Support for dropping the nap part 12

[LovelyLilyandJack]

We cap quite a lot on nap days. Although J wakes after 35 minutes on the days we leave him, it's very rare that we let him sleep past 30 minutes anyway. On a nap day we do :

WU: 6.15ish
Nap : 1.30ish for half an hour max  (capped )
BT: 7.15

On NNDs, we pd around 20-30 minutes earlier at BT  - so similar to you in that his BT is moved forward by the amount of day sleep he's missed. That seems to be keeping WU at around 6 - 6.30 mostly, which is actually good for us, after months of 5.30am WUs!

[Mandy.kamal]

Sounds like you have a nice routine for now! Glad you know what's working well for him at the moment. I hope it lasts!! Fingers crossed for you!

Things are wild here! We pt and now he's holding his poos for nap time and early morning only (only time he has on a diaper). So his sleep is all over and mostly refused because he poos and then can't sleep so I go in to change him and he's way worked up by then. Pt has been brutal! That coupled with the 1-0 

[oliversmommy]

How is everyone doing with this transition???

Mandy - ((hugs)) to you - I can't imagine PT during the 1:0.  I've heard that holding poos is not uncommon during PT.  Hope your LO starts using the potty soon so he can get some sleep!

So today is DS's last day of pre-school for 2 wks, then he will start going 2 days/week until August, when he'll return to 5 days/wk when I go back to work.  I'm hoping to use these 2 wks at home to move this nap dropping process along, as we are still getting LOTs of BT shenanigans and short nights.  Currently DS's ONS is averaging about 9-9.5 hrs.   I'm not sure how long he naps at pre-school (unfortunately they don't document that info) but I'm told he usually wakes after about an hour.  We're still doing either NNDs or car naps of 1 hr or less on the weekends.  BT is 9 pm, DS falls asleep around 9:30-10 pm, and wakes around 6:30-7 pm.  We are also getting NWs (usually just one and he falls back asleep quickly).

So I'm looking for suggestions on how to proceed from here.  I don't think I can go cold turkey to all NNDs, as DS will fall asleep in the car if we are driving anywhere longer than 15-20 min in the afternoons, and I don't want to spend the next 2 wks at home!  So I'm thinking of doing NNDs if we are home, and if we are out in the afternoons, capping the car naps at 30 min.  DS tacks on well, so we'll move BT forward by 30-60 min depending on amt of day sleep.  Does that sound like a good plan???  I'm really hoping to get him used to getting all of his sleep at night, as I feel this has been dragging out for WAY too long (he hasn't had a nap in his room in 8 mos) and I think he is now really used to those naps and therefore won't drop them without some prodding.  (DS is 3yrs 8mos and ASN/LSN by the way.)  I'm not sure what will happen when he returns to pre-school; the children have to rest on cots for 30 min and if DS falls asleep, they won't wake him as he will disturb the other children who are napping.  But I guess I'll worry about that in 2 wks!

Thanks in advance for any/all suggestions/advice!     

[LovelyLilyandJack]

Sounds like a good plan to me  - it's pretty much what we do.  If he doesn't nap I pull BT earlier by just under the amount of sleep he's missed. I cap naps at 30 minutes on nap days, and do a later BT those days. Jack hasn't napped at home for ages either.

Transition wise we're doing ok.  He's coping really well with nnds - I'm upping them because he's complaining about napping  (even in the car) more often now. I think he'd probably manage without any naps at all, but sometimes we have to travel in the car in the afternoon and I think he'd fall asleep, so I purposely take him for a nap at 1ish so he doesn't sleep too late. So he's only regularly done 2 NNDs in a row so far because of that. He's doing fine with that though

[Eva's Mummy]

Hi ladies, I have no idea if we are nap dropping or not. DD1 used to WU 6:45 / 7 nap 1:30-3:30 then BT 7:30. WU was getting earlier 5/5:30ish so we capped the nap 1:30 - 3 and WU was more like 6ish. She goes to the CM 3 days a wee and really only naps 45mins there and occasionally she does not nap at all there.

