3/2 causing nap issues

[Mandy.kamal]

Feeling extremely discouraged with the EW. Yesterday was:
Awake at 5:45. Got her up at 6:30am
Nap 9:00-11:00
Nap 2:00-4:00
BT 7:00

NW 10:30pm- she was so hungry- fed
NW 4:30am fed
Awake at 5:45 again

I really need her to start sleeping in until 7:00am. Older brother starts preschool next week and I won't be able to nap her until 10:00am.

What can I do?

[Scottishmummy]

Just popping in... 4hrs is quite a lot of day sleep at this age & could be giving you the shorter night.

Could you try gradually pushing the start of the first nap later, maybe just 10-15mins every few days but still wake her at 11?
Or let her sleep 2 hrs at the first nap, start 2nd nap later but still wake at 4?

[Mandy.kamal]

Okay, thank you! Lindsay had mentioned that same thing. I was trying to stretch out her day and make it 13 hours hoping it would push her wake up later but that obviously didn't work. I also thought that dropping the CN would make her want to extend her 2 other naps but I guess not by that much. So what's the goal for day sleep? 3.5hrs total? I looked at the 'average amount of day and night' sticky but it has such a large range!

She seems a little 'off' lately. I'm sure a combo of teeth, solids, developmental, reflux, growth spurt, AP....

It's 9:00am now which is when I normally nap her. I'm going to hold her off for 15 mins.

[Scottishmummy]

Good luck!

If you find she needs the 9am nap with that EW...the other option would be to keep the 4 hrs day sleep but push BT later?

That might give you a later start too.


The amount of day sleep really varies and if your LO is Higher sleep needs, she might need 4hrs day sleep but then only do an 11hr night.

5.45 wus for me usually mean UT somewhere..either first nap too early, too long or last A time is too short. She's a bit young for nap capping though so I'd try just pushing everything later either with later first nap or later BT. Sorry that's so vague but might be a few things to experiment with?

ETA- another option is to try to push whole day later... Later first nap, keep the 4hrs total daysleep and do a later BT!

[Mandy.kamal]

You've been so helpful. Those are all great options; thank you very much.

She only made it until 9:08am, ha! I think me issue is that she fusses for sleep and imediately starts closing get eyes when I go into room. Maybe I'll stay out of her room until right before I want her asleep. I'm just trying to keep her from getting OS around my 3 year old.

She falls asleep nursing before bed and is like a rag doll and sometimes won't even eat. She goes down so easily for naps and BT so I thought 3 hours was perfect but I think you're right. She's UT somewhere and I need to figure out a solution. I feel like it's becoming habitual now and I'm not sure how to get her back to sleep at the 5:45 waking.

I'll try some of those tips today and see how things go tonight!

Just to add- any chance it's just developmental? If she can self soothe and is napping well and is tired before naps and BT- could it just be something that has to sort itself out? Or more likely a nap issue?

[Lindsay27]

Or let her sleep 2 hrs at the first nap, start 2nd nap later but still wake at 4?

This is basically what we do.  I let her sleep as much as she wants for the first nap (usually 1.45/2hrs) and then cap the 2nd nap at 1/1.15hr (depending on how long the first nap was), and also don't let her sleep past 4pm.  And we usually get a WU between 6:15-6:45am which I can deal with.  And day sleep is around 3hrs.

So something like:
WU 6:30
Nap 9:45 - 11:30
Nap 3-4
BT 7

Just for reference...though it might give you some guidelines since our LOs are close in age

[Mandy.kamal]

Thank you!!

She just woke at 10:30....I feel so lost. I gave her the paci and she went right back to sleep.
Not sure how things got so messy so fast. I'm completely confused at what to do anymore

Even when she wakes at 5:45 I leave her unless she's fussing until about 6:30. Maybe I need to count that as her wake up time and do 3 hours from then.

I see your LO is 8 months- mine is 6 months today- so that amount of sleep is okay for a 6 month old as well? I can't remember what my DS was doing at this age! Been awhile

I'm about to post the last few days so you ladies can have a better idea and maybe see something I don't see

[Lindsay27]

Oh gees sorry! I think they were closer in age.  At 6 months I think her total day sleep was 3.15hr give or take a bit.  And I would count the 5:45am as the WU time.  We did have lots of EWs at that age too and then settled once we were really through the 3-2, over all the OT and everything lol, probably closer to 7 months. 

