26 month lo 1-0 nap transition hell

[Chloevalentine]

Lo has been going to bed at 7 and sleeping until 830 am! So today I woke him at 730 and he went down for a nap at 130 he did cry but settled and fell asleep. I woke him after 1 hour at 230 and he didn't wake hysterical which was nice. Then bed at 8 ( regular time when he naps) he went down nicely but just fell asleep  at 830. Whenever he goes to bed that late it always takes him a while. But he was happy and energetic this afternoon not a zombie like he's been without a nap.  Tomorrow we won't be home for nap. So I'll probably let him sleep in

[jessmum46]

Sounds like you are doing well hang in there x

[Chloevalentine]

We had a nap day today after a busy nnd yesterday ( he was up at 730 asleep by 7) woke him today at 730 went down easily for nap 130-230 woke him at an hour and to bed by 8 didn't fall asleep until 9 but we had a late ice cream play date at 7 so I'm thinking that was the culprit. I'm hoping so at least ugh.

[Shiv52]

Fingers crossed. If not you will need to watch that as he may well need 8.30pm on nap days as you don't want boredom/bed resistance to become an issue if he's not tired enough to sleep and just lying there for a long time.

[Chloevalentine]

Ugh I agree. He's been doing 730 am-830 pm with a 1 hour nap from 130-230 on days he naps so fingers crossed. It's def worth the later night at 830 because his afternoon is much better when he naps. Although he only does that schedule after a nnd if that makes sense. Otherwise his nnds are about 11.5 hours and then he will sleep for 12.5-13 hours! But 9pm is just way too late!

[Chloevalentine]

Being that he fell asleep so late two nights ago at 9 and slept until 830 yesterday morning I didn't put him down for s nap but he went go bed at 730 but he's up before 7 today?! We went from 13-13.5 hours sleep to 11. Just seems odd how all over the place he is. Yesterday without the nap he was so rambunctious all day!! Today would probably be s good nap catch up day but we will not be home for nap time. Wondering if this combo of nap and no nap days and all different bedtimes and wake times are affecting him? It's hard to know what type of day/night to aim for. Is this just the messiness that comes with the 1-0?

[Shiv52]

It is and it's the reason I just went cold turkey to 1 nap with both of mine. The faffing about with naps and no naps and needing such ridiculous A times after naps was just a complete pain. 

[Chloevalentine]

You are right! I'm just trying to hang on to the nap even if it's just every few days! Because he doesn't seem to always handle the nnds well. I'm just always hesitant on giving him s nap on those days he sleeps on so late but he probably could've used one

[Shiv52]

It is a total pain. It will just come to a stage where nap days are too much hassle as bedtime will keep needing pushed out. Mine got to the stage where even a quick CN meant 9pm or later sleep time and I couldn't deal with it. And with my second because DD1 was going to bed at 7.30 it just seemed daft to have the baby up to 9pm for the sake of a quick nap.

I loved the nap though. With DD1 I kept it going until she was 3 as we didn't mind the late bedtime then.  But poor DD2 her nap was chopped before she was two.

[Chloevalentine]

After a week or more with no nap and being away on vacation we have had two nap days in a row. I didn't plan anything at nap time so we would be home. Yesterday up at 7-715 nap from 130-245 I woke him bed into crib around 8 he didn't fall asleep until 830 but while reading books he asked for nappy ( which is bed) and went down happy so the 30 mins of him settling I was ok with. today up at 730 nap at 115 ( he was tired and in a fog all morning even at gym class) I'll wake him by 230 and to bed by 8 again. So it seems he's doing an 11 hour night 1 hour nap which is still a total of 12 hours which is what he does at night with no nap. The afternoons with no nap were becoming unbearable! He was so wild which is odd and wound up couldn't focus or pay attention or listen. Which was hard. So if the one hour nap means a later bedtime for now im going with it! I just hope these naps aren't just a catch up. But on the days where he doesn't nap and then sleeps until 8 or after I'm always hesitant for a nap because it might make bedtime way too late although I've never really tried.

[Chloevalentine]

It seems like the later lo goes to sleep the more he moves around in his sleep in the morning. I hear him moving around sometimes he cries out for a second on his sleep. It seems like he's having a hard time staying asleep and he also wakes earlier. ?

[jessmum46]

He could be OT from a long day or UT from a shorter A before bed, it's all part of the silliness of transition unfortunately.  I would give serious thought to setting BT and if you allow a nap capping it short enough so BT doesn't move by more than 30 mins.  We did 7pm BT on nap days and 6.30pm on NNDs and were pretty much on a 20 minute catnap by the time we were getting this much nap resistance x

[Chloevalentine]

Last night he didn't fall to sleep until almost 840 ( not crying or complaining though just rolling around unwinding) today he was up at 7 was exhausted by nap yawning etc napped from 115-230 I woke him and he wasn't happy cried for a bit and then into bed at 8 which is the set bedtime when he naps. It took him about 35 mins again. So about 6+ hrs A time in morning and about the same a bit over 6 hrs A time before bed. I though the A times were kind of long with just an hour nap. He has napped 3 days in a row though which hasn't happened in way over a month.

[Chloevalentine]

So after waking at 730 yesterday ( he was moving a bit but I went in to wake him) he didn't end up falling asleep for nap at 205 and I woke him by 240 as it was getting too late in the day. But bedtime still took him a while to fall asleep close to 9! That's 6.5 hrs A time in Morning and about the same before bed which is getting to be too much A time. The only reason I'm still pushing nap is because by nap time he's tired yawning etc and usually falls right asleep and it just makes for a better afternoon where he's not groggy and delirious all afternoon but the A times are getting too long and the whole nap routine for just a short cn doesn't seem worth it as he's still talking a while at night to fall asleep. Ugh this is hard!

[Shiv52]

Honestly I'd likely just push to no nap and let him go ahead and do the longer night like he started to do. He will adjust and be less tired in the evenings once he is used to not napping.   He seems to need at least 6 hours A time to settle well at night and that will inevitably lead to a later and later bedtime which just becomes silly YK?