Support for dropping the nap-part 6

[*Ali*]

Hazel, I think if you know he is going to wake up so much earlier than the sun then I would change the clock to a much earlier time, just for now. If he is going to bed at 6.30 then I would consider 6am a perfectly acceptable time to get up. I believe it would also help him stay put for longer if he experienced the sun coming on after a shorter time. You can then gradually move it back as he starts sleeping later. In fact I sometimes change Cadan's depending on his BT and when I think he would get up. I see no point in making him stay in his room for over an hour if he is not going back to sleep. I think very few 2-3yos would amuse themselves for almost 2hrs when they wake up. They must be hungry and need the toilet, not to mention get very, very bored so I would feel like I was setting him up to fail every morning which would just frustrate us both.
With the BT antics, when we did GW with Cadan to move out the room we started by explaining to him that it was sleeping time and we would not be talking any more that night. Then DH (or I in Dh's absence) would stand outside the door and if he requested a tuck in we would do it but tell him it is sleepy time and we would not come in to do it again. Then if he requested again we would just say our phrase "sleepy time". And each time he said something we just repeated the phrase. He got bored very quickly. Then after a week of staying outside the door DH could go in other rooms upstairs and just go back if called. But still he would just repeat the phrase. Now Cadan is back to sleeping independently he doesn't normally call us back at all so if he does I answer his request and it doesn't lead to more. HTH.

[Mama_Mia]

I'm getting really scared reading all your posts. Maybe when M gets to that age I should hire "the nanny" to come and teach him to stay in bed.

Today was 2nd day in a row with no nap since he didnt wake until 8:00 this morning after sttn. He went to sleep tonight right around 6:20 so about a 10.5 day. The only problem is he passed out pretty quickly so I'm afraid we are going to have a long NW tonight. If he does sttn I'm not sure what to do tomorrow. Should I wake him at 7:00 in order to get a nap so he doesnt get OT or just let him sleep and do no nap again? He has done 2 no nap days in a row before but we usually get long NW's so then I do nap the next day. I have never had him sttn twice in a row with no nap, so I'm kind of lost as to what to do if he does sttn again. 

[roseola]

If he wakes at 8am then no nap but if he wakes between 7-7:30 then I try for a nap

I do the same thing MamaC, but I rarely have luck getting DS asleep before 2:30!

What time do you put M in the crib/BBB to have him asleep by 1:30pm? My DS takes at least 30m-1 hr to fall asleep for naps no matter what time I seem to put him down, but I have not tried to do it too early.

What time is BT on no nap days?

Thanks!!!

[Mama_Mia]

I put M in his crib at 1:00 to have him asleep for 1:30 it always takes 30min for him to fall asleep. And if he isnt sleeping by 1:45 then he doesnt get a nap as I need him up at 2:15 to keep BT somewhat normal. On no nap days I start wind down right around 6:pm after 10hr A. That gives us plenty of time to talk and sing, while he has a bottle. Then into bed and asleep for 6:30. He can only handle about 10.5 hr days right now without a nap.

[confusedmummy]

Charlie woke up as usual at 5.15 but after calling me in to tuck him in he went back to sleep until 6.15 yay. So almost a 12hr night and just over 12hrs total sleep. He is being a bit of a pain this morning though, he wants his daddy to go and play in his room (DP is at work). He is doing his baby whinge, which I hate because its hard to understand him.

So where to go from here. Nap or no nap? I'm worried if I do nap then BT will become too late, but also worried if I do no nap OT will cause EW? What do you think? X

[barbaraz78]

Hazel, I would try a nap and move bt later to make a later wu, which is your goal. And C was ot the previous days, so he may need to catch up a bit.

[confusedmummy]

Thanks Barbara, I was thinking that, I'll see if the nursery can do another 30min nap and go for a 6.30/7pm BT. If he won't nap then I'll do a 5.30/6 BT x

[babyrose]

Em I seemed to have slept in!!!!! And ayden is still sleeping, should I wake hun now or let him sleep til 8?!!!

[babyrose]

He woke at 7:35 making that just over 13:5 hrs sleep my goodness im in shock! What do u think I should do today? No nap which might lead us down to that 5am wu or 20 mins in the car to get a slightly later b/time?

