2-1 Transition Nap Help

[AshleyMegan]

My dd (13.5 months) was showing signs of switching to 1 nap, so for the most part, that is what we do.  There are maybe 2 days a week that she'll get 2 naps (if we're out and she falls asleep earlier than normal in the car).  Her wu is at 7:30, give or take 15 minutes, and is now going down for her nap at 1:30.  The past few days, she woke up screaming about 1.25 hours into her nap.  Its just periodic, not enough to get her.  She then walks a lap around her crib, and lays back down, trying to sleep.  This routine repeats itself for about 45 minutes, - 1 hour then she falls back asleep.  I don't know what to do.  I tried putting her down 30 minutes earlier, and the same thing happened.    Help! This is taking up sooo much time.

[creations]

Hi there
Sorry you didn't get any replies yet.

Sounds exhausting having a 1hr break in the nap.

I would start her nap 15 mins later and see if it helps her transition into that next sleep cycle more smoothly. She's clearly still tired but perhaps not tired enough to just transition. So rather than OT she is more likely UT.  After a few days of 15 mins later if you see no improvement you might try:
- W2S to help her transition from one cycle to the next to get her back in the habit. You'd do this for a few days to see how it goes.
and/or
- move nap another 5-15 min later so that she is not UT for her nap.

Not sure when her BT is, with a slightly later and longer more restful nap you might find as a result she may fuss at BT and resist going down at the right time in which case one of two options:
- move BT a little later also (I know none of use really want a later BT but it is not for ever. Our BT moved over time until it was as late as 8pm, sounded awful to me, I needed my Y time, but we adapted so well to it that when his BT needed to be moved earlier again due to nap dropping we felt like the day was too short, again we adapted though)
or
- cap the nap so that you have a decent A time between the end of the nap and BT. This works great for some and can eventually lead to a CN rather than long nap and then the nap drop. This was not suitable for my LO which was why we maintained the longer nap and moved BT later.

Hope this helps

[Scottishmummy]

I had one more thought... are you having to go in to her in the middle of the nap or are you observing on a monitor? I just wondered whether she is fully awake or whether she is in light sleep/dream state for that middle bit of her nap and deep sleep either side? It's just that the 45 mins could be length of a sleep cycle and deep-light-deep sleep is a typical pattern.

But if she is definitely awake then pp has given you some really helpful suggestions to try.

Xx

[AshleyMegan]

Ahhh she is so unpredictable!  Trying to keep her up another 15 minutes today, I was in the other room doing dishes.   It got quiet so I checked on her and she was fast asleep on the ground. 😣

[creations]

Oh dear. Sounds cute though

So you will have to really distract her to keep her up those extra 15 mins. Then you ought to see a better nap.

It's just that the 45 mins could be length of a sleep cycle and deep-light-deep sleep is a typical pattern.

I think LO is waking at 1hr 25 rather than 45 mins and having a scream. This would have been UT for mine, rather than waking happy he woke miserable as he was too tired to get up but not tired enough to transition the cycle.  Cycles are often more like 1hr something at 1yo I believe as they lengthen and become more similar to an adult cycle.

[AshleyMegan]

I'll have to give that a go again tomorrow.  😊
She woke from that nap exactly 40 minutes in, extremely miserable, so clearly she wasn't tired enough.

It just seems like a long time....waking at 7:30am and not napping until 1:45...is that fairly common?

[creations]

Well, it is quite a long A time but some need that. Mine had a very long morning A time and a very short A time before BT, if I had given him shorter in the morning he would have short napped and then the afternoon would have been far too long for him.
You might find that as she settles into one nap days she can go down for the nap earlier (I mean if there are zero 2nap days which I think atm you have a couple of days per week with 2 naps) or you might not...sorry each individual is quite different when they get to this age.

Mine was probably older than yours is now when we had a routine which was something like:
WU 6.30
nap 2-4
BT 8
and certainly this wouldn't suit all LOs at all, I'm just mentioning it to show that some do need their nap late.

