Anyone Want to Talk about the 2-1 Transition? Thread #10

[Otownmama]

Reading this post with interest as we're seeing some weird naps these days and I think we're going to be moving to 1 sooner than later. Yesterday Beatrice had a 45 min am nap and a lovely 2 hr pm one. Today it was 1.5 hr am nap and 35 min pm...Moral of the story? I think I'm going to try limiting her am nap and see what happens. I'm a bit nervous because she starts childcare March 15th, where the routine only includes one nap typically, around 1230-230...She'll be 11 mos and I suspect she'll adapt pretty quickly, but anyone else facing this? Fortunately she's sleeping a pretty good night - 630-6 or 7-630 - but everything could go to pot if the naps go wonky.

[Nauvoo]

So wasn't someone recently having EW's around 5:30am?  
Well I'd sure like to know how you got rid of them.  After 2.5 hours day sleep yesterday (after a short night) my LO had a 10 hour night and woke at 5:30am!!!!!!  Yuck  I don't think she has ever woken for the day at that time.  I'm wondering why she had such a short night with great sleep yesterday and the day before.  I just don't think it's OT. Over the last 4 or 5 days her mornings have gotten progressively earlier.   All I know is I want my 7:30am wake ups back!

[All4Finn]

@Otown - yep March 22nd for us, Finn will be 12 mths though.  Finn needs to be napping 12 - 2:30.  They do allow for the LO's to take other naps if they need it BUT it is in the middle of their daily programming so there is NO WAY my Spirited son will sleep with lights on and activity going on.  It will be hit and miss whether he will sleep at all - at least they make the room dark etc. during the designated nap time.

@Nauvoo - we have had EW since forever.  Finn is always up between 5 - 5:30.  I can count on one hand the number of times he has managed 6 a.m. and usually it's a fluke and/or not a straight solid night i.e. he's slept longer after a NW.  Since your LO is just starting this I do think it's a routine issue for you.  For us it's routine issue, early sleep phase and just a generally difficult napper and sleeper.

@Jo - I am going to cut back on the wind down...it wasn't that long yesterday, maybe 7 mins but I will try to keep it even shorter for him. 

[okinawamama]

Well, guess I'll introduce myself since it looks like I might be camped out on this thread for a while. My name is Stephanie and I have a 10 mo old (well in 3 days he'll be 10mo) son who I think may be in the beginning stages of the 2-1.

I have been doing the long am nap short pm nap for about 2 weeks now (actually stumbled upon it while at my parents and it worked smashingly!!!) but I have been reading that it's not the ideal way to go about the 2-1. I guess my main questions are 1) why isn't this the "ideal" way to go about it ( and if you're currently doing this method, how's it going?) 2) how long should my A time be if he does short nap in the m orning

Here has been our schedule for the past few weeks (however, it's changing, hence why I'm here)

7am
10:30-12 sleep
3:15-4 sleep
7/7:30 bedtime

lately he's been short napping on the first nap (about 45 minutes) but I can't get the second nap to lengthen when that happens, (sometimes 30 min sometimes 45 or like yesterday 20 minutes) thus we've been having some 2 hour scream fest's in the middle of the night.

[*Jo*]

Hi Stephanie- we do the long AM short Pm nap and it works fantastic for us, it works because we couldnt work out the shorter A times after a short AM nap, he was majorly cranky after a short AM nap all day and then it was just such a long stint before bedtime, too long for him, so we changed it round and have a pretty happy boy. its not ideal because some babies find they get OT with just a short nap in the afternoon and by bedtime they are wrecked, but not every baby

I think if you push your first A tiem by 15mins you miihgt get a better sleep. heres our routine (remember this is for a 12month old who can handle 4 hours A time)

wake 7am
nap 1 - 11-12.30
nap 2 - 4.30-5 or if i can get him to sleep earlier 4.15-5pm
bedtime 8pm

because there just arent enough hours in the day you end up with a 13 hour day but Caleb sleeps 11 hours straight without waking up once so it works for us

nauvoo - that was us with the 5.30am wakings and they have been gone for about a month now. we got rid of them by making sure he didnt sleep over 2hrs15mins in the day, anything more than that and we get the early wakeups again

[beckles]

Hi there-Can I come hang out too???

My DS is 11mths old and is fast tracking his way down the 2-1 transition.  He has never been the best day sleeper, and has no tired signs so it makes knowing when to put him down a real challenge.

He is currently doing
 
6am wake ( I would so love this to be 7)
nap #1 10-10.45am
nap #2 2-3.30pm
Bed between 7 & 7.30

Adjusting his A times is difficult as he will always got to sleep, for how long is the question.  I find that when his A times need adjusting he will start waking at the 25min mark and sometimes resettle himself (of course this is something I have only just learnt-would have been helpful to know a few months back).

He started day care last week and has taken to it like a duck to water.  He naps better there than at home. They are very supportive of maintaining the LO’s routines and work really hard to keep it. 

