Will this 2-1 transition ever end?

[bloosiern]

For several weeks now LO has only taken 1 nap but no matter what I do I just can't get her to push it later.  I've tried my hardest to even get her to 11/1130 most days and I can just tell she is OT by then so I've had to put her down as early as 0900 some days.  She'll sleep anywhere from 1.5-2.5 hours and usually settles fairly quickly.  Her bedtime is pretty much 6pm but some days I think she's already OT by that point.  I desperately need advice.  Almost forgot, she just turned 18 months.

[HenaV]

Hey lovely can you post your day in EAS format so we can take a look. I think from what you have said, your early nap is perpetuating the ew.

Hena

[bloosiern]

Wake:  6/630 (at least that's when she starts talking)
Nap:  usually between 9 & 11 for 1.5-2.5hrs
Bedtime:  6pm (sometimes as early as 5 if nap ended really early)

We have a video monitor so I can see her tossing and turning most of the night.  I know her schedule needs to be more consistent but I work 2 days a week (she's either with my mom, MIL, or husband) plus the last several days we've had a lot going on with holiday celebrations and home improvements which definitely didn't help things.

Her behavior is pretty good most days except for some temper tantrums which I'm almost certain are just age and situation-related.

[HenaV]

So, she sleeps around 12.5h at night and between 1.5-2h in the day.

On that basis, I don't think 6am is an ew despite the fact but feel Early yk. If you want a later WU, I think you need to push the nap out for all else to follow.

If your LO can't handle a big jump, then increase increments of 15-20mins. So increase and then hold for 3days, increase again, rinse and repeat until you are where you want to b
What do you think? X

[bloosiern]

Thanks Hena, that sounds good.  I think I've known what I need to do for awhile now I've just been so afraid of OT that I actually got myself into more of a mess.  Tbh she actually handles OT pretty well as far as behavior and mood go she just starts shortening her nights/naps.  Oh, and I definitely don't consider 6/630 an EW, that's been her usual WU pretty much since birth so I've just learned to deal with it.  I just want her nap to be at least 11am so I can leave the house since it's summertime here.  Her 4yo sister still naps at 1pm so I feel like we barely leave the house, and since I am adamant that my kids get the sleep they need I just deal with it usually despite how much criticism I get from others about it.  I will check back in with how things are going in a few days.

[bloosiern]

Sad to report that things just haven't gotten much better.  I think she got pretty OT from being off schedule recently and I just can't get back to a decent schedule.  She's been waking at 5/530 crying the last few days and 2 nights ago woke crying during the night and didn't settle for 2 hours!  I think I am going to go with a set nap of 11 and BT at 6 with the standard 15min early nap and 30min early BT if needed.  What should I expect these first few days from this?

Also, yesterday I ended up laying her down late for her nap late (1130) because we were at the park.  She was almost asleep as I swayed with her but as soon as I PD she got hyper and played for 20min before falling asleep.  She stirred around after an hour for a few minutes then was asleep fir another 45min, so 1h45min total.  She was incredibly cranky the rest of the day.  BT was at 6pm but she didn't fall asleep until almost 730pm and was awake crying at 5am.

[Maria14]

No advice but just to say that we really struggled to push nap out later too.
DD would also be in bed at 10 am and then refuse pm nap so ended up with very long afternoon.
I am not sure how but she then suddenly started doing 5 hrs A time,sometimes 6 even after a good night.
Nap still happens at 11 or some days and BT is at 7.30 so she still has a long pm but seems to get through it ok.
I found taking her out in am also helped as she would get bored at home and want early nap
Maria

[bloosiern]

Maria - how old is your LO and what does her schedule look like most days now?  Just curious since she sounds a lot like my LO.

Today was such a disaster and I feel like I'm gonna lose my mind!  She woke crying at 5am and I went in and picked her up real quick to calm her down and her eyes were almost shut once I did so I laid her back down and walked out.  I didn't hear anything from her and I fell back to sleep until my ODD walked in my room at 715am to tell me her buddy light turned off.  I looked at the monitor and saw YDD stirring around awake...not sure if she actually fell back to sleep.  She seemed tired pretty early so her nap was from about 10-1130 give or take a bit as I'm not sure when she fell asleep.  I had to make BT 5pm since she was so cranky after her nap and she was asleep by 5:15pm.  So far she's been quiet but I've checked on her several times and she seems kinda restless already.

[bloosiern]

Horrible night...that's all I have to say about last night!  LO woke whimpering around 9pm and wouldn't settle for almost 2 hours!  She woke screaming at around 2am also.  She was quietly playing in her crib when my husband was getting ready for work just after 6, not sure how long she'd been awake.  She NEVER has NW and, except when she was a newborn, she has never woke up crying.  Desperate for help!

[sunflower321]

I had the very same struggles with the 2-1. My LO refused second nap no matter how early morning one was. Some days she was awake from 10.30 for the day. Like you I found she couldn't push the nap out later because she was exhausted by 9/10am. then I had bad nights like you because of OT from being awake so long in afternoons.
I just decided to bite the bullet. She was on one nap now no matter what so I had to go with it. The kindest thing for her (and me) was to get her to nap closer to the middle of the day. So this is what I did and my advice to you. I decided regardless of anything that happened, nap time at 11 and BT at 6:30 (6:15 if very short nap). Remind yourself that she is able for it. She's 18 months. Mine was 14/15 months but I knew she could get through it and it was best for her in the long run. I got her through the mornings by keeping her busy outside. Someone else already said this to you but it's important. At home she needed to get into bed at 9:30/10. If I took her out she got a second wind and lasted happily til 11. I don't think you should be putting her to bed at 5 no matter what happens. I think this is too early and will upset everything. So I kept her on this routine of nap 11 BT 6:30 keeping busy in mornings for 2 weeks. Then I pushed nap to 11:15 for a wk, then 11:30 for a week and pushed bt a little later too til I got to nap at 12 and BT 7:30. It was hard, naps varied in length. I thought I'd never see the end of the 2-1 but I did and she went back to great naps and night sleep. Stick with it.

[bloosiern]

So last night was terrible as I had expected.  Tbh I think I overcompensated for some late BT's this last 2 weeks and put her to bed too early a few days this week.  One night BT was 5:30 (asleep by 5:45) and another was 5 (asleep by 5:15).  Both days she had an early 1.5hr nap.  Also, Both those nights she fell asleep right away but was very restless and had tons of NW's.  I can only assume now that UT has led to OT.  How do I get out of it at this point?

Wednesday:

WU: ?
Nap:  10-1115/1130
BT:  6 (finally settled at 6:45)
NW:  9pm (didn't settle until possibly 11)
NW:  2am (awake for a bit)
NW:  5am (laid hand on her back in crib and she went right back to sleep)

Thursday:

WU:  725am
Nap: 1145-130 (PD 1100 as planned, was somewhat restless during nap)
BT:  plan to PD at 6

Any advice/ideas/suggestions...possibly encouraging stories from those that have BTDT:)

[bloosiern]

Well we've been doing 11am nap and 6pm BT for a little over a week now and things are the worst they've ever been, she's so OT.  We're getting 1.25-1.5hr naps and I have no idea how much night sleep because she's waking 2-3 times per night and sometimes taking forever to go back to sleep.  I'm so tired I can't even function.  Help please!

[lilac83]

Sounds like the 18 month sleep regression. Stick to your nap and bedtimes and push through the best you can. By 18 months she should be able to handle nap around 11:30/12:00 with a 6/6:30 wake up and bedtime 6:30/7:00. Is she teething?