci1979]

Cyndie, you have to do what is best for your family. I can only imagine how difficult it is to fit naps around a school run.

Lulunut, i hope you got some rest last night. Great job with the nap extension.

Claire, do you think he is still adjusting to nursery? I mean, this must be a huge change for him.

Alyssa was off this afternoon. Clingy and fussy.  She wanted to go down early so I did at 7:20pm and she went out pretty quickly.
I just don't understand why for the last two days, the last part of her nap, she needs my shoulder. I pick her up and she instantly falls asleep on me. The moment I put her down she wakes, stands up and wants me to pick her up. Could it just be a comfort thing?