[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma,

Thank you for your reply. I am glad that is what you have said as that is what I have done. I think I was so concerned about his being overtired that I am giving him an early bedtime when he doesn’t need it and has probably been ready for one nap for some time. My thoughts were if things didn’t settle with bigger wake windows that I could cap the nap at 2 hours although I would prefer not to as he is waking up so happy! The only night he has not woken up babbling was the day he took a 2 hour nap on his own rather than 2.5.

I will see how things go over the next week.

Many thanks,

Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Thanks Emma, that is very helpful.

I am writing this at 3am UK time hoping you can help me! Rohan started taking 30-50 minutes to sleep for nap 2 and bedtime despite the first nap being called to 45 minutes. It worked for a couple of weeks initially. I tried longer wake windows and it didn’t help so I felt it was time to move to one nap. He is 15.5 months old. The first day I increased the first wake window by 30 minutes and he was still playing with no sleep signs. He slept 2.5 hours (i was surprised and anticipating he would need a second micronap) and I gave him a 6pm bedtime which was 5 hours of awake time. He took 18 minutes to fall asleep and cried a few minutes which is unusual for him. He was awake 430am -530am playing then he fell asleep again. I woke him up at 7am. I added another 15 minutes to wake time and he tolerated it fine again with no signs of being tired at 1045am. He fell asleep in 6 minutes and slept 2.5 hours until 120pm-ish. I gave him an early bedtime of 6pm. He didn’t show any signs of tiredness again and was playing. He took 30 minutes to fall asleep and was just playing in the cot. He has woken up 130am-3am…mostly playing with occasional crying that came around 230am. He has fallen asleep by himself now. I am confused about whether I am doing the transition too fast and he is overtired so waking so maybe I should pull back or whether he isn’t tired as he has had a massive nap in the day or is this just a normal part of the process.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Best wishes

Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma,

Thank you for your response. Just two questions – as we are landing at 530pm, if Rohan is asleep on the second flight, shall I just let him sleep or try to have a full wake window and wake him on the plane. When he wakes up in the night, do I try to keep him in his room and read etc hoping he is tired again quickly? Best wishes, Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Thanks Emma. That makes sense or I thought if the second nap became short, eg less than 45 minutes, due to lack of sleep pressure.

Am I able to ask another non urgent question regarding handling jet lag. When Rohan is 17 months old we will be travelling back to Brisbane from the UK to live permanently this time. Our flight departs from the UK at 9am local time. The first leg is 6 hours 45 minutes with a stopover in Doha for 1 hour 45 then a 14 hour flight landing in Brisbane at 530pm. We have tried to plan the flight so Rohan’s nap (we have assumed would be on one nap by then) would be on the first flight and night sleep on the second longer flight. Do you have any advice on how to manage the jet lag for him?

Best wishes, Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma,

I have decreased the first nap to 45 minutes 4 days ago and this has solved the bedtime problem for now. He seems tired for nap 2 as shown by him getting quieter and not playing as much at around 3 hrs 30. He is also tired for bedtime after 4 hours and was yawning today when I put him down. I did also decrease the first wake window to 3 hours as he seemed tired in the morning too. He is asleep for naps after 10 minutes and bedtime in 15-20 minutes. I think I will continue with this until it stops working then I thought we could go to one nap if he starts taking ages to fall asleep on this or would you recommend increasing wake windows before going to one nap?

Best wishes, Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Sorry just one more – I did actually cap the first nap today. I left the wake windows as is – is that ok or would I shorten the first wake window by 15 minutes? I let him sleep 45 minutes from the moment he fell asleep as took him 10 minutes to fall asleep but do you wake them up 45 minutes from the moment you lay them down?