My suggestion of going that additional 15 mins wasn't really based on what time the nap is but based on it appearing to be a touch UT.  I assumed she had been taking the nap at 1.30 for a little while and it was established.  If it is not an established time and you feel her nap should be significantly earlier then try a set nap at an earlier time, 12 even.
What do you think?  Sorry there are not clean cut answers, only suggestions, I would set the nap time and see how it works out over a number of days rather than judging results on one day.

[AshleyMegan]

I think that is what I'll have to do.  I kept her up until 1:45 today, she slept for 30 minutes, woke up so miserable.  Does it sound like I maybe switched her to 1 nap too soon?

I thought her taking 2 short naps was a sign but maybe I was wrong...I just looked in her mouth and found 2 molars popped through, so maybe that is why she was taking shorter naps? 

I'm at a loss...she seemed less cranky on mainly 2 naps, compared to what we're doing now.

If I put her down at 11:30, it's still 40 minutes.  Maybe I'll have to try gradually moving that nap time later?

[creations]

It may well have just been the teeth (I say "just" but I know teething is awful) so perhaps go back to the last known routine on two naps and stick with it as closely as you can for a week.

The other thing though is that some LOs won't do two naps but then on one things go right off track for a bit - mine was like this.  He did a great 2hr nap every day and I thought this would not change. He was ready for the drop to 1 nap and the refusal for nap 2 was so bad I couldn't keep on trying it so we dropped to one. However rather than doing his normal 2hr nap he started doing horrible 20 min naps.  It was certainly one of the roughest patches for us and I fought like mad with him to force him back to sleep for a while until I realised I could do a W2S and catch him waking put a hand on him and sooth him through which worked so much better than him fully waking and fighting going back to sleep. Although the W2S was so much easier than trying to resettle him I did have to go in every 20 mins until his 2hr nap was over!  Eventually he settled back into his nap and from then held on to that 2hr nap for around 18 months, the "fight" to get the routine settled was totally worth while as we had a great routine for a good length of time - just moving the nap a little later in the day when needed.

[AshleyMegan]

It really doesn't matter what I do...she always wakes up 40 minutes into her nap.  50% of the time, she can put herself back to sleep, the other 50% of the time, she can't, so it's an early bedtime...
Do I just continue with the 1 nap routine and hope she catches on?  :|

[creations]

Sorry, what time are you doing the nap now? Is it 11.30? or 1.45pm?
And what happens now when she wakes at 40 mins?  Are you using W2S or shush/patting back to sleep or getting her up?
Has she been having two or one nap over the last week or so?

[AshleyMegan]

We were trying at 11:30, but she would wake at 40 minutes, and then fight a 2nd nap...so that was a no go.  For the past week or so, we have been having a 1:45 pm nap.  I haven't been doing the W2S, as she is such a light sleeper and we have creaky floors, that it just wakes her up.  I find if I go in her room to try to shush pat her back to sleep, that I just make it worse.  :|

I have just been leaving her to self-settle, giving her a few minutes.  If it's consistent crying, and she's clearly not going back to sleep, I go get her (I have tried the shush pat here before, but she'll just scream and scream until I take her out of her room).  Sometimes she'll cry for a minute, then lay back down, then cry, lay back down, etc. until she finally falls back asleep.  I find though, she never really gets a full sleep after this happens.  She'll sleep for 15 minutes, wake up, fall back asleep, and the cycle continues.

[AshleyMegan]

Her nap today...I put her down at 1:45.  She woke screaming after 20 minutes...put herself back to sleep for another 20, and is still in there trying to go back to sleep. 

[creations]

Maybe try her nap earlier, say 12?
And if she is doing 1hr 20 quite regularly then I'd go in and creak the floor board and give her a quick stroke at around 1hr, worth a shot. If you kick start a new sleep cycle you could get another 40 min instead of 20...or you could get an hour...

[AshleyMegan]

Thank you. 😀  I'll definitely try that tomorrow