So I got him to fall asleep but it was not easy, he started asking for a bottle and then fell asleep while drinking... It is not the first time he does it and it worries me. I try to feed him before the time I think he would go down for a nap, but it seems it gives him more energy to play...
So, our routine for the last few days:
saturday 21/11
WU 6-10
S 10-05 till 12-05
S 15-55 till 16-30
BT 19-35
NW 2 and 2-30
sunday 22/11
WU 6-10
S 9-50 till 11-00
S 15-45 till 16-15 (and he was resisting this nap a lot, he was difficult to put down)
BT 19-35
NW 23-00, 4-30 - ate 150ml and i took him in our bed
monday 23/11
WU 6-50
S 11-20 (was demanding the bottle and fell asleep while drinking it) till 12-20
refused to go down for the 2nd nap, fell asleep during evening bottle at around 17-35, I let him have a short nap of 15 min and woke him up for a bath and some more food)
BT 19-30
no NWs
tuesday 24/11
WU 6-00
S 11-15 (tried to put him to sleep since 10, but only worked at 11) till 12-40, he woke up crying and seemed like he could sleep some more, so i walked around with him, and he fell back asleep after 5 or 10 min, in my arms, I had a nap with him next to me till 13-40
BT 18-45
NW 21-00 and 2-00
wednesday 25/11
WU 6-25
S 12-10 (was demanding for a bottle and fell asleep immediately after) till 13-30, woke up crying, fell back alseep in my arms, had a nap wioth him till 14-30
BT 19-05
a lot of NWs, would wake up after 1,5 hrs of sleep and take long to fall back asleep, screaming. I took him in my bed somewhere during the night, but he kept waking up screaming
thursday 26/11
WU 5-30
S 9-00 till 9-40 (could not keep him up any longer)
S 13-50 till 14-50
BT 19-00
a lot of NWs, as well, similar to previous night, a lot of screaming
friday 27/11
WU 5-45
S 9-00 till 10-45
S 14-45 till 15-15
BT 19-10
I heard him around 2, but i did not go to him and he fell back asleep.
On Friday we went to see a doctor as the sleepless nights were killing me and I had a strong suspicion something was wrong. He has one ear full of ear wax that was covering the whole ear drum, possibly it was causing discomfort. Since Friday we use special ear drops to soften the wax and since then the nights got better. Fingers crossed.
saturday WU 5-50
S 12-25 (copuld not put him down, was trying every few minutes, in the end I just kept putting him down and after a bit of this PUPD and some screaming he fell asleep till 13-35, woke up crying, i tried to resettle, but did not work, he was hungry, had two bottles in the end.
BT 18-25
no NWs, but woke up at 5-15, had a bottle and fell back asleep and together we slept till 7-45!!!
Sunday (today)
WU 7-45
S 13-45 (only after the bottle, even though he ate at 11-30 and had a bottle at 12-30), slept till 15-00
BT 19-40
So, I clearly see that when his nights are bad, he has 2 naps to compensate. When his nights are good, he does not want to go down for a nap after 4hrs of A time. Even though just 10 days ago, his A time rarely went over 4 hrs.
In general, the last two months have been really bad in terms of sleep for him. We spent 5 weeks visiting my family and there he just did not sleep, I decided that it was the place and new environment but in the 5 weeks there, he never got used to it. Then we came back home and after a few good days and nights he started teething, then he got some kind of virus and then an otitis on top of that, all that on top of teething (4teeth on the top) completely ruined his sleep for a few weeks. After a round of antibiotics things started to improve and then again two horrible nights. And now the last two nights are good. So I am really hoping that at least the nights are going to stay good for a while, but now his naps are just a mystery to me...
The problem is as well that his sleepy queues are totally not there anymore. He never had them very strong, but i knew what to look out for and then he would gladly accepting being transferred to his bed. But now he just starts screaming and tries to break out of my arms whenever I try to transfer him to the bedroom. I ask him if he is not tired, I ask him if he wants to go in my arms and then go to sleep, but he just seems not interested. And then he asks for a bottle and falls alseep with it, even though he never had a bottle as a mean to fall asleep, he was BFed exclusively till 4mo, and then bottle fed since 7mo. But i made sure that there was no bottle to sleep association.
Usually growth spurts and development leaps happen around birthdays and half birthdays so that may be part of it! Also if he is spirited then I bet he had cottoned on to the fact that he is missing out when he naps. Wondering about his routine, but I see you will post that later!
GS and development leaps can also mess the naps so much?
DD was spirited and went through this. Her tired to OT window was so small that somedays if we missed it even by 5 minutes it was awful. We had to really set the stage, and we made her room a no play zone so she knew it was sleeping only. Whenever she would go down for naps and BT we made it seem like everyone was going to bed. We would turn off the tv, lights etc. Everyone would say goodnight. So she wouldn't suffer from the dreaded FOMO (fear of missing out !!) Her room had to be as dark as possible and her sound machine going. Her window was so blocked up with blankets and black out curtains...there was never any sunlight in her room until she stopped napping around 2.
So, possibly I am missing his sleep window. I thought about that and on some days I literally tried getting him to his bedroom every 5 min, but it did not work so well. If I cannot see his sleep window, who can? and what to do then?
His bedroom is as dark as we can make it. I use white noise for night sleep, but not for naps as he seems to have good or bad naps irrespective of that.
And there is such thing as fear of missing out??? in a one year old??? Oh my! I am really lucky to have been blessed with a spirited boy then
thanks a lot ladies for your help!!!