Support for dropping the nap part 11

[Buttonbobs]

Carrying on from part 10
Support for dropping the nap part 10...

Please continue supporting each other through the 1-0 transition here:

[rachsk8]

Well, we have just completed day 8 NND in a row.     No obvious signs of OT either, reasonable ONS thus far, (think our lowest was 11hrs? Most have been 11.5 though, which isn't too bad I guess).  But, we did just have a NW 1.5hrs after bedtime tonight - I'm guessing it was a night-terror, as poor wee man was screaming and rolling around, not acknowledging us being there with him, lasted 5-10mins then he went back off to sleep.

I'm sure he will be a bit OT, this is un-charted territory this long without a nap! It's not through lack of offering - I have given him the opportunity every day to have a nap, but he doesn't.

My husband just questioned if we should be encouraging a VERY late nap (eg: 4pm) and a later BT...  To me, that is still delaying the enevitable, however.  He has always needed more A time in the morning, and can do much less before BT.  His recent naps have been around about 2.30/3pm, which is on the late side anyway, if you ask me!  He will still go down about 8pm though... WU somewhere around 6-6.30am usually after a nap day.

What do you think?  Should I just keep going, offering the nap, sticking to the set BT?  (Currently 6.30pm, or fractionally earlier, as it's taking him longer to settle the past few nights - surely that too is a sign of OT creeping in?)

Argh, wish these kids came with an instruction manual at birth!!  Sleep is sooo confusing!!

[Buttonbobs]

We have had a few days of late nap and a v late BT as a result, but it does seem to make her really really tired. E copes well with OT but she has been more grumpy after a late nap and late BT with it's inevitable short night than with a NND and a not quite early enough EBT, if that makes sense.

If you feel a catch up nap is needed, can you APOP a car nap or similar earlier in the day (say 12ish) just to tide you over?

E is also a late nap child and until this long run of NNDs that we are getting she was regularly napping at 2.30/3pm and waking her was really hard, even after 2 hours.

[*Becky*]

IME the nap does become more of an issue at some point during the 1-0 i.e. they are better off without one. We handled the last stages with H by doing a car nap a couple of times a week when we saw OT creeping in but we kept BT the same which was 6.30pm. Would that be an option? H got to a point where he totally refusued to nap in his bed (he was 3) but he would not have coped with no nap at all so this was quite good for us. M will be v different as she LOVES her nap

[bongabees]

Thanks for the replies. Been offline for a couple of days. I agree that we need to ST him again and now baby is going down at BT easier, I think we could start at BT and try WIWO at night. Problem is trying to persuade DH
In the meantime I am keeping a sleep diary and seeing whether there are any patterns.
We had a funny week... Some days I thought he needed a nap and he refused, one day we had a very grumpy boy who fell asleep at 12:00! We still don't give him more than an hour each times just taking one day and might at a time and hoping it will pass soon. Annoying thing is that baby is sleeping through the night at three months but keeps getting woken up by DS!!

[Khadija]

I'm still struggling to get it right 😔. Tried a 40min nap yesterday after 6hr wake up. Had to sit there to get her to calm down and fall asleep. She fights nap times no matter how tired she is. Went to sleep at 9.30pm but then a two hr NW at 2am! Atleast before if she napped she would have a good night sleep 😔. This 1-0 is so frustrating!

[PineapplePrincess]

We are still all over the place too, but I have put no nap days on hold for a bit. He was getting too overtired. I've been experimenting with putting him down for a nap earlier than normal to see if it was the last wake time pushing bedtime super late. Yesterday he did 1:00-2:15 after a 9:00-6:30 night. He was down at 9 pm last night and up at 7 today. I got him down about 1:20 and woke by 2:15. It's 8:42 and he is still up. It is pretty hit or miss with night sleep right now. The most we get with a nap is 10.5 hours, but that is rare. The least we get is 9.5 hours. As long as he gets 10 he is ok even if naps are short.

[bongabees]

Khadijah I feel the same! at least before, the nights were short but no NWS. He was awake last night at 1:30-2:30 but then slept til 7:30 and bless him, he was so proud that he had slept til the sun was on his gro clock! Trying WIWO and seems to be working slowly with him settling himself so that helps abit.

[PineapplePrincess]

Ugh...he slept only 9:05-6:05. I heard him at 6:05 coughing. No nws though, so I know what you ladies mean about a short night but he sttn. We have guests coming over but at least we are at home. I think I will let him have 1.5 hours today. I'd feel bad giving him only an hour with such little ons. I wonder if yesterday I put down at tad too early at 6/6.25 hours. We sometimes get Ewu because of that.he probably can't nap till about  today so it will be 7 hours.

I may go back to alternating. As long as I don't give two Nnd days in a row and the Nnd are at least 12.75-13 hours we are ok. Nnd with 12/12.5 hours give us long night wakings.

[rachsk8]

Pineapple Princess: Is this because you are still doing mostly nap-days that your LO needs such long days on a NND? 

As long as I don't give two Nnd days in a row and the Nnd are at least 12.75-13 hours we are ok. Nnd with 12/12.5 hours give us long night wakings.

