10.5 month old sleep was great...now a complete mess

[mads2014]

Hi Guys

Sorry I haven't replied to your last posts for a while. We are getting renovation work done on the house, and things got so bad that I had to move out with LO for a week, very stressful!

DD is a week shy of turning 1. Since we moved back in I have been writing down every day in the form of WU time, naps, bedtime.

Day 1

5.40
10.20 - 11.20
3.05 - 3.55    (tried at 2.30, was just playing in cot)
8.30

no NW

Day 2

6.10
10.20 - 11
2.50 - 3.30
7.30

NW: 8.10, 9.10, 10.20, 11.20, 12

Day 3

5.40
10 - 10.40
2.30 - 3.10
7.10

no NW

Day 4

5.20
9.30 - 10.10        fell asleep in highchair while I was washing dishes!
2.30 - 3.30      i woke her to preserve bedtime
7.45

NW: 10, 2.15 awake for 1 hour

Day 5

4.40 used white noise, fell asleep until 6.30
10.30 - 11.10
4.15 - 4.35         pram nap
7.45

NW: 12 awake for 1.5 hours  crying, tossing and turning, chatting, laughing

Day 6

5.50
10.15 - 12.25       did not want to wake her so decided to do 1 nap and EBT
5.40

NW: 9.50, 2.50

Day 7

6.20
11.40 - 1.10
6.20

NW: 7

Day 8

5
10.05 - 10.40
3.15 - 4
7.30

NW: 9, 1

Day 9

5.45

So I know this 2-1 transition is difficult but I feel like things are all over the place. My issues are the EWs (which are slowly killing me), lots of 40 minute naps, and the NWs. I hate the way every day starts and ends at a different time as I constantly obsessing with A times etc but i cant see how to fix this.

So some questions:

1. What am I doing wrong?! I would love if someone could point out all the mistakes they can see.
2. At this point should I be doing the majority of days with 1 nap and just 2 when things go wonky or try and stick to 2 as much as poss?
3. There are days were she had a really long day, (like day 1 14 hours) were I would have thought she would have lots of NW but then didnt, what does this mean?
4. Likewise there are days were things have got relatively smoothly like day 7, but we still got an EW of 5.

Basically I'm just looking for any advice anyone has to give, I'm getting so desperate now that I'm tempted to go to 1 nap cold turkey as I dont see how things can get any worse...

[newkidontheblock]

My..okay, that is very complicated. So many hugs for you, hun. You must be so tired I can't see a pattern to the days you've posted TBH. But here are just a few suggestions that hopefully will be of some help to you.

Firstly, transitioning to 1 nap is out of the question if her first nap is so early and if it is so short. For a sustainable 1 nap routine, I would say that the nap needs to be 12.30 or later, and needs to be of at least 2 hours in the beginning. If I were in your shoes (and trust me, I was, not so long ago) I would first aim at trying resettle her/keep her in bed dozing/ let her sleep in your arms/feed if necessary at that morning EW. Absolutely do not accept it. I made the mistake of letting DD get up at 6am one day, and I kid you not, but we are still dealing with EWs now. I threw her body clock out of whack somehow. So try to keep her there for as close to normal WU as possible and make a big deal out of waking her up.

Now although I would keep her in bed till normal WU, I would calculate A time from when I felt she was actually 'awake'. Not drowsy but completely awake. This meant that I got a proper nap and she wasn't OT. If our nap length starts to drop, we increase A but we have found that only 5-10 minutes is enough to lengthen it back out.

Then, when I decided to push to 1 nap, I would go for a 1 nap day with EBT if the nap ended 2 pm or later. I even put her to bed at 5.30 for a few days. Since her day sleep totals drop, you have to reduce the day length to compensate and prevent OT, which reinforces NWs and EWs. Wakings soon after BT generally indicate OT. And you always have to look at the whole week, the whole picture, not just the day in question because OT accumulates.

Now if the nap ended too early - anytime before 2 - I would do a 10 minute CN after normal A and then move immediately to BT routine.

So yes, just a few tips that worked for us. The main issue you will have to tackle is that EW..or rather..just keeping her down so that the nap can happen later and so on.

Hope this is of some help!