Is my baby going to walk soon? Practicing not sleeping...

[LaraAndrea]

So my LO (10.5 months) has been fairly textbook so far with regards to milestones/sleep changes etc.

With the exception of the 4 month regression/rolling over (which happened together) she has had only short term sleep disturbances from developmental milestones.

Do you think my LO may start walking soon:
- she is a confidant cruiser
- she is very good at climbing stairs
- she can stand w/o holding on for up to 30 sec
- she walks well with push toy or while holding hands
- recently she has started to do the downward dog (trying to stand up??)  especially in crib after being PD

I am wondering how long this stage lasted for other Mamas???

I give her tons of practice time during day hoping she will be tired enough for sleep, it was working up until recently.

[jessmum46]

She could be starting to think about walking - but it's super-hard to tell!  They are all so different and I don't think there is such thing as a 'typical' length of time for this bit to last.  That said, 10-11 months is often a time sleep goes wonky - have you read this? https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=95670.0  Is it all sleeps you are having difficulty with or just some?  What's her routine currently?

[LaraAndrea]

After some observation I think the culprit was next stage of 2-1 transition worsened by teething and new skills.

It is only BT that was affected... With our normal 2nd nap APOP due to transition.

She started her 2-1 transition at 9 months and we were in a comfortable pattern of 2h late AM nap and 20-25 min APOP CN at 5pm with 730BT with random skipped CN with BT of 7. This worked for ~a month.
 She is Not cranky with skipped CN
Then she started fighting BT as mentioned above.

I tried shortening the CN and that did not work, then she started skipping it more often. No crankiness and she went to bed well.

For the last couple days we let her nap for 2.5h, no 2nd nap and BT at 7 see below:

530-6:00 wake (6:00 is desired)
6:05 BF
715 breakfast
1015 early lunch
1130-2:00 nap
2:00 BF
330 snack
455 BF (used to APOP CN... Now refused)
Try to spend 15 of quiet cuddles
6:00 dinner
6:55 BT routine with BF
7-7:05 BT

With this new routine we have had good naps and nights but early wake. Not sure if she just needs to adjust (2 days of new routine so far) or if too much overall sleep. (This new routine gives her 30-60 mins more total sleep in day.

[jessmum46]

I wonder if she might need an earlier bedtime, actually.  For a LO this young on one nap those A times look quite long, especially the one after the nap.  What about a 6/6.30 bedtime?  Or would she sleep longer at lunch if you let her?

[LaraAndrea]

I might be willing to try an earlier BT but she has always been on the lower end if daily sleep need. I can't imagine her getting 14h of sleep in 24h.

When she did the CN she would go to bed at 730... Until she started fighting BT, then she wouldn't go to sleep till 8-830.

What is most important? Amount of day/night/ total sleep? Or shorter 2nd AT?

I do wish she would still give me a CN w/o repercussions

[Buntybear]

Generally it is said that night sleep is better as it is more restorative however you have to weigh up the resistance and Ews too!

I have to agree with Katherine if you are going to drop the CN at that age that an earlier BT would be good as at 10 months she still needs a lot of sleep, even if she is low sleep needs!

[LaraAndrea]

She is the happiest with about 13h total sleep 10.5-11h of that night sleep.

She actually gave me a CN yesterday which was nice. She used to drop 1-2 CN/week even with APOP. Now she is only giving me 1-2 CN/week.

If she skips the CN I will try for an even earlier BT next time

[VnessMorris]

Hey LaraAndrea,

My 12 month old is going thru 2-1 transition as well.  What you described with your routine is almost exactly what DD2 just went thru in the past week and a half. As pp said, I had to give her an earlier BT (6:15/6:30pm) to compensate for the dropped afternoon CN (she used to CN for only 10mins via APOP!).  It was tough with toddler DD1 running around!  There were a couple of days of EWs but she eventually fell back asleep until WU for both mornings.  And now, she's finally stretching her AT towards a 7pm BT. Today is her 4th day of 1 big nap! It's hard at first but it will smooth out in the end. Hang in there!

HTh

V.
Ps. Another thing I did was try to tire DD2 out so that she could practice her walking/running. This helped with getting her to CN via APOP in the afternoon as long she would take it.

[LaraAndrea]

What you described with your routine is almost exactly what DD2 just went thru in the past week and a half

I am glad to hear my issue is part of the normal process.

