EW don't know what to do. 2.5 yo

[afranklin]

Hi friends,
My son is 2.5 yo. For about two weeks after getting back from an exhausting trip his sleep was dreamy... he was like clockwork. I was waking him by 7:10 am, he napped from 1-3:10pm (I woke him), and was in bed at 7:30pm. He takes about 30 m to fall asleep. Since this was so consistent and he seemed well rested and cheery, I thought it was working, even though I was waking him morning and nap. This dreamy sleep was all happening in the new-ish big boy bed. So that transition is not disrupting him at this point, I don't think.

Then one day he woke up at 6:45, then 6:30, then 6:20. I put him to nap 15m early those days. For a while he was consistently waking between 6:20 and 6:45. Yesterday I put him to nap early b/c of a short night and this morning he woke up at 6! This is the shortest night he's had in ages, a little less than 10 hrs. This happened so suddenly (over the course of a few days), and he isn't crashing back into the 8-7 NS schedule-- it's been about 2 weeks of this EW now.

Also, at night after he's been in bed for 30 min, he's often asking to pee right then. So sometimes it's been taking him 45m to get to sleep.

The only thing I can think of is that he's UT, or in a UT/OT loop. I might be in the throes of the 1-0 transition? I've read the sticky on this, but I'm still at a loss on how to do this. I was thinking of shaving the nap gradually, in at 1pm (no matter how EW), out at 3pm, but he keeps waking so early I feel obliged to give him more day sleep-- sleep is supposed to beget more sleep! But that didn't work out too well yesterday, since he woke up even *earlier* today.


The EASY I've been attempting is this:
7:10 W at the latest
1 in Nap to 3:10 at the latest
7:30 in bed after routine.

I do 12:45pm in for nap if he seems to need it, I only vary bed time by 10min at most if it's extremely obvious that he's exhausted (such as after that trip).

He seems soooo sensitive to Ut and Ot, it drives me crazy. Or, I'm terrible at gauging which it is. If he really needs to get up at 6, that's fine, I just think needs more than 10hrs/night. He's definitely a cranky, hitty, head-shaking little boy after short nights.

Should I just wait for a day that he gets at least 10.5hr night and then cap the nap at 1hr 45m? Something like that? Or do the short nights just need to be borne, as he does seem to need a good chunk of nap? (I usu. have to wake him)

Thank you so much for reading.
Amanda

[anna*]

Personally I would just go ahead and cut his nap, that is a long nap for 2.5 yrs

[cath~]

I agree with Anna

but he keeps waking so early I feel obliged to give him more day sleep-- sleep is supposed to beget more sleep!

Actually, more day sleep (at this age) can often exacerbate the problem, rather than improve things.  With my DD1 when she was in the 1-0, I had to cap her nap to maximise her nights.  If I let her nap, e.g. 30 mins more, she'd lose an hour or more off of her nights and so get less sleep overall.  I think lots of LOs (both of mine included) reach a point where too long a nap actually makes their nights worse, not better.

I'd try capping the nap at say 1hr45 for a few days (he usually gets 2hr10, right?) and see if you see any changes.  You'll have to try it for a few days, mind.  It won't necessarily change his WU time overnight if it's become a habit.

You might also (ie in addition to capping the nap) want to consider introducing a gro clock/lights on a timer.
Gro-Clock / Lights on a timer: What, Why, When and How