14.5 month old suddenly waking early

[Llou]

Hello

I have had some great advice here in the past and wondered if anyone can advise me on my LO waking early all of a sudden.

She is 14.5 months old , was walking at 11 months, quite a lot of teeth have come through already.

This was her routine up until last week:

A - 630
S - 1030 - 1130
A - 1130 - 3
S - 3 -330 ( I capped this nap to 30 mins a few weeks ago
Bedtime 730 - 745

I must admit I thought the above bedtime was slightly late but allowed it with the clocks going back this weekend.

This has been her routine this week:

A - 530 - 545
S - 10 - 1040
A - 1040. - 230
S - 230 -3
Bedtime
715 ( but sometimes she won't go to sleep until 730 to 745)

I am worried that she is only getting 10 hours at night where previously she had 11 to 11.5.  I have tried earlier bedtime but because she has had afternoon nap she doesn't seem tired enough for bed.

I am thinking its 1 nap time but just wanted some advice please.

She is generally happy but I find she gets grouchy towards 4 when she is up early. 

Any help as always greatly appreciated.  Thanks

[BusterB]

EW, BT resistance & short overall night sleep were definitely signs of needing to drop to 1 nap for us!

The actual transition was horrible... But once we went cold turkey at about 12.5 months we have never looked back it made such a difference.

[Llou]

Hi

Thanks for your reply.

Yes I thought so! Just fellt like I needed to check I hadn't missed anything in her routine etc.

The clocks are due to go back on Sunday would you let that pass first and let her settle before trying one nap?

Thanks

[HenaV]

Hi,

I agree, your LO is probably ready for the one nap transition.

Re: when to do it, I find think clock change generally less painful than the clocks moving forward. It maybe Be Better in some respects to get her set on the new clock before making a change. That said I you don't adapt to the new time as soon as possible your ew are going to seem even earlier

Hena

[BusterB]

The clocks are due to go back on Sunday would you let that pass first and let her settle before trying one nap?

I can think of arguments for and against - but agree with HenaV that your EW risks getting earlier and earlier if you delay the transition. Unfortunately we fell into that trap and it got harder and harder to switch to just 1 nap the earlier he was waking up. So we got stuck on mixing 1 and 2 nap days which didn't help and I eventually did just go cold turkey and stuck to the 1 nap, which was tough for a week, but then naps and nights extended and he went to sleep with no resistance.

The clocks going back will definitely make things trickier - but I don't see any reason not to start pushing that first A time at least. Just look at her A times rather than the clock.

Obviously with the clocks going back your early wake ups will become VERY early wake ups - but I found that if I treated the EWs as NWs and was consistent, it enabled us to push the first A time. I just made sure that my son stayed in his cot until a specific time (& I stayed with him in the dark to comfort him) and I did that every morning and because he was 'resting' it helped me add time to his first A time.

Doing this meant that I was able to move the start of his nap from say 11:30, then 11:45 then 12 etc even though he officially woke up at 5-5:30am - I just didn't get him out of bed until 6:30, 6:45 or 7am as his nights increased in length ....

Does your daughter fall asleep independently & what are you currently doing for EWs?

*ETA - oh and early bedtimes suddenly worked wonders! They never worked for us before, but became essential during the 2:1!

[Llou]

Hi there

Yes she has bath and story and bottle, she then goes into cot awake but does have a paci. She usually takes 10 mins or so to go to sleep.

For Ew I leave her in the cot for as long as possible, usually until 615 to 630 as that's our get up time.

Just as an update I gave her 1 nap yesterday ( we had to as we had something on) this was routine yesterday:

A - 6
S - 1120 to 120 ( stirred a few times but managed to get back to sleep)
Bedtime at 7

From 4am onwards she seemed a little unsettled , not crying just moaning. She woke at 5am (which I guessed would happen with the clocks as she usually wakes around 6)

I kept her in cot but she didn't really go back to sleep.

I am confused now what to do today? 1 nap or 2?

Now that I have done it do I just stick to it?

Thanks again 

[HenaV]

Personally I would stick with it. She may have been a little OT, hence being unsettled from around 4am (aka 5am) It may be worth considering keeping her day at 12/12.5 hours just for a while. OT is inevitable at any transition but I try and manage it by keeping the day shorter. So for example yesterday I might have been tempted to do something like this:

WU: 6
Nap: 11am (uncapped)
BT: 6/6.30 depending on nap lenght

As a general rule I'd try a 12hour day on a 2h nap it less and 12.5h day on a nap over 2h

So today I'd try and push through to 11am if you LO can manage it - does she tack on at night? If so go for 5.30pm BT and keep your fingers crossed for a longer night?

What do you think? X

[Llou]

Hello

That sounds like a great suggestion, she is really good with EBT she always sleeps until her normal time so she does manage to catch up when OT.

I think she can make it until 11am, if she is kept busy out in the fresh air she handles it well.

Right I will give it a shot a let you know how we get on.

Thanks for your help, fingers crossed 

[BusterB]

Brilliant advice from HenaV.

