12 month old night waking and short naps

[JCN]

Hi!

Apologies in advance for a long post...
Our routine has gone to pot and I need some help!

My one year old is currently very poorly from a cough and a cold and teething plus  the after effects of his one year vaccinations, but before that he was beginning to struggle with sleep. Now that he is poorly we’ve lost all routine altogether. I’m going with the flow while he is unwell but I’m beginning the think about what routine to implement when I get stricter again.

Prior to any of this our routine looked like this:

WU 5:30am ( I have always struggled to get him to sleep later than this, he becomes unsettled from 4am and is ready for the day by 5ish. We have to be up at 6:00am for work/childcare anyway)

S: 9:30-10:45/11:00

S: 14:30/15:00 for about an hour, sometimes as late as 15:30 and then capped at 30-40mins

BT 19:30

Just before he got ill he began fighting his second nap. I shifted it later and cut it short by waking him by 16:15 latest. Sometimes that would work, other times he’d happily revert back to his old routine, sometimes he would miss it altogether and have a 18:30 BT.
Alongside this,  he started waking in the night, around 1am and then frequently from 4am onwards until WU.

As I said, atm he’s pretty unwell and with a cough his sleep is dire anyway and he’s waking frequently during the night with a cough or temperature, naps are sporadic and the whole lot has gone to pot anyway.

This morning he is a little better in himself  and after a 6:45am WU, I let his cues guide me to his nap time which I did at 11:00am, when he began yawning and got grizzly. He did protest a little and needed a couple of mins of sssh/pat in order to settle (but I’m unsure whether this is OT/UT or just because he’s used to cuddles from being ill) He then woke after 25mins, I was unable to resettle in his cot but he then fell asleep on my knee once downstairs 5mins later.

I am totally aware that sleep associations have been created whilst he’s been poorly, which I’m happy to deal with when he is 100% again and having had to have done this before I feel ok about that.

My issue is that I’m not sure whether I should be going back to our previous routine or if I should be pushing towards a 2-1 transition? Or altering the 2 naps he had?

Help!

[creations]

Hi there
Sorry to see you didn't have any replies yet.

My DS has changed his sleep routine during/over illness a couple of times so I totally understand where you're coming from with that idea.  It's worked out well for me so I do think it's worth a go even though you won't know exactly what routine to go for.

As he's 12 months now (I'll ask for this thread to be moved over to the Toddler sleep board) I would think that moving towards the 2-1 would be on the cards.  Some LOs have already dropped to one nap at this age.  He might not be ready to go straight to one nap (but he might surprise you) so I'd plan for a long nap and a CN, possibly capping the CN if needed and possibly moving BT a touch later if needed too.  Once that CN goes the BT can come earlier again.  Moving BT is not always needed but sometimes LOs just aren't ready for one nap but you can't fit two into the day.

Nap 1 at around 11am would be a good start.  He might have woken at 25 mins due to being ill so I would just monitor how things go with an 11am nap and see if he can settle down into it and get a good long nap there (1.5 - 2hr).
I'd probably try to offer a CN at around 4hr A time.  It could be for 20-30 mins.
Then maybe 3hr before BT as he has only had a short CN.
it might look like this:
WU 6.00
S 11.00 - 12.30
A approx 4hr
S 4.30 - 5.00
A approx 3hr
BT 8pm

Or if the CN is refused I'd aim to get him to bed for the night by 5.30pm. I know it seems early but it is a 5hr A time which is long enough.
because you are likely to try for the CN at 4.30 you'd need to ready yourself for the possibility of it being refused.  I wouldn't try beyond 4.45pm.  Then do some A time but move on with the BT routine as quickly as possible as you will be short of time to get the feeds and nappy change etc fitted in.  it might be that you need to skip bath and just top and tail due to such a short time frame to get him to bed to avoid too much OT.

I am totally aware that sleep associations have been created whilst he’s been poorly, which I’m happy to deal with when he is 100% again and having had to have done this before I feel ok about that.

I expect it will go pretty smoothly. In my experience LOs who have been sleeping independently usually return to that after illness with very little encouragement.  They know when they need the extra cuddles through illness and they know when they are safe to sleep alone again.

Hope this helps

[JCN]

Hi - thanks for your reply.

Sorry In my delay responding... we’ve ended up in hospital with little one and after. A 3 day stay are now home.

His medicine is still kicking in so I’m still allowing him to sleep when needed and he is now sleeping on/next to me almost all of the time.

During hospital he was woken 1-3hourly through the night and day  for checks and meds, which completely finished off any routine we had.

It has now been about 3 weeks since we had any kind of EASY routine.

I will definitely be returning to here once his course of medication is finished and he is ready to have some tough love as we return to independent sleep.

[creations]

Oh dear I'm so sorry to hear your LO was so unwell.  Many hugs and healthy vibes coming your way.

In terms of routine etc. I can tell you my DS was admitted to hospital for 4 nights at almost the same age (about 10.5 months) and also had around the clock meds and checks which continued after we came back home too. As he started to recover he also needed night feeds which he hadn't had in several months, he needed to make up for the calories he'd lost during his hospital stay and the only way he could do that was to eat day and night.  I wasn't expecting the night feeds but he clearly needed them and gradually his solids eating picked up again.
My experience was that my DS stopped those night feeds and got right back into independent sleeping just as soon as he could. He didn't need much or any encouragement to do so, he just needed the extra feeds, extra cuddles and extra help whilst he was poorly and through the recovery time.
I wouldn't worry about your routine at all.  Just do what is needed for as long as needed.  Things will come back together when you are all ready.

Remember to rest as much as possible yourself too - put aside all the non-essential chores and focus on getting some rest, fresh air and exercise, food and naps whenever you can so you can keep yourself healthy. x

[Buntybear]

Gosh - I hope you LO is on the mend quickly - please do come back when you are ready to give your EASY another go xxx

[JCN]

So, LO is better and our sleep routine is a complete mess.

Please help!

I have started to push morning nap back - today WU was 6:0 and I didn’t put him down for his nap until 10:30 (by this point he was yawning and starting tongrizzle at everything) He settled pretty quickly for his nap which was good news but then he only slept for 45mins?

[creations]

I've replied on your other thread:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=287526.msg3170187#msg3170187