Another thing I did was try to tire DD2 out so that she could practice her walking/running. This helped with getting her to CN via APOP in the afternoon as long she would take it.

Here lies my dilemma, I have always had to keep LO very active to get good naps. Her activity level is already very high. I could increase it slightly if I never leave the house in the afternoon (which I can do on some days, but not practical all the time). As previously mentioned, I was able to tire her out and use APOP to get short nap up until recently.

Question: should I say home for a few days and see if I can tire her more and hopefully squeeze in a couple more CN? (If I go out it is only 30-40 min max usually)

Or

Use the same information in reverse and make her 2nd AT more low key than usual (understanding that the cat nap just won't happen) and put baby down for early BT?

I struggle emotionally when I put a lot of effort into something that fails. But I do want to do the right thing by LO

[VnessMorris]

I would say go by what your LO cues you to do. Observe her on days with and without CNs and what her night time sleep became as a result of it. In my case, I tried to keep DD2's CN as long as I possibly could as I read on the forum that keeping LO on 2 naps as long as possible is best. And it was hard getting her down for those CNs!!

For example: I experimented with DD2's APOP CN's and discovered that, at the time, she could carry a suitable AT to last until a "good BT" (aka, a time that suited our family lifestyle). E.g. A 10 min forced CN allowed her to have a final AT of 2:45-3:10's @10months old but made BT around 7:45-8pm. I also started giving her a bath in the afternoon as water play tired her out for the CN.

I stuck with this pattern as long as she would allow me (stimulating/tiring her out physically to get that CN in before 5pm). Them, I noticed that her CN got later and later and then one day there were no sleepy cues! She was happy as a clam and  I just went with her until she cued me to put her down for BT. It was a bit stressful as I had no idea what to expect but so far, so good.

Do you have a park close by? Bonus if there's a splash pad in it. I used to bring DD2 to the park and have her chase me/toys/other kids/play in splash pad as a way to tire her out. Sometimes,she would walk most of the way back home to prevent her from falling asleep in the stroller. It was tiring for me too but it worked out well until she dropped the CN.

V.

[LaraAndrea]

Thanks!!
I have been consistently getting the same message. So I really would like to keep the CN if I can. Even a 10 min nap as you said, seems to do the trick.

I do find that outdoor or water play does tire her out, so I can try upping that a bit. As for running around... My LO is just shy of 11 months and today was the first day she took 4 steps w/o falling. But I give her ample practice time.

Even before this most recent CN refusal, she took her APOP CN after 5 (starting ~5:05). I am weary of trying for even later b/c a later BT ends up working against us.

This part is my fault. LO wakes up at 6:00, if she doesn't wake on her own I wake her. I will be back to work in a month and 6am wake allows me to nurse and do breakfast before dropping off at daycare and going to work. If I chose to wean the AM feed I could be more flexible, but I don't think I am ready for that.

So even if I get an EW due to OT I still tend to get 10.5-11h of night sleep... But with a later BT and 6am wake I would get less.

I have been trying to watch her cues and make note of her night sleep, but she cut 2 teeth in the last 3 weeks which usually cause some night wakes.

Arg!! Everything happening at once. So hard to make good observations.

Today was the first time she was cranky after skipping the CN. I put her down for 640. I will see how her night goes. Early BT might be the only effective tool I have

[VnessMorris]

I agree; once you think you have something down, something else will pop up!! 

If anything, the only consistent variable were the patterns of AT (e.g. They got shorter throughout the day). So, for me during her transition, it was more clock watching than usual (Ack!).

Hang in there!
V.

[jessmum46]

You can switch things up if the pm catnap gets tricky by doing a short morning catnap, literally just 15-20 mins on the run(car/pram etc) to get you through to a long nap after lunch. Helped us out in the tricky couple of months before they could really truly handle one nap every day x

[LaraAndrea]

That is an interesting idea. I know LO gets pretty relaxed during our morning walk sometimes. She may take a short CN.

She currently goes down for her nap at 1130 and when she starts daycare in 1 month, they do nap time at 1130. How hard would it be to make that adjustment for a month and switch back? Or is it bit worth it for a short time?

[jessmum46]

I think you could easily aim for a short am catnap and long pm nap at home, with one nap at 11.30 at daycare and EBT on those days if needed x