oh bless him. Did you get to the docs?
I think if he is poorly you might have to put things on hold for a while & just let him sleep when he needs.
BT 8:20 (asleep at 8:30) but only with my help. As soon as I put him in there he freaked out, crying hysterical and I had to go in there and quiet him. He was so tired, he went right to sleep but why would he all the sudden need me in there??
Yesterday may well have been down to him feeling poorly hun so try not to focus on that too much. However I think this pattern you are seeing of him struggling to settle at BT is like I said yesterday - he is tired out b/c his nights are short & his days are very long (even though he's having decent naps). But if he's not quite tired enough after his nap for BT he is likely to get very upset. I know with my DS the only time we every get hysterical crying is when he's UT.
Problem is that, I work FT. So, its really hard for me to tell my sitters what to do b/c I am not there and he is totally different for them than for me. She said he can barely make it 3 hours A time, he is clingy and crying and rubbing his eyes most days begging for a nap, then he takes a good 1.5 hour nap there.
Having been in similar situation myself while I am at work, I totally understand. It is so very hard to know what to tell other people to do when you are not there to see for yourself if he is tired. And its especially hard at a time when their routines are changing. I suspect though he is probably clingy & tired b/c he's OT from the short nights. And if he's OT then he's quite likely only going to manage 3hrs A.
When he is with me his tired signs are impossible to read. Seems like he can go and go but not at daycare.
As a toddler, my son's tired signs are also very hard to read. He hardly ever yawns or rubs his eyes, & like your LO, he seems to go & go. What I have learnt to look for though is him starting to charge around excitably even though he's already been up 5.5hrs - almost 'loop the loop', this is where he is switching from ok to overtired. Its quite subtle to spot, & if I miss it he is always more difficult to settle. I think what I'm trying to say is its very hard to just follow toddler's tired cues b/c they are often not reliable.
So IMO rather than relying solely on cues you might be better to pick an A time & stick to it every day. And ask the sitters to do the same. This will then bring more consistency to your days & help him get used to going down for a nap after a certain amount of A time. And it will also help you spot when/where he needs an A time increase.
I still think the only way you are going to get him out of this OT loop is to cap that PM nap & bring his bedtime earlier. He needs to be given a chance to catch up on some sleep
at night and the only way to do this is by shortening his day. This is sooo important & is crucial to helping you to work towards the eventual goal of 1 nap.
WRT this:
He starts out in his crib and then ends up in my bed after a few wakes...I eventually would like to break this habit, coming into my bed and move his crib in his own room but not sure how to tackle it and I do believe I have to wait until his stomach issues are resolved right??
How long has he been coming into your bed during the night for? If he has already grown accustomed to sleeping in your bed, this could well be the cause of some of his NW's - b/c its what he's now used to to help him get back to sleep IYSWIM?
Usually it is not recommended to start sleep training while they are unwell, and I know you have ongoing stomach issues & possible allergies/intolerances etc so of course this makes things more tricky. I actually suspect your night wakes may improve if you start to work on his daytime routine though. So IIWM I would work on that first, and then see what result it has on your nights.
If he is continuing to wake at night, even after the routine has been addressed, ask yourself is he waking bc he is in pain, or is it b/c he wants to be in your bed? If its the latter then you can look at a sleep training method to help him to settle in his crib rather than in your bed. Perhaps a more gentle approach eg GW might be more suitable given his health issues. I'm not the best person to advise on any of the toddler sleep training techniques TBH, as I've never had to use them, so as & when you have eliminated routine as the cause, please do ask for some more help/support with that on the boards.
HTHxx