Problem is that things are changing for us too.  His first nap is being pushed out by the day it seems, but then it is getting close to 3pm when he goes down for his pm nap, and then bedtime is pushed out closer to 8pm.  It means we are having 14 hr days, but the nights shorten and end up being 10hrs. He will always wake at 6am regardless on when I put him to bed.  he has previously done 12hrs at night and  I can cope with 11hrs but not 10!! I feel that I am running out of hours in the day and can’t get it all on.

I am a bit confused on what happens next though.  Do I just keep pushing the am nap out, hope it gets longer and then just try and get a CN in the pm or do an early bed time??

Or do one day I just take the plunge and try for a lunchtime nap??

Also he only ever seems to nap for 1.5hrs at the longest. So what happens when he goes down to 1 nap, will this stay at 1.5hrs?? Surely he needs more sleep than that??

It just seems like a very challenging time for all of us!! I am still awaiting the user manual for J to arrive!!!!

[beckles]

Has taken me so long to type my last post (am at work and keep getting interupted) and didn't see Calebsmummy's post.  But I think your response to stephanie has just answered my what to do next question!!

[*Jo*]

I read your post and thought you might wanna try long AM/short PM nap, its not for every baby, but you have to give it about 3-4days before deciding if its not or is for you, it takes about that long for them to adjust and for the real results to come through. let us know how you get on

[Nauvoo]

Calebsmummy, my LO got 2.5hours sleep yesterday and I'm hoping that's why she woke so early.  Thanks for telling me.

We tired the short am long pm route today because we have been having a hard time with the pm nap and I just don't think I'll ever get more than a 1 hour am nap with the long am short pm routine.  It went great today so I hope it sticks.  30 mins in the am and and AMAZING 1.5 hours in the afternoon, which is just so rare for my LO.  So here's hoping that it lasts and we can have some consistency here, without the 5:30am wake ups.

[*Jo*]

just wanted to point you ladies out to the new and improved FAQ about the 2-1 switch, teh EASY mods have put a bit of hard work into getting all the info together so here it is: From 2 to 1 nap transition (10-12m and older)

[*Jo*]

also just wanted to say i will be heading over to the toddlers 2-1 switch thread in a few days as my little one turns 1 this weekend!!! eeek gone so fast!! but its been a pleasure to have ridden this train with you all lately

[alethiaperry]

nauvoo06 

So how did you start cutting the first nap?  Did you do it in 5 min increments or 15 min?  I'd really like to know.

We did it gradually.  I can't really say if it was in 5 or 15min increments... it happened sort of accidentally really.  Like, I'd look at the clock and think, "oh, it's almost been an hour, better get him up".  I guess you could say it was by 5 or 10 mins and I had it at 50 mins, then 45mins... each time for about a week.  I didn't mind the 2 1-hour naps, but I thought that since he'll be down to one pm nap eventually, that I'd better cut the AM nap a bit and see if we can get him used to a longer PM nap.  He's SOOO much happier being woken from his nap in the AM than the PM and he's just over-all happier throughout the day. 

I went so much slower with this cause it's always backfired on me in the past when I've been anxious to make a change.  I think he became conditioned to the set nap times and he's just automatically tired at 10 and 2:30 now.  Like I said earlier, it doesn't seem to matter what time he wakes in the AM, he still wants a nap at 10am.    Hope that helps.

[okinawamama]

so today went well. I kept him awake for 15 minutes longer and we got a longer nap...wahoo!
A:6:50
S: 10:35-12:10
S: 3:40-4:15
and I'm shooting for a 7:15ish bed time. I am so hoping that we have set ourselves up for a good night and good morning....we'll see.

I was wondering, when I do the longer am nap, and get an 1.5 out of him  is it best to let him get to his normal A time and then wake him or should I put him down earlier (like today) and then hope he wakes on his own from being UT (assuming he'll go down)? Also, in the morning for the long am nap, should I be waking him? I know for a long afternoon nap you let them sleep as long as they can, but I worry that by letting him sleep for longer than an 1.5 he'll refuse the afternoon nap.

Thanks ladies for all your help/encouragement.

[*Jo*]

at this point in time i would wake him up at 1.5 hours, let him go his normal A time and then do his next nap. thats waht we do

[gavinsmum1]

If there's anything I've learned in the last couple of weeks, mstrboo, is that when your naps AND your nights start getting shorter, then it's not likely that you need to cut anything except your A time.  We were having similar issues.  Naps were as short as I'd ever like them to be and then the nights started getting shorter, too.  I cut the second A time by 15 minutes and he's started taking better pm naps. We're also on the short am/long pm nap scheme.  So just keep that in mind.  We were doing a 30 min am nap and now we're doing 40.  Our afternoon naps were about an hour and 15 and they've been at least 1 hour and 20 min the last few days.

leath, that's really amazing with the set nap times.  I wish that would work for us, but I have a feeling that most touchy babies fall into that "doesn't work for us" category.