anyone want to chat about the 2-1 nap switch , thread#2

[NiknLily]

I agree, I have just had to work hard with gradual withdrawal to get out of Lily's room, we have cracked it for naps but I'm still hostage at bedtime, for the moment anyway.  I would only leave Lily 30Min's and like Sami said quick feed, potty & back to bed for just 1 nap.

If he was crying, could it be he was already OT, or could it of been teeth.  If he wasn't crying then I would work on getting out of room as our presence tends to just keep them awake longer.

Good luck sleep training while going through transition is no fun.  I bought the T shirt and I'm still wearing it

[MomofRocco]

OK, so....  thanks for the clarification!!!  Now, with all of that being said and including EW....  what do you suggest I do?  He's been fitfully in and out of sleep since 540 this morning.  I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I feel like something is off with his routine.  For instance, yesterday he took his am nap from 1035-1055, 20 min.  We played, had lunch and cleaned the house up before getting ready for his pm nap at 1.  Well, he didn't fall asleep until 230.  Needless to say, I woke him after 4.  If he sleeps later than that he has a difficult time falling asleep for bed.  He will play for an hour or more before bedtime.  Last night, he was asleep around 8.  He will be 16 months on the 25th....  do you suppose he may be ready to go to one nap?  Some days he seems tired so early in the am, but I really think he's just bored!  I know he can stand being awake til at least 11.  What should I do?  I am so tired of thinking about this all day long.  It is exhausting!  Any insight please!!!!!!!!
Brenda

[samijoe]

Brenda

It's not entirely wrong to feed him a big snack, put him down at 11, let him sleep till 130, remainder of lunch, at the latest and in bed no later than 6pm.

Question, when you put him down to nap at 1pm...did he grizzle and make noises like he might be sorta ed off??  Could he have been OT??  I am wondering if he isn't actually able to do 2hrs A time after only 20mins of sleep..... could you aim for in the crib at 1245 instead and let him sleep till 245....then in bed at 645ish??

What do you think about all this?


sami

[MomofRocco]

Unless I am COMPLETELY misreading him....  I don't think that would make a difference.  I've tried a lot, from adjusting it by a few minutes to making big adjustments... and the outcome is always the same.  There have been a few times where he was asleep by 130 after being put in there at 1245... but that doesn't happen often.  I think the am nap really energizes him.  He is always in such a good modd when we wake him from the short am nap!!!  I think I am going to try for one nap today.  I will read his cues, but I won't push it.  If he seems tired earlier then I will give him a catnap.  Why would all of this cause him to wake up early?  I don't get that?  He gets about the same amount of daysleep everyday....  20min am and 1.5-2hrs pm.  Have most transitioned to one nap by 16 months?  Ugh.... I don't know... I feel like my head is spinning. I am so afraid of losing complete control of his sleep.  I'll check back in a bit!!!!

[samijoe]

I know the EW seems silly, but there are really only so many hours in a day he can sleep.  Because he falls asleep around 8pm, he wakes around 6am.  That happens....

With my dd, during the transition, 8pm was like our magical NO NO number.  If she fell asleep at 759, she was up at 730.  If she fell asleep at 801, she was up at 6am.  YUCK.  So, he sounds like he is ew for the same sort of reason....he has a body clock that will just tell him what is too late.  8pm is too late for him to go to sleep.

I would jump to the 11am nap to see if that works.  Let him sleep no longer than 2.5hrs though.   But really, he IS still falling asleep after the 20min nap for a pm nap....so that indicates that he still can.  He isn't outright refusing the pm nap...which most would do if 20mins was too long of an am nap.

If you truly don't believe that trying for the pm nap earlier would help (and the only way to know is to try--small amounts of time can do wonders--and btw, lots of moms say their lo won't do it and surprisingly enough, they do),  then just put him down at 11.

Let us know how today goes.

