Later BT ever the answer to early waking?

[jessmum46]

Me again  but with a quick(ish) question this time. I think I've made the very silly mistake for too long of assuming B would be like J in the way he sleeps (12h nights), but slowly accepting he prefers a longer nap and probably an 11h night as standard.  Currently WU is a painful 5.30am most days but given BT is usually by 6.30 I guess it's not an EW.  Much as I love EBT as a concept I actually feel like it's created this problem for him

Interested to know if anyone has actually had proper success with a later BT giving a later WU? How did you get there without causing OT early wakings?

[newkidontheblock]

You remember when I came to this same conclusion, Katherine? I realised that EBT was just not an option anymore because she would just wake up even earlier So yes, she was getting 12 hours but what was the point if she was waking so early yk? I've also resigned myself to shorter nights ALTHOUGH I have a couple of theories in the works right now --

Scenario 1 -- normal nap at 12.30 regardless of EW and then 5 hours to bed
Scenario 2 - cap nap at 2.30 but BT only 5 hours later
Scenario 3 - cap nap at 2ish, no matter how short (this seems to be working the best as we have got normal and even late WU with this one.

Now BT is never before 7pm. In fact, it's a bit fluid in that it is between 7 & 7.30 - sometimes (like yesterday) it even gets as later as 7.45 depending on how long she takes to eat. I'll post our routine in the BC. It is SO bright at 7pm anyway and she wants to walk walk walk in the park, so we get late on most days

[Aishi]

Hmm my ds was much older (4) and still ew at 5/5.30 before I finally cottoned on that ebt was just perpetuating ewu so I ended up pushing bt to 8 (aiming for 10.5h night) and 6.30 Wu. It took a long time before Wu shifted to 6/6.30 and when that was consistent I gradually moved bt back to 7.30 cos he was shattered from school and activities. Now Wu ranges from 6-7 but he waits quietly till Mr sun so I never really know unless I'm up first!

I would go for it. Give it a couple of weeks to get used to later bt and hopefully Wu will shift too xx

[michaeljacknnugg]

I'd go for it also. DS liked an 11hr-ish night for ages (now shorter, sob!) and the only time it really got any longer was when we were nap-dropping and he was exhausted.

I am blessed with one who copes incredibly well with OT though, always has, so we can push him quite hard. Is Ben similar in that regard?

[*Liz*]

Certainly not all kids do 12 hour nights. Absolutely not!

Jacob has always been 10.5-11. A catch up is 11.5  . I guess Megan was 12 hours at one point, but I don't think that was while she was still napping. And clearly you can't clear the nap for a 12 hr night at this sort of age  .

Thomas is more an 11 hour night man as well, but it is almost impossible to have a routine with Thomas due to the older 2 being so much older and having school/ activities.

[Haribo2012]

DS is an 11 hr night guy too..(I was so excited at the prospect of 13 hr nights at nap dropping lol didn't happen). Only time we get 12+ is if he's getting ill. why not give it a go won't hurt hun x

[LovelyLilyandJack]

Jack is an 11 hr night boy too. He has been fine with quite big BT shifts in the past. We've definitely done half hour shifts at a time at least. We usually get about 3 days of short nights and a bit of a grumpy boy, and on the 4th night he adjusts.

Annoyingly, J prefers an early BT and early start, but I've had to avoid BT before 6.45 even on terrible nap days cos he won't do more than 11.5 hrs at night and even that is very rare! Now he's reliably nap free we've just shifted BT to 7.15ish and that gives a WU of 6 - 6.30.

[bloosiern]

I've made myself crazy at times with my YDD in thinking she needed to get in a 12-hour night only to create an early BT/early WU cycle.  I'd say 11-11.5 hours is more typical for most LO's.

I feel like there comes a point when EBT can perpetuate an early WU, especially if they finally have caught up on sleep.  If he is sleeping well at night and napping well during the day now maybe you could start shifting things a bit later until he gets to 7.  At least that will get you to 6:)

[jessmum46]

Thanks everyone for sharing.  Does he handle OT well?  I'm not sure to be honest, certainly he's a total grump when tired but if I am totally honest probably some of the best nights we've had are when I've expected them to be a total disaster.  So maybe better than I think.  He's never been the best night sleeper though, it's very rare to get a proper STTN.  But he usually wakes happily enough in the morning. 

For various reasons he hasn't been asleep before 6.45/50 the past 4 nights.  This morning he was very restless (cough and canines really not helping us...) but at least tried to doze until 6.  He's also taken some very long naps (3h) the last few days.....am kind of wondering if I need to cap those too?  Seems like all that's happened so far is later BT has extended his nap

[michaeljacknnugg]

That's what we got with EW - and we were too tired to cap his nap. Worth a try, maybe?

[First mum]

Hi Ladies,

What age are/were your babies when you tried this.  My LO is nearly 15 months and has been on 1 day nap for almost 3 weeks.  I think I am in a bit of a cycle here with ebt and ew and am thinking of pushing it out but am a bit worried about her getting ot and pushing her with too much?!?  I've always been a bit slow to push her with things despite her consistently surprising me with what she can handle    Bedtime has always been 6pm for as long as I can remember and more often than not that's asleep as since starting daycare 8 weeks ago she falls asleep feeding pretty much everynight.  We were also pretty consistent with 6-6:15 wu but that is creeping earlier and earlier.

Is it ot due to nap transition or does she need less overnight sleep?

[jessmum46]

First mum DS is nearly 14 months, I have pushed BT to more consistently 6.30 rather than 6/6.15 but thinking I may need to push further.  On that note, is anyone on this thread willing to look at a few days of our routine or should I start a new thread?  Don't want to burden anyone if they aren't willing!

[newkidontheblock]

DD is nearly 14 months old now, firstmum, and we have been firmly on 1 nap for 2 months now. If you are getting EWs anyway, then you could push. A look at your entire routine would help actually. I saw you posted on the 2-1 thread. Will drop by

Katherine, what are B's nights like now? I thought you'll had moved to a 7-7 day. BT is now consistently closer to 8 here. There's just not enough time in the day for all these meals and playtime. Meh

[LovelyLilyandJack]

I'd happily take a look Katherine

[Haribo2012]

Post it hun I'll look not sure I'd be much good but I can look at my old posts x