sudden early wakings since transition to 1 nap

[Little Dot]

I have just received some great advice on the problems that might occur when transitioning to 1 nap on the 'nap' forum. My dd is almost 16 months old and has started waking at 4 or 5 in the morning since we started the transition. She starts off shouting and crying and as I can hear her wake even more it becomes a hard cry and loud scream until I go in. What I was hoping for was that someone out there could advise me on what to do next. She continues to make alot of noise but I'm not convinced she's that upset, I just think she's woken and feels ready to start the day. If I pick her up she just tries to stand as if to go out the door but if I leave her in the cot she cries and screams blue murder! I know I have a fully fledged toddler on my hands who appears to be trying to get what she wants so what I need are some tips on how to handle her at this time such as do I go to her and keep leaving or do I stay in the room while she's crying until she falls asleep (I know this will take a long time as she's not the best as putting herself to sleep at that sort of time in the morning). I obviously don't want to distress her by not going at all but this has been going on about a week and I think I might be causing a bad habit. I wonder if it stems from earlier that week when she was teething so badly she wouldn't eat much in the day. She woke on a few occasions crying at 4/5 ish and would polish off 8oz of milk! She was clearly hungry. Now, though, she is eating well.
When she was younger the pick up put down method worked brilliantly but I'm not sure what the best method is now she's 16 months.
Thanks x

[ryan's mum]

don't really have much advice for you , but i would think that if you try pu/pd now she may get confused and think you are taking her out of her cot to start the day, then she will be even more upset you putting her back in.i have never done this method so i could be wrong ! we always found picking Ryan up would upset him more as he just wanted to go back to sleep . you say you are down to one nap , how long does she nap for ? we have found since we wake Ryan from his nap after 2 hrs he sleeps better at night. he could nap 3+hrs if left , it started to be a problem at bedtime. we wake from nap and earlier bed , now he sleeps til7.30am .
 

[Little Dot]

Thanks for your reply. We are only down to 1 nap some days. Others she might still have 2 as we have only been transitioning about 2 weeks max. When she has 1 nap it's about 2-2.5 hours long. Thats about how long the 2 naps total. I think you are right about PU/PD. I think she's too old for that anyway. Just need some advice about how to handle the whole waking/ screaming/ crying situation if anyone has had to deal with this.

Thanks again x