2 to 1 update and question

[earls]

hi there
i posted last week re my little boy(11months) who has started taking 1 nap
it has been really hard as hes not been taking a long enough nap
over the past few days though he is taking a 2hour nap, but im not sure if this is enough
he has also started waking in the night sometimes for a few hours at a time where he was sleeping thru before
i remember Meg's mom, you told me to watch out for this as this could be sign hes overtired or not ready for 1 nap
as i mentioned i have to do the school run so i didnt really have a choice as i couldnt get the 2 naps in, well arjun wasnt tired enough so wasnt napping properly
but now he is waking and i am so tired so dont know what i can do now
any advice would be welcome
thanks
earlie
arjun(11 months)

[Meg's Mom]

Hi

Oh, nooo -

can you post his scheudule on the 1 nap?  Also how long has he been waking at night?

[earls]

oooh yes, i'm afraid
well...his schedule is as follows:
awake anytime between 6 and 6.30ish
i was putting him down at 12.30ish but he was so bushed by then it took ages to settle etc and he would wake early
now i out him down at 12 and he goes down fine and sleeps anywhere between 1 and 2 hours
the days he sleeps for 2 he does sleep marginally better in the night but most nights he is waking between 12.45am and 1.30am, but he usually sits up(cant then get back down for some reason himself)
firstly as he wasnt crying i didnt go into him but after a while he his then wide awake and can take him 2 hours or so to settle
so what i try and do is wait a short while, then go in and try and settle him before he wakes fully, sometimes it works better than at other times but he's still up for a couple of hours altogether
i'd let him sleep slightly later but he gets up anyway
today he got up after his nap after 50mins or so, then we went out,he slept in his buggy for half an hour at around 2.30, but was obv tired again to went to bed at 6.30pm so i have to see what the night has in store for me tonight
i really dont know how i can help him tho

[Deb_in_oz]

Hi there

we switched olivia to 1 nap around 11 mo (a smidge before) as it was getting confusing to figure out her nap needs all of a sudden (1 day wants in bed before 9 other days can't get her down until almost 10 and then can't figure out 2nd nap etc) We made the decison b/c with 2 kids napping it woudl have been difficult for me to have Liv nap, then alex, then liv (they were doing afetrnoon nap together from about 1-3pm) so we have been putting her down around 12:30 and she does anywhere from 1 1/2 - 2 hrs with the occassional longer nap (the other day she woke after 1hr 30 but it was only 2:15 and i "told her" - from another room  - that she needed more sleep and she shocked me and settled down for another 45 min) i am hoping that she will start to extend to 2-3 hrs but will have to wtach and see.

what we do though is watch her from when she wakes up - if she wakes before 7am (used to wake around 6:30 but since 1 nap she often sleeps til 7-7:30 now) she sometimes needs to do 2 naps so we go with the flow on that, but most days we just get out or stay busy and keep her up as long as possible and when we put her down she passes out almost immediately (whereas before she would get "overtired" now 90% of the time she goes past that to "spent" i guess- and i happy until the minute before we do nap time). i figure it could be another month or so before she goes 100% to 1 nap, but she seems to be coping really well with it. what happens n those days when he wakes at 6? have you tried offering 2 naps on those days? then he woudl be rested wll by nighttime and see if he sleeps better.

[earls]

hiya
no, i havnt been offering 2 naps when he wakes at 6 cause i thought maybe he would then get confused but i guess i could try this as before we switched to 2 naps, he used to sleep till 7/7.15 which if he slept till that now he would be able to only have the 1 nap
today he was up agian at 6 but i have missed the slot for the morning nap as its now 11am here
ill try this tho if he gets up at 6 and see. i just get worried he wont sleep properly for his pm nap as wont be tired as i need to put him down early re school run, but if hes tired i guess he will sleep right???

[Meg's Mom]

Great suggestion from Deb, when we went to the 1 nap we went back and forth some days too.  If she was tired i would let her sleep for 30min and no more for nap 1...that seemed to be just enough but not so much that she wouldn't take nap 2.

Also on the days she would takes the shorter 1 nap, i would put her to bed early (30-45min).  Also keep afternoon activities low key...long stroller walk, run errands so she was in the car/cart. 

I also "encourgage" her to sleep for the entire 2hrs, some days she needs just a bit of shh/pat (overtired) and others i try walk in / walk out, then lastly she can stay in crib playing w/ soft toys and me sitting the rocker.  But she doesn't not get out or up until i say nap time is over.  We are just getting back track after being sick, so this exactly what we have been doing all week 

[earls]

ok....not so good an update im afraid
yesterday i went to see my mum so he fell asleep in the car at 9 for about 25mins or so, i thought good, as he was sooo tired the day before and slept terribly, i then put him down for his om nap and he slept for 20mins!!!i tried for ages but he wasnt having any of it
so byt he end of the day he was really cranky and tired
he did sleep a further 10 mins on the way back
i ended up having to put him to bed at 6.15 after a bath etc
he did sleep. but then got up 1.45, then again at 4.45, but then slept till 7.15am
i just don't know anymore what the prob is

[Deb_in_oz]

the "problem" is that it is a difficult transition time. it is frustrating trying to guess all over again when is a good time for a nap and when can they do 1 or 2??? it is like dealing with a newborn again (at least for me). on Monday Liv went to daycare for the morning and of course that day she woke at 6:20 and was rubbing her eyes at breakfast so i knew she woudl need a morning nap. i told them to let her sleep but not too long and not much after 10am (she slept 9:30-10:15 which was her old nap time before this all started) so i thought ok i will aim for 1:30pm (her old pm nap) and by 1:40 (after changing 2 poopy nappies) i put her down and IT TOOK 1 HOUR AND SHH/PAT to get her to sleep. i think she was actually overtired! i cannot win some days.  anyway, yesterday (tuesday)she woke at 6:30/40 and i decided no matter what to push for one nap and put her down at 12:30 or so (our usual 1 nap time) and she went down without a peep and had her first 3 hour nap of her life!!!

you can't help if he falls asleep in the car and i woudl just chalk up days like that to "beyond your control" and just try to figure it out as best you can. on days when you are able to "dictate" sleep time and location go with your gut. i am finding that she gets a second wind with lunch at 11am and before i know it we have made it to 12:30 so this works better for me than struggling to figure oput that 2nd nap which is just too insanely complicated right now.  good luck!