Should I wake her up?

I wanted to post this here in hopes of more responses from BTDT moms than I would get on the FY board.

In regards to Olivia. She's been really changing up her "schedule" lately and it's making me insane. For the past week she's been sleeping until 9 am every morning...which is great....BUT....here's the problem. She'll get up at 9 am and then nap from like 11:30-1:00. She'll take her second nap from like 3:30-4:30. But, I CANNOT get her to drop the 3rd nap, no matter what I do. She wants to nap again around 6:30-7:30. Then, I have a HORRIBLE time getting her to bed at night. She's perfectly fine all day long...no whining, no crying, perfect good-natured baby, but bedtime sucks! She's not wanting to go down until like 9 pm or later and it's always with a fight. It's hard to CIO b/c the twins are in bed between 8-8:30 in the room next to her. UGH!!!

So, I got to thinking...I think she's getting up TOO LATE