What are some reasons for ew?

[Chloevalentine]

What are some reasons why lo is having ew's?

[Lindsay27]

Can you post your routine hun?  Would help to see what's going on.  EW can really be OT or UT.  For us, my DS woke at 5:30am pretty much every day for the first 2 years of his life no matter how great his naps were, what time he went to bed etc.  We did find that being OT played a significant role and many find the same if they are undertired as well.

[Chloevalentine]

im just finding that his nights are shorter. Went from 12 hours to 11 sometimes 10.5!  Yesterday he was up before 7 but didn't falll asleep the night before until after 8. His nap was good ( better than its been) at a full 1.5 12:50-220 then into crib at 740 asleep by 8. we used to do a 12 hour day he would wake at 730 nap from around 1230-130/2 then into bed and asleep by 730. Now that I'm trying to push nap later it seems bedtime gets later but he wakes earlier in morning. I guess he's just changing his sleep needs a bit?

[Lindsay27]

How old is he?

Now that I'm trying to push nap later

Are you pushing nap later to get more A time in to get a longer nap?

I guess he's just changing his sleep needs a bit?

It isn't entirely uncommon for nights to shorten while they are still napping.  At almost 3 on the days my DS has a nap his nights are usually only 10ish hours, but extend if we have a NND.

we used to do a 12 hour day

This is a good general rule to go by, however as they get older their naps can eat into their nights.  Depends on age though.

[Chloevalentine]

He's 21 months. Yes I was trying to push nap out because I was getting short naps but it backfired and then was getting crying fussing 50 min naps and no nap days. Although his molars were coming through too. So I just started trying again to push nap until 1. Yeaterday he fell asleep at 1250 and did a full 1 hour and 30 mins woke at 220. But I'm wondering about bedtime. We go up around 7 do bath pjs and some books then I to crib around 720/740 depending on his nap and he doesn't fall asleep until around 8! Then normally wet weeks up at 7. I was afraid of pushing the nap out too late and it making bedtime even later.

[Lindsay27]

I think if you have WU at 7, nap 1-2:30 and BT 7:30/8 that is a perfect routine.  After my DS turned 2 his BT pushed to 8pm too and has stayed there ever since.  I think it is just the reality of them getting older and sleep needs changing.  If he starts mucking about after 8pm it may be time to cut the nap a bit.

[Chloevalentine]

I just feel bad when he's awake in his crib for more than 30 mins but I've trued to put him in later but he just seems to need that 30 mins of alone time to unwind.

[Chloevalentine]

Today he napped from 1-2:30 I woke him and into crib around 735 he was up until 8:10/8:15! I wonder if he just went down for nap at 1230 either he wouldn't be that tired and take a short nap or take a long one but be up earlier by 2 and maybe go down easier at bedtime. My husband does bedtime and also goes to bed himself by 8 since he wakes very earlier for work. So bedtime later does not work here. I'm at a lose

[Lindsay27]

It is for sure trial and error.  I think you have 2 options if you do not want a BT later than 8pm.  One is to bring the nap earlier like you said and have him up by 2pm, the risk with this is that he mucks around and doesn't end up falling asleep until later anyway.  The other option is to keep nap time where it is and cap it further, to maybe 1hr or 1.15.

Do you think he seem UT at BT?  Just curious because sometimes OT can manifest itself in similar ways.

[Chloevalentine]

I did just start pushing nap to 1 from 12:30 and he is sleeping longer which I thought 1.5 was great until it starts messing with BT lol. I thought about the ot thing as well but I can't tell. He always did a 12 hour night and normally a shorter nap 1 hr 15 mins on average sonetimes shorter once in a while it was 2 hours but rare. Then he started giving me trouble at naptime so I decided to push it. In the end it was teeth that was the problem but now the nap seems to be great he literally passed out when he hits the crib. But he's starting to wake earlier I hear him moving around 630 and is usually up by 7 sonetimes earlier when it was consistently 730 for a long time. And bedtime is getting later with him not falling asleep until after 8. Just seems like a long day to me so I guess ot is possible but he's pretty pleasant up until we go up at 7 for bath. This used to be 645 but we pushed it out since the nap was pushed as well. In the end im getting longer naps but earlier wake time and later bedtime?

[Lindsay27]

It does sound like UT behaviour - if he is getting 10.5hr at night and a 1.5hr nap that's 12hrs sleep per day which is right around where it should be...slightly less.

Something else to remember is there is a pretty big developmental leap around 2yrs that can really muck things up.  It could be that you just need to ride this out or you can try capping his nap and see if that extends his nights. 

[Chloevalentine]

I woke him today from nap 1-2:30 and put him into crib a little later at 745 but he's still awake in their at 8:10 and was up at 7 today. I just think that's a long day. And he was miserable when I woke him from nap.

[lily_layne]

FWIW my DD takes a long time to settle at BT. I used to worry and stress about it and try changing nap length and BT and our wind down, etc, etc. It wasn't until she had a few days where she went to bed an hour or so later because we were out and she still took ages to settle that I realized it's just the way she is. It does not matter when BT is, it takes her 30-60 min to settle to sleep. Last night BT was 1 1/2 hours late and she still took an hour to settle down! Could your LO be the same?

DDs nights also shortened at that age. For her, part of it was teething causing the EW. A developmental leap could also be part of it. Like Lindsay said, 12 hours sleep is pretty good so I wouldn't worry too much especially if he's generally happy when awake. Honestly, now that I have a second and I don't have time to worry about DDs sleep I can see that her sleep was almost always ok and I was anxious over nothing. All you can do is offer opportunities to sleep - it's up to him what he does with it.

[Chloevalentine]

Yes it definetly takes him the same time to fall asleep no matter when bedtime is. But today he was up at 7 napped from 1-2:30 went into crib at 740 and was up until 825! I just think that 830 is too late for a 21 month old to go to bed no? He seems to finally be taking a good nap settling well waking happy at 1.5 hours so I'm hesitant to cap it and I'm also hesitant to put him into crib any later than 740. Ugh. Well at least he's happy and not crying or calling for me. I guess I'm just surprised that my lo went from 730 wake 730 bedtime to this so quickly. 

[Lindsay27]

But today he was up at 7 napped from 1-2:30 went into crib at 740 and was up until 825!

This really isn't that uncommon and I don't actually think it's a bad day - he still got 12hrs sleep in 24hrs which is pretty decent.  I think a lot of it is the 2yr developmental leap, BT went completely haywire for us for a while at 2yrs. 

And he was miserable when I woke him from nap.

If he was miserable you can certainly try not capping and see what happens.  I think it'll just take some trial and error to figure out what works best   If my DS is OT I can expect BT to be a battle.