Best wishes,

Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma,

Thank you for your reply. I really appreciate your response. I do think he is ready for one nap as two naps is only seems to be working as we wake him up all the time and he is still energetic in the day. I previously tried waiting until he showed tired cues and got to 4 hours and he still didn’t show any, he just kept playing. The other day I let him sleep in for his first nap for an hour and a half as I needed him to take his second nap in the car and he although he was yawning and rubbing eyes etc, he fought the nap and didn’t sleep – although this may be because he isn’t a good car sleeper but that was the first time he just refused to sleep in the car. He was then awake for 7.5 hours then cried for 30 minutes at bedtime unfortunately. If I transition to one nap, I would prefer to do it gradually, how would I know when to offer a second and can I do a carrier nap or best in the crib? I would let him sleep til 7am if we moved to 1 nap as per his preferred wake up time.

Best wishes,

Paven Kaur

[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma,

I was hoping to pick your brain. I have discovered Rohan’s sleepy cues show around 3 hours then first nap then about 3.25-3.5 then second nap then 3.5 then bedtime. He falls asleep quickly. He was doing mostly well on this but then I thought I would try to distribute the naps so the afternoon nap would is longer. The first day he did well after I woke him after 45 minutes from the first nap with a 1 hr 40 minute nap (although he had been swimming), second day he took a 1 hour second nap and today the second nap is 29 minutes – does this mean this rhythm does not suit him or should I try a bit longer or try waking after an hour from the first nap or bring the second nap earlier? I wonder if this rhythm could be making him overtired hence not taking the second nap and today he cried when he woke up for a few minutes. He is sleeping well overnight for now.

Best wishes, Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Sorry to send another message but I thought this update may be useful. Today I went off Rohan’s sleepy cues. As soon as he showed them I put him to bed. First wake window was 2 hours 50, took him 7 minutes and he slept for 1 hour 15. Second one was 3 hrs 30 with eye rubbing and yawning when I put him down. Prior to that he has been swimming and was rolling around trying to crawl (can get on all fours and rock but not moving yet despite really wanting to) so he should have been exhausted. Took him 15 minutes to fall asleep then he slept for 35 minutes and was awake. I waited 15 minutes then he started to whimper so I picked him up. He then stayed awake 3 hours 30 with no sleepy cues. Still rolling around when I put him to bed and took him 25 minutes to fall asleep. The only other time this has happened was with prior to a nap tranistion but I think he is way too young for one nap. I think he is either going through a regression or needs longer wake windows. My plan was to go with his flow as he is happy – what do you think? Maybe over time the naps will swap around?

Best wishes, Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Sorry to send a second message but I realised I didn’t explain my concern well – I am concerned that a wake window > 3 hours 15 would be too big for his age? And I am not sure whether he would do better off a by the clock schedule although we have not done this before? Best wishes, Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma,

Thank you for your reply. When I messaged initially Rohan was taking a long time to fall asleep but still taking a long nap. Now he is taking a long time for fall asleep~15 minutes before nap 2 and 20-25 minutes before bedtime but now he is taking a short 30 minute nap for nap 2 and waking earlier in the morning i.e. 6am instead of his usual 7am. I have tried both 3 hours and 3 hours 15 before nap 2 – he does not seem that tired when I put him down and just babbled until he sleeps. He is waking up after 30 minutes then playing until I pick him up. He is happy then stays awake for 3.5 hours until bed then takes 20-25 minutes to fall asleep for bed, where is again just babbling and hanging out. Could it be that he is under tired and I need bigger wake windows with his increasing age? Do wake windows change significantly like this during this phase?

Best wishes, Pav

[Paven Kaur]

I should also mention that majority of the time, Rohan does then take a nap > 1 hour. This afternoon he took 15 minutes to fall asleep but then I woke him up as it had been 2 hours so I am not sure if this is just a phase or normal for his age. Best wishes, Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma

I hope you are keeping well. We have been doing well with the 2.5/3/3.5 schedule until recently when it has started taking Rohan longer to fall asleep. He will be 10 months old in 8 days time. He used to take 5 minutes to fall asleep for naps very consistently but this time is getting longer. Initially 10 minutes and today 15 minutes. Occasionally it has taken him longer than 20 minutes to fall asleep for bedtime which is very unusual. He isn’t upset but just babbling in bed until he decides to sleep. I am thinking of extending his wake windows to put him down when he seems sleepy rather than the schedule time as he seems to want to stay awake longer. My gut feeling is it will probably work out as something like 2 hrs 45/3 hrs 15/3 hrs 30. Is it best to implement a schedule at this age or ok to balance time with sleepy cues which is what I would like to do as I imagine each month he will want to stay awake longer until he drops to one nap. I would appreciate your thoughts. Best wishes, Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma,

1. Thank you so much for your reply. Sorry for my delay replying. I have been testing out if I could have Rohan’s wake windows wrong. I usually take him for a walk towards the end of a wake window but I think this was giving him a second wind as now I have moved the walk to earlier, he is grumpy earlier so I have been putting him down at around 2.5/3/3.5 instead – with this, he has taken the second nap for over an hour for 3 days in a row. I will keep trying this and hopefully it sticks. He did wake overnight last night at around 3am for about 40 minutes babbling and trying to roll in his sleep sack – I assume to practice rolling. I left him to it as he was happy. He then slept til 7 when I woke him up. I am trying to let him practice in the day as much as possible but the 4-5 hours he is doing is apparently not enough! : D Thank you for your encouraging message as I was worried if he would have difficulty transitioning to one nap. He has never been a baby to do a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. He has usually done 1.25-1.5 hour naps for the first and second. I did decide to wake him from his first nap if he is still asleep at 11am as it disrupts his meal schedule otherwise (he doesn’t mind when I wake him at this stage as it has been an hour and a half) and if he wakes a little before 7, I have been leaving him to babble as long as he is happy and it isn’t a long time eg >20 minutes. If he continues to wake regularly before 7 then maybe I will stretch wake windows slowly? Bedtime has been variable depending on his naps between 630 and 730pm. I do prefer to go with his natural rhythm as he is such a happy bub. Fingers crossed that this may work for him. Many thanks, Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma,

I hope you are keeping well. I was hoping to ask for your help with Rohan’s 2 nap schedule. He is due to turn 9 months in one week. We have been transitioning from 3 to 2 naps for the last 4.5 weeks. I initially started with gradually increasing wake windows to 2.5/3/3-3.5 to get to a 6pm bedtime. During that time he needed a 6pm bedtime (lasted approximately 3 weeks), Rohan was waking early at around 5-5.45am but just babbling in bed, very happy to wait to be picked up at 6am.and taking two long naps of 1.25-1.5 hours each with over 11.5 hours of night sleep. On 3 naps, he would nap for about 3 hours total with 11 hours night sleep. I thought he was undertired as he was very happy when waking up so I extended the wake windows to 2.45-3/3.5/3.5 and he is now sleeping 7pm to 7am (for the last 8 days) but only taking one long nap in the morning of 1-1.5 hours with a very short second nap of 25-45 minutes. I always leave him 20 minutes from waking from his nap to see if he can reconnect. I have tried to hold him during the second nap but he won’t go back to sleep. I tried the second nap in the carrier with a pacifier but he still was wide awake after 45 minutes and very happy. He can then stay awake 3.5 hours no problems. He only gets tired after his bath which is about 15 minutes before bedtime. I tried capping the first nap to one hour for two days but it only worked on the first day as I thought the problem was distribution of sleep as he is getting enough sleep (12 hours night and ~2 hours nap). I tried waiting for his sleepy cues instead of a schedule but he is fine then gets grumpy suddenly and wants to be asleep, there is no eye rubbing or yawning etc. We previously worked off a set schedule on 3 naps which worked really well. In the last week we have moved across the country, he has multiple teeth coming in and he is trying to crawl. I am abit stumped as to what to do or whether to just accept this sleep pattern which is fine too as he is sleeping fine overnight. Any thoughts would be appreciated on the optimal schedule for his age group or if there is something I am doing wrong here – maybe too much awake time or too little or maybe normal at this stage with the crawling etc or will it change over time naturally for a longer second nap?

Best wishes

Pav