Cold turkey to 1 nap - OT disaster - & now resisting 2 naps aarrrgggghhhh!!!

[ZacsMumme]

Go you claire! I think you sticking with this through those tough weeks is amazing I agree with Shiv. I found this really helped us when Z finally made the transition to 1 nap.

[Truly Blessed]

Hi Sweetie,

I agree at this stage. Oliver's definetely stuck in the early nap early BT cycle so it seems the most sensible option. It may not be easy but I'm sure in time it will pay off.

So proud of you for sticking with it Honey. It must take an awful lot of strength and determination  .

Sleepy Vibes your way.xxx.

[clairebear79]

Thanks ladies.  We had another early start today - he started crying out at 5.07am, every 5 mins or so until 5.40am when he started to shout.  Not exactly sure when he officially woke, but we got up at 6am so I held him out til 11am for his nap.  He did 2hrs from 11am-1pm & BT was 6.10pm.  I'm hoping for a decent night's sleep so we can start on gradually shifting his nap later - 5mins at a time.

I'll let you know in a couple of weeks how we are going.

[ZacsMumme]

I reckon that is a great day Claire Good luck for the next few weeks! x

[Truly Blessed]

Great nap Honey 

Let's hope it's a good sign for the future!

(X)

[clairebear79]

So ladies, we're still on 1 nap and 4ish weeks in now.  The last few days we've been on set nap of 11.10am.  Today was the first day at 11.15am (we are shifting it later by 5mins every 3 days).

We had a crazy day saturday where he woke at 5am & I managed to get him back to sleep at 6.30am (ish) for another 1.25hrs.  Of course I knew he'd be UT for nap at 11.10am so I pushed it to 12.30pm & he napped 2h 15mins.  BT at 7.30pm

Yesterday went:
Wake: 6.15  (10h 45mins of solid sleep)
Nap:  11.25 - 1.15  (he took a while to settle - and woke at 1h 45, back to sleep for 5 mins).
BT:  6.25  (aimed for 6.15 asleep but took a while to settle again)
NW: 8pm, 8.30, 9.30  (more like a cry out rather than a NW where I had to go to him, but still disturbed)

Today:
WU: 5.35am  (11h 10 sleep)
Nap: 11.15 - 12.45  (at nursery)
BT:   should be 6.15 but I suspect we'll need to bring it earlier to 6pm given the early WU and short nap.

Ladies, I am not opposed to an 11hr night, but he still looks very tired so I can't believe that is all he needs.  And if he is only doing 11hrs at night, surely he should be doing a longer nap than 1.5hrs???  Do you think this looks like OT is setting in??? 

He is doing some super huge 5.5-6hr A times in the AM now, followed by 5 in the PM - b/c I am keeping him to his set nap time (which I am trying to push later to push his WU later), except it seems to be having the opposite effect & his WU keeps getting earlier.  I am trying to keep his day as short as possible to reduce OT but this does not seem to be giving us a later WU at all.  Its just making for an earlier WU the following day & therefore even longer before his nap IYSWIM.

Can you spot anything in my routine that needs tweaking?  Should I be giving him more A time after his nap to BT (given that he's not doing any longer at night)   I am frightened to stretch his day to 13hrs every day for fear of OT setting in & him falling asleep in his highchair at 9am again.

[clairebear79]

We are still struggling on ladies

Mon:  WU: 5.35,  A = 5h 40 Nap 11.15-12.45 (1.5hrs) A = 5h 40  BT: 6.25pm  NW BT-10pm every 30mins  1hr NW: 11.30-12.30

Tues:  WU: 6.00  A = 3h 30 Nap: 9.30-10 (30mins) A = 4hrs Nap: 2-3.30 (1.5hrs) A = 4hrs BT: 7.30pm  No NW's

Wed:  WU: 6.55   A = 5h 30 Nap: 12.30 - 2.00 (1.5hrs) A = 4h 30 BT: 6.30pm NW 8pm, 8.30, 9, 9.30, 9.45, 10

Today:  WU:5.20  Was tired at 9am so down for nap at 9.15. 

We are getting no more than 1.5hr naps with the 1 nap & I know this is b/c his A time to nap is too long & he is going down OT. 

Admittedly, yesterday I made a silly mistake to push a full 5hrs A time b/c of the 7am WU. Was scared of him being UT - duh! I PD for 12midday & it took 30mins of squealing before he went to sleep & then he did a short nap.  In hindsight I should have stayed with the 11.20am nap time b/c he probably only slept in later to catch up on OT.

So ladies, we are stuck in an early (and OT) loop & even the set nap doesn't seem to be pulling us out.  Any suggestions anyone?  Set nap plus set 6.30/7pm BT to try & force a later WU???  Still do 2 naps when WU is before 6am???  Carry on as I am but don't push the nap later if we get a later WU

I am trying to go with the flow a bit more & try to decide for myself in the main, but would appreciate any suggestions

[*Amy*]

Claire I can only tell you what I have been doing....
So I have been putting Cassie down at 9.30 waking her at 10 and back down again at 12 and bed at 7. I then started to move the morning nap forward by five mins and move the lunch time one back by five mins
So it would look like 9.35 am in bed lift at 10 nap at 11.55.
We are now at her being put down at 9.40 and Lifted at 10. I moved the lunch time nap earlier to 11.30as she was tired. She is sleeping to 2pm on the dot, you can set your watch by it! In bed and asleep at 7pm and wakes on the dot at 6am.....another 11 hour night kid here
This is working for us. And I feel that even if she doesn't nap in the morning she has that down time and is revived for another hour and a half or so!

