Please help with 11MO OT mess

[Straffles]

I am having trouble with my 11MO LO who is stuck into the 2 to 1 and getting OT. We have never had STTN but before this, he generally woke only once a night, would bf and back to sleep.

He has been on one nap a day for around 6weeks. He refuses CNs. He is OT and teething on and off. Naps are sometimes very good 2/2.5+ but lately have had to re-settle a lot of broken naps (OT and teething). At night, best we've been having is 2 NWs which are settlable after bf. Worst is 4 NWs including screaming long ones and OT early NWs.

Yesterday we had 1HR 25nap ending 12.30. He wouldn't re-settle and I got him up at 12.50. Refused CN at 4.20pm. Had him asleep in bed by 5.55pm. Woke at 10 and settled quickly after bf. Woke again at 3am and wouldn't settle. Screaming mantra cry and didn't get him to sleep until 4.10. Then awake at 6am. Knowing he won't take a CN, I couldn't get him up at 6, so I bf-ed even though he was awake for the day. PD and eventually got him up for the day at 6.40am. He has a 4.5HR AT so I put him down for nap today at 11.10am.

He woke after 1HR 20and I could not settle him. Breastfed and put him down and he moaned/mantra cried for about 20 mins. Picked him up at 1.10 and will try for a CN after 3 hours this time.

He is clearly OT. He is frantic, very excitable.

If CN doesn't work, we'll go for BT before 6 again. But it didn't work last night.

So, is this it? He will not take UT CN so am CN plus later nap is not doable. I would be far too scared to try this or similar because if we don't get his times right, he simply doesn't settle and we could be left with a 30 min nap all day. I think this could be the worst yet.

Is there any way that we can get out of this mess? Is it just going to get worse and worse now with more NWs and earlier WUs etc. etc.

I truly can't believe this is happening.

Clearly EBT is not working for him and nights getting shorter, naps getting shorter, WU getting shorter. Do we just have to prepare ourselves for 5am WUs and 13 hour days on short naps? Please please help I am at the end of my tether now.

[zebstiredmum]

Hi Straffles

Sending hugs to you - I can't really remember 11m old as my DS is now 3, but is 11m a little young for 1 nap (DS still has 1 nap now, and he wasn't a baby who napped a lot when he was younger, but I think he was still on 2 naps at a year old)?  Maybe if Lo goes down at 6pm for a sleep, make this the CN, wake after 30mins and go for a later BT of 8pm?

Or will he fall asleep in the car?  I used to schedule in errands in the late afternoon so DS would have a CN in the car, then BT of 19:30/20:00.

Teething does really knock them for 6 sometimes - DS would be up for about 2 hours in the night sometimes when teething - only crying if lying down, so I just used to sit and watch tv till he was ready to go back to sleep (I'd stopped Nightfeeds by then but on the odd occasion I did try a bottle it didn't resettle him anyway)

Good luck - remember it's a phase and it will pass!  (though it's hell when youre going through broken nights) X

[Straffles]

Thank you

No, he won't sleep in car. Only self settling will get him to sleep and now he's too OT to do that.

Yes, it is early to go to 1 nap but that's the way it's been - a whole lot of us on the 2 to 1 board with same age LOs.

I don't think I'd want to go for later BT cos that wd make the day more than 13 hours long so more OT I guess.

But thanks for reassurances

[Erin M]

My dd1 was much like that as well.  I used to force an incredibly short AM nap (we're talking 15-20 minutes - I would have her nap in the car most often, but I think she would sometimes nap in bed -- she's going to be 8 soon, so it's  bit hazy....) and then do a "real" nap a few hours later.  I don't think any baby that young can exist on just 15-20 minutes of day sleep, so the second nap did happen if I kept the first one short enough. 

I do wonder about teeth as well -- I know that was often the culprit with dd1 as well -- seemed like it all compounded each other and made it all worse, which is never fun. 

Do you get OT wakings if you try to push BT later?  I know that EBT works really well for many -- wondering if a longer A to bed would help?  That could backfire miserably though, that's one where you have to trust how well you know your LO.  If he's that OT, might he just crash for a quick AM nap? It does really sound like that's the root of all of this.

Having been well out the other side of this transition with all 3 of mine, I can say that it will get better, I promise.