routine tweak or leave alone?

[*Becky*]

I'm not convinced that the EW is UT especially as she is falling asleep so easily for nap and BT but she has always been an EW'er and when were at the end of the 2:1 it was 10.5 hour nights the whole time until I made the jump so I 'think' it is UT but with OT thrown in as the days are getting longer. She slept till 6.15am today I think so better. I could def do an earlier nap but I worry that she needs the nap late in the day as she is an EW'er - pushing the nap back def helped her mornings when we first did it.

So today she went down at 1.30pm but did not fall asleep until more like 1.40pm (pre school am which always makes her OS) so will wake at 2.55pm....think maybe I should stick to a 1.30pm nap and keep it at 1.15 for a good 7 days or so and then see....what do you think?

[koe2moe]

It is a good way to start.  And only changing one variable to make it easier to see the difference as an experiment.

[*Becky*]

Don't think this is working
Have done 1.15 for a week and we had one am of about 6.15am wake up but most incl today have been earlier (5.45) and today she often does not go back to sleep either.....I am wondering now if it is just OT and whether to give her a longer nap today and see?

How do I know if it is OT or UT issues.......??

[HenaV]

Hi Becky,

For us, UT tends to manifest itself with a silly o'clock (usually around 2/3am) put the world to rights chatathon and up to 30 minutes to fall asleep at BT.

OT usually results in EW/short nights (usually 10h), sometimes BT shenanigans, over emotional outbursts, falls Asleep easily but restless

I've not read through your whole thread but picking up the theme, with R I would definitely give a slightly earlier and longer nap a shot, especially when you've tried the other way and it's not working.

R's just gone through about 2weeks of needing longer naps (1h45/2h) but we're going to 1.5h again today given last nights chatathon  but I still think that maybe once/twice a week she'll still need a longer nap.maybe the same for you? I genuinely dont know but wonder if there needs to be a greater degree of flexibility at this age - still within a set routine as such but with some opportunity for longer / shorter naps

Hth and doesn't confuse things even more for you xx

[*Becky*]

Thanks hena, I'm going to put her down at 1/1.15pm today and just let her sleep....why is this always so hard!!!

[*Becky*]

bleugh. H was being noisy and she has not settled for her nap yet.....I may just get her up in a bit and do an EBT.

Sara - can you talk to me about your NND/nap day routine you did with Z. I am wondering about trying that. Maybe doing a NND on a Sat or Sun so we can just go out or at least not ask H to be quiet 25 times which is really getting old now. The we could do a NND mid week and then the other days allow 1.5-1.45 so from 1.15-3pm ish...is that a plan?

I am not sure the capped nap is going to work for her, she is ok ish on 1.5 hours but being at pre school twice a week really tires her out and we are quite busy in the mornings, maybe she needs the longer nap. She can def cope with a NND for sure although today will be interesting seeing as she was up form 5.45am.

[ZacsMumme]

What we did was started with 1 nnd a week. Typically sat so he could get time with dad and we could go out on day trips. I'm a bit weird I make up 'rules' that work for Z as he is so touchy but really routine driven.
My rules were he had to have a good night sleep before a nnd and WU later than 7 as he could only do a 11 hr day max to start with - day would be like WU 7.15, quiet time from 4 and BT 5.45-6. He would then sleep 12.5-14 hrs then if not up by 7.30 I'd get him up. Nap was usually 1.30/2-3.30 (or earlier if tired) and he was always tired from the day before iykwim. On a nap day BT was always 7-7.30 till much later when a nap started to ruin his nights.

Then I just threw in a car nap every week or two, and quickly we got into 2 nnd a week ie wed and sat. Each time we did the extra nnd it lasted months.

Once he was 3 though naps became evil. He would do a 30 min one every 2/3 days and if more than that he didn't sleep at night, then was tired because of the short night so we would get into a loop if I let him have too much. Naps are gone now...finally

Zac was terrible  on naps capped shorter than 1.5 really so I held that nap as long as I could HTH x

[*Becky*]

we will not get a shorter day than about 12 hours but I am hoping that will be ok, it was for H...

thanks sara.

well she ended up napping 1.45-3.30pm. I let her sleep till 3.30pm as it took her ages to fall asleep. BT same as usual and she was awake 5.30am
She said her nose hurt??
But pretty she did go back to sleep at some point.

So what do I do here? I feel a bit lost. Part of me thinks this is nap dropping as H always woke early when he needed more A time/less npa but part of me also thinks is it just OT?

[ZacsMumme]

She is nearly 3 .. And Z was like 2.3 yrs when we started nnd so I it's not unlikely she can cope with a 12 hr day on a nnd, or close to it.

I wonder if she is like Z got close to nap dropping. The nap messes up the night ie short. So then she is tired for the nap because of the short night. You have to break the cycle somehow just not sure the best way to do it as we ended up with 30 min nap...

[koe2moe]

If shorter nap isn't helping, I'm leaning towards moving the nap later.  To give a longer first A and because of school pick up, it caps the nap also.  BT would keep the same or follow her cues.  wdyt?

[*Becky*]

I wonder if she is like Z got close to nap dropping. The nap messes up the night ie short. So then she is tired for the nap because of the short night.

I am wondering this too.....

Not sure what to do today so guess I will just do the 1.15-2.45pm nap and same BT.

I could do a later and shorter nap so more like 2-3pm...really don't know. I need to make a plan but feeling a bit unable to make a decision.

I might ask Ali as she follows the NND/nap day routine I think.

[koe2moe]

If your gut says, go with NND, then just try it.  At least you will know what to do afterwards!!  FX for you.  Try 3 days and evaluate!  Won't hurt!

[ZacsMumme]

I think at this age Zs sleep cycle was 1 hr so you could try 1 hr and see if she wakes ok

I agree with koe, go with your gut xx

[*Becky*]

OMG - restless from 4am......

[ZacsMumme]

Ugh! She's got all her teeth aye?
What was her WU in the end?