25 mo increase in NWs + SA

[Truly Blessed]

Hello Honey,

It's a tricky one to call, it may be the long A time to nap, the short naps, the afternoon A time to bed/long days causing the problem, or a mixture of both. This is why this:

Longer term. If he'd started to EW (hence 10hr nights and moving nap earlier) then I would suggest instead moving the nap later to encourage a full night sleep up to WU at 7am.  A nap coming too early can trigger and perpetuate earlier wake ups.

Is more than likely still the best advise. I suspect in the short term after a short night, it could result in short napping, but over a few days hopefully his nights will improve and he can then handle the longer A time in the morning. I know from experience how hard it can be to push a LO through but again, I think it is probably the fastest way to get him to where he needs to be.

I would try and keep his day to 13 hours maximum, so maybe you can try incorporating a longer WD with plenty chill out time, and get him to bed plenty of time before your ideal time for him to fall asleep. Maybe you could try playing him a music CD or an audio story once he is in bed, to relax him and hopefully help him to go over more easily 

IME if this approach doesn't work after giving it plenty time, there are other ways that you could try and approach it.

((HUGS)) Honey.x.

[Mandy.kamal]

Thank you again. You're absolutely right. I'm just in a loop and will stick with this until it regulates. I will keep nap between 12:30-1:00pm and then bring BT forward. Once we get back to a good night, I can push the whole day forward if I need to.

With today's EW of 6 (-10hr night), should I PD for BT at 7:00 latest?

[Truly Blessed]

With today's EW of 6 (-10hr night), should I PD for BT at 7:00 latest?

Yes, I would Hun, and I would have him quiet and hopefully chilled out by 6, then in bed by 6.30 at which point he should be in a good place to think about sleep, but if he is really OT, hopefully it will give you 30 mins to allow him to go over, rather than in bed at 7 and it taking until around 7.30, YK 

Do you have any music or audio CD's you can try him with 

Everything crossed for you 

x.

[Mandy.kamal]

Thank you!! I will try the music as well. I'll lay him down around 6:30/45. Ugh...
How can I shift out whole day forward again by an hour? Do I just wait until he gets back to an 11hr night with the 6:00am wake up and then start moving forward by pushing the nap to 1:00pm?

[Truly Blessed]

Maybe Hun, with a bit of luck he'll give you a later WU once he's back on track and you can shift the day that way without too much of a leap in any way.x.

[Mandy.kamal]

Hopefully so

Today was:
6:00am but laid until 7:00am
12:45-1:45pm nap
6:45pm laid him down for bed but it's 7:15 and he's nowhere near asleep yet. He's chatting away.

He didn't seem tired but I know the 13+ hour days are far too long and his OT is for sure built up. I'm just thankful NWs haven't crept back up from this.

I'll stick with the 13 hour max days with the nap no earlier than 12:30pm for a week and see how things play out. Again, hugs hugs and more hugs for your guidance again. I hope all is well on your end!

[Truly Blessed]

Well I'm happy he was lying contently and not upset anyway, thank the lord for small mercy's eh!?

Good luck Sweetie!

x.

[Mandy.kamal]

Horrible night. 3 NWs where he resettled himself. But then up terribly upset at 4:45am. I usually let him self soothe because me going in there always distracts him but I'm desperate and so tired. I went in and tried to calm him but failed miserably. He started screaming and nothing would calm him. I left and he calmed a little but I would be SHOCKED if he fell back to sleep....I'm literally just sitting here holding my breath

OT has definitely taken over...

[Mandy.kamal]

With a 5:00 wake up, do I just do a 13/14 hour day again? Last night putting him to bed early didn't seem to help since he still woke after 9.5hrs later.

He's laying in his bed still and I'm going to see if he will stay there and rest until 7:00am...

[Truly Blessed]

Oh my goodness You see Hun, hand on heart this is the type of situation where I would often crumble and give DS an early nap after such an awful night. BUT, having been where you have been and having said all we have said, who knows if it would pay off, or if he would refuse nap anyway, or take an earlier SHORT nap, in which case you are in 'no man's land' stuck with a LO who is exhausted and has hours and hours to bed time, then would more than likely need to shoot for a cat nap in the afternoon.

WRT BT, and the length of the day, you are right, he would need to tack on lots of sleep in order to really shorten his day, and allow him an early BT.

For all we give our best advise based on our own experience and the experience of others, I think it is important to remember that you are his Mammy, and you know him better than anyone Sweetie. If you feel it is right, then observe him and go with your 'Mother's Instinct' today, nap him when you think he is ready, and see where it gets you. If it doesn't work out then you have confirmed the current plan is as good as it's going to get. If it does work out, best case scenario he pulls a nice long nap and you get to a decent BT after it, then all the better.

I hope this doesn't throw you into a tail spin, I just would hate to have you feel like you are not in control. It is always your call ultimately as to what you think is best for him.

Many ((HUGS))

x.

[Mandy.kamal]

Thank you for your kind words and support as always. I have no clue what to do but will just ride it out and see what happens. I know there's no 'formula' or magic schedule- although we all wish there was  - so I'll just wing it this week. My husband will be gone all week anyway so I'm just going to grin and bear it until we get back to some normalcy.

We are about to start trying for baby #2 but honestly, these little blips make me second guess that
Thanks again. Xx

[creations]

Stopping by with a hug for you. These phases really are hard but honestly you will get through every single one of them.
Don't let any of this effect your decision to try for #2, think of your grown children (very grown with partners and grandchildren if you want) around the table at christmas, don't think about the little blips that happen in the first few years.

[Truly Blessed]

We are about to start trying for baby #2 but honestly, these little blips make me second guess that
Thanks again. Xx

I like the fact that you used the word 'blip' They don't feel like it, but they are, as Creations said I have forgotten what happened when we had many of our worst sleep 'blips' and that may be down to my awful memory lol, but definitely also down to the fact that they do all pass, and pale into insignificance eventually.

Can you remind me Hun (due to my awful aforementioned memory lol) if he has had no nap days, and what happened if he has 

What happened today so far 

x.

[Mandy.kamal]

Thank you both so much. Yes, you are absolutely right. I do need to think of the future and remember that these little stages aren't forever. And even worse, I know I'll miss it when they are gone!

I just put all the pressure of myself to keep him happy, healthy and sleeping properly so I get down when these blips happen. I need to work on handling them better and calmer.

He had a couple NWs last night but they were super short and easily resettled himself and then he woke up at 6:30!!! Yahoo! Not going to get my hopes up just yet but seems we are back on the proper path.

No ma'am, we've never tied the NND. He may be fine with it but remember back when I capped to 1 hour, we got OT on the third day of that so I went back to letting him do a full 1.5hr nap. I know we are headed in that direction but probably not quite there. We may be started him in preschool in August and if so, it ends much later than his naps so we will probably need to adjust him to a few NNDs a week?

[Truly Blessed]

I just put all the pressure of myself to keep him happy, healthy and sleeping properly so I get down when these blips happen. I need to work on handling them better and calmer.

I am exactly the same, and I can tell you it gets easier the older they get IME with DS.

No ma'am, we've never tied the NND. He may be fine with it but remember back when I capped to 1 hour, we got OT on the third day of that so I went back to letting him do a full 1.5hr nap. I know we are headed in that direction but probably not quite there.

Oh gosh no, definitely not there yet, I was just curious more than anything. Hurrah for the good WU Hun, hope the rest of the day followed suit.x.