Developmental? Nap transition? Both...?

[LaraAndrea]

So things have been going pretty well we settled into a pretty consistent routine (see below)
6:00 wake BF
7:15 breakfast
10:00 snack
11:00 nap
1:00 wake BF
215 snack
4:20-4:25 nurse APOP
4:30 nap
5:00 wake
6:00 dinner
7:15 BT routine/BF
7:30 BT

On avg. Once per week she would totally skip her 2nd nap and BT would adjust to 7:00

Now... For the last 4 days she has been waking between 5:15-5:30. I am wondering if this is a phase, or if this is another indication that day time sleep should decrease?

Any thoughts? LO will be 10 months next week

[creations]

If the WU has been that early for 4 days I'd move the first nap later.  Have you been sticking with 11am nap even with those earlier WU times?  I would either stick with it regardless of the very long A or shift it to 11.15 or 11.30am, 2hr nap.  Then shift the CN a touch later too and either cap it shorter or keep it at 30 min an allow BT to move later.
Looks like another step towards the 2-1 to me - of course could be a 4 day blip.

[LaraAndrea]

I think your suggestion is bang on.
The first day of her early wake I did let her go down a bit earlier, but for the most part she was still going down for 11:00.
Now for the last 2 days she has been waking after 70 min, even with the early wake.

So next step... Try the 11:15 nap

[creations]

OK, hope that helps with the EW and nap length.

[LaraAndrea]

With the 11:30 nap time (5:30AT) The nap length has returned to 2h (for now) but she still has the EW most days. Usually 5:15. Sometimes she will fall asleep again until 6 (her WU time).

I do find the EW is worse on the days she skips the 2nd nap, all part of the transition I expect?

[creations]

Is she skipping that second nap even though you are APing it?  Any chance you can move it a bit later, 15 min later, AP it and let her do 30 min?? BT would maybe have to move a little later too although not always, sometimes they will still accept the same BT even with a CN a bit later.
What do you think?

Sorry, yes, I think this is all to do with transition and it can take a while to transition too - plus she is still pretty young. Hopefully she will fall back to sleep more and more in the mornings to settle on the later WU.

[LaraAndrea]

I was on my way to the board to ask some suggestions on how to proceed and it seems you have touched on some already...

Yes, she has skipped 2nd nap for 3 days in a row. (When she does take it, it is only 25-30 min already) I had been nursing to get her to nap and it worked for a while. I have pushed the time by a bit. I was going to ask if I should push more.

If I push longer I will loose my nursing APOP as we will be too far from her feed.

As it stands now, I will put her down for CN and she will play in her crib usually 20-30 mins with no complaints. Very occasionally she might fall asleep after 20+ min then I let her nap 15-20 min. But more often than not she shows no signs of settling in that 30 min and I usually throw in the towel.

So aside from trying to start CN later, would you recommend that I continue to leave her to her quiet play 30+ min so she at least gets quiet time?

We have also thought to not cap her morning nap at 2h, but so far she has only given us 2:05.

On the days she does not nap she goes to bed at 7:00, and 715-730 on the days she does nap.

She is OT when she skips nap, but not miserably so. Her mood is good. She might have short night wake but usually just the EW.

She seems happiest with 13h total sleep: 2-2.5 in day and 10.5-11 at night.

[creations]

If I push longer I will loose my nursing APOP as we will be too far from her feed.

OK I'm just trying to think of ways you can keep that CN a little longer just so that she doesn't build lots of OT over many days.  Without trying to work out when your naps and feeds are, is there a chance you could do a slightly earlier or later lunch or give a small snack earlier and then use the BF to APOP?

Either that or jump into a one nap routine - move it later again, another 15 mins use a W2S (as much as needed but perhaps just before the 2hr mark if she's regularly doing 2hr) to see if you can get her beyond 2hr nap?

[LaraAndrea]

I could definitely adjust her afternoon snack to try to push CN/nurse later. I think I will try that first for a few days before I resort to the single nap routine.

It is amazing the power of a 15-20 min CN

[creations]

Yes even a small nap makes a very big difference.

I would agree to try what you can (including later BT if needed so that you can get that CN in) before moving to the one nap routine.  My concern with this nap drop transition is that I had a rough time with my DS through it and the memory lingers!! lol
Mine had a lovely totally independent 2hr nap every day without fail...right until he refused the second nap.  I couldn't feed to sleep, AP involved an hour of quite energetic dancing with him and forcing him to sleep (it was exhausting) and then even that failed. As soon as we moved to one nap he stopped sleeping the 2hrs and woke every 20 mins OT
We got through it, obviously, but it was very hard.
So, yes, yes, yes, that little CN can really help you get through even if you can only manage to AP and make it happen for a few more weeks.

[LaraAndrea]

That is what I am worried about. I can see the OT accumulating.

She has had a very reliable 2h nap for a long time now, but already within the span if 1 week she had a 60 min and 90 min nap. Not awful, but makes me fearful for the fall out.

We had a sweet 25 min AP nap yesterday (my LO is not a cuddler so a nap in the arms can be sweet). Her nights have been good, not a peep until the early wake.

I think her early wake has become habitual... 515 on the dot. My husband is the W2S champ, so he will have a job over the next couple nights

[creations]

W2S sounds like a good plan.
Could there be anything waking her at that time?  Any light getting into the room? any traffic noise at that time or a neighbour going out to work or something??

[LaraAndrea]

Her room is dark. I have not noticed other disturbances, but I sleep pretty well until she wakes usually haha.

There is a lot of potential for noise where we live, I will try to be more observant.

[creations]

Does she sleep better with white noise perhaps?  It may be possible to play some all night to cover any early morning noises disturbing her.
This is a tricky transition isn't it.

[LaraAndrea]

My husband did W2S last night and she woke at 5:50... An improvement.