14 month old - suddenly NW after 45mins

[Mackjack]

Hi again,

So, LO is 14 months. Good sleeper thanks to BW. Bed at 7.30, wakes at 6.30/7 at the very latest, naps at 11/12 for 2.5/3 hours at most.

She had a bug the other day which made her really sleepy annd she just wanted to sleep a lot during the day and lie-in in the morning. I let her as she was ill. But then the next couple of nights, she woke at night after 45mins - I gave her a quick cuddle and she went down again easily and slept through. The other day she seemed to be feeling much better so napped, but woke after 45mins and I had to cuddle her for a looong time to get her back to sleep and she slept for another 1.5hours (I woke her in the end). That night she would not go to bed til 10pm!! (but slept through). Yesterday she woke from her nap after an hour crying. I decided not to force her back to sleep and risk her having too much sleep again. She was fine and went to  bed at around 7.30 - no NW but I had to wake her up at 7am this morn.

I put all this down to her having too much sleep while she was ill.

Today she's definitely over the bug. She slept 7.30 - 7 (I had to wake her) and was at granny's all day. Told granny to not let her nap more than 3 hours but granny mis-timed it and she did 3hrs 15mins. Tonight she went to bed easily at 7.40 but again woke after 45mins, quick cuddle and back to sleep.

My question is, is a habit forming here? Or is it because she's not had a completely normal day yet after being ill (i.e. went to bed late last night as she wasn't tired enough and today she napped 3hrs 15, so 15mins more than her usual maximum)? If it's a habit - I successfully used WTS months ago for early morning NW so would consider that but would it work when she's waking after only 45mins - I feel like it would just wake her up!!

I might try waking her at 6.30am in the morning to make sure she doesn't  have too much night sleep and get her back on track.... Any thoughts??

[sianie]

Hi there...

It could be that after being poorly & needing extra comfort from you that she has come to need/want the cuddling back to sleep. It could also be that's she's UT from the longer naps.

It can take a few days for LO's routine to get back on track after they've been ill & I've found that the key is to try to be consistent with nap times/ bed times etc as this seems to 're-set' their body clocks. W2S wouldn't work when she's waking after 45 mins, I think you 1st need to leave her to try to self-settle, listen to her & if she's mantra crying or just babbling then leave her...if her cries start to escalate & become more distressed then I would go in & put my hand on her (don't take her out of the cot) & use whatever sleepy phrase you have to let her know she needs to go back to sleep.

Is she teething at all?

[Mackjack]

Hi,
Sorry for the delayed reply.

Thanks for your advice. I'm not sure if she's teething - don't think so but won't rule it out.

The night after I typed this , she went to bed at normal time and slept through until 7. She had a nap at 12 and I didn't want her to sleep too long so went into her just before the 3hour mark and she was already awake. That afternoon, she was really whingy as though she was still tired. So she went to bed at normal time, 7.30 and didn't wake at the 45min mark. But - she did wake just before 3am in the morning and didn't go  back to sleep until about 4.20am. She wasn't crying just rolling about, messing around etc. (I did as you said and didn't cuddle - just sat in the dark putting my hand on her when needed. Couldn't leave the room as her cot is right by the door and she cried whenever I tried to leave).

My experience of her waking up for this long in the night is that she's UT and had too much sleep somewhere along the way. But I can't work out when she's had the too much sleep if you see what I mean. The night before she slept 7.30-7 which is the longest she'll usually sleep and then had an almost 3 hour nap which isn't unusual before.

So today I thought I'd try capping her nap at 2.5 hours. Other than that, I'm at a bit of a loss!!

Oh and this morning she's being whingy again and a bit destructive, throwing things around like she doesn't know what to do with herself.....

[sianie]

Oh and this morning she's being whingy again and a bit destructive, throwing things around like she doesn't know what to do with herself.....

You know that does sound a little like teething behaviour to me....has she had her 1st yr molars through yet? It's around this age that they start coming through & can cause some sleep issues.

[Mackjack]

Actually, it does sound like teething, doesn't it?! Sometimes these things are so obvious but I clearly miss them!!! She's only got 5 teeth (two top, three bottom) so she could be getting some more front ones - do these all come through before the molars or can they come in any order?

Yesterday I woke her from her nap after 2.5 hours. She was a bit whingy in the afternoon but not the whole time. Went to bed at 7.30 and woke up today at 6.50.

