Author Topic: Critique of routine needed pls!  (Read 1051 times)

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Offline Lucysmom

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Critique of routine needed pls!
« on: July 05, 2006, 15:01:07 pm »
Hi -
My dd is 13 months old and things had been going sooooo well with naps and night time sleep for ages.  At the beginning of June she had vaccinations which led to nightwakings for 2 weeks.  Lots of developmental stuff going on too.  I was attributing her nightwakings to illness and developmental issues as well as some separation anxiety, but now I am thinking that maybe her routine is out of whack.  There were two days in a row recently where she refused her afternoon nap so that is when the alarm bells really started going off in my head.  Also it seems that many toddlers are already on one nap now and she is still on two. 

Here is the basic routine that worked a treat for quite a while:

6:30 wake
7 breakfast
9:30 nap
11  wake
12 lunch
2:30 nap
4 wake
5 dinner
7:30 bed ~ asleep by 7:45/8

I know I have 3 options:  1.  Keep things the way they are and be consistent with wi/wo for naps and night time and see if things settle down 2.  Shorten her morning nap to one hour in hopes of keeping the afternoon nap 3.  Start the transition to one nap and figure out how to do that!

She is soooo very restless at night- crawling around in her crib, pulling herself up, sitting, rolling.  So either she is not tired enough, having fun with her new skill set, or in some kind of discomfort from maybe molars that I cannot see at all?  She is chewing on her hands a lot these days......  She is also eating a lot more these days and can be gassy.  Too many factors!!!! 

Before my head explodes, any input about what I should or should not do in regards to her routine would be most appreciated.  THANKS!!! ;D

Offline Florencia

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Re: Critique of routine needed pls!
« Reply #1 on: July 05, 2006, 17:35:19 pm »
WOW... i think you're right in all of your conclusions and if you want an opinion, I'd go with option 1 for a week at least and then stop and decide either go for option 2 or 3. I would also tend to think that if option 1 fails for a week without any substancial improvement, then you're in the path for one nap a day and then, there will be no much left to figure out, just try for a later nap time and try that nap to be around noon and as long as possible.

While you try option 1, and in cases nap 2 does not happen or is too short, go for an early bedtime, even as early as 530 or 6PM to help Lucy catch up on lost sleep and to have time left for relaxing and long wind downs so she can settle easier at bedtime.

Teething molars, yes a very likely posibility (given lucy's age and restlesness at nights, the gassiness and the chewing hands )that can be helped with pain meds (as long as your pediatrician is ok with it, he will indicate you the doses and frequency). Molars can take even up to 2 months to pop up.

Another thing that could explain the restleness at nights can be overtiredness caused by the lost sleep and this can be solved with the earlier bedtime. If you're gonna deal short naps with wi/wo you might as well try it for night wakings.

Criticism? well that's something i would expect you never got from this site ;). Your usual routine/schedule sounds like a dream to me also but i think that now that Lucy's into toddlerhood she might need a bit of tweaking, she's more mobile and probably ready to switch to one nap but to make sure, you need to work on a method at least for a week consistantly to figure out what she needs. Let us know about your progress and findings while this happen. Many useful ideas and words of sympathy will come up.

Good luck!
Mom to Manolo, spirited monkey and Jose Miguel, an angel cupcake

Offline Harrisonsmummy

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Re: Critique of routine needed pls!
« Reply #2 on: July 05, 2006, 18:04:22 pm »
Is she walking yet? If not, it is quite common to have disturbed nights for about 2 weeks before walking starts "properly". This happened with us and stopped once H was up on his own. (The consistency option 1 would be good here!)

Offline Lucysmom

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Re: Critique of routine needed pls!
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2006, 20:16:39 pm »
Hi There - Thanks so much for your replies!  It is just so hard to know what to do when you are in the thick of it...can't see the forest for the trees IYKWIM!

Yesterday she only managed a 20 minute catnap in the car as I had a doctor's appt during nap time.  So bedtime was a nightmare.  I was doing wi/wo and listening like crazy to know which cries to respond to.  It is sooo hard.  I had some minor procedures done to my feet and the numbing meds were wearing off and the Tylenol was doing NOTHING to help so I limped downstairs to get a beer and then went back upstairs and she actually calmed down and started drifting off without me there.  I guess what I am saying is that if I  had not needed the beer, I would have gone back in a few times and done wi/wo and I imagine she would not have settled.  So maybe I am going in too much and need to listen to her cries even more carefully.  I just don't want her to cry it out so I think I am maybe being overly cautious.  Anyway, the beer did the trick in more ways than one!!!  ;)

She is not walking yet and I don't know how long it is going to take for her to get up the nerve to let go of my hand and do it on her own.  I sooooo hope things settle down once she can walk!!!

Last night we did not have to go in to her at all so that was GREAT!!!  She did "squawk" three times and then she was quiet.  I have been leaving a little light on in her room and I think that is helping as well. 

She fell asleep for her afternoon nap late as she pooped after I put her down and then it took her longer to settle.  I think she finally fell asleep at 3:30 which is super late so I am going to wake her at 4:30 I think so we can still have a normal bedtime.  She napped from 10:15 to 11:45 this morning.

So that is the report from here!  Thanks so much again for your replies and support!  They are soooo very appreciated!