[Mandy.kamal]

Up 6:00
Nap 8:50-9:58 (crying- fed- b2s) 11:30
Nap 2:15-4:25
BT 7:15 (out cold)
Woke at 10:30pm fed
5:00am fed and b2s until I woke her at 7:05am

Up 7:05
Nap 10:00-11:50
Nap 2:30-4:00/4:20
BT 7:10 (she pooed and b2s at 7:30)
Woke at 4:30 and 5:30 (should have fed her- can't remember why I didn't)
Up for good at 6:00am

Up 5:30/6:00am
Nap 9:00-11:15
Nap 2:05-2:57(UT) paci plug and b2s until 3:45
BT 6:45
Woke at 3:00, 3:30-fed, 5:30, 6:40

Up 6:40
Nap 9:40-11:45
Nap 2:45-4:05
BT 7:10
Woke at 2:15 and was crying off and on until 3:30. Fed at 3:30
Up at 6:00

Up 6:00am
Nap 9:00-10:30
Nap 1:00-3:00
CN 4:50-5:15
BT 7:15pm
Woke at 9:00, 10:00, 2:00, 3:30 (fed), 5:45. All crying NWs

Up 5:45
Nap 8:45-11:00
Nap 2:05-4:00
BT 7:05
Woke at 10:30, 4:30 (fed), 5:45

Today:
Up 5:45
Nap 9:08-10:30 (paci b2s) still sleeping but will wake her at 11:00/11:10 I guess, right??

Just to add. DH does a DF at 11:00pm but she's been waking around 10:30pm crying so he will feed her then.

Anything jump out at you??

Also- I was just looking back at what I had jotted down before dropping the CN. On August 1 (so a week ago) she was only having a 2hr 15min A time and just starting to EW happy. Maybe I jumped the A up to 3 hours too fast? Could she be OT? Sorry....I'm just so confused! And looking back, her best couple days were on a 2hr 45/50 min A time

[Scottishmummy]

I'm not sure, sorry...but it does look like the EW started after a very broken night with lots of crying...so could be OT?

Maybe try pulling back to the 2hr45 A time for a couple of days and see what happens?

[Mandy.kamal]

That's my gut feeling too honestly- that she was a tad OT. She is so much different than my first- he would SCREAM when he was even 5 mins past tired so it was obvious. This gal is more tricky to figure out.

I let her nap full length naps today because I felt like she was OT. Let's hope I made the right choice and that she sleeps better. If so, I'll pull back just a bit on A time- at least for the second nap and mainly before BT

[Mandy.kamal]

So she was OT before. Her night was so much better! No crying NW but still woke at 5:40, ugh. She didn't wake for a feed though so I plugged her with the paci and she dozed until 6:00 and was starving so I got her up and fed her. So another early start but may have been due to hunger. She was crying for sleep by 8:15 but I held her off until 9.00 somehow.

Going to try and shift her day forward. I guess it's all trial and error until her A time extends. If I could have a couple of 7:00am wake ups I'd be so happy and I think it would all shift! Ugh

[Mandy.kamal]

So I'm a bit confused now. It it normal for them to handle a new A time for a few days and then go backwards? She got horribly OT on the 2 naps and now is back to having/needing/crying for 3 naps!

She was doing 3 hr A time with 2 naps and now tired around 2 hours and I keep her up until 2hr 30/45 min.

Today she's had 2, 1.5hr naps and taking a CN after only 2hr A time. She was crying to bed again!!

I know she's teething. Probably a GS bc she wants to nurse before every nap and BT. She's in the middle of a stormy period according to her wonder week too.

This normal??

[Lindsay27]

Yes normal! Especially when going through major transitions like this.  After the 3-2 my DD was doing a 3.5hr A time, then scaled back and was only doing 3/3.15, but now back up.  I find that during wonder weeks A times can't sometimes either spike, or do the opposite and go backwards.

I think it just just as you said, she probably got a wee bit OT from the 2 nap days and just needs a bit of a catch up.  No worries, the transitions are always back and forth!

[Mandy.kamal]

Thanks Lindsay! Xx
All this chaos is causing 4+ NW a night for the past week and I'm exhausted!! Ready for 2 solid naps and no more NWs soon