34 month old sleep help

[jessmum46]

Just another thought - do you use a gro clock or similar to tell him when it's ok to get up?

[labrodyk]

Morning Katherine! It certainly is a difficult time - I just can't believe hubby was laid off from work. Completely Impeccable but devastating timing. At least he'll be here to help me a bit with all that's going on with pregnancy and this horrible 1-0. Thank you for the hugs of support - means a lot.

Car catnaps are really difficult - he'll only fall asleep if he has his comforters but is in deep sleep immediately and is impossible to wake even after 15/20 minutes. If I do manage to wake him he cries and tantrums for hours and still takes up to an hour at night to fall asleep if he goes down at 7. Obviously not too different to how things are going now so I can try again if needed.
As for early bedtime, I certainly can try for super early but knowing my child he won't doze back off he'll just lay there. I might pull back to 6pm and see if that helps

MWe most definitely do use a gro clock (since just before 2yo) but it's never helped him sleep longer, only to stay in bed until the sun comes out.

He completely collapsed last night after his screaming episode. Got home, put pj's on, tucked him in and said goodnight - was asleep as I left the room thereabouts. And slept 11.5hrs (6.30-6.00) wth no NW and has woken happy for DH. Where to from here?

[jessmum46]

If the CN is that much hassle I would be tempted to just hang in there and push on through with no nap.  Try the 6pm bedtime and if you're still struggling with behaviour/NWs be brave and pull it even earlier, even just as a one-off.  If he happens to randomly fall asleep somewhere because he's so tired then let him have a little power nap then get him up and carry on with the day, in a way letting him self-regulate that way but not necessarily offering a nap may work for him.

Oh with the gro clock - I figured I didn't mind if DD was awake earlier, as long as I didn't know about it!!!

[labrodyk]

thanks Katherine - that's what I though and had been doing. I thought we were making some progress with 12hr nights the last few days (6-6) but then he woke up tonight at 9.30 wanting a song/cuddle from ONLY me. He gets quite hyperactive and silly/naughty towards lunchtime/quiet time but he was really good today and even had a little lay down in bed but didn't fall asleep. Should I just keep trudging on? I'm finding 6pm really hard to do as it is, just such a rush to get some dinner, bath and bed going so early so I'm really hesitant to pull BT earlier. Here's our EAS the last few days - should quiet time be a consistent time each day? At the moment it's ranging from between 1-2 for 45mins to an hour.

Friday 11-Sept
WU: 5.50
OOB: 6.40 crying, back to bed until 7.00
Nap:1.00-2.00 quiet time
BT: 6.25, asleep 6.30

Saturday 12-Sept
WU: 5.50
OOB: 7.00
QT: 1.30 - 2.30
BT: 6.10, asleep 6.15

Sunday 13-Sept
WU: 6.25 sat up and dozed but woke properly and chatting from 6.35
OOB: 7.00
QT: 1.15-2.30 (iPad)
**struggled to eat dinner crying and miserable.
BT: 6.10, asleep 6.15

Monday 14-Sept
WU: 6.20, lay quietly chatting
OOB: 7.00
QT: 2.00-2.45/3.00 (no iPad, quiet activities and he dozed but didn't sleep).
BT: 6.00, asleep 6.10

NW: 9.40 - scared my husband just standing quietly in the hallway wanting a song and a cuddle. Cuddled and put back to bed (would only let me do it....)
NW: 10.20 - out again crying wanting me to sleep in his bed. He won't stop crying.

[jessmum46]

That's kind of how it was for us at that stage, I'd say you were doing pretty well even if it doesn't feel like it!  We just set BT to 6.30pm and pushed on through   I don't think the timing of quiet time matters so much, just as long as it happens when LO clearly needs a bit of a break x

[labrodyk]

Eeeek! He won't stop crying now.

Finally got him to calm down - wanted a book and was screaming "NO" despite all my best attempts at verbal reassurance. Sigh...I thought we were getting somewhere

[jessmum46]

Oh hugs   hang in there, this is normal for this stage.  Help him all you need, get a mattress and lie on his floor so you can rest too if needed xx

[labrodyk]

Morning Katherine!

So we've been going pretty well I thought it last night he was either crying, out of bed, wanting cuddles and kisses, rolling around or laying awake from just before 1am - 3.30am and then was awake when I checked the monitor at 6.30am.
If I had to get out of bed again I was going to scream - this pregnancy is NOT making it any easier plus he won't let my husband do ANYTHING. His behavior during the day is not ideal but I'm finding I can go on decent car journeys around nap and afternoon time and he's not dozing off.

