6.5 month old NW 45-1hr after BT and up for 2-3 hours...

[aelight]

The night wasn't horrible...though it wasn't great, either . Maybe I just need to let this new nap schedule settle in? She went to bed at 8 and woke at 11:45, 2:30, 5:30 (resettled for a few minutes), 5:55 and up for the day at 6:45 (I fed her each time, which is a lot for her/us). She might have wanted to get up between 5:30-5:55, but I thought that would be a pretty short night after BT at 8...

I will summon up my courage and try W2S! She's a pretty light sleeper, so it won't take much to really wake her . Her wake up is between 11:45-12:15, so I guess I should aim for 10:45?

I think I'm mainly just confused about BT...if she sleeps until between 12:15-12:40, she is BARELY tired at 4pm for a quick nap, and getting up at 5pm means BT by 8 is still a stretch? Though I guess 6:45am-8pm is still a pretty long day. Last night, she did seem a little hyper before BT, so perhaps a few minutes earlier would be better...

Sorry, thinking out loud! Thanks, Erin!

[Erin M]

Thinking out loud is good, I think it's how we all figure things out. 

Schedule changes usually take a few days to settle in -- you'll want to stick with the new schedule consistently for a few days before making any decisions. 

if she sleeps until between 12:15-12:40, she is BARELY tired at 4pm for a quick nap, and getting up at 5pm means BT by 8 is still a stretch?

Meaning that she's not tired enough to go sleep at 8, or overtired?  This is probably where you have to play with nap length a little -- you need to shorten it until it's a good length for her to go to sleep at BT.  Some LOs will naturally take the "right" length naps, but for others (mine always fell into this category ) you have to tweak and tweak some more until it works out right. 

[aelight]

We're back.....!!! DD is now 11 months old, and I've been over at the nap boards trying to sort out this long 2-1 transition, but now we're having some weird NWs again . In the last couple weeks, about every other day, DD wakes less than 3 hours after bt SCREAMING and cannot be soothed any other way than nursing (I still haven't nightweaned, but that's another post!). Even after she nurses, though, she will often be upset for another 5 or so minutes. On the days when she DOESN'T have this breakdown, she often will wake at 5:45am, which with her bt of 8-8:30 is pretty early. Here are a couple of our EASYs:

WU: 5:45-6:45 (play in crib), sleep again 6:45-7:45
Up: 7:45
S: 11-11:30 (we are trying short AM/long PM)
S: 2:45-4:15
B: 8:00
Up 11:15 SCREAMING until 11:45 (fed), 12:30 (crying a little, self-soothed), 4:45, awake 7:15

WU: 7:15 (played in crib until 7:45)
Up: 7:45
S: 10:40-11:20
S: 2:45-4:30
B: 8:15
Up 11:30 SCREAMING until 12:15 (fed), 6 (up and played in crib until 6:45)

Does it seem routine related to you? I've tried ibuprofen a couple of nights, and it doesn't seem to matter. Most of her days have actually been a tad longer: 6:45-8:15 or so. We were doing pretty well until a couple of weeks ago, and now I feel so lost again!

Thank you!
   

[Erin M]

Looking back, it seems like it's the routine changes getting her again -- it seems like she's not one that takes easily to changes in routine (good thing you're almost at the end of them, right? -- once you get through the 2-1 you should be okay on 1 nap for a while...) so I might put it down to your routine shift. 
Peeking at your routine -- I'm wondering about your A time -- it seems like that last A time before bed has been the one that's gotten you consistently -- have you worked on tweaking that one at all?  How is she going to bed?  Easily or fighting it?  The EW too -- your short nap might need to be even shorter with the same A time after it to get you a longer PM nap.  Or you could try the reverse?  Or was she just totally fighting the second nap then? 

[Erin M]

And, anything developmental going on right now?

[aelight]

Hi, Erin -

Thanks for your reply. Yeah, that last A time...it's always the culprit! I always go back and forth between making sure she has a 13 hour day tops and making the last A time long enough that bt isn't a struggle. USUALLY, if she has 3.5 hours before bed, she goes fairly easily. If it's less, she won't cry, but she will chat up there for quite a while and probably get OT before she actually falls asleep. Are you thinking the last A time is too short or too long?

I cut today's morning nap to 30 min, and so far, this is what's happened:

WU 7:15 (played until 7:45)
Up 7:45
Nap 10:35-11:05
Nap 2:30-3:30 (played until 4 but would not go back to sleep)

Now I don't know what to do! Yesterday she took a two hour nap in the afternoon, woke at 5pm and was asleep at 8:30 with no problems. She had no long or screaming wake-ups (just her usual wake-ups...), so maybe after a good nap, 3.5 hours is better. I guess she'll have to go to bed quite early tonight?

Nothing major developmentally right now, I don't think. Though it's always something?!

Aaaah, I can't wait for 1 nap!!!!

Thank you!

[Erin M]

My initial thought was that it was a bit long, especially with the screaming wake ups (which are more often OT related) -- and I'm still thinking that after reading your update -- with a longer second nap and a shorter A to bed, you got a better night.  And I'd stick with the 30 minute AM nap in hopes of getting a long PM one. 

As long as you've got nothing major on the developmental front, I'd chalk it up to routine, as it's been your culprit before.