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

[clairebear79]

Thanks.  We got antibiotics from the Doc for his cough but the hand foot & mouth virus has to just run its course. Hoping he'll get better soon.  He was ready for sleep after just 2hrs A today but I had to hold him out til we got home from the doctors.  He went down for a nap at 10.30am (3h 45 A) & was asleep in minutes.  Hoping its a better nap than yesterday!

[Shiv52]

Awh poor wee man.  Hope he is feeling better soon xx

[clairebear79]

PLEASE HELP ladies.  I really don't know what to do & I am at the end of my tether.  

Even though he is poorly, we got PM C/N refusal today.   Day went:

Wake: 6.45am          (after very disturbed night & coughing 4.50-6.45)
Nap:   10.25-12.10    (earliest I could PD due to docs appt.  He had been showing tired signs at just 2hrs A.   Asleep 2mins after PD.  Had OT WU's at 
                              30min & 1h 15.  Nap total 1h 45)
CN:  -   failed           (attempted in car 3.50-5pm.  He was fussing 3.30pm but thought was due to mouth sores.  Looked tired 3.50pm so went for drive.  Yawned as soon as put in car                                seat & spent next 15mins rubbing his eyes/yawning, then started to fuss/cry for rest of journey but no nap - OT???)
BT:      6.20pm         (straight to sleep after 6hrs 10)

We all knew going with PM C/N was risky but I can't believe he refused even when he is poorly.

Did I totally miss his tired signs  Surely this nap refusal cannot be UT  I mean, if he was yawning/eye rubbing/fussing he had to be pretty tired, right?  He HAS to be OT, he HAS to be.  So that means I just took him out too late, right?  He's waking repeatedly at night, early every morning & his naps are disturbed.  He looks shocking, is constantly whittery & this is not just down to him being poorly.  I honestly feel like we only got in this awful mess since we started pushing him to 1 nap.  Maybe all this nap resistance really is plain old OT & I actually need to shorten up his A's???

Shiv, I know you said to increase A & push towards 1 nap if we get CN refusal but surely I can't do this while he is poorly???  He is so, so tired & how will I ever know if he really does need more A when he is THIS tired??  I really have no strategy left & I am at my wits end.

[Roseii]

((hugs)) sweetie, why can't we revert to am catnap and pm long nap? He may have been OT, but maybe he was genuinely a bit UT from having had a long albeit disturbed nap?
Fwiw my nearly 16mo is still in the 2-1 and generally still takes 2 naps! X

[Shiv52]

Shiv, I know you said to increase A & push towards 1 nap if we get CN refusal but surely I can't do this while he is poorly???  He is so, so tired & how will I ever know if he really does need more A when he is THIS tired??  I really have no strategy left & I am at my wits end.

{{{{hugs Claire}}}} That was my advice if all was ok but I don't think you can apply it if he is ill. I do though think he may well have been UT after such a good nap.

I think you need to let him get well before you push his A time.  DO you think he would go for a short am-long pm tomorrow to get him caught up?

[clairebear79]

Thanks ladies - MIL is looking after him tomorrow & yes she could definitely do short AM/long PM. 

What length AM nap do I go for?  And what sort of A time?  Does a 45min AM/1.5hr PM nap sound OK for a few days to help him catch up???

He's waking so early I can't really do 15min nap as this will make the PM nap fall before lunch, unless I push his AM nap to almost 10am, & with how OT he is, I really don't want to be doing that right now.  He really needs the rest & doesn't need to be pushed at all. 

Thank the lord he's not at nursery next week (he's banished until his blisters/sores are all gone!) & I can at least have a good stab at getting him through this OT. 

[Shiv52]

Does a 45min AM/1.5hr PM nap sound OK for a few days to help him catch up???

I would do 45 minute AM and let him sleep as long as he wants in the PM xx

[clairebear79]

Thanks.  He slept 12.5hrs last night & went down for a nap at 9.35am 2.75hrs from waking.  He is so very tired ATM.

[clairebear79]

Ladies I asked MIL to do a 45min nap this morning.  She PD at 9.35am & he went straight to sleep.  She woke him after 50mins, at 10.25pm.  I got home from work & he suddenly went a bit hyper & then fell over & rubbed his eyes so I put him straight into bed at 1.55pm (3.5hrs A).  He went down ok, no crying or anything & but chattered on & off for 20 mins, asleep 2.15pm (3hrs 50 A).

How long do I let him sleep if I want to do 7pm BT?  If he does 1.5hrs he will be up at 3.45pm - won't that be too late with a 7pm BT?  Or do I need to do BT later in order to give him enough A to BT & shift that WU later?

[Roseii]

I think I'd be tempted to let him sleep 2 hours then do a later bedtime xx

[clairebear79]

Thanks Charli.  How late a BT would we be talking with a 2hr nap though ??  He just did 3hrs 45mins A after a 45min nap so wouldn't he need even longer after a 2hr nap - more like 4-4.5hrs?  That would put BT at 8.15-8.45pm   I was more thinking along the lines of 7.30pm BT at the latest.

[Shiv52]

What did you end up doing?

I'd have done  2 hour nap then 8.15pm bedtime. 

[clairebear79]

I've probably messed up again, but we did 1.5hr nap & even with that he started to fuss with tiredness at 6.20pm.  We did a long bath & PD just after 7pm, asleep 7.15pm.  Bit scared as tried to point out to DH that was only 3.5hrs A after a 1.5hr nap, which is less than he did after his 45min nap, but we both had to agree he was definitely tired.  We'll have to hope it doesn't come back to bite us tomorrow.

[Roseii]

fingers crossed for a good night for you xxxx

[clairebear79]

Last night was the first night in WEEKS that we didn't get any OT wakeups in the early part of the night.  That has to be a good sign right?  He stirred at 4.50 & 5.30 & woke for the day at 6.30am, so 11h 15mins sleep.  I PD at 9.30am again today & he chattered for a while until 9.43am so I think he may have been a tad UT for his nap.  Again to my mind this is a good sign that he is catching up as yesterday he went STS when MIL put him down after just 2.75hrs A. 

We are going to keep a close eye on his naps over the next couple of days then gradually shorten the AM one back down to 30mins & give that a fair try b/c tbh we never really tried that for more than a few days before jumping straight to 1 nap.  If he is still UT I will shorten the AM nap further & further until it is just 10mins & then it will be time for us to make the jump, but hopefully this time we can do it without so much OT.