Here is our EASY for the last week. Is there anything I can tweak or just ride it out?

Monday 14-Sept
WU: 6.20, lay quietly chatting
OOB: 7.00
QT: 2.00-2.45/3.00 (no iPad, quiet activities and he dozed but didn't sleep).
BT: 6.00, asleep 6.10

NW: 9.40 - wanted a song and a cuddle. Cuddled and put back to bed. Crying continuously despite verbal reassurance. Didn't go back to sleep.
NW: 10.20 - wanted a book. Back to bed with verbal reassurance.
Not asleep until sometime after 10.40

Tuesday 15-Sept (11.5 hrs?)
WU: 6.55
OOB: 7.00
QT: 1.15 - 2.15 in room (no iPad. Just Cars, dominoes, books and he lay down in bed).
BT: 5.57, asleep 6.02

Wednesday 16-Sept (12hrs)
WU: 6.05
OOB: 7.00
QT: 2.00-3.00 (iPad)
BT: 6.00, asleep 6.15

Thursday 17-Sept (12hrs 35mins)
WU: 6.50
OOB: 7.00
QT: 1.00-2.00
BT: 6.00, asleep 6.10

NW:
12.58 - high pitched whingeing crying for a couple of minutes before coming to ask for a cuddle.
1.20 - got out and went to the toilet all by himself!
1.25 - came out again asking to be tucked in
1.28 - crying 'mummy' gave verbal reassurance over monitor
Thought he went back to sleep at 1.50 but came and asked for a kiss at 2.20 and again to be tucked in.
3.00 - awake in bed rolling around until 3.30.

** I finally fell back asleep so unsure what he did after that**

Friday 18-Sept
WU: 6/6.30?

[jessmum46]

I'd say it's going pretty well really, may not feel like it but I would hang in there and even do a super EBT one day (5.30pm) just to catch up a bit of OT x

[labrodyk]

Thanks Katherine! It certainly doesn't feel like it most of the day and I'm curious to how long it will take his body to adjust and for him to be happy?

We should definitely try a 5.30 BT...last night was 5.50 (asleep at 6.00) but he had at least 4 cry call outs for a few seconds through the night (thankfully he didn't get out of bed!) but was awake laying in bed rolling around before 6.00am. Thought he might have slept a little longer...

[jessmum46]

It took a few weeks for nights to become more settled for DD, but the really bad ones did pass rather quicker x

[labrodyk]

Is 5.30 bedtime something I should do regurlarly or when I think he really needs it? Also, how long do you keep doing SEBT or EBT because he certainly didn't tack on last night.

We got a bit closer (5.40) last night and he took 10-15mins to fall asleep and resettled for a few minutes this morning when he woke at 5.30 but wide awake before 6 singing loudly and starring at the ceiling. Is it worth SEBT or will he just get more OT? He's already getting out of bed and playing in his room until Gro sun comes up to wait until 7am if he's been up at 6 or earlier.
Would it be worth pushing bedtime out a bit at all or will that mess him up more? I want to be as consistent as possible as both he and our family thrive on it.

[jessmum46]

We actually haven't moved bedtime out far or fast from our 1-0 journey.  BT in the end got set at 6.30 when we were nap-dropping in earnest, a few super EBTs here and there but I'd keep those for one-offs really, you don't want super-early to become the new normal.  Now a good year and a bit after fully nap-dropping DD is still out by 6.45/7pm though I think she is usually awake before her clock turns green at 6.30am so we could probably push out a bit if we wanted x

[labrodyk]

Thank you Katherine!!

I don't think he did go back to sleep at 5.30 which is annoying he's running around his room and has come to check I'm asleep/awake and constantly talking and singing. Argh, the joys of 1-0.  We had set BT at 6.00 but perhaps that's too early too? I don't know....

[labrodyk]

We went for 6pm BT tonight but surprisingly he took 20mins to fall asleep - ordinarily I wouldn't mind but felt it was unusual despite no nap. Wish I could get him to sleep a little longer, definitely have some built up OT.
Daytime mood is SO touchy and cranky it's exhausting! Plus pregnancy...ew, can't wait to be through this. How long could this take do you think?