Frustrated Mama

[malingirl]

My daughter is 13 months... Lately her sleep has been off. Naps short, waketime in the am earlier and taking her awhile to fall asleep at night. Lately schedule is as follows: wakes at 6 and squirka around until 730 when I go in.naps at 10-11 lunch, play nap again at 2-330 then bed time 730 but falls asleep closer to 8-830. Not sure if ready to drop a nap? Use to take a 1.5 hr nap in am and 2 hr nap in afternoon and morning wake time was 730-8. Any advice?? Not sure what the change is, and how to fix it.

[michaeljacknnugg]

It sounds like classic nap dropping to me, and she is about the right age (well, the age my DS was).

[malingirl]

Any tips??? Today she went bsck to sleep this an with her pacifier.. Last minute resort slept till 745. Napped 10-30-12. Now napping again at 3. If I do drop any tips? How long before it clicks and her one nap becomes longer?

[michaeljacknnugg]

I don't think it took that long for us. We just had to lengthen the morning and avoid car journeys at the end of his A time. My guy does very well at staying awake when completely shattered though.

I think there is a 2-1 support thread around if you want to chat with others currently going through the transition.

[brummum]

This link may help, the first step would be to cap one of the naps. Have a read and let us know what you think!

10/11 month old sleep gone wonky? Read this first!

2-1 support thread is here:

Anyone want to talk about the 2-1 transition - #25

[malingirl]

The 2-1 link is so confusing too many threads.. Can't find beginning. Those weren't too helpful?!

[brummum]

The 2-1 support thread you can just jump on and post on the most recent page and there's usually other mommas already on there who are going through the same thing at the same time so can offer support and suggestions. Not for everyone but can help to know you're not the only person having to negotiate a tricky transition. Did you not find the 10-11 month old sleep gone wonky link helpful? Thought some of it would have rung true for you with the early waking you are having. Sorry you didn't find them useful. What did you think about capping one of the naps?

[ZacsMumme]

So what you need to do Hun is cap one nap - probably the am one in your case if she isn't refusing it. I'd cap at 40 mins to start with and then keep an eye on her for the pm nap - maybe 2.5-3 hrs later. This nap will be the long One with a full A to BT.

Ie WU 6.30
CN 10-10.40
Nap 1.30-3
BT 7

What do you think?

[malingirl]

I put her down for the nap yesterday 1030- woke herself at 1115 crying and wouldn't sleep. Got her up. Put her down again at 2.. Didn't nap the whole time.. I'm ready to drop am cold turkey.

[michaeljacknnugg]

That's what we did and it worked fine. The 1-0, however, is another story!

[pinkladyangel]

We capped but didnt work for us either. we went cold turkey. had to do a few early bedtimes but sorted in the end. his nap started out at 11 and then every few days pushed it back 15mins. teething and illness got in the way so currently at 12 o clock nap for 1hr 30/2hr and 7pm bt.

[anna*]

By all means give it a try. It works for some babies, not for others. Just keep your eye out for OT. Usually I say that for one nap to work, baby has to be able to make a 4.5hr A time. So on an 'ideal' day you'll get a 4.5hr first A, then a 2-3hr nap, then a 4.5-5hr second A, and a longer than 12hr night. Good luck, let us know how you get on.

[malingirl]

Slept an hour for nap today.
Was able to go from 7-1pm, but actually fell asleep 120-230.. Had a doctor appt for my older at 1140 so that was soonest. Hoping it gets longer than an hour!! When do I put her down? I'm so tired.

[anna*]

If her normal wake up is 7am, I would do her nap at 11.30am. It will take a few days or a week or so for the nap to lengthen out - for it to be sustainable she really needs to be napping at least two hours...

[Layla]

Be careful dropping to 1 nap cold turkey - agree with Anne just to watch out of OT. I did it too (too impatient to try other things with dd1) and after a few weeks we were really struggling (night wakings, silly 4am wake ups, etc...) and then we found a really good routine with shorter am/longer pm nap.  I then tried it with dd2 (because I thought she'd be able to handle it lol) and also went back to 2. I would probably do it gradually too, so start with a nap somewhere around 4-4.5hrs A and then very slowly push it and either try for a catnap in the afternoon or a very early bedtime if her nap is short.

The 2-1 was a bit messy for us too. I am not looking forward to it with dd3