When he early wakes...how long does he stay in his crib for??  I would aim for a good 1/2hr to 45mins of resting time...to help him make it to 11am no probs.  If he's too upset, obviously take him out.

good luck
sami

[MomofRocco]

He stays in there really until I get him.  He is wonderful in his crib, thankfully!!  He plays quietly in there for a while.  Just sitting, quietly.  So, I really never go in and get him until at least 7.  As for the EW...  I always think he's falling asleep too late.  Even on perfect nap days, he probably never falls asleep by 8.  He used to be great after 3hrs A time before bed, but obviously that has changed, A lot.  Anyway, gotta go do some work!!!  I will let you know how today goes.  Thanks.....            Brenda

[Ydnic]

The last few days have been 2 nap days, and I couldn't figure out why ds was crying when I laid him down for naps.  Well, today he slept in late enough to do 1 nap and when I laid him down and walked out of the room I didn't hear a peep, and still haven't! 

Duh.

Here's to a nice lloonngg nap.

Cindy

[NiknLily]

Brenda - thats what I did in the end, I needed to stabilise her sleeping so no matter what the wake up time I started putting her down at 11am and bedtime at 6pm.  For the most part its helping, her wake ups moved back to 6-6.30  but we still get more OT naps than good ones but I'm getting less NW's so I figure we are on the right course.

[debo620]

Brenda, my son would last like 3-4hrs on a 20min am nap at your son's age. so I do think just go for the one nap and see what happens. we have done 10min am naps and then one nap 2hrs later. I agree with Sami, you really do need no longer then a 13hr day. so if he is awake at 5:30am then he should be asleep by 6:30pm or maybe 7pm at the latest. so definately your long nap needs to be happening earlier in the afternoon.

[meltown]

he was crying the whole time.  well, he calmed down twice and almost went to sleep.  if I ever stopped holding my hand on him or walked out he got really anxious and cried even harder.  I'm going to set a 20-30 min rule now I think.  I thought he was going to sleep because of how he calmed down but never made it.

[samijoe]

sorry melissa

it's my job to ask those kinds of questions.  lol.

sorry that he made things difficult....was today better??  or wait, is it the beginning of the day for you??



sami

[Ydnic]

DS had 1 nap yesterday and slept for 1.75 hours, which I think is great.  However, it seems like every time he does a 1 nap day, he has a night waking.  Its not OT, I don't think.  I can't figure it out.  He's an excellent night sleeper so the night wakings throw me for a loop. 

Anyone else experience this?

Cindy

[meltown]

it's ok sami, I understand!!!   today I kept him up about 20 min longer in the afternoon and he slept for about 40 min then I woke him to get his bath and eat and back to sleep.  t was a great day, but we will see how today is because he is a bit crabby today.  hope a nap will help!  Thanks for the Ideas!!

[MomofRocco]

Soooooooooooo... yesterday was PERFECT!!  He slept in the am from 1035-1155.  I woke him, played had lunch and he was back in there by 1230...  asleep by 1240.  Up at 240..... and in bed by 7, sleep by 730.  Still sleeping at 7 this morning.  That has never happened.  I was ecstatic.  But, I had a feeling that it was too good to be true, which is why I am ready to rip my hair out right now.  I tried the same EXACT thing today and it is almost 130 and he is having a blast in his crib....  Why does this have to be so difficult?  It really upsets me that I can't get this right... No matter what, as soon as I find what I think works then it stops working.  What am I supposed to do... I can't handle the inconsistancy.  Please help. 


UPDATE ~  It's now 2 and he is still not sleeping in there.... I just want to cry.    Help.

[NiknLily]

Oh Brenda, hugs honey, I know how you feel its so frustrating and the inconsistency of it all drives you to distraction.

It sounds like maybe some days he needs 2 naps and some days just 1 nap.  For some having a pattern works well, eg. 2 days of 2 naps then a 1 nap, and keep repeating.  Or any other combination of pattern of 1 & 2 nap days.

I know I keep banging on about it, but, it was this inconsistency which I believe led to total chaos in Lil's routine and just took her sleep from bad to worse.  Even when I knew it was no use I still kept trying to hang onto 2 naps by juggling and cutting nap times etc and in all honesty it just really didn't help at all.

I don't know your LO so I cant say, maybe a 1 nap day then 2 nap day then 1 nap would work.  Either that or your just going to have to bite the bullet and go for the 1 nap.  In theory you should still be able to offer an extra catnap on days when he is showing signs of OT.  Or give Tracy's method a go as I mentioned before.  Lets face it there comes a point when anything is worth a shot.

HTH