13 mo EW

[Aggiebeth06]

DS thinks that 5 am is party time. I adamantly disagree.

Prior to the time change in November, he would sleep to 7 am. He never adjusted to sleeping later and has begun to wake earlier.

I am not exactly sure when this began, but he has always been wakeful between 4-6. I used to feed him and put him back down, but we have not done that for months.

I have been leaving him in the crib to see if he would fall back to sleep, but he just plays... For an hour or more every morning. He rarely falls asleep.

We are working on the 2-1 transition in case he's not tired enough, and I have seen him sleep later a morning or so a week with this schedule.

Wake between 5:00-5:30
Play quietly in crib until 6:00-6:30
E 6:30 nurse
A 6:45
E 7:30 breakfast
A 8:00
S 9:30 (time varies - total awake time is 4.5 hours, up from 3 hours a month ago)
E 11:30 (sippy with milk)
A 11:40
E 12:30 lunch
A 1:00
S 2:30
E 3:15-3:30 milk in sippy
A 3:45
E 4:45
A
S 6:15-6:30

Another note: he has been teething or sick since the time change as well.

I'm looking for thoughts and suggestions about getting him to sleep later. I'd do PUPD/WIWO, but he literally is content with nothing more than his lovie, blanket and soother. He doesn't fall back asleep but doesn't cry either.

[Bex09]

Hi there, seeing as your LO is over a year old I am going to pop this over to Sleep for Toddlers for you.

[clairebear79]

Hiya hun

What is your ideal WU & BT now?  7am/7pm?  TBH your LO isn't technically EWing since he is going to bed at 6.30pm, he's actually getting a pretty decent nights sleep  his routine looks good, its just all a little early.

Is your preference to stay with a long AM/short PM nap?  If so.......if your LO usually does 4.5hrs A in the morning, and you want a 7am WU, his nap ideally needs to start at 11.30am IYSWIM?  So, the next question is how to get it there?!  IIWM I would gradually push the nap 15mins later each week, so it starts at 9.45am, then 10am & so on.  Keep it at 2hrs & this will keep the rest of your routine on track.  So the PM nap will also go 15mins later, as will BT.  Hopefully he will continue to sleep his 11hrs & so everything will shift later. 

If you would prefer the longer nap after lunch then I would suggest gradually cutting the AM nap back until its around 30mins from 9.30-10.  This will make him need an earlier & longer PM nap &  so that his PM nap comes earlier (just after lunch) & lengthens.  This will help him last until a later BT than 6.30pm.

What do you think?

[Aggiebeth06]

Thank you both.

I'm willing to give a routine change a try.

My concern, however, is that since we are working on the 2/1 transition, I have been putting him down earlier so he doesn't get OT. He wakes at 5:00-5:30 even if he goes down at 7-8.

I'm considering finishing the transition and then pushing the nap back. Or is there a way to work on both?

[clairebear79]

Has the big AM nap come earlier b/c he was waking early or has it always started at 9.30am?

If it has always started at 9.30, then I think the reason your WU is early is b/c of that big nap being at that time.  Having a too long and/or too early morning nap can actually encourage early waking, b/c they are able to finish off their night sleep during the morning nap.  And chances are, if the nap was at that time when he was going to bed at 7-8pm then he was probably OT at bedtime hence why you still got the EW even with the later BT.  Atm at least by having an earlier bedtime he is getting a better night's sleep IYSWIM?

Right as for what to do from here: the thing with this transition is that for some it is quick, for others it can take months & months.  You might find he keeps his current 2hrAM nap & 45min PM nap for a month or 2 before you need to cut things back more.  Or in a week or 2 he might be ready for change.  So waiting it out is entirely up to you but be prepared that it *may* take a wee while.  IIWM I would still push the nap back whilst you are transitioning, rather than waiting til its complete.  My reason is this: If you continue to put him down at 9.30am for his big nap & gradually phase out the PM nap, he will end up doing a VERY long A time to BT and this will only serve to make him OT, and its likely your wakeup will get even earlier, and then you'll have a very big job on your hands to get everything shifted out later. 

This is b/c its pretty much what happened to us when my LO transitioned.  We started with 5am EW so our first 1 nap days were 10am-12pm, and he was horrifically tired by 6pm BT (the latest he could make it to) & we had multiple NW's every night & the early starts continued b/c we were stuck in an early nap, early bedtime, early wake cycle.  So I have total sympathy & want to save you the awful trouble we had!! It took us a very long time to get our nap shifted later b/c he was always OT from the long stretch to BT, and he is now (at 17months) finally napping after lunch & we are having much better WU's as a result.

So what I would do is over the next few weeks put him down 15mins later each week for his AM nap & let him sleep.  And work on getting that nap towards 11/11.30am.  As that PM nap heads closer to tea-time, you could try cutting it to 30mins & see how he fares with that.  Then you are still gradually working towards your goal of dropping the CN & having one big nap over lunchtime.

HTH.x

[Aggiebeth06]

Thanks.

We haven't used set nap times, but have based them on _ hours (depending on his development) since he last woke. If he wakes later, the nap is later.

I appreciate the advice. I'm just so tired and ready to sleep until a reasonable hour!

[Aggiebeth06]

Just an update - we have dropped the CN the last few days and he has slept later. I am monitoring him daily for signs of OT, but he seems to be adjusting well.

I suspect we might have a couple times of picking up the CN again, but so far so good!

[clairebear79]

Oh wow he was closer than I thought!  Sounds like he is managing well & its great that you've got some later wakeups. 

If he starts to get OT then like you say you can use the PM CN, or you can give him an EBT & he will likely sleep a little longer at night to catch up.

xx