Still trudging along here also. Had a horrible night the other night after 8 consecutive days of no-nap.  (Not cause I didn't offer... doesn't seem to matter sometimes how tired he is!!)  He was up at 6am yesterday, quite fractious and definite OT signs creeping in, so he had a (late afternoon) 1.25hr sleep - as it was a catch-up I didn't like to wake him even though he wanted to keep sleeping even after that.  Was quite grouchy still after his nap yesterday, so went for our 'standard nap-day BT' of 7pm.  He was asleep by 7.45pm, then did a 10hr ONS, with a 5.45am WU.  NND today, he was still pretty fractious all morning though, so I don't know what will happen tonight/tomorrow.

Am nervous to push BT out after that many NND's, as I see it as more of a catch-up than anything, but we always now get a short night after a nap day.  Gahh!

[rachsk8]

We handled the last stages with H by doing a car nap a couple of times a week when we saw OT creeping in but we kept BT the same which was 6.30pm. Would that be an option? H got to a point where he totally refusued to nap in his bed (he was 3) but he would not have coped with no nap at all so this was quite good for us

Sorry Becky, meant to say... yes, we are getting to the last stages of this now I feel... last stretch was 8 NND's - I definitely do try the car nap, but my little monkey won't even always fall asleep in the car anymore!!!  It's hit & miss, but less stressful on the whole than trying to get him to sleep in his bed at nap-time.  I figure if he was THAT tired, he'd fall asleep in the car........ On the days he does have a catch-up nap it usually not til late afternoon, so I tend to make BT 7pm on those days (6.30pm on a NND).  He goes to sleep alright, but we don't get high ONS on those nights anymore.  Do you think I should keep BT 6.30pm still, or push it out a little later on a nap-day?  My LO is a pretty LSN kid.... 11.5/12hrs is his tops it would seem.  :-/

BOY this is a fun transition, isn't it!?!

[*Becky*]

I would think 7pm would be ok if he is LSN. My DS is more average sleep needs x

[PineapplePrincess]

11.5/12 is not LSN... That is pretty average at 2-3 years old... Mine is LSN.. averaging about 11 hours total now. Rachsk8, how much
ONS do you get on a nap day? Ours stays closer to 10 hours/10.25 with a nap. Bedtime is a whole hour later on nap days (9pm). I read on babycenter you just try to keep nap and no nap days within an hour difference for bedtime. The most mine will do on a NND now is 11.5 hours, but even that is rare. What I do now is pretty much try and wake him around the same time in the morning whether it's a nap or no nap day. That keeps bedtimes more consistent as well as nap time. Yesterday he woke at 7:15. We did a NND. i put him to bed at 8 and woke at 7:15. We're giving a 45 min nap today. My guess is that he won't go to bed till 9:15 with that late of a wake up.

[rachsk8]

Sorry ladies, just need a wee vent!

THIS PROCESS IS NUTS!!!

Such a great week last week, DS did so well with no naps all week, but he was showing signs of needing a catch-up by Sunday.  Since then we have fallen off the track though, and the little monkey won't take a nap to save himself, even though he would really feel so much better with one!  Sometimes I feel like an alien has switched my kid, on weeks like this!   

Part of the problem here is that DH isn't really on-board with this (he works full-time, so only gets to see DS for a short while morning/evenings/weekends).  He let him sleep for 1.25hrs on Sunday, woke him at 4.30pm, and while he did go to sleep easy enough that night, he only does 10hrs at best ONS on a nap-day, so he woke at 5.45am.... so we get into that UT/OT loop again.

He doesn't tack on easily, so I can only really do a 6-6.30pm bedtime or will get a real EW.

IF he naps today (always a big IF) I think I will let him have 45mins, and do a 7.30pm BT.  He woke at 6.20am today, so that would be around about a 13/13.5hr day with a nap.... I think BT of 7pm on a nap day is possibly too early.  Especially if we only get 10hrs ONS on a nap-day.  Almost defeats the purpose of a nap!!

Sorry for the purge, just that everytime I think we are getting there, I feel like we end up back at square one!

A little green with envy of those kids who make this transition so smoothly... like so many kids I know.  :-/

[PineapplePrincess]

I feel ya, rachsk8. 1.25 nap and 10 ons on a nap day is still decent though. That is the most total sleep we get with a nap too, but only if he gets a short 45 min nap. If I let him do longer naps, ons really suffers. I am not really sure why our nnd have to that long. If I give a 12 hour one we get a two hour long happy night waking, so a 12 hour day is too short for him. I did some experimenting and it seems like we get the best amount of sleep if I keep to about a 12.5/12.75 day for nnd. Nap days tend to be 13 hours awake (14 hour total). Both result in about 11/11.25 ts so either way we go now sleep is the same. I still prefer the little 45 min break. If his wake up is on the later side, like 7:15/7:30, it's better to do a nnd for us or he will push bedtime to 9:30/9:45 or even 10! Even with a short nap, he is doing 8:45/9-7/7:15.

He is going to start preschool in two weeks but only 8-12:30. I think he could still use a short nap when he gets home as I am sure he will be exhausted. I'll have to wait and see. He is handling the nnd better so I think it will be easier to wean him off them in the future.