we're going through a few things lately, 2nd year molars, sep anx from mama as i returned to work 3 weeks ago. DS started protesting at being put down for his nap and bedtime, but after a little grousing, would go quiet and sleep.
our latest development is that it's taking an hour or so for him to fall asleep though. for the past few months you could set your watch by him:
7am wake
12.15pm nap
2.15pm wake
7.15pm bedtime
now he's grousing a while, falling quiet, grousing, giving shrieks, talking to his lovies etc. i'm sure you know the score! this can last for an hour, even an hour-and-a-half or two
it rarely gets to the point where he needs my help, but so far putting his blanket back on and leaving the door slightly ajar, talking quietly when i need to through the door is sufficient to calm him down when he does need it. but such assistance won't send him to sleep any earlier once he's calmed down!
the thing is by the time he does fall asleep at 8.15pm/8.30pm or so, he's OT even though he's lying in his crib, and we've had a couple of 6am wake-ups recently. he still takes a two hour nap on these days, maybe catching up the day after with a three hour nap. which then of course makes going to bed at 7.15pm even more difficult when he's only woken up at 3pm!
i want to nip this in the bud and tweak his routine so that we don't get into an OT cycle. my thought is to delay bedtime a short while so that he's tireder when he goes to bed and will fall asleep more quickly, but not OT obviously.
what do you think? any success stories in this vein?
i don't really want to tweak his nap if at all possible -- i'm a firm believer in letting LOs sleep if they're sleeping. a little un-BW i know
TIA!
kat.
