these naps are just wearing me down

[*Becky*]

OMG hun, that is so tough....I think I could only cope with 1 nap a day in that case!!
Hugs xx

[*Becky*]

ok so asleep for 6 and awake just before 5.45am. So yes a great night but in all honesty it gets us nowhere and we are still getting up pre 6am. I really need to formulate a plan here as every day is going to be so hard if she is up at this time. I can't do BT earlier than 6pm and tbh it seems like 6pm has become the norm which I did not really want it to. Does anyone have any ideas......I know she will not nap well again today and it just goes on and on. I feel disheartened and I need to come up with a plan.

[clazzat]

Hugs, becky. I don't think I have any suggestions - I have come to the conclusion that I would rather have the early wake up (I have to get up at 6.20 anyway) and the early bedtime to give me some time with the girls and a decent evening. Would looking at it that way help at all?

[jessmum46]

(((Hugs))) Becky, have been reading along (hope you don't mind) as we're dealing with 2-1 here too, albeit at a younger age. I just wonder if perhaps she needs longer am A time than you're giving her credit for? Perhaps even as much as 6h? I know anything under 2h is generally thought to be OT on one nap, but considering her age and with such good nights I wonder if actually you're getting UT naps?

[Truly Blessed]

Hi Hun, this type of situation is why I favour set A times rather than set nap. IIWM I would start by trying 5 hours after WU and do it for at least 3 days and see where it gets you. If it doesn't helo I would add 15 mins every few days until you're at 6 hours A time and then you will see if she truly is OT or UT due to the longer nights. The problem I often find is that, you don't want to PD for nap too early in case of short naps but if you push too far short naps is exactly what you get. So an earlier nap will often result in a longer nap and a similar WU time except obviously the longer nap makes for a better BT which is what moves you forward to getting a set WU and a set nap. I know many others that would advise sticking with the set nap and that MR will eventually adjust, and they are probably right, but for us set A times reigned supreme every time.

Does she still seem OT despite the longer nights 

I hope this is helpful Sweetie. Pretty much every move takes a leap of faith and an earlier nap is a X'd fingers move just as EBT is, but worth a short IMHO.

(Hugs Lovely)

x.

[*Becky*]

thanks....5.40am today after 6.15pm BT.
I can't do 5 hours this am as have to take H out and really can't sacrifice the only 2 mornings he spends with me in the week atm but tomorrow I will and I will do it for 3 days Vicki.
All I want is a post 6am wake up and for her to be rested. If that means a 1.15 nap then that is fine but pre 6am wake ups are not. I am so grotty and irritable when I have to get out of bed at that time.
I lie on the sofa with her but she never goes back to sleep, just yawns and chats.

I find it very hard to say if she is OT or not as she is good at hiding it if she is. She probably is but goes to bed fine and no NWings. She used to do short nights and longer naps, now she has switched that so longer night, short nap but the total amount of sleep she is getting is thr same i.e. 12.45 max.

Thanks everyone, just feel totally fed up. I am surrounded by people whose kids nap at 12 for 2 hours plus and go to bed at what I consider a normal time i.e. 7/7.30pm. I want that!!!!

[*Becky*]

clare - what time does x go to bed and w/u? Have his naps improved?

[Truly Blessed]

She used to do short nights and longer naps, now she has switched that so longer night, short nap but the total amount of sleep she is getting is thr same i.e. 12.45 max.

Becky now that I know this ^ I do wonder more about UT than OT. And possibly pushing the nap out IS the way to go. As a rule how long has her A time been if the nap is 11.30/12.00  Is it close to 6 hours anyway or not    How long has her A time to bed been  Is there any way you could start pushing the nap out by 5 mins at a time and BT the same, so you slowly push the day forward and hopefully the night  If you do it slowly it shouldn't have any radical adverse effects, I have seen it work for others but it would take a couple of weeks.

Sorry to contradict myself already, I didn't realise she was clocking up her average sleep needs.

What's your gut tell you 

x.

[*Becky*]

It is awful but I just don't know atm....she has always confused me. I have struggled with her EWings forever so it is hard to tell.

She has been having about 5.5 to nap recently so up around 6am ish and nap at 11.30am. Yesterday she was up at 5.45am and she napped 11.25am - she did sleep slightly longer i.e. woke at about 12.50pm crying but for the first time I resettled her but only for about 5-10 mins!! I can never normally resettle her...ever so that would say UT to me but who really knows!

Today she will nap after 5.45 A time as it just can't be any earlier.

I like the idea of UT much better tbh!! If she is OT at 18 months on 5.5 A time after a good night I think we are in BIG trouble!!

One thing I do know is she seems to like a shorter pm A time - she would easily go down after as little as 4 hours, sometimes less.

I will report back soon xx

[Truly Blessed]

Well that all points to the latter being a good plan rather than the earlier nap Becky, don't you think  It will be interesting to see how long she naps today after 5.45 A time. I would also keep an eye on her settling times to give you clues.

Sam woke at 5.30 am for a long time at her age and then 6 am for a long time. I don't even know if it exclusively routine related Hun, rather than age related YK  for some LO's anyway 

x.

[*Becky*]

I am kind of ok with her waking early if she has gone to bed at a reasonable time but i always have in my head 'what do you expect' when she goes to bed at 6/6.15pm - iykwim. I was really annoyed with her this am but it is not her fault, she did a great night, I just need to get a more reliable routine going and a later BT...not much later but at least 6.30pm earliest with a view to getting to 7/7.15pm. She must be fairly low sleep needs as she has done 12.45 for ages, sometimes 12.5 but a low sleep needs kid on a 2 nap routine until 18 months seems odd yk??
Will come back to you after the nap xx

[C&B&E]

I think when they've been on such a short am nap (20 mins just tides them over rather than anything else obviously) then when they make the switch to one nap quite late then they can probably handle pretty long morning iyswim?

So perhaps that will be the key? She doesn't seem generally ot because of her great nights. X

[clazzat]

He goes to bed at about 6.15 and gets up at 6. He had a better nap yesterday, so we will see if he can do it again today - I hesitate to say they have improved!

Just to back up what Claire said - the girls both went to one nap pretty late (18 months +) and I never had to move the middle of the day nap, so they went to a long morning a straight away when they went down to one nap.

[*Becky*]

she did 1.5 today. Asleep for 11.30 and woke at 1pm....thing is that is neither really short for an early night or a good nap for a later one so we are just stuck yk? I can add 10 mins onto her A time tomorrow so she is doing 6 hours but hardly think that is going to give us a 2 hour nap.

1.5 is fine but she needs a later BT then as if she is only going to do 12.45 that means a 5.30am start with a 6.15pm BT which is what I was going to do today.

Aaaagh! Help/ideas appreciated....

bx

[*Becky*]

wow clare - awesome nights!!! See all I want is a 6am or later wake up x