Anyone want to talk about the 3-2 Nap transition?

[chirojaz]

Still struggling with the CN and my DD is 8 months old!  We have probably been trying to rid her of the CN for like 2 months now!  She is fine with 3hr A time but I can't seem to get her to do 2 solid naps.  If her morning nap is good (over an hour) then her afternoon nap is usually cut short (35-45min), and this is the usual situation for our days.  But if she takes a short am nap then she will take a good afternoon nap (1 1/2).  Today she slept in the am for 1hr40min, had a 3hr A time then slept for 40 or 50min and was up at 3pm.  Since it was 3, I didn't have enough time in the day to give her a catnap so I kept her up til 6:30 for BT.  She went down fine but woke at 8:50pm and was on/off fussing for an hour!   I am assuming she was OT at BT which is what caused this NW.  What should I have done differently?  She probably would have taken a CN around 5:30 but then what time would I put her to sleep for BT?  This transition is getting so frustrating for me    I am still doing a DF with her around 10:15pm, sometimes she wakes at 10pm and so I just feed her then.  She sleeps through the night but wakes up early, anywhere between 6:15 or 6:30am.

[*Becky*]

we are in the exact same position except DD is 8.5 months. I could have written your post. It is very hard to get by on short naps but we are trying.

[*Kara*]

Welcome chirojaz - sounds like it might be time to push her first A time... a nap of 1 hr is really not restorative enough and she may just be acting tired as she has always napped around that same A time... you really want to push her A times a bit at a time.. It's very likely that she can drop the CN at this age, she just needs that push from you.  I'm not surprised that you get a short second nap and then need a CN and still have some OT... you are in an UT/OT loop   Been there!

I would start by pushing her first A time by about 15 mins and then see what nap she does... it's not going to be easy to push, but try things like walking around and pointing at things around the house near the end of her A time - and keep your wind down very short until she adjusts... if you get a good first nap of more than 90 mins, try a second A time the same as the first...

[chirojaz]

thanks Kara, I will try to push her first A time tomorrow.  In the meantime.....this morning she slept for 1hr15min (which is typical for her in the am, not sure if that is an UT nap?) and I decided to keep her up for 3hr10min A before her afternoon nap and she has been sleeping for an hour now, keeping my fingers crossed that she stays asleep until at least 3pm because then I know I won't need to do a CN and will make her BT at 6:30.  The morning is hard to know EXACTLY what time she woke up because often I hear her make some noise at like 6:15 and then silent until 6:30am which is what happened this morning so I put her down at 6:20 and she slept 1hr15min.  Do you think I should base her A time on that first noise that I hear in the am or when she really starts babbling @ 6:30?

[chirojaz]

What do I do now??!!! My DD took a 1hr15min nap this morning, and just took a 1hr 5 or 10min nap this afternoon (woke up at 2:52pm).  Should I try and give her a CN or just put her to bed at like 6pm? She already wakes up in the am at around 6:15 so I hate to put her to bed at 6pm but I also am thinking that there isn't enough time to give her a CN without really messing up her BT. Any ideas?

[londonlady]

We had lots of days like that - and still have a few and find that she is able to cope with a bit of a stretch in the final A time. I would go for an early 6pm/6.15pm bedtime. A bath about 5.15/5.30pm may just revive her enough if she is flagging a bit, to get a good final feed in. I know they are all different, but my DD always just woke at her normal time, like she just tagged the missed nap on to her overnight sleep. Worked out better for us than trying to force a CN and have a battle at BT.

good luck. xx

[*Becky*]

from now on i am going to do like rach said and do early bedtime as CN's are really messing us up and she always has about and hour in the night awake...I am now pushing the first A out to about 3.15/3.30. Today we got a 1.20 nap which is great for us. I am sure this one will be short but we will not do a CN today. I will be relieved when I can finally say it is gone.

Rach - what time does sofia normally wake in the am?

[londonlady]

Not til gone 7am usually Becky, sometimes nearer 8am. Sometimes if max is up talking (or singing the theme tune from Pirates of the Caribbean... ) she'll get woken up earlier by him, but quite often she'll even sleep through that racket!!

Today she woke up from her nap at 2.30pm (Max playing the keyboard at full volume!) and we made it to 6.30pm fine, no probs at BT. Got to love half term eh? 

[*Becky*]

OMG I am so jealous. See M is usually up around 6am sometimes even earlier so makes early bedtime a PITA. I am finding her sleep so hard right now. With a short napper and a short night it makes life tough. She must be low sleep needs I guess.

[londonlady]

That is tough, does seem like it's just her way doesn't it? I mean, the short napping has gone on almost no matter what you have tried. Is she generally quite easy going when she's awake though?  Sofia can go from being quite content to being quite fussy or bored very quickly so i'd never get anything done if she didn't sleep which would absolutely drive me mad. x

[*Becky*]

she is mega whiny atm but I don't think it is tiredness, I think she just wants me all the time and it could also be boredom as she is fine out and about.

