Approaching 2–1? Crappy naps and inconsistent routine

[shresmummy]

Hi ladies, after 10 months of trying, we are still far away from a routine that is consistent. DS is a terrible napper but for one blissful week while we were on holidays he did the following routine

Wu 6:45/7
Nap 10/10:15 - 10:45/11
Nap 2-3 (once he even did 3:10!)
Bed 6:45ish asleep by 7:15 or so

I've never been able to repeat this week again ;(

And it's so bad at the moment I don't know where to start. His good naps whole away were in the cot and now I feel like I'm back to the ergo to Ap some sleep into him.

Today was a disaster
Wu 6:45
Nap 9:50-10:40 (in ergo carrier cos we were out)
Nap was tired by 1:40 so I took him in, he fell asleep but kept crying out every 10 mins but was then up by 2:10 refused to resettle

Did a cn at 4:50-5:25

Now doing bt and he's feeding and has slept at 7:40

What am I doing wrong? Why can't I get him to nap?

The other issue I face is school pick up. Have to leave home by 2:30 so can't ever seem to get a good time for the second nap. I need to do long am short pm but he doesn't long nap in the am

Aaargh feel like I'm tearing my hair out. Would love dome suggestions ladies. Thanks!

[Martini~]

Hi Honey! First nap seems to be UT for me, and your DS seems to follow Katie's son who also was doing a short nap in the morning any btw my DS:).

Regarding school run, do you do it by car?

[shresmummy]

Hi Hun! Thanks so much for finding my post yes I do the run by car but my DS will not sleep in the car....ever! He's slept like twice his whole little life, and will just proceed to hype himself up. ..arms legs flailing everywhere and high pitched giggly screams! Basically acts nuts

That's one thing I've noticed with him...he's often easier to get down for a nap slightly ut.ive tried stretching him so many times in the past and he just gets all wound up and then will take a short nap anyway but be a grouch for the A time that follows.

It's like you can never win with him! Maybe I just have to stretch him so far out he just crashes?

[jessmum46]

I agree with Marti, I think your first nap is UT.  I would have a good push of that first A time to 3h30-4h and see if that gets you a better nap.  He will find it hard to begin with as probably some build up of OT but try just 5-10 mins of really low-key time (even just pick him out of cot 5 mins later in the morning if he wakes naturally) and see if yu can stretch it x

[shresmummy]

Alright ladies I'm going to try next week..because school goes back and I'll have some quiet time with him in the mornings.

I'll aim for 3h45 mins to start do you think? Because even now some days he can do 3h30 min but will not sleep past the 30 mins.. Lately it's been so so confusing!

[Martini~]

I would go for 4h if you ask me:). Or just feel the moment but not earlier than 3:45. WDYT?

[shresmummy]

I have no idea what to think anymore I have noticed that his body starts actin and feeling tired around 9:45/10 every morning. So you reckon I should push past that and see what that gets? It's almost like he has a set time he has decided on..that's what I'm struggling to extend.

[katie80]

Hi Priya, sorry it took me so long to get here!

I agree with the other ladies... pushing A times is the only thing that has helped us. I'd go with whatever you're fomfortable with and whatever you think will work best for him. If you want to go by 15/20min increments that's fine, if you want to push farther that's fine too. Good luck!

[jessmum46]

The other option possibly would be for a really short CN at 9.45/10 (ie 15 mins) and then PD for long nap at 12.30, up by 2.30 for school run - but I agree I would try pushing the A times first xx

[shresmummy]

Hi ladies, I tried day 1 of the new routine, pushing the first A time.

I think we got by the day somehow but I still need to do some tweaking (esp re feeds I think..cos today it felt like I was doing too many bf)

Wu 6:55/7 (bf at 5:45/6 am then put down)
Breakfast 7:30, juice plus water 8
Bf 10 (fed a bit)
Nap : took in at 10:45, cuddled etc then put in cot at 11. Slept 11-12:05:D that's an odd hour  5 mins?

Bf upon wu - 12:10
Lunch 12:30

Tried bf before leaving for school pu at 2:15
Nap 3:55-4:25 (in ergo after coming home)
Bf 4:30
Dinner 5:15

Bedtime bottle and bf 7
Asleep by 7:40

Wonder how tonight will go. So I think bf needs tweaking. Should I keep to before naps only? And btw I couldn't extend the first nap after he woke. Ideally would've liked 1.5 hr..but I'm stoked he at least did an hour in the cot. Baby steps!

Any suggestions ladies to improve tomorrow? Thanks.

[Martini~]

Great news! It seems like prolonging A is working. 1:05 nap suggests UT to me Hon, but I would stick to roughly 4h of A for next 2-3 days and see if it gets longer, stay the same or shorten. It may be that te nap will be longer after couple of days when he adjusts. If it still will be 1h or even shorter I would be tempted to push to 4,5h A.

Still, seems he is close to one nap:).

[shresmummy]

Do you think so? I can't wait for that day! Also wanted to update.. Night was reasonable too. He slep from bt to 10:20 pm, and woke up so I'm feeding him now.

[jessmum46]

With a similar routine with DD at this age I just bf on WU, after each nap and at bedtime x

[shresmummy]

We had another very similar day today.except wu time was a bit earlier..

 Wu 6:30
Nap 10:35-11:50 in cot!!
Nap 3:50-4:30ish in ergo during other two's swimming class
Bt took him in at 7.

But he was very jumpy (don't know if it was bcos my other DS was acting up a bit though). He kept playing and screaming acting very os.

Finally settled at 7:45 pm. Do you think he was ot? Is a 13 hr day too long? When should I attempt bt?

Regarding feeds I still did a bf before am nap still 9:45 bcos he doesn't feed much at wu. He's too distracted and jumpy. Then again a top up bf after am nap, then lunch. But I only did the next bf after pm nap.

Should I tweak anything? What do you reckon?

[jessmum46]

That's great!

DDs routine was similar, roughly WU 6.30, nap 10.30-12, nap 4/4.30 for 30-40 mins with BT around 2h15-30 after the CN.  How was the night?  If it was ok then possibly just a bit OS or slightly UT at bedtime, you could try capping the second nap to 30 mins if you get a similar day again.  But maybe just stick with the 4h A time a couple more days first and see if things settle x