EW's at 19 month (help please)

[Eva's Mummy]

Its been 2 weeks now and DD is up at 5:30 every morning. Shes been moaning around 3:30 most mornings if i go in with a bottle she usually sleeps later than 5:30, but i dont really like doing this as she will go back to sleep herself at that time. I'm just so tired and have been off work sick the past 2 days i could really use the sleep aswell.

Our routine at home is:

WU 5:30
Nap 11:15 - 12:30/13:00 used to be 13:20
BT   7:00 sometimes 6:30 if bad nap ( been taking 30-45mins to get to sleep,lots of crying when i leave)

At CM
WU 5:30
Nap 12:30 - 14:30
BT   7:00 (still takes 30-45 mins to get to sleep)

I just can not get her back to sleep at 5:30. Is there anything i can do to help her? 

[michaeljacknnugg]

Does she have gro-clock? I don't know if she's really old enough for it yet but I think others have introduced it around 18mo.

My DS cannot get back to sleep at 5.30 either, just can't. Might be worth playing with her routine a little so she doesn't hit light sleep around that time.

[Eva's Mummy]

Im not sure if she would understand a gro clock just now. If i got one how would i go about introducing it at this age?

So by tweaking do you think pushing the nap out or BT. We pushed BT to 7:15 last night and gave her plenty of running around to to tire her out so she went to sleep ok but still woke at 5:30.

I know a lot of people on her say no more than a 13hr day max, do you think its worth trying a 12:30-2:30 nap and 6:30 BT tonight as that would be 13hrs?

[michaeljacknnugg]

They come with a story book to introduce the concept - all you have to do is read it to her!

I'm not a routine expert, I'm afraid. DS is 6 now, and so LSN that anything I think is 'normal' is way off to other people. For example at her age he was on (approx)
5.30/6am wake
1.30-3/3.30pm nap
7.30pm asleep for the night

The only way I could get a 12hr night from him, and this is after he'd dropped the nap, was a 3-hour stint in the park!

[Haribo2012]

Hi my LO is 22 months now and we pushed nap out quite a bit in last 3 months, if it was me I'd do set nap 12/12.15 BT 6.30/6.45 see how you get on.
We do 12.30/12.45 BT 7/7.15 WU varies from 5.45/6.15 x

[Eva's Mummy]

Thanks honey, does 5:45 not kill you every day. I can do 6:30 but before 6 is hard isn't it?

I'll stick with that for a few days and see how we get on. Would you expect WU to move a bit later after pushing the nap out?

[Haribo2012]

Lol yes but I've kind of accepted it for now if he sleeps 10.5-11 hours I think oh well after teeth/dev issues we might get it extended ;-) plus have to get up at 6.15 for work and get him ready for nursery drop off 7.30! I'm going to try a gro clock when LO is 2 as think he will understand better IMO!x

[Eva's Mummy]

We definitly have teeth issue, 2 canines in but sure the other 2 are on their way. I guess it doesnt help being pregnant, I'm just so tired and when i hear her at 5:30 i could just cry some mornings.

I am actually thinking of trying a gro clock but she is so stubborn i think it will be more like she doesnt care that she has to wait for the sun as opposed to not understanding she has to wait, shes a wee monkey x

[Haribo2012]

Bless you, I can imagine your tired! My LO is having a mummy only phase too so I don't get an odd lay in as he shouts no daddy out mummy in lol...also a wee monkey! x

[Eva's Mummy]

LOL well going by the CM's log DD went to sleep at 12:40-14:30 today after her 5:30 WU and she has had a really busy morning, bouncy castle, sand pit, painting then Softplay so she should be tired. Would you try 6:30 tonight? x

I think we are having a bit of SA here cos at BT i usually put her down and leave now she wants me to stay or she cries the place down. I just sit next to the cot in silence and she will look up every now and again to check i am there and she is fine, if i sneak out she goes nuts and she has started to be strange with all my work friends who she is normally grwat with, last time i brought her up to work she just hid under my chair right next to my legs. Normally she tears about the place going to see everyone.

[Haribo2012]

Sound like a good full of energy day for her, I'd go 6.30 too see what happens! We defo had a sitting by cot phase at your LO age if I left it was screaming city. Sounds like SA, I just did GW for a while then returned to WI/WO when less clingy. x

[Joy-filled]

Hello friend! I wonder if it could be the 18 month SR too.  Aaron has all of his teeth except the 2 year molars so I know our recent sleep strangeness isn't due to teeth.  He isn't sick either so I feel the only conclusion has to be SR.  For the past week and a half his sleep has decreased quite a bit.  He takes over an hour to fall asleep at BT even though he's crying, rubbing his eyes and asking for "night, night", clearly tired.  So his nights have shortened by 1-1.5 hrs.  I've concluded it's developmental and the 18 month SR as we didn't really get an 18 month SR and there doesn't seem to be any other logical explanation.  So, I've decided the best way to ride it out is to stay consistent so I still do WU 6:00/6:45 (I get him up no later than 6:45 but don't go in before 6:45), Nap 12:15-2(max 2 hrs), PD in crib at 7:00 and when he falls asleep, he falls asleep.  He doesn't cry, just rolls around and takes an hour to fall asleep these days so typical time asleep for BT is 8:00. 

If I were you I'd be tempted to stick with the same routine you were doing before but I wouldn't get her up before whatever time you are comfortable with her getting up.  I wouldn't even go in her room unless she's giving you the "I need you cry".  Eventually I think she should learn that if she wakes early, she can stay and play in her crib until mummy comes.  It took awhile for Aaron to learn but now when we get EWs from time to time he knows that I don't get him up before 6:45 so he just quietly lies there, sits, or chatters and sometimes falls back asleep.  Perhaps that would never work for Eva as she does sound more spirited than Aaron. If it is the SR then once she's through it then she should resume her former sleep pattern.  At least that's what I'm hoping Aaron will do.

However I could be totally wrong.  And maybe it's her teeth - as canines definitely through Aaron for a loop!  Perhaps Eva's teeth plus a SR are both contributing to the EWs and decreased sleep?  It must be so tough being pregnant with those EWs.  Hugs to you!!

[Eva's Mummy]

Hi honey. I think 18month SR aswell as as i dont think we really got it at 18 months. The problem is she proper cries hard as soon as she wakes and at BT. Tonight it took 1hr of solid crying to get her to sleep and she was clearly tired.

I'll be back to post better but she has started crying again.

[K-JDA]

Hi there - just wanted to say I could have written your post as we have all the same going on here so big hugs. 5.15 is our EW time (yuck) and SA at bedtime too. All sorts of nap shenanigans too, like taking really late naps at nursery. DS is 18 months next week and this feels like an SR. He is teething his canines which is not helping but his language is really taking off so developmental stuff going on too. I am just trying to ride it out and be as consistent as possible.

Just wanted to say you are not alone!

[Eva's Mummy]

Thanks honey. Eva's language is definitly taking off too,not fantastic but sometimes she repeats what we have said and the babbling sounds more coherent.

I could have killed DH last night, he took DD a walk round to the shops at 5:50 (only 5 mins away) to get some bread and i thought the fresh air and wee walk might tire her out and would you believe he bought her a fruit shoot which she was drinking on the way back just before bed, i mean come on!!!

Anyway i have extended her first A time to 5.5hrs this morning before her nap so it was:

WU 5:55 (later than usual but she didn't get to sleep until 7:50 last night)
A    5hrs 35mins
Nap 11:30 -

So assuming she naps for 2 hours i was thinking 5hrs A then BT 6:30