I have noticed in the past that teething sometimes makes her a little tired (anyone else notice that?). So maybe she is teething and that's caused her to sleep a little longer at night - only 20/30 mins - and on top of that regularly have long naps of 3hours and all those little extra 20/30mins are adding up and causing her to be a little less tired at night...?

[sianie]

I have noticed in the past that teething sometimes makes her a little tired (anyone else notice that?)

Yes, teething can make LO's more tired & also more likely to get OT. Usually 1st year molars come through after the front teeth, then canines (both are tough for LO's to teethe).

[Mackjack]

Her problem seems to have been getting more tired than usual and then later getting UT! I am looking out for teeth. Seems much happier this morning though (touch wood!).

Thanks for your help. I'll see how the next few days go - I could be back for more advice!

[Mackjack]

Back again! Sorry, I feel like I post all the time!! Problem this time is 45 min naps. She's sleeping at night but the past three days has had a 30 min nap one day and then 45 min naps the next two (she only has one nap a day, usually at least 2.5 hours). She wakes up whinging/crying. I leave her for a while then go in and put my hand on her but she just seems to roll about as though she's struggling to go back to sleep. Ultimately, she becomes so awake that she stops being upset and is playful.

She seems ok during the day -  a little clingy, wanting to be picked up. But even though she's only having super-short naps she still seems lively and active in the afternoons. Also, she had a slight cold a couple of days ago.

Teething again do we think?? I think it was teething last time but there aren't any teeth to show for it!!

[sianie]

Teething again do we think??

Possibly.....what you describe could be teething. Have you been doing really early BT's after such short naps?

[Mackjack]

...no, I've been a bit stupid here. Sounds like OT doesn't it? She's been really lively after her short naps so I've still been putting her to bed at 7.30 but clearly I should've been putting her down much earlier. Yesterday she was exhausted in the morning and fell asleep in the car at 10.30am - I carried her in the house and changed her nappy and she didn't wake at all. So I just put her down for her nap at 10.45 which is really early for her. She still only did 45mins.

Because I've not been putting her to bed earlier to help her catch up, it's obviously just escalated. OT only occured to me last night so I put her to bed as early as possible (6.50pm) but I reckon she would've gone down earlier.

I must admit, a few days before this started happening, we had a few nights where she went to bed a little later than normal (only about 15/20mins) but I'm thinking these slightly late nights might have all added up...

[sianie]

but I'm thinking these slightly late nights might have all added up...

more than likely....OT can build up so I would stick to the early BT's to help her catch-up on her sleep & stop the OT getting any worse.

[Mackjack]

Ok, one more question and I'm hoping it's not another stupid one...

As I said, the other night I finally realised OT was the problem and I put her to bed earlier (6.50pm - normal is 7.30). She slept fine but I could hear her restlessly shuffling/banging about from about 4.50am until she finally got up at 6.10am. The following day - i.e. yesterday - I put her down for her nap slightly earlier (11.30) and she slept 2hrs 45 as she normally would. Great. So yesterday she woke from her nap at 2.15pm. I thought to be on the safe side and make sure she properly catches up with her sleep, I'd put her to bed slightly earlier last night as well - 7.10pm - she normally goes down at 7.30. But last night from about 2am I could hear her banging about and then shouting out in an excited voice. She did it a few times until she got up at 6.10am. Each time only lasted a few minutes and she went back to sleep.

I've never had NW like this before. Normally I've had UT NWs whereby she's started whinging/crying and has then been up for 1hr 30. But what's this one about? Do you think I got carried away with helping her catch up on sleep and put her to bed just a touch too early?

[sianie]

They do sound more like UT than OT NW's to me so if you feel that she has caught up a bit on the OT then try pushing her BT back towards her normal time.

[Mackjack]

Thanks, Sianie. So I probably should've just put her to bed at 7.30, normal time, last night. I'm a bit confused now though because today after the NWs last night and waking at 6.10am, I put her down for her nap at 11.45. She's just woken at 1.15 so a 1hr 30 nap. I don't know whether to put her to bed early or normal time tonight now??

If it helps, to remind you, her routine before all this happened was:

Wake 6.30/40
Nap 12pm - for 2.5/3hours
Bed 7.30pm

[sianie]

I would aim to have her asleep by 7pm...earlier if she seems tired. There's such a fine line between UT & OT, it could be she got into a bit of an OT/UT loop.