Anyone Want To Talk About The 2-1 Transition? Thread #19

[lily528]

Sigh we got 1 hr 10 mins I could cry.

[amom526]

Ok first time posting on this thread. I'm not sure if this is the right place to get advice, but I think we are starting the transition, and I'm really confused as to how to proceed. DS has been waking in the night all chatty for a while now, he is 10 months at the end of  this month. He dropped his third nap around 4 months, and we have been doing really well with 2 naps since then.

I just don't know what to do with his 2 naps. We were going to let his sleep as long as he wants in the morning, and then cap his second nap at 1 hour. But he has still been waking up chatty some nights, although they have improved. I am nervous to cap his morning nap because he seems to really want a long sleep then, but it seems to have worked well for so many people.

yesterday he slept from 930 -1100 and then 240-340. he was still up chatting from 3-4 am this morning. He genreally wakes up around 6 IF IF IF he goes back to sleep after that chatty wakeup.

He fell asleep around 1040 this morning after waking up at 615, and it is now 1pm and he's still asleep! I think I should just let him sleep and forget about a second nap. Otherwise we will be getting zero sleep tonight. Unless I should give him a short nap this afternoon?

I am SO SO confused. How do you decide whether to cap morning or afternoon nap. I have read  the other threads but i dont know where my DS fits.

[clairebear79]

Hi amom526 - welcome to the world of 2-1!

First of all, have you seen these links:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=95670.0
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=41952.0

The decision as to which nap to cap really rests with how your LO prefers to nap. 

If your LO likes a long A time in the morning, or is resisting going down for his AM nap at the usual time, then I would start extending his A time (very gently, 15mins at a time) & let him sleep at the AM nap & cap the PM nap.  As his A times extend, the AM nap should lengthen & the PM nap gets later & later in the day & you cap it shorter & shorter until it becomes a CN.  Eventually the nap is after lunch & the CN can be dropped.  You may find you need to cap the AM nap at 1.5-2hrs or he may refuse the PM nap.

If your LO will go down easily for his AM nap at say 9.30 every day and/or is refusing his PM nap, then I would cap the AM nap.  This will make him more tired for his PM nap  so he will sleep longer at this nap.  As you cap the AM nap shorter it will bring the PM nap earlier until it falls just after lunch, which is where it will stay when they drop to 1 nap.

IME (I have tried both methods) short AM/long PM is the best approach because a) PM nap refusal is less likely, and b) they are less likely to be OT at BT than with the long AM/short PM approach.  Having the shorter nap in the AM also means they are unable to treat the nap as an extension of night sleep & so are less likely to EW.

Was yesterday a typical EASY for you   I notice he did a much longer A time in the AM today - is he starting to resist napping at 9.30 or did you just decide to extend him? I understand your nervousness at capping the morning nap - I am just wondering though if he is only taking a long sleep b/c he is catching up from all the NW's IYSWIM?

Whichever way you decide to approach the 2-1, he will need to be able to consistently handle an A time of around 5hrs & do a 2-3hr nap before you can drop to 1 nap successfully.  This can take quite some time - most LO's drop to 1 nap between 12-18 months.  My LO is almost 15months, we started the transition at around 10/11 months & we are still doing some 2 nap days now. 

HTH.x

[clairebear79]

Oh Melissa - was that a 1 nap today?  What A time did she do?  Maybe try for a short CN to tide her over to bed or just do really EBT. 

We did 7.15pm BT here ladies.  I'm keeping everything crossed for tonight!

[lily528]

5 hr 15 mins A after an almost 12 hr night   Trying for a CN now at 3:30 15 mins into it and it's pretty much a no go :/. Sigh she is tired too. DOnt get it. So 6pm?

[*Kara*]

Might even stretch it to 7.30pm.

LOL! You've gone mad Claire!

I need a quick bit of advice - since my lazy bones decided to pull a monster night from 730pm - 8am, she wouldn't go down for a nap until 1pm - what the heck do I do??  If I let her sleep she won't get up until after 3pm, then I am stuck with her shining little face until after 8pm - no thanks!  Should I just wake her after 1 hr 30mins at approx 230pm, and then aim for a 7/715pm BT???