[clairebear79]

Wow Amy - she will actually go down just 1.5hrs after a 20min nap???!!!  We are still doing some 2 nap days but if Oliver has a 30min AM nap there's no way on this earth he'd go back down at 12!!!  He needs 3.5-4hrs A time - no kidding!

I've come to the conclusion we just have to keep doing 1 nap days & just throw in a 2 nap day with 30mins 9.30-10 and 1.5hrs from 1.30/2-3/3.30 & BT 4hrs later.  This seems to be giving us an 11-11.5hr night & we are then good to carry on with 1 nap the next day.

[Shiv52]

thats exactly what we did Clare.   One nap and CN every few days to help with OT.  We did do set bedtime too though.

[*Amy*]

She wouldn't actually sleep for the full 20 mins. We would go into her room at 9.40 she would have a bottle of milk and would probably sleep max 10/15 mins. This is enough to get her over the hump of tiredness!

[clairebear79]

Ah I see.  Kind of what we did today.  He had 25mins from 9.35-10 (was amazed at this since he got up at 6.40am so only 3hrs A) & then he's gone down for his PM nap at 1.55pm.  Will let him sleep 1.5hrs max & he'll have BT at 7.30pm.  This should hopefully see us a post-6am WU for his nursery day tomorrow where he'll only have 1 nap.

[*Amy*]

Yes we can do one nap with the wake up is later say after 6.30 but if it is before that then she needs the little power nap

[clairebear79]

Ladies we are still ploughing on with 1 nap with 2 nap days thrown in when we get an earlier start.  I have now gotten his nap to around 11.30am (give or take 15mins) & this, combined with the 2 nap days has resulted in a general improvement in his WU's YAY  (today excepted ). 

The last week went like this:

Mon   WU: 6.15    A = 5h       Nap: 11.15-11.45 (OT nap) A = 4h  Nap: 3.45  -  4.15 (OT nap)   BT: 6.30   (at nursery today)

Tue   WU: 6.50    A = 4h 45   Nap: 11.35-1.35 (2h)         A = 5h 10      BT: 6.45

Wed: WU: 6.45    A = 5h       Nap:  11.45-2.00 (2h 15)    A = 5h          BT: 7.00

Thu:  WU: 6.00    A = 5h 20   Nap:  11.20-1.50 (2h 30)   A = 5h 25       BT: 7.15  (PD for 7pm but took ages to settle poss UT due to long nap???)

Fri:    WU: 6.00    A = 3.5h    Nap: 9.30-10.00               A = 4h 15       Nap: 2.15-3.30 (1h 15)    A = 3h 45     BT: 7.20

Sat:  WU:  6.40   A = 5h 15   Nap:  11.55-2.00 (2h 5)     A = 5h 5    BT:  7.05   (late PD for nap - my bad - took him ages to settle & he woke at 30min mark - OT)

Sun:  WU: 5.45   A = 3h 55    Nap: 9.40-10.00 (20min)    A = 4h 5    Nap: 2.05-3.30(plan to wake him & BT will be @ 7.30pm

His WU's are still fairly erratic & this is making things difficult.  On days when he wakes earlier than 6.30am we have a problem b/c this means he has to do over 5hrs A to nap time at 11.30am & this seems to cause an OT nap (with mid-nap WU's).  Even more so now that he is walking - his A times seem to have taken a bit of a dip.  Up to now I have been doing 2 naps to combat early starts, but TBH, its getting more & more tricky now, and I am actually wondering if we may have to stop offering them altogether unless he is literally falling to sleep on the floor.  

Today for example, he was up at 5.45.  I decided on a 2 nap day - & he's protested at both of them.  UT for the AM nap for sure.  Not sure on the PM nap - I tried to PD at 1.30pm & he screamed & cried as I took him to read a story for his WD & he wriggled out of my arms & ran off back to play with his toys.  I tried again at 1.45pm & put him in bed & it still took until 2.05pm for him to fall asleep.  Does it sound to you like the 2 nap days are no longer an option???  

Having said all that, we are also getting protesting at naptime even on 1 nap days & its especially bad if DH is at home.  Is this normal for this age???  Could do with some reassurance as its getting rather stressful.  
 
So, I'm quite prepared to just try 1 nap days, but wondered if any of you lovely ladies had any tips or words of wisdom on how we can bring some more consistency to our wakeups?  We seem to be having around 11hrs on 1 nap days & often only 10h 45 (unless he needs to catch up from short naps at nursery) & I'm sure this is a little on the low side??? I feel it may be down to nailing the right mix of A times & the right length of nap, to give us a consistent length night - but cannot figure out what this is!  I've tried capping his nap at 2h 15 as longer def. seems to cause shorter night, but not sure if I need a longer A to BT or a longer A to nap.  

Any ideas/suggestions welcome.  

[Shiv52]

I would go for a consistent bedtime.  I don't think you can expect a consistent wake up if you are doing varying bedtimes xx