[Truly Blessed]

Good Morning Ladies,

Hazel, I agree with Ali about moving the clock earlier, I also adjust it according to Sam's BT, I think it's a little unrealistic to expect them to wait so long. Hopefully if he wakes maybe 15/20 mins before the sun which Sam is doing at the moment (I brought it 15 mins earlier 2 days ago) then you can tuck him back in and tell him to stay in bed as the sun is coming up soon, and he may achieve it. Otherwise you could lie with him for  a special Mammy cuddle until it comes up which is what I sometimes do with Sam and we both love that it's a nice way to start the day and he gets the idea we don't get our of bed until it happens, no matter what. I do think trying to drum things into toddlers heads during the day can only make them more determined to do it LOL from my experience anyway, because I think it makes the issue bigger in their eyes IYKWIM 

Mama C I hope you manage to find the right balance with nap/no nap days. Sam will do a couple of 13.5 nights on consecutive no nap days but then his nights quickly shorten, so maybe you could try a nap every 3 days if 2 no nap days gets him lovely long nights 

Nicola, Hurrah for all the lovely sleep in your house  Can your remind me what he did yesterday Hun  was it a no nap day  or a cat nap day  I'm thinking IIWM I would try and repeat and see what happens. Wasn't it a 35 min nap at nursery 

Sam woke at 6am and lay until 6.30 when I tucked him back in but still awake I think. So a 10.5 ish (maybe a touch more) night after an hours nap. I think his day was a little on the short side yesterday.

Ali, what you did with Cadan is pretty much the same as I have done with Sam  even the same sleepy phrase. Great minds think alike and all that 

Have a good day Ladies 

x.

[babyrose]

Hi vicki, I think u might be getting me mixed up with hazel about the nursery . Yesterday we had a no nap day and b/time was 6 (wu of 6:30 that day) he was super tired yesterday and asked to go to bed at 4:30

Would sam go to bed earlier than a 12 hr day? Maybe his refusal is an ot one?

[barbaraz78]

We had a 8.15 wu, after a bt at 8.40 pm, so a 11.5 h night after no nap. He had a nw, but very brief because he wanted to drink water but I left his bottle closed and he could not open it. And he woke another time in the night just to drink but this cannot be considered a proper nw as he didn't call for us (and I'm not sure he is actually always awake when he drinks his water). So it was fine by the clock (more and less the same amount of sleep we have with the nap+night), but F woke very clingly and had some meltdowns for unimportant things, so definetly I don't think is ready for another no nap day. It seems that he handles better the same amount of sleep spread in nap+night than a long night. But it is good he actually "decided" to sleep or not depending on the night length, and that he could have a quite long night without the nap, meaning he was not very ot. I think I will keep offering the nap durink this transition and will follow his lead wether he wants to sleep or not. I don't think I can do much more, I hope he learns to self-regulate...

[Truly Blessed]

Hi vicki, I think u might be getting me mixed up with hazel about the nursery .

So sorry Hun, yes I did, I was hurrying to get Sam to playgroup and wanted to try and reply to everyone before hand LOL. It looks as though you will get a great night on a no nap day but not consistently do you think  We'll take them where we can get them eh  . have you got a plan moving forward 

Sam needs a 13 hour day with a 1 hour nap Honey, he needs 6.5 hours after his nap and yesterday I PD at 6.15 because there was a possibility of it taking a while but it only took a couple of minutes again  Hurrah!

Barbara, I wonder if all Sam needs is 11.5 hours and not the 12 that I would like him to have, because we seem to be getting that amount no matter how we do things, but he is also definitely at his happest with it spread between a nap and night .I think you philosophy is spot on because when you're getting nap refusal sometimes you can't force it and hopefully he will 'self regulate' But at least he does sleep restful nights when refusing the nap which just goes to show you are doing well by him 

Sam is down for his 1 hour nap at the moment, he never refuses, he loves his nap, so I'm glad I can now get him down at BT on time so he can keep it until we get refusal too 

x.

[*Ali*]

Cadan was very restless between midnight and 1.30 and called me half a dozen times for 2 pees, a few drinks of water and a tuck in. I think he did sleep in between some of them but obviously not deeply. He did sleep in until 7.45am though, as did Colby and I so that was good. And he was asleep by 7ish last night after a no nap day. He usually sttn so I can only guess he was OT after several no nap days in a row. With such a late WU though I doubt he would nap early. I may just do a 7pm BT which would be a short day for him anyway.

I would definitely keep the nap as long as he will take it. I would have done so with Cadan if he hadn't refused every day for a week when we first dropped it. Now he is just used to it and would definitely refuse a nap until much too late in the day. And from a selfish point of view it works better with our activities and Colby's two nap schedule.

[babyrose]

Thats ok im hoping we get a 13.5 night with no nap and he didnt sleep in the car today. I was hoping to do every 2nd day in the car for a nap but I dont think its going to work out like that. Im worried about 2 night tho he was up at 7:35 but I think he might just wu at 5 again im not even sure if he would go down earlier