I am just not sure where to go now, she still naps well and I still need to wake her from her nap. The other day she had a hospital appointment at 2:30 so I thought I would try an early nap so at least she got a bit of sleep so she had 12:45 - 1:30 (went down no problem). The BT was 7 and WU 6:30.

However she's been starting to hit me and nap time and BT (don't know if this is related or not). As she still goes to sleep no problem. I just don't know if I should be capping more, making the nap earlier or later or just hanging in there where we are.

The 15th June is her last day the CM's for 8 weeks as she is off getting an op so I can imagine it will all go pear shaped then as she wont be getting the same amount of stimulation or the 3 short naps a weeks so I am trying to come up with a game plan for then.

[oliversmommy]

Thanks LovelyLilyandJack for your response.  That's a good idea to take him out in the car on days I think he'll nap, to get the nap in before we go out if we are going out later in the afternoon.  (I'm going to try that today!)

Did 30 min car naps the past two days, then BT at 8:30, and DS was asleep within minutes!    It was SOOO nice to have my evenings back!  He did 10 hrs then 10.5 hrs ONS.  Since he's home w/ me now for naps for 2 wks, I'm going to start documenting his sleep times again to get a better idea of his sleep needs.

Eva's Mummy - it sounds like the nap capping is working for you if you are getting later WUs and DD1 is going to sleep easily at nap and BTs.  I think I would hang in there for a couple of wks and then reassess the situation closer to June 15th.  You could always cap further at that time if needed.  Hope that helps!

[LovelyLilyandJack]

I would continue with capping the nap, too, evas mummy.  Or I found that I had to have both L & J awake by a certain time at the start of the 1-0 in order to give a decent A to bed.  For lily she had to be awake by 3 at first  (for a 7 / 7.30 BT). With jack he's always needed to be awake by 2.

I think we're pretty much done with naps cos jack seems to have reached the point where any nap takes away quite a bit from his night now. He's absolutely fine on no nap and has more sleep overall on nnds, so I think I've got to just go for it and stop offering them unless he's ill or something.  I hope it works  - it'll be so nice not planning my life around naps any more!

[LovelyLilyandJack]

Tink - are you still reading this thread? How's your LO doing? I just remember our two were always in sync with sleep!

[TB9]

I'm still here!  No chance for dropping the nap yet though as C's bottom molars are cutting through    She's started needing more sleep for her nap because of the molars so she is back up to 40-60min naps 

[Eva's Mummy]

Thanks ladies, i'll hang off doing too much just now then. Hopefully it would be needed for a while x

[LovelyLilyandJack]

Ooh, enjoy the extra nap time while you can then, tink!  Are these the last teeth or has she got top molars to go as well? 

[ZacsMumme]

Hey ladies, we're having long NW on NND (only tried a few) but T is fighting his nap and copes fine all day without one. So I guess we're here......sigh.....i hate nap dropping.

[TB9]

Are these the last teeth or has she got top molars to go as well? 

She still has the top ones to come in, so i dont think she will be completely transitioned for awhile yet.  Her bottom ones arent bothering her as much now, so I will have to cut the nap again...its starting to take 45 min to fall asleep at bedtime

Welcome Sara!

[LovelyLilyandJack]

Urgh, it's just messy, isn't it?

J had a nap yesterday and then only a 9.5 / 10 hour night last night so I think we've hit that point where we can't offer a nap any more unless he's clearly tired. So we're done with the 1-0 I guess!  Though we're now in that really inflexible post - transition time which is really inflexible, cos I can't let him sleep in the car any more - which means no afternoon car journeys   Any tips for keeping LOs awake in the car, anyone?

[jessmum46]

Fwiw once on consistent NNDs the odd sneaky car nap didn't cause problems any more here, I'd wake after 15-20 mins and we would usually still be ok for set bedtime xx