Hi,
My son is 14months old and has been a good sleeper, ASN. The last 2 days have been a nightmare, especially today, and Im not sure he right way to handle it...your guidance is appreciated!!!
Typical EAS:
Wake at 7:30
First nap 11 or 11:15, lately just for one hour
2nd nap 3:45 or 4 for one hour
Asleep by 8:30, sleeps 11hrs consistently, no NW
Occasionally he will do a longer first nap, up to 2hrs, so I'll do a shorter CN late afternoon (20-30min) so he can make it until bedtime. He generally has a hard time staying awake for longer than 4hrs.
Yesterday he woke from his morning nap after an hour..I went in to lay him back down and he fell asleep again, so his total nap time was 1hr 35min. Usually he would have no problem going down for his afternoon nap, but yesterday he refused it and I tried for an hour with no luck. After an hour I tried to take him our for a walk to see if he'd fall asleep that way, etc...nothing helped. So we put him to bed about 30min earlier and all was well. He only slept 11hrs so he went into the day today 30min short of his usual sleep time.
Today was a nightmare! He woke at 7 so I put him down for his morning nap at 10:45. It took me 2 hours to get him to fall asleep and he was awake for almost 6hrs before falling asleep!!! He just kept standing up and crying/whining and not matter how many times I went in to lay him down and tell him to sleep, he was back up again after I walk out. After an hour, I gave him Motrin to rule out any possible pain from teething or something like that. No luck, another 30min passed and I took him out of the room and gave him some milk..figuring he was hungry since it was his usual wake up time..he drank 5oz and usually drinks 2 at that feeding. Read him a couple books then tried to put him down again. Another 40min of standing/crying and finally fell asleep with me putting my hand on his back and talking softly. Woke after and hour and 15min. Given this short nap, I tried for a CN at 5:45. I tried for only 15min so as not to drive myself crazy and so his bedtime wouldn't be so late. Same thing...standing in the crib and whining crying while I tried to do WI/WO unsuccessfully. Got him up, did dinner, bath and put him to bed right away. Started trying to put him to sleep at 7:10 and SAME THING...standing in the crib and crying every time I walk out. I walk in and he stops and lays himself down, I walk out and he stands right back up. He's clearly exhausted. after another hour of this (me alternating WITH/WO and staying in the room..trying anything to get him to sleep), he finally falls asleep to me putting my hand on his back and humming. So he was up for another 6hrs!! I'm sure he'll wake at 7 which means he'll only get 11hrs again and now he's short on sleep for another 45min. I can see thus spiraling into an OT mess and it is exhausting for me too.
What can I do?? I'm not sure whether to stay in the room or WI/WO or less him fuss. In the past I've only gone in when he's standing and crying..if he's laying down he usually settles himself to sleep and goes to sleep in his own. He's not sick and no pain that I'm aware of, but gave him Motrin again tonight just in case. The only major difference is that he seems to be having a lot of separation anxiety and cries when he leaves my sight, even with my husband. Could that be causing him to not fall asleep on his own all of a sudden? How do I handle this without creating new bad habits? I'm worried if I give up then he thinks he can just cry for long enough and get out of his nap. He is very willful. And today he showed that he can stay up for 6hrs straight when he doesn't want to sleep. Please help! Any guidance much appreciated!
Kristin
