what happen to my great sleeper?

[Meg's Mom]

Hi

We have been thru the 1 nap transition roller coaster and last week finally got her to a 2hr nap @ about 1pm.  (wake @ 7am and bed @ 7pm) = 14hrs sleep, perfect right?

Well since the time change she is waking at 5am (6am would be okay, but 2hrs early   :shock: ).  We kept her up 30min later the past 2 nights try to get her to the new time - but it has back fired!

W/ the very early wake up i have had to give her 2 naps, but she fights the second on something aweful.

I have previouly used pd to extend naps w/ success.  But i don't know how to handle this as she never fights going down nor had early wakings.  Also, how long do you give a toddler to settle and how long do you hold back when she is obviously upset?

Help!! :?

[Katet]

Michelle, I know this sounds counterproductive, but try to give her an earlier bed time... I find those nights Aiden goes to bed more than 15mins late he wakes up heaps earlier... so try delaying by just 15mins at a time to get into the new time.

[Meg's Mom]

I was thinking that too so we put her down at 6.30 tonight, but she refused the pm nap completely...so even that maybe have been too late. 

I will have to find a way to make the 1nap work regardless of wake up time tomorrow as she went from 11am to 6.30pm w/o sleep - urg.

Thanks and i'll keep you posted on our progress.

How do you do pd w/ your toddler?  An how long do you hold back when dc is doing the hard cry?  I don't want to undo all our hard work, but i don't want to start a new neg habit either.

[Katet]

I never did pu/pd... Aiden just needed a hand on his back, he never stood up. So not much help there.

What I used to do when Aiden refused 2nd naps & it was a long time unitl bed was lie on the "story time pillows" in his room & give him books & me a book & we had quiet time for 45mins... I needed that as I was 6 mo preg! that seemed to give him just enough to get through to an early bed time.

[Meg's Mom]

ooohhhh  i like story time pillows, i'll see if she'll take to it.

Unfortunately, she is a toddler in consistent motion!  Won't sit or lie for more the a minute (unless a sleep or buckled in the...car...stroller...high chair).  But after pm nap refusal today we did take a very long walk and i think she got a wee 10mins of shut eye and some much needed forced rest.

[LindseysMom]

Oh Michelle, just wanted to say I hope that this will pass quickly and that she will get back to normal soon.   Sounds like maybe she just got a little overtired with the time change and hopefully a couple nights of early bedtimes will help get her back on track.  I wish I had more advice but I learned a lot of what I know from you. :wink:

[Meg's Mom]

Thanks Lynne, brought a tear to my eye  .

[Alison_3]

Hey Michelle.  I hope things turn around for both of us soon.  This time change has been awful.  Yesterday my ds was up at 4:10 and this morning at 4:30...yuck!!  On another post, many suggested to moving to one nap.  Well today we tried and still ended up with a 45 minute nap.  I swear my little guy is never going to sleep!

Hang in there...I have a neighbor with a two year old who takes a three hour nap in the afternoon and she has to wake him up so he doesn't sleep too long!  I can't even imagine...

As for the PD, I don't think my ds would go for it.  Lately when he's struggling for a nap or bedtime, he doesn't want to be held, read to, etc.  He wants to be in his crib with his blanket rolling around and sort of talking/whining!  The only thing is, I now have been staying in the room. :oops:

Every day is different for us!  Hang in there.

[Meg's Mom]

Hiya

Ya i hope things turn soon for us both!

I tried awake to sleep this morning and she slept till 5.30 (i guess that is an improvement from 5am).  But since i was just about to fall asleep, not really - moan, moan.

I figured out if i give her a 20min catnap at 9am, she can make it to 1pm happy and will still go down.  But of course she reverted back to the 1.15hr nap, not the 2hr one that we had last week!

Is 45min the same amount he was sleeping before when taking 2?  As Megan did this for a long time too.  Remember, they don't know they are only getting 1 nap - even though we tell them :-).  So give him time to adjust.  If still not sleeping longer after a week or 2 try awake to sleep...it worked for us.

The only thing is, I now have been staying in the room. 

be careful w/ that one, soon you will have be going in everytime he wakes at night too!

I'll try to hang in there!  You too.  Just a few weeks ago she was sleeping 13hrs at night, i just can't figure out how you go from 13 to 10.5 in a blink - wtf!

Let me know if i can help any w/ your 1 nap transition?

[lulah'smum]

OMG I need help here too!  :wink:  We've been doing the 2 to 1 nap transtition since Monday and it's now Friday here. She's been doing really well with it, having a 2 hour nap in the middle of the day then going to bed at 7pm. She wakes around 6.15am. On Wednesday she made it all the way to 7.20am and she was angel for the entire day! (Doesn't happen too often so I savour those days....)