HELP!

[amom526]

for the past week or two he has been going down around 930/10 for his morning nap and sleeping 1.5-2 hours. His afternoon nap has been around 230-330 nap also in that timeframe. BT is around 645 right now.

He has not been resisting morning naps at all. And has not been getting tired for his pm nap till later, he only refused it 1 day. But he is not sleeping well at night, he is so wide awake chatting at 3 am.  

I read those 2 links, and I guess he might be ok with capping the morning nap and giving a longer afternoon nap. We can try that. How long do you allow for the morning nap? And what kind of A time do you do after a short morning nap?

TIA

ETA right now it seems that after a 4 hour nap he can do about 4 hour A time. In the mornings he does shorter A times like 3-3.5 hours

[*Kara*]

I would keep the AM nap start at the same time, and cap it at 1 hr 15 to start with... Then keep an eye on him, but expect him to ready to sleep after 3 - 3.25 hours   Then let him sleep as long as he likes for the PM nap

[clairebear79]

Was just about to post same thing as Kara.  I think if he likes a shorter A in the AM then capping the AM nap is def the way to go.
Try 1.15 for a start.  See if that helps the NW's.  If no improvement then I would cap it at 1hr, then 45mins.

I used to find my DS could do about 2.5hrs after a 30min nap, 2.75hrs after a 45min nap, 3hrs after a 1hr nap & so on at that age.

Good luck!

[*Kara*]

Claire - have an answer for my problem?!?!  DD woke at 8am (lazy bugger) so she refused to nap until 1pm... do I wake her at 230 to keep BT close to 7pm?

[clairebear79]

Ooh sorry Kara I thought I'd typed that - lost in cyber space I think!

If you want earlier than 8pm BT then I would def cap the nap at 1.5hrs but no less or she'll be grumpy.  IIWM I'd do 7pm bed, no later - I think 4.5hrs is long enough after a 1.5hr nap, but then I'm rather afraid of the OT monster so I do tend to err on the side of caution!

[*Kara*]

I agree completely with you on this one Claire   DD can be a mess with less than 1.5, but she needs a solid 2 hours to do longer than 4 - 4.5 hrs...

I shall wake at 230!

[lily528]

What about me? how do I get this kid to sleep longer what am I doing wrong?

[*Kara*]

You aren't doing anything wrong Melissa - Ava is just being difficult

You could try my harsh method - short nap or long one, bedtime no earlier than 7pm.  It did work very quickly with Alexandra.  Only took about a week for her naps to go to a consistent 2 hrs.  And we had some awful long A's to BT in there... the worst was a 1 hr 20 min nap that left her awake at 1210pm... BT at 7   She certainly didn't resist BT

[clairebear79]

We got a 6.45am(ish) WU here, 11.5hrs sleep.  He had some ENW's & woke briefly at 4.55am (I almost dies when I saw the time & thought he was up for the day!).  Today we went out this morning so he had opportunity to nap in the car if he wanted.  He didn't, so we did the 1 nap, but pulled it 10mins earlier b/c of the slightly earlier WU.  Am hoping for a decent nap.

Melissa - (((hugs))) you are not doing anything wrong.  I think Ava has just gotten a bit OT with the transition & being poorly, hence the short nap yesterday.  I don't think it can possibly have been UT with 5.15 A. 

I am actually doing a shorter A time with Oliver than I have been doing up to press, b/c I think I am learning that anything 5hrs+ is just making him OT very quickly.  So the last 2 days I've pulled his 1st A time back to around 4.75hrs A & if nap is 2h+ then I will allow a touch longer to BT.  When his WU's start to creep earlier (as they inevitably will) I will doing a 2 nap day with 30min AM nap, 4hr 2nd A time, 1.5hr PM nap, 4hr A to BT in order to stretch him to a later BT of 7.15/7.30 and this seems to pull his WU later again.  Am hoping this is how we can continue to play it until he can handle the 1 nap days every day.  I'd rather do this than PD at 6pm every single night & have him waking at 5am.