Author Topic: Gro-clock/lights on timer: success stories and support here! #2  (Read 194800 times)

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Offline wiolqn

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Re: Gro-clock/lights on timer: success stories and support here! #2
« Reply #150 on: September 25, 2013, 21:54:02 pm »
The sun is set up for 7am. And yes, I always explain it's still night time, I show him the clock or the moon (if it's visible. somehow he has huge respect for the moon. If I say that the moon is looking through the window and checking on you and he cannot go to sleep until you are it's working). However he still cries,
At the mo we have huge (and I really mean HUGE) sleep regression. He used to be (yes, it's the "Used to be" time for us) an independent sleeper. I did WI/WO until he was able to fall asleep all by himself. At least at night. During the day I had to stay close or he wouldn't stay in the crib.
Suddenly everything changed. Maybe few facts first:
- this little man hates sleeping. From the start putting him to bed was a struggle. When he was little he had 15-30 min naps during the day. He's a preemie, and at night he would wake up often because of the gases or noises or teething (he has terrible time teething). Often he would wake up anytime between midnight and 4am and wouldn't go back to sleep for up to 2hrs. Once he transitioned himself to one nap, and after some routine tweaking, he settled into the following pattern:
WU 6-7am
Nap 11,30-12 (anything from 1,5 up to 4hrs, but usually it's about 2hrs)
BT 7,30-8
He would still wake up at night, always around 2-4am, until I discovered it was too much fiber in his dinner. Once I changed his dinner, and if he wasn't teething, he managed to sleep through the night.
Two weeks ago everything changed. He pushed his nap to 2pm. Without any warning. One day he's happy (well as happy about going to bed as he can be) to nap at 11,30, next day he won't settle until 2,15pm. Nothing has changed in his life. No illness. I know his lower canines are coming out but they've been doing it for ages so I can't really blame them. On one day he refused to have a nap altogether. Yesterday was the same situation. At 3pm I decided to let him be and wanted to do earlier BT. However he fell asleep in his feeding chair with his mouth full of pancake at 4,15pm.
I thought that maybe it's time to get him out of the crib and this was his way to fight the crib and bars so I removed the sidebar (he has a crib that can be changed into a grownup bed when sidebars removed). I got him involved in doing so so he would feel in control. Didn't help. It was even worse as climbing out of bed got extremely easy now. When asked about it he didn't want the sidebars to be put back (well, obviously) so I let it be.
What's more he doesn't want to fall asleep independently anymore. I have to stay in his room all the time. Wi/Wo just seems to aggravate the crying and even that we start our routine at 7pm he won't fall asleep until 9-9,30pm. Like he's having another separation anxiety. Sometimes he asks to go to my room and lay down on our bad (I try to ignore those pleas) or just climbs onto my laps and doesn't want to be moved.
Now, when he was NW and coming to our room I always walked him back to his room and repeated it until he fell asleep. Often it would take us up to 2hrs with him being OT and crying at the end of it. I was very consistent for weeks but nothing changed. So, on the nights when I was really exhausted I just let him sleep with us. He would fall asleep within seconds.
I really don't know how to move from there. I don't want to AP (which I feel I'm doing). I don;t think he's ready to ditch the nap yet. But having it at 2 (or not at all) completely disrupts our day.
This post is probably more appropriate for toddler sleeping than gro-clock ;)
 

Offline *Ali*

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Re: Gro-clock/lights on timer: success stories and support here! #2
« Reply #151 on: September 25, 2013, 22:05:11 pm »
I don't think a gro clock will work for any LO who isn't sleeping independently at the moment so I would concentrate on getting him back to independent sleep and adjusting his routine. Maybe copy and paste what you wrote above to a toddler sleep post and paste the link here and I'll pop over?
Cadan Dec 2009 and Colby Aug 2011


Offline *Becky*

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Re: Gro-clock/lights on timer: success stories and support here! #2
« Reply #152 on: November 08, 2013, 09:42:50 am »
I have a question. M is EWings atm but her clock is still set for 6.45am. That means she is waiting over an hour most days to get up. Should I bring it forward again to more like 6.15am and then slowly push it back or just leave it? She isn't too noisy but she is waking H.....




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Offline *Ali*

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Re: Gro-clock/lights on timer: success stories and support here! #2
« Reply #153 on: November 08, 2013, 12:42:51 pm »
If there is no hope of her going back to sleep and you are willing to get her up then yes I would move it earlier.
Cadan Dec 2009 and Colby Aug 2011


Offline *Becky*

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Re: Gro-clock/lights on timer: success stories and support here! #2
« Reply #154 on: November 08, 2013, 13:03:36 pm »
no she is not going back to sleep and I don;t want to get up then but tbh keeping her lying in bed all that time feels a bit pointless...I wonder if the gro-clock is just not going to work as well for her :(




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Offline *Ali*

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Re: Gro-clock/lights on timer: success stories and support here! #2
« Reply #155 on: November 08, 2013, 15:10:08 pm »
Is the sun up time realistic for her sleep needs? By that I mean if she were sleeping 7pm to 5.45am and having a decent nap in the day then maybe she needs a routine tweak before she will sleep later even if she stays in bed until the sun comes up.
Cadan Dec 2009 and Colby Aug 2011


Offline *Becky*

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Re: Gro-clock/lights on timer: success stories and support here! #2
« Reply #156 on: November 08, 2013, 19:17:26 pm »
if you have time pop on my thread hun...am pretty sure it is OT but could def need a routine change, can't see the wood for the trees atm.




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Offline lady5280

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Re: Gro-clock/lights on timer: success stories and support here! #2
« Reply #157 on: January 16, 2014, 19:56:59 pm »
Hi all, haven't been on here in a while- we finally bought a toddler clock. It's been 5 nights and he's still refusing to sleep until the light comes on. In fact, it seems he is waking earlier and earlier! How long does it take for them to adjust? I should also note that when he wakes he is wet, so it's getting him to go back to sleep that's the problem. He says he will sleep, but as soon as I'm back in my bed I hear him whining for me. What to do?



Offline *Ali*

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Re: Gro-clock/lights on timer: success stories and support here! #2
« Reply #158 on: January 17, 2014, 09:54:06 am »
Is he in a nappy or wetting the bed? I would short the nappy situation out first if he wears one.  Maybe you need a different size or brand.

What time was he waking and what time have you set the sun for?  Sometimes if it is too long for them to wait it makes it too hard for them.  It can help to start the clock earlier and gradually put it later.

Do you think he needs a routine tweak? The clock won't help much if he has had enough sleep already.  What time does he nap and for how long?  What time is BT?

Can you just call into his room that it is still sleepy time?  You will need to be consistent with that for several days.

Do you think the glow is too bright for him at night?  We have ours on 1 but it is completely off if you set it to zero.
Cadan Dec 2009 and Colby Aug 2011


Offline lady5280

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Re: Gro-clock/lights on timer: success stories and support here! #2
« Reply #159 on: January 21, 2014, 04:04:38 am »
Is he in a nappy or wetting the bed? I would short the nappy situation out first if he wears one.  Maybe you need a different size or brand.

He wears cloth diapers so I am going to start doubling up on the inserts and see if that helps. He is potty trained in the day so just waiting on him to get better control at night before we stop with them.

What time was he waking and what time have you set the sun for?  Sometimes if it is too long for them to wait it makes it too hard for them.  It can help to start the clock earlier and gradually put it later.

He wakes around 5:45 and it is set for 6:20

Do you think he needs a routine tweak? The clock won't help much if he has had enough sleep already.  What time does he nap and for how long?  What time is BT?

He naps around 1 for 1.5 hours and is in bed btw 7:30-8 (he is lower sleep needs for his age though :/)

Can you just call into his room that it is still sleepy time?  You will need to be consistent with that for several days.

He has been a little better the past few days actually- this morning I changed him at 5:45 and he went back to sleep until 6:21 lol

Do you think the glow is too bright for him at night?  We have ours on 1 but it is completely off if you set it to zero.

It definitely it so I cover it up with something so that is is very dim- I can barely see around his room

Thanks! Things have been a tad better the past few days so hopefully it will continue in that direction!



Offline *Ali*

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Re: Gro-clock/lights on timer: success stories and support here! #2
« Reply #160 on: January 21, 2014, 12:36:17 pm »
Glad you're seeing improvements.

Maybe try setting it for 6 so he only has to wait 15 mins and then make it gradually later again as he gets more used to waiting for the sun.

If you would like help finding a cloth nappy combo that works better overnight then pop over to the cloth diaper thread and we would be happy to bounce some ideas around with you. Cloth diaper chat and suggestions # 8

If he always wakes at the same time you might have success with doing wake to sleep at 4.45am.

At this age I found my DS1 really struggled to get a decent night with a long nap. If he had a 1.5hr nap he only really managed a 10.5hr night. As it was he started refusing his nap when I moved him to a big boy bed at about 27mo and I started only giving him a 30 min nap in the car or buggy and his nights went back up to 12hrs. At 30mo he stopped having the 30 min naps most days and his night sleep went up to 13.5hrs (7pm-8.30am). He was always quite high sleep needs though. But my point is the nap took more away from the night than he gained from the nap so that could be what is happening here with your LO. Perhaps limiting the nap to 1hr15 or even 1hr would help extend the nights by even more. Just something to consider.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2014, 12:39:08 pm by *Ali* »
Cadan Dec 2009 and Colby Aug 2011


Offline lady5280

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Re: Gro-clock/lights on timer: success stories and support here! #2
« Reply #161 on: January 28, 2014, 03:23:03 am »
Thanks again- happy to report that things are improving more and more. Clock is still set for 6:20. Some mornings he will wake around 4:30 and need a change, then sleep until 6:30. Some nights he will make it all night until just after 6:20. Seems like the WTS would work but that would mean me setting my alarm to wake up at that time which sounds awful since he is so spotty with sleep since birth (so any time I can STTN I will take it!).

Sleep clocks are genius!



Offline Tabathagucci

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Re: Gro-clock/lights on timer: success stories and support here! #2
« Reply #162 on: February 06, 2014, 14:42:57 pm »
Hi there ,  this is a completely new concept for me.  DS is 28 months and we recently had some nw issues.  I re-introduced set nap and bed times (whenever we have me issues I tend to freak out a little and throw everything off!),which has gotten him back on track a little, but because of the nw and horrible sleep we had fallen back to a 1 pm and bed time at 6:30 or 7 depending on nap length.  So he's been waking at 6.  I told him he shouldn't call for mommy till he sees light coming through his window blinds, but that starts here at about 6:20 now and will only be getting earlier so I need a new strategy. Thinking a gro-clock would work but wondering if it has to be a gro-clock or if anyone has had good success with a less expensive one?  Anyway thanks in advance for your help!

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Re: Gro-clock/lights on timer: success stories and support here! #2
« Reply #163 on: February 07, 2014, 21:12:08 pm »
I believe some people here use lights on a timer. As long as there is a dim light to indicate morning has arrived I don't see it would matter.
Cadan Dec 2009 and Colby Aug 2011


Offline Tabathagucci

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Re: Gro-clock/lights on timer: success stories and support here! #2
« Reply #164 on: February 08, 2014, 04:17:26 am »
Ok thanks!