Help with EASY (2-1 nap transition?)

[Jadea]

HenaV,  thank you so much for all your help so far, things are working much better than they were. I still need a little help if you wouldn't mind.

DS is doing better, but he is still struggling. Our EASY today is below:

last night I put DS to bed at 8pm after a 12 hour day,  he was unable to sleep until almost 9pm.

W/U 8 am after 11 hours of nighttime rest with several  NWs.
E
A 8:00 - 11:30
S 11:30-12:10 (capped)

E
A 11:30 - 4
S 4 - 5:30 (I laid him down at 3:30, but he didn't go to sleep till 4. No wiwo, he just laid there trying to self soothe for 30 min before he was able to knock out)

E
A 5:30 -8:45
S 8:45 BT (again I laid him down at 8pm, but spent 45 min of wiwo before he was able to sleep)

I'm planning to wake him at 7:30 tomorrow morning, so we can move back toward the 13 hour day/ 11 hour night that seems to work best for him.

The question I have is in how I should tweak his EASY. He is back to fighting the pm nap, and ending it too late which is causing him to fight BT too. He is actually taking his Am nap sooner than he was before. I'm baffled.

[HenaV]

I'm pleased things are going well, well done you!! I think you're having problems at BT because the afternoon nap is quite late and long for that time of day, and yes a 13h day with that much DTS is probably what's called for.

How long do you think your LO would sleep at 11.30 if you didn't cap the nap?

H

[Jadea]

Probably only an hour because it's early. In the past when I have pushed him out to 5 or 6 hours A time he has  slept 1.5 hours or slightly less.

[HenaV]

What do you think to trying 1nap at 11.30 or 12noon (given you have a 8am
wU) uncapped and go for EBT if the nap Is less that 1.5h?

H

[Jadea]

EBT doesn't seem to have done us any favors lately. He seems to be locked in to an 11 hour night no matter when he falls asleep. He woke up this am at 7am after many NW last night.

So tomorrow I will give it a go with a 4-4.5 hour morning awake time (nap to start between 10:30 to 12 depending on w/u) but as I really don't want to do an EBT, I'm not sure what to do if the nap is short. Any suggestions?

[HenaV]

Good luck x

[Jadea]

EBT doesn't seem to have done us any favors lately. He seems to be locked in to an 11 hour night no matter when he falls asleep. He woke up this am at 7am after many NW last night. So tomorrow I will give it a go with a 4-4.5 hour morning awake time (nap to start between 10:30 to 12 depending on w/u) but as I really don't want to do an EBT, I'm not sure what to do if the nap is short. Any suggestions?

[HenaV]

10.30's a bit early with a 7am wU and 11h night.

If EBTs not for you IME the only other thing you can do us get a car nap in somewhere. Whatever you do, you need to stck with it to give things a chance to settle x

[Jadea]

Ok, I agree that the Am nap is too early for a 1 nap day. I will try for a 12:00 nap time as long as he doesn't wake before 7am. With a 1 nap schedule should I try to keep nap at the same time each day as long as w/u is between 7-8am? Should I be trying to force a 12 hour day & night? Or should I keep him on a 13 hour day / 11 hour night as he has been accustomed to?

I'm so grateful for your advice! It's so nice to have someone to consult.

[HenaV]

I would be consistent with your nap time do long as the nights ae good and you gave a decent WU time. I would be very careful pushing the nap too far in one go. You don't want to end up
Trying to fix an OT mess.

Re: the lenght of your day i think it's best to judge it by your nap - that is if you get a good nap at the right time of day you may well be able to push to a 13h day.

Whatever you do, you really must be consistent. I always apply the theory if if I'm all over the place how can I expect my LO not to be.

Good luck! X

[Jadea]

I would be consistent with your nap time do long as the nights ae good and you gave a decent WU time. I would be very careful pushing the nap too far in one go. You don't want to end upg trying to fix an OT mess

I'm a little confused here. It's 4am now, so maybe I am just tired from all the NW. (After his last NW I can't seem to get back to sleep!  I must be OT and need a DT nap lol) He has had 3 bad ones tonight. What time do you think the nap should start?

EASY yesterday was:

W/u 7
E
A 7- 10:45 (laid him down at 10:30, he fought nap till 10:45)
S 10:45-11:30

E
A 11:30 - 2
S 2-4 (no idea why he needed this much DTS but I chalked it up to making up for NW)

E
A 2-8
S 8pm BT (which he fought and didn't fall asleep till 8:40)

NW: 10, 1, 4... So far...

I'm really confused because he seems UT in the way he is fighting all sleep except the Pm nap, but even after excellent DTS still having multiple NW. So I'm not sure but he may be an OT mess now? Do you think I should go ahead with a 1 nap schedule starting the nap at noon? Or at a different time of day? Something has to give, I'm so dispirited between the nap fights and the NWs.

[HenaV]

Breathe...... Big big ((((hugs)))). Some DTS for you is not such a bad idea hon 

I think your LO is OT. Certainly multiple NW are OT here. You could be stuck in an OT/UT cycle, and if he's actively teething that's not going  to help things.

Right, what to do?  I would suggest that you try the following:

wU: 7am (assumption on my part)
Nap: 11.30 (at the latest) uncapped
BT: 7pm (if nap is 2h or more)
      EBT: 6/6.30 if you get a short nap.

Stick with it for at least 4days and sees how things settle. If you think teeth are playing a part in the sleep disturbance, meds before naps and BT may help and you may want to consider DM if you haven't already.

What do you think?

H

[Jadea]

I will start today. He had an EW at 6:40 this morning. So nap should be about 11ish. He's not teething at the moment. I will let you know how it goes. Thank you!!

[HenaV]

You're welcome, and good luck xx

[Jadea]

Here's our EASY for the last 4 days. Everything seems to be improving, though he did take a short nap today and is still having early morning wakings.

8/16/13
w/u 6:40

E
A 6:40- 11:00 am
S 11:00 - 12:30

E
A 12:30 - 7:30
S 7:30 BT (laid DS down at 7:00, but he fought sleep till 7:30 probably because we had just arrived at Grandma's house and he was too excited to want to sleep)
NW: 2, 5

8/17/13
w/u 6:45

E
A 6:45 - 11:15
S 11:15 - 12:55
E
A 12:52 - 7
S 7 BT (no fight! YAY!)
NW: 5am

8/18/13
w/u 6:45
E
A 6:45 - 11:15
S 11:15 - 12:55
E
A 12:55 - 7:00
S 7:00 BT
NW: 5, 6am

8/19/13
W/u 7:40 (wahoo!)
E
A 7:40 - 12:10
S 12:10 - 1:23 (1:15 nap)

I'm thinking that he wasn't ready for his nap yet today, he only slept 1 hr 15 min and he was happy and playing just fine, not grumpy like he usually is before naptime. I plan to do BT tonight at 7pm since he slept in this morning till 7:40am. He is still having early morning wakings but resettling for a nearly 12 hour night. Should I push the nap out later? What do you recommend?

Thank you!!!