Hi Ladies - I'm torn as to what to do about my 3-year-old. He spent December, January, and most of February sick. During this time he dropped his nap (more or less) and started waking up VERY early (around 5:30...sometimes a little later...sometimes a little earlier). I didn't really want to sleep re-train during this time because he was really very sick. I would; however, still put him down for his nap everyday and had him stay in there for quiet time. During this period his baby sister was born (early December) and we potty trained. So, he has had A LOT of big changes and developmental stuff at the same time.
So, he had gotten extremely over tired during this period, and was kind of a hot mess. His day looked something like this:
05:30 - wake up, usually screaming the instant he woke up
1:30/2:00 - 3:00/3:30 - quiet time in bed, rarely fell asleep
7:00/7:30 - pd for bed, usually asleep within 10 minutes
BEFORE all of this change occurred, our schedule was like this:
6:30/7:00 wake up, stay in bed until 7:15 when clock told him he could get up
2:00 - 4:00 nap
7:00/7:30 - pd for bed; usually asleep within 15 - 20 minutes
Over the last week he all of a sudden started to take a nap again, but almost always does not fall asleep until 3. If i just let him go, he would sleep until after 5, but then he will not fall asleep at night until after 9! So, I will wake him up at 4:30, but I'm waking him up from a dead sleep and he's miserable and crying for about 30 minutes or so. On the plus side, he is much less miserable waking up in the morning and will sleep until 6:00/6:15 and play until his clock says he can get up at 6:40 (I moved the time back in an effort to ease into re-training him).
I would love the following to occur: a more consistent day, a less tired/cranky boy, a bedtime that is 7:30 or earlier, and a wake up time that is 6:30 or later. I know, I might be asking too much I need to get over myself, lol. What would you recommend? Do I just have him skip the nap altogether, and put him down for bed super early at like 6:30? Do I keep the nap but wake him up earlier or just accept what a mess he is when I do wake him up? I would really appreciate your advice/experience!!!
