Nightwakings and 30 min naps!

[Sarah8019]

Hi all, hoping for some advice or at least reassurance that this is just a phase.

My lb used to take two 1.5 hr naps a day and sttn. Then he turned one.  It all started to go wrong when he began to,refuse his afternoon nap but clearly still needed it.  At the same time he started waking several times a night and standing up in his cot.  I assumed perhaps he needed a little less day sleep and so cut his morning nap short so he would take and good afternoon nap, this worked for a while but we still got night wakings.  As of last week he will only nap for 30 minutes at a time no matter when I put him down or how tired he is.  He wakes up between 6-8 times a night usually from midnight onwards.

The night wakings have been going on for weeks now and I'm exhausted.  The 30 min nap is a new thing but is only making the nightwakings worse! When he was a young baby we did pupd so he knows how to put himself to sleep.

Has anyone else been through this and found it's just a phase? I'm really at a loss as to what to do as nothing I do seems to make a difference!

Thanks in advance

[Buttonbobs]

How old is your LO sweetie?

This does sound very much like a 2-1 sleep transition but now the UT has led to OT. Is there any sign of teething or other developmental change?

Could you post your EAS for us to have a look at?

[Sarah8019]

Hi, he is 13 months old.  His sleeping got really bad after 12 months but has been unsettled since 11.

Over the last two days I broke (at least I think I did) the OT cycle.  Yesterday he took two good naps and appeared well rested he was happy all day ate well etc....but still nightime has been a disaster.  His day looked like this:

5am wake up - could not resettle
6am bottle
8am breakfast
9.15am nap - 1 hr 15 minutes
10.30 wake up and snack
1.00 lunch
2.30 nap, woke after 30 but still seemed tired so I ressetled and he slept for another 45.
4.00 wake up
6.00 dinner
7.00 stared to rub eyes so gave bottle and put to bed. Cried and fussed for 30 min before sleep.
4.30am wake up.  It is currently 6.30 am and he is still awake and crying.

He is rubbing his eyes like he is tired but he was definitely not OT at BT and won't go back to sleep ( even after a bottle ) so I'm totally lost!  His eye rubbing used to be a sleepy cue but now I don't know!

He has no consistency at the moment, his naps are never at the same time as his wake up time varies every day if I posted his easy from the day before it would be completely different. TIA

[Buttonbobs]

Hi honey, that is really long day which might be because he is OT, and the crying makes me feel this is the case.

Long days are common just before a drop down to one nap, and they can be remedied by going to one nap, but I feel he's perhaps not quite there yet. Looking at that EAS you posted are you getting him up when he wakes or trying to resettle for a while?

I would say you had a shortish nap (although longer than you have been getting) after that first A which is a bit longer than 4 hours. It wasn't fully restorative though so the next four hour A left him a bit more tired and he initially work after 30 mins (a sign of OT). Then you did have a reasonably long length nap but still not fully restorative so I probably would have put down for BT a bit earlier.

Could you try doing a CN first thing (say 9ish after a 5am WU) and wake him after 45 mins and then try for a longer nap in the afternoon, or try for a long nap first thing and do a CN in the afternoon and earlier BT.
Have you read this thread?

From 2 to 1 nap transition (10-12m and older)

What do you think?

[Okiemomma]

I'm currently going through the exact same situation with my LO!  I just wrote a post about it actually.  I'd love to know how the original poster is doing and if any of the suggestions have worked.  Thanks!

[Sarah8019]

Thank you for your advice 

I've been trying to alter his naps over the last couple of weeks and we seem to have got out of the overtired cycle as he is going down for naps and bedtime easily but nightimes are still a disaster and he is still waking early.  Our EASY is currently looking like this.

5.30-6.00 wake up ( won't resettle at all and looks wide awake )
8.00 breakfast
9.30 nap( he is completely knackered by then) 45 mins and I have to wake him at the 45 min mark
12.30 lunch
2.00 nap - 1.hr 15 but again I have to wake him
7.00 ish BT

He usually goes down to bed without any fuss and sleeps soundly until midnight, then the wake ups begin.  On a typical night we would be looking at 5-8 wake ups between midnight and the morning.  Usually we just go in and hug him and put him back down and he goes back off to sleep but only for another half hour or so, this is really unusual for him as he is a brilliant self settler normally.  If I let him oversleep even by 15 minutes in the day we are looking at a 3hr cot party in the night.

Do you think this is a sign that he is now ready for one nap? I feel like it might be worth a try but with such early wake ups I don't think I'd be able to get him much past 10.00am before he needs a nap! Not sure how to go about this. TIA

[ewabear]

Maybe try half hour nap at 8:30 or even 20 min and then the second one around 12?
Have you tried putting him to bed at 6 pm?

[Buttonbobs]

When he wakes in the early hours is he settling easily? Any chance that he's teething?

He routine looks pretty good to me apart from the fact that neither nap is more than 1.5 hours so possibly not restorative. If you're getting cot parties with longer naps I would suggest possibly cutting that first nap shorter, perhaps waking him at 30 mins, bringing the second nap a little earlier - say 1.30 but letting him sleepy r at least 1.5 hours. Keeping that lot nap earlier and BTat the same time might help.

But if he's teething then it might be that causing him to stir - have you tried medicating to see if makes a difference?

[Sarah8019]

Yes he is settling easy in the early hours.  We have tried medicating to rule out him waking in discomfort but it made no difference.

If not woken his normal nap length would be 1.5 hrs he very rarely sleeps for longer ( another reason why I'm trying to hold off on going to one nap) so I will try your suggestion of cutting the first nap back to 30 mins and letting him have longer in the afternoon and see what happens!

Thank you for your suggestions