What would YOU do? (it's a long one)

So I followed the advise on the waking up in the middle of the night thing and the 5 a.m. thing and we have been doing wonderfully! B has been getting up a few times a night now but he's getting his molars in so I'm cutting him some slack. S has only been waking up once at around 10:30 p.m. and then again around 4 or 5 a.m. No problems!

BUT. . . we have having a HECK of a time with naps. . . they are seriously only napping for ONE HOUR on the weekend! During the week they are at daycare and they tell us the boys sleep between 2 and 2.5 hours a day. . . I think I'm gonna call BULL**** here! On the weekends they sleep an hour at nap time tops! What am I doing wrong? They get up around 6-6:30 a.m. . . then it's up and breakfast shortly after they wake, maybe between 7-8. . . then play time. . . then lunch at 11:30 a.m. . . which by that time they are so tired, it doesn't go well. . . then down for nap at 12:30 p.m., then S is up, crying at 1:30 and B is too, probably because his brother is. . .

Does anyone have any suggestions with this schedule? I try to keep it as close to daycare's schedule as possible but I'm wondering if they need to get another nap in the morning? Maybe one naps cuts it at daycare because they have so much to keep them going but at home it's MUCH slower and they are overtired by the time regular nap time rolls around?

It's getting quite ridiculous and I've just about had it ( Eek, I need a beer ;o)

 

First thing I'd try--moving the nap time up. My guys generally wake around the same time and go down for their nap between 10-11, and they usually wake sometime between 12 and 1. We give them a snack around 9, which holds them over until a 1PM lunch.

 

i agree - the first thing i'd try would be putting them down earlier. maybe try lunch at 11:00am & nap at 12:00pm?

also, this doesn't always work, but sometimes when my girls wake up around that 1 hour mark, i'll go in, soothe them & put them back down. sometimes they'll go back to sleep for another hour or so, sometimes they don't, but it might be worth a try.

 

I totally agree--put them down earlier. We actually do a breakfast snack when they first get up and then they eat a bigger breakfast at 10:30 then go down for a nap and when they wake up they have lunch which is usually 3 hours later.

GL!

 

AT this age, the max I would think they'd be up is 3-4 hours. After that they are overtired. I'd put them down for 2 naps a day. If they are getting up at 6:30, that would put the first nap about 10am. Then around 3pm for the 2nd nap. :hug: Good luck!

 

I agree, if they are overtired, then they need a nap earlier. I kept trying to go to one nap a day for a while... but finally around 20 months is when we actually switched to 1 nap a day. ours wake at 7a and can now go for a nap at 12:30p or 1p...

I think for yours to be up for 6 hrs is a long time... hopefully you'll get some good napping in on the weekends if you switch to 2 naps a day.

good luck -- I hate it when it seems its all hit or miss!! it seems that every month something changes, doesn't it?

also, I can typically go in and soothe them too... but they have to be tired still... today, my ds cried out in anguish... after only 1 hr, and I went in and his diaper was full... poor little one had pooped bad, so I changed him and check his sis and walked out. thankfully they slept the rest of their nap.

 

Our two wake at about 6:30 AM and they go down for a nap at 12:00 (same as daycare). We give them breakfast at 8:00 and lunch at 11:00 - 11:15. They usually sleep until 2:30, sometimes 3:30. They do occasionally cry out at about the hour mark, but it is usually short-lived and they go back to sleep! This transition to one nap has been tough because they get so tired early, but they were completely fighting the morning nap, then falling asleep for 30 minutes or so and just long enough to ruin their afternoon nap. At least this way they are getting two hours usually and are sleeping 11+ hours at night so more like what we need. I might try to move the nap up just a bit and maybe giving some time when they wake to see if they will go back to sleep. Good Luck!

 

[quote name='K&T's MOM' date='06 February 2010 - 11:34 PM' timestamp='1265517240' post='1574788']
Our two wake at about 6:30 AM and they go down for a nap at 12:00 (same as daycare). We give them breakfast at 8:00 and lunch at 11:00 - 11:15.
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ITA with an earlier nap time. This is the same as our schedule at home. I usually start moving them down to their cribs around 11:45. Then they are usually out by noon. Mine don't sleep as long as some. Sometimes an hour and a half. Lately, they've been working their way up to 2-2.5 hours. But it's taken several months to get the longer naps since we switched over to one nap.

 

I also agree with an earlier nap time on the weekends. It's possible that on the weekend they might need two naps. If by 11:30 they are starting to get cranky and tired, I would give them a midmorning snack before putting them up for a nap and then lunch when they wake up.

 

It's 9:55 a.m. our time and both boys are sleeping. . . one in the crib and one on dad. . . They both seemed super tired so we decided to try and put them both down. . . I wanted them to nap separately because S always seems to wake B. . . Now what about the afternoon nap? Should we aim for 2-3 p.m.?

 

I would focus less on the time, and more on how many hours they've been up, probably 3-4 hours. If they take a two hour nap, it probably will be 2-3 when you need to put them back down.

 

great news... did they end up napping again? yes, I'd do probably 3 or so hours after waking from the morning nap...

 

We has some success!! Boys slept from ~9:30-~11:00. . . then from ~3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m. . .
We're up past bedtime now because of the Superbowl and we have people over. . . but they seem to be getting tired so probably won't be up for much longer now. . .