Today, however, I jumped in the shower at 9.30am and she FELL ASLEEP ON THE BATHROOM FLOOR!!!!!!! While I was in the shower!!!!   She hasn't fallen asleep ANYWHERE other than her own bed or the car seat since she was about 6 weeks old. She won't even nap in her pram.

So do you think it's too soon to do the 1 nap thing? I have no idea what's going to happen this afternoon. I doubt she'll take an afternoon nap as she's been fighting them severely for 4 weeks, which is the whole reason we decided to transition. The rest of this week has been much easier than I thought it would be, with the 1 nap thing.

Lynne, I remember you saying Lindsey naps twice some days and once on others - does this work OK?

[Meg's Mom]

The 2 naps didn't work for us once we started the transition - it always ended up w/ a 45 and 45...hate those cuz I get a grumpy baby and no rest for mommy.

I can just see her on the floor, what a shock! 

Let us know what she does this afternoon and we can chat again.  How long did she sleep on the floor?  :shock:  Tracy does say that some days they will need 2 naps out of the blue, so go with it.

PS: I did ATS after 70min and she is still sleeping as we approach 1hr 45min, I am so happy!  FINALLY!!  We noticed last night she was hungry again after dinner, I have been feeding her ALL day...could the early wakings be due to hunger eg: growth spurt?

[Alison_3]

Great for you Michelle!  Today we only got up at 4:45 a.m.!  It's progress though.  When my ds takes two naps the times vary.   Today he slept an hour this morning and 45 minutes this afternoon.  (extremely grumpy after the classic 45 minute nap!)He was so tired by bedtime, I thought he was going to fall asleep in the bathtub!

I'm just trying to figure out what to do.  He has been walking for over a month now, last week stopped drinking his bottle, etc.  I just wonder if all of the changes are the main reason for his lack of sleeping!  I find it really hard to go with one nap when he wakes up so early!  I don't know if I should just give him some time with this early waking situation and then try the 2 to 1 transition OR do I need to get to one nap to stop the early waking?  This is all so confusing to a first time mom!

My ds does have reflux, which I think was the major problem early on with his sleeping.   Thanks for your post Michelle!

Lulah's mom:  I can't believe your dd fell asleep on the bathroom floor!!  I can't imagine that happening to my ds.

[LindseysMom]

I know what you mean about feeding them all day.  Lindsey has been eating something about every 2 hours but she also has been taking her 2 naps lately,  for the moment anyway. 

Just a quick question.  If your lo has a nap that ended later than normal do you still put them to bed at their usual bedtime or do you vary it a little depending on when they woke from their last nap.  I usually like for Lindsey to be  in bed no later than 8 pm.  But she has been sleeping sometimes til 5 pm.  I have been varying her bedtime depending on her last nap end time but now that it is getting light sooner she does seem to wake earlier.  But  if I put her down too early for her afternoon nap she will not take one, kwim.   What do you do?

[Meg's Mom]

Hi, we got a 2hr nap...i was soo excited!  But poor dd has dark circles under her eyes :oops:.  At least today was a huge improvement.  I tried to get her to bed early but she all she wanted to due after her bath was eat and eat - i think this could be it.  As i also gave her a huge snack before nap instead of after like normal.

Alison - I find it really hard to go with one nap when he wakes up so early!  I can relate, it is really hard to do.  What about you trying this - reduce am nap by 10min every couple days until the pm nap lenghtens.  Fiona/Lieghs mom (on our other nap thread) did this w/ success until dd totally dropped the am nap and kept her pm nap.

Lynne- i would adjust her bed time a little...by 15min (30max) but no more. 

You all have been a great support this week, i can't thank you enough!

[lulah'smum]

She slept for an hour on the bathroom floor! She looked very comfy with her blankie so I didn't dare move her. She then napped for a huge 20 mins in the car this afternoon. It's 6pm now and she's getting massively cranky. But DH is home to keep her occupied TG!!

Michelle I so know what you mean about the "toddler in consistent motion" - I have one here too.  :wink:  I had a thought: How light is it in Megan’s room in the morning? (now that your clocks have gone back an hour). Once it starts staying dark in the morning (winter isn't far off) she might sleep in longer. I know it's a long time to wait though…

As it's coming into summer over here the mornings are getting lighter and lighter. Consequently in the week before the clocks went forward Tallulah was waking at 5.15am. The sun was coming up at 4.45am. She could see the cracks coming through her blinds and could hear the birds - TOUCHY little thing. Since the clocks have changed she sleeps until 6.15am, sometimes longer.

When she was waking early I tried everything to get her back to sleep. But once she was up she was up. PU/PD just infuriated her - she worked herself into a real frenzy on more than 1 morning! Mum & Dad were then set up for a cranky day too. So my advice would just be to put her to bed early (6.30 or earlier) and ride it out. She’ll sleep in herself eventually.