Yes I think you are right, it is just the way she is and i just have to stop fretting about it and slowly push bedtime back. xx

[chirojaz]

Ok, I am happy to say that I am pretty sure our CN days are over!  I haven't given her one in like a week.  Things are getting better, she is starting to wake up later (6:45 the past couple of days) but with that I am having a change in her morning nap.  Yesterday since she woke up at like 6:47 I put her down at 9:55.  Usually when she was waking up anytime between 6:15 and 6:30 I put her to sleep around 9:25 and she would sleep for 1hr15min. Yesterday when I put her down she slept for 55min and then woke up babbling.  I never really get tired signs out of her until after I ask her if she is tired or start telling her that it is nap time soon.  When I bring her into her room to do our wind down nap routine she may start rubbing her eyes or yawning but if I don't say anything she acts happy and awake.  This morning she was up around 6:45am again so I'm just not sure when to put her to sleep.  Do I put her down at the typical time that she usually takes a good nap at or push her to like 10am?  Any suggestions?

[chirojaz]

Just when I thought it was over......
Ok, so this am I put her down for a nap at 9:45 (she woke this morning at 6:45), and she slept for 1hr15min, woke up at 11am.  So then I put her down at 2pm and she woke at 2:45! I thought I even hear some stirring at 2:30 but it was quiet til 2:45.  So now I am faced with the decision....try and give her a catnap at like 5:15 or just keep her up til 6pm and deal with the OT.  Any suggestions?

[HenaV]

Hi! I posted the below on the NW's board. It was suggested that I could come here for some extra support re: the 3-2 nap transition. Just to update the below position, yesterday DD went 2h50m in the morning and 2h40m in the afternoon re: A time. I cut the CN which resulted in EBT which is fine BUT I nearly had a meltdown on my hands as she hit the 3h mark and I really had to struggle to get her to take her BT bottle - I think that was because she was OT or I guess there's a chance it was because it came just 2.5h after last bottle (She would normally have it around 3pm but had it at 3.40pm on account of the later afternoon nap)

Last night she woke at 12.30am, had a 2min chat and then went off til 6am, back off at 6.20 and awake at 6.50. So not bad at all really. I think I will try what i did yesterday and if she only naps for 1.5h each nap again I think i will have to offer the CN (albiet around 5.30 - a bit late I know) and a later BT?? I just can't do yesterday's BT again today, it was horrible. She was soooo upset and just didn't know what to do with herself.

Sorry if I am rambling, just feel a bit lost.... am I doing the right thing.. aaarrggh!!!!

Anyway, thanks for reading this and any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated  

This was my original post:

My LO has recently started waking at night. She doesn't fuss. Simply chats away, for sometimes up to an hour, and then goes back off. I have tried changing her nappy (just incase) - it makes no difference.

The night before last she woke at 1.15am and last nit at 1.45am. When she has done it previously, it was around the 2am mark. I was initaill concerned that the waking may be habitual, but given the varying times, I'm thinking probably not?

The only other change of signifance is the DF went 3nights ago. But this was done gradually, and she is not waking hungry, simply to have a chat. When i have gone in (thinking dirty nappy) she's laid with her bear who she loves dearly on herhappily chattering away. When i have lifted her out of her cot to change her nappy she is really excited to see me (though i do not respond at all nor speak to her) and acts as though I'm there to get her up as i would in the morning.

Maybe, given she doesn't fuss, I am fussing about nothing, but I am concerned that her night's sleep is being disrupted.

He usual routine is:

Wake up@6.30- 7am
bottle- 7-7.15
solids- 8.30
nap- 9.15-9.30 (1.5hrs)

bottle- 11-11.15
solids- 12.30
nap- 1.15-1.30 (1.5h)

bottle- 3-3.15
solids- 4.30
CN - 5-5.15 (25m)

bath - 6pm
bottle- 6.15pm
BT- 7pm (at latest - is usually shattered by then)

Re: her monring nap she more often than not wakes herself. In the afternoon i wake her after 1.5h and she is yawining again by 4pm. Should i perhaps try leaving her so she has a 2hour nap in the afternoon and see it I get her to push through to bedtime without a CN?

Oh am starting to feel like I haven't got a clue again.... HELP!!!!


All views/ advice welcome!!

Thanks in advance  

 

[chirojaz]

HenaV your routine is very similar to my DD and what I have been doing is just putting her to bed earlier to avoid the OT that way she won't have any wake-up's at night.  So if she gets up from her afternoon nap around 3 or 3:15 which she often is, then I just put her to sleep by 6:30.  It hasn't affected the time that she wakes up in the morning at all so don't be worried about that.  I would give the early BT a try and see how that goes.  I will nurse my DD when she wakes around 3:30 and she will still nurse fine at around 6pm before bed at 6:30.  The earliest I have put her to bed is 6:15pm because I didn't want to do a CN and mess everything up and still things were fine the next day.  Good luck