If early bedtimes work for you, definitely use them. Our earliest was 5:45pm (which for my son was *extremely* early!) over the transition I think because I kept the days short, exactly as HenaV suggested. It really helped.

Good luck!

[Llou]

Hi again

We have managed 1 nap for the last couple of days, yesterday she was awake around 6am but today she slept until 630 which is perfect for us with work etc.

She had a nap today at 11 and but only slept for 1 hour, I tried an EBT for 630 as I thought she would be exhausted.

Instead she was playing in her cot when I put her down.

She eventually went to sleep at 7pm. I know in reality that's not too bad but I'm confused why she was so hyper when she only had 1 nap.  Any ideas?

She haas her milk as usual , then she goes into cot awake with paci.  She kept standing up and playing, I stayed in the room like I always do until she is asleep.

Every time she got up I just lay her back down and told her it was sleep time. I think I did this more than 10 times, she eventually crashed out. Did I do the right thing by doing this?

Any thoughts?

Thanks

[BusterB]

Fantastic about the later wake ups - definitely on the right track!   

That behaviour at bedtime here can be UT or OT and usually a look at my son's day can tell me which.

If I understand yours looked like this?

W/u 6
Nap 11-12
PD 6:30
Asleep 7pm

Compared to your previous schedule the 6.5  A before you put  her down is much longer than the 4-4hr45 that she was doing until recently, so my guess is OT. But at least it sounds like she made up for it with the slightly later wake up time this morning - I normally get a super short night after an OT bedtime.

I probably would have shot for an even earlier BT. I try to keep A times to 5.5hr average. Also I try to keep to a 12 or 12.5 hour day, depending on nap length. So after your short nap, BT would have been 5:45-6ish.

Short naps can obviously be either UT or OT here - how was she when she woke? Did you attempt a resettle? I can usually resettle OT which is how I tell. If it is OT then this is just inevitable over the transition & it's worth holding here for a few days to let your little one get used to the new schedule.
 
It is possible the first A was still slightly short and could have resulted in a slightly UT short nap. I knew I could push my son a bit as he is low sleep needs, so I may have gone to 11:30/45 and done my best to stick to that time going forward. But you know your baby best to know which way to jump.

You did exactly the right thing last night regarding keeping her in the crib until she eventually went to sleep in my opinion, I stay in the room too. The only thing I've stopped doing recently is physically laying my son down. I now will do that once but then just repeatedly ask him to lie down, so he learns to do that himself and it minimises anything too stimulating.

[Llou]

Hi again

Thanks again for your reply, the wake up time is definitely improving. Last night she went to sleep at 7 and woke at 650 this morning so something is working!

Yes your right the a time was a lot longer yesterday afternoon upto bedtime. To be honest when I picked her up from nursery she was so happy and didn't give me any tired signals or crying which is why I went for 7 bedtime, she just seemed full of it if you know what I mean.

She was quite happy when she woke from nap, we do try and resettle but she was wide awake.  I think we can push her a time in morning as she is really good bless her, loves being outside so that helps!!

Il stick with it and see how bedtime goes tonight and let you know.

Thanks again
X

[Llou]

Hello again

I posted a couple of weeks re my LO waking early, since then she has moved onto 1 nap and it has been working well.

Her nights have gone from 9-10 back to 11-11.5 hours which is great.

The last few days though she is waking earlier which is throwing her day out especially on one nap as it's such a long day.

This is her routine at the moment:

A - between 530 and 6
S - Approx 11am for 1.5 hours
S - 645pm

She used to wake up between 6 and 630 which is perfect but the last few days it's been earlier, today it was 540. I always leave her there but she just plays etc.  yesterday she was struggling to make 11am for nap as she was so tired from being up early.

Can anyone suggest anything please?

She has only been on one nap for a couple of weeks.

Thanks

[BusterB]

Hi Llou... I have only just seen your message, how are you getting on?

We are in a similar position at the moment with my 15mo, due to the fact that his naps have suddenly shortened (teeth? SA maybe?) so his days are getting earlier & earlier.

I think your A time before bed might be a bit too long, did you try a really early bedtime? Won't get rid of the early waking instantly, but should help catch up the OT and enable you to push things out a bit.

I have been using a maximum 12.5hr day so that he is still doing a 11.5/12 hour night, if he woke at 5:45am & did 1.5 hour nap at 11am, I would have him in bed by 6pm.... then hopefully his wake up next day would gradually extend and the next morning we'd get a slightly later wake up - that pattern works here when naps are ok - at the moment they suck so I'm just riding it out! 

[Llou]

Hello again

Thanks again for your reply.

Yes I thought it might be the long a time before bed. I put her to bed very early about 6 I think one night last week to help her catch up and it seemed to work.  I then extended her morning a time a bit as she can do it quite easily in the morning, it's the afternoon she struggles with.

She know has her nap at approx 1145 after her lunch and usually does 1.5 hours.  She then goes to bed at 645 and has been sleeping until 630-645am which is perfect. She has been doing that for over a week now so hope it lasts!

But teething this week so I expect it will get disrupted at some point! Fingers crossed.

Thanks again x