Still having NWs at 18 months.

[Jem88]

I've got another thread but it's quite long so i've made a new one My LO woke every 2-3hrs, sometimes every hour until she was 14 months, then with the help of Kaydee i then managed to get her sleeping through with just 1 wake up about 2 months ago she started sleeping well - 11.5-12hrs with just 1 wake up which was great. She then got a cold about a week an abit ago, we had an awful 4 nights but she then started sleeping well again.

She was currently doing 5hr A before her nap and then 6hr A before bed. She then started waking 2-3 times a few days ago and i was then advised that i should maybe increase her A time before her nap so i did 5.5hr A but she still woke up.

Lastnight she woke every 3hrs and did a 10hr night. The night before she woke up once and did a 11hr night, the night before that she woke every 30-60mins from 7.00pm - 11.30pm then she slept until 7.30am.

I guess i'm a little confused as why she's slept so well for the past 2 months until she got ill, but then she started sleeping well, but now she's not sleeping that well.  I'll write down the past few days easy below.

Saturday 23rd:

7.00am - up
12.00pm - nap. 5hr
1.30pm - up. 1.5hr
7.00pm - Bed. 5.5hr

Sunday 24th.

8.00am - up (she slept in an extra hour so did a 13hr night.)
2.15pm - nap (she was at my mums and didn't nap until then)
3.15pm - up. 1hr (probably due to being OT.)
8.30pm - bed.

She woke at 9.00pm but then slept until 7.30am - a great night.

Monday 23rd.

7.30am - up.
1.00pm - nap 5.5hr
2.30pm - up 1.5hr
9.00pm - (I had her in bed for 8.20pm thinking she'd fall asleep at 8.30pm but she chatted until 9.00pm)

She woke every 3hrs and woke at 7.00pm after a 10hr night.

I'm thinking of doing this today as she had a short and unsettled night?

7.00am - up.
12.00pm - nap 5hr A time
1.30pm - up 1.5hr
7.30pm - Bed. 6hr A time.

[clairebear79]

Hi Jem

What was her mood like today?  that is usually your best indicator of whether you can push her in the morning or not.  I would say the routine you posted with 5hr A was probably the best idea today.

What is happening when she wakes in the night?  Is she playing?  Or crying?  And what time does she typically wake at night (when you say her NW's were down to 1 per night)?  How do you respond to her - do you feed/cuddle her?  Do you give her time to self settle?  And is she an independent sleeper?  Oh & is she teething ATM? Sorry for all the Q's just info we will all need to know!

Around 16 months I had to push my DS's nap later to 12.30pm (increasing his AM A time up to 5.5hrs) because of short nights/EW, but when I did this, he couldn't handle doing the 5.5-6hrs PM A time that he had been doing before.  I kept bedtime at the same time & so his PM A time actually reduced to 5hrs.  Any longer & he would be overtired at bedtime.  Bearing in mind too that this was with a 2hr nap.  Our routine ended up like this:

Wake: 7am        (I woke him at 7am if he was still sleeping)
Nap: 12.30-2.30 (I woke him after 2hrs)
BT:    7.30pm

Its kinda hard to make comments on your EASY as each day is different, but I would say Saturday looks good, Sunday probably was OT (hence why you got NW 30mins after BT & a long lie in) and I also think monday bedtime was probably OT too.  A 6hr A after a 1.5hr nap is too long, esp when she's already done 5.5hrs A in the AM.

I know you are capping her nap at 1.5hrs & you feel this has helped her NW, which is fine, but I think if you increase her morning to 5.5hrs you should try cutting her afternoon to 5hrs.  So perhaps you could aim for

Up:   7am
Nap: 12.30-2 (capped at 1.5hrs)
BT:   7pm

If you find you are still getting wakeups & particularly if they are in the early part of the evening, I would urge you to try increasing her nap to 2hrs again.  I think I told you this at the end of your last thread but I started capping my DS's nap at around this age b/c I was convinced the EW was down to too much day sleep.  And it wasn't.  He got really overtired & as soon as I reinstated his 2hr nap, but at a later time (12.30 instead of 11.30) he immediately started sleeping longer at night.  He is 22 months & still napping around 1.75hrs & doing 5hrs A time to bed.

Hope this gives you some ideas to chew over.xx

[Jem88]

I don't think she's teething at the moment, she currently has all 16 teeth threw and doesn't seem to be waking in pain.
When she wakes she crys out but she's normally sitting up - I just go in and lay her down and she then goes back to sleep, she's sometimes standing up pointing to the door which then i go and get her some milk but this is maybe 1-2 times a week which i don't mind still doing.

When she first went onto 1 nap i was letting her have 2hrs but we found she would do a short night so we capped to 1.5hr and she started doing longer nights. I've tried putting her down after 5hr A before bed when i've done 5.5hr A before nap but sometimes like the other night she still chats and plays then making herself OT.

Yesterday went like i'd planned and she was asleep in bed for 7.35pm, but she then woke at 9.50pm, slept a full 6hrs and woke at 5.20am and then up for the day at 7.00am. - Not a bad night.

So do you think i should stick with the 5hr A before bed or push it to 5.5hr?

I know if i try a 2hr nap after 5.5hr A she'd probably need a longer A than 5hr before bed, but will this lead to OT? x

[Kay Dee]

Hi Jem, to me it seems she's always done better with longer A times so I'd be tempted to gradually push the nap out to 6hrs A. Then you should be able to do a shorter A to bed (maybe 5hrs?). IME of high A time kids the best way to minimise OT is to do the long A time in the morning and the shorter one in the afternoon. I think that will help her evening wake-ups if they are down to OT at bedtime. What do you think?

[Jem88]

I did 5.5hr before her nap today and she was was getting quite grumpy, but if i stick to 5.5hr for a few days then push it out 15mins more that should be okay? and keep bedtime at 5hr and see what happens?

-- I put her down for a nap at 12.30pm and woke up crying after an hour, i managed to get her back to sleep though. Maybe i should of put her down after 5hr 15mins? x

[clairebear79]

she's sometimes standing up pointing to the door which then i go and get her some milk but this is maybe 1-2 times a week which i don't mind still doing.

You don't think she is starting to wake expecting milk do you?  At this age she really shouldn't need it, unless she is unwell/teething & so off her food IYSWIM.

I know if i try a 2hr nap after 5.5hr A she'd probably need a longer A than 5hr before bed, but will this lead to OT? x

I thought this exact same thing - that he'd never be ready for bed with 5hrs A after a 2hr nap but YK what?  He was.  Very definitely so.  The longer morning tires them out far more than you would think.

I definitely agree with KayDee on keeping the afternoon shorter at 5hrs max.  This really helped me & DS keep abreast of OT.  And the later nap tends to help with EW.  I do think going straight to 6hrs A from a 5hr A is a big jump though & she may not be ready for it yet.

I put her down for a nap at 12.30pm and woke up crying after an hour, i managed to get her back to sleep though. Maybe i should of put her down after 5hr 15mins? x

This^^^ to me signals OT.  It really does.  Perhaps go gently hun - do 5h 15 to start with.  Wait a week or so & see how she fares, before you decide if she needs the A time pushing out again.
xxx

[Kay Dee]

Yes, definitely do it gradually 15mins at a time and wait to see how she does before going further.

How has the afternoon gone?

x

[Jem88]

I let her have a 2hr nap, as i went to wake her after 1.5hr and she just wouldn't wake up but mainly i wanted to see how she slept after a 2hr nap. I then put her to bed for 7.20pm and she settled around 7.40pm which wasn't too bad as i thought she'd take longer after the 2hr nap.

7.00am - up.
12.30pm - nap. 5.5hr A
2.30pm - up. 2hrs (resettled after 1hr though.)
7.40pm - bed. 5hr 10mins. A

She then woke at 8.30pm, 10.50pm, she then slept full 6hrs and cried out at 4.50am but when i went in she wasn't awake, then up for the day at 7.15am.

I don't think the NWs are due to her wanting milk as she didn't stand up pointing to the door lastnight when she woke, she only really tends to wake for milk if she hasn't ate much at tea time.

I'm now not sure if i should try a 2hr nap for a few days but still push out her nap or keep it to 1.5hr? x

[clairebear79]

I still think with the timing of those NW's (and the nap resettle) it is OT.  Why not try it hun - esp if you are going to do a longer AM A time - she will need a longer nap to restore her for the afternoon IYSWIM.  If her NW's increase or you get EW again then that is absolutely your cue to cut it back to 1.5hrs.

[Jem88]

Today i put her down for 5hr 15mins A before her nap but she didn't fall asleep until 5.5hr, i was going to let her have a 2hr nap but she woke herself after 1.5hr and this has been the first time she's actually woken herself after 1.5hr in months i've always had to wake her.

I then had her in bed for 4hr 50mins, thinking she'd fall asleep within 10mins like she usually does, but an hour later and she's still chatting and playing so it's now 6hr A before bed. - I'm confused..

Today has went:

7.15am
12.40pm - nap 5.5hr A
2.20pm - up 1.5hr

It's now 8.50pm and she's just this second fell asleep, it should of been 7.20pm. I don't understand how/why it's taken her so long to fall asleep!.. x

[Jem88]

Last night wasn't great, she woke every 2.5-3hrs and did a 10hr night

I'd normally do nap at 5hr after a short night but if i keep it at 5hr 15mins, wake after 1.5hr and then bedtime at 5hrs - hoping she'll settle easier tonight. x

[Kay Dee]

Sorry you had a bad night

That looks like a good plan for today. Stick with that for a few days and see how she does. Hopefully you'll have a better night tonight. I do think she's similar to my DD (who was on a 45min nap at this age ) so it's possible the nap will need to be trimmed a little if bedtime continues to be so late. Since she was doing so well on a 1.5hr nap at 14months it's very possible she needs less now. Hopefully not as little as my DD! But give it a few days, maybe things will settle down without cutting x

[Jem88]

Yeah, the only good night we've had for the past 5 nights was sunday when she was at my mums and only had an hours nap so maybe she does need her nap shortned a little, but i'll keep going with the 5.5hr A for the next few days and see what happens. x

[Jem88]

So today went:

7.30am - up.
12.45pm - nap a time 5hr 15mins.
3.00pm - up. 2hr 15mins.
9.00pm - bed. A time 6hr. 

I normally set my alarm if i go for a nap when LO does and i must of forgot and woke at 3.00pm and LO was still flat out, i had to actually lift her out of her cot to wake her lol. But she was in a great mood all afternoon, i then had her in bed for 8.30pm and she just lay quiet and fell asleep at 9.00pm with no fuss unlike last night lol.

I'm hoping for a better night today and we can start a fresh tomorrow with the 1.5hr nap. x

[Kay Dee]

You probably both needed the rest! Hope you have a good night x