Stalemate with a soon to be 14 mo. old and PD

[lizzib45]

I started the PD method last week for my son whom I rocked to sleep since he was 5 months. First night and next day nap took 1.5 hours, and its steadily decreased. But now we are stuck per say. anywhere from 10-20 mins. We are PD 0-3 times each sleep time. He is all over his crib, sticking legs and hands through the slats. Should i redo the wind down before putting him down? We usually do a book and bottle then sleep. For bedtime, we do bath, bottle+book, then bed. How do I get him to go to sleep quicker? Thankfully, he is back to STTN... Oh and he is still EW... between 5-545... causing me to pass out with him in the recliner (no rocking).... I know I know. thats probably not helping. Any thoughts ?

[sianie]

Hi there...

Well done, it sounds like you've made some good progress!

Do you want to post his current routine so we can see what's going on?

[lizzib45]

Thanks Sian!!
Well... Last week he went back to 2 naps, but this weekend back to 1... so...here was this weekends schedule

wake 5am, fed him a bottle and back to sleep till 7
up from 7, tried a nap at 945 but was a no go(I figured but thought I'd try)
Nap 1145-2- took about 15-20 mins to go down
Bath, bottle bed, started 630, was alseep at 715- took 25 mins to get him down.

I feel like he is awake for long stretches but will refuse to go down any sooner. For my mom- who watches him while we work- he went down at 115- took her 13 mins to get him down. He was awake at 450 am and with me passing out with him and a bottle, we both woke at 6 this morning- again slap my hand, but it was the only way I was going to squeeze out some more sleep

[sianie]

So it could be a few things going on....is he still transitioning to 1 nap? This can cause some sleep issues (& EW's); is there any teething going on (14mths is around the age that molars start to come through).

I would probably try to stay consistent (as this usually limits sleep issues), by sticking with 1 nap days & do an early BT if he short naps.

With his BT wind-down, what happens when you put him into his cot?

[lizzib45]

Ya I feel like we are mid transition to 1 nap. And its usually around 2 hours. He is teething, 2 up top and I think molars, although he hasnt been chewing that much the last few days.
At BT he tends to shuffle around his crib, ends up in the corners where he rolls on to his back (he has always been a belly sleeper). Or he kicks his leg against the mattress. He isnt crying just cant seem to get comfy or settled. I am only PD 0-3 times but I can seem to get him to wind down any quicker. After bed I get his PJs and normal stuff on. I was reading to him while he ate his bottle. Now I skipped the book and feed him the bottle in the dark - in hopes that will give him the extra umphf to get to sleep a little beter.
I do have to comment, i feel he is getting more of a sound deep sleep doing it on his own. He has had 2 night wakings since we started but due to teething it was cuz he was hungry ( he tends to not eat much when teething)

[sianie]

If he isn't crying then I would leave him to settle, maybe sit out of his sight in his room or wait just outside his door....it could be that your presence in his room is distracting him from falling asleep.

Of course, if he starts crying (distressed cry rather than mantra cry) then go in to help him settle.

Teething won't be helping him settle as it's worse for LO's when they lie down, all you can do is give meds before sleeps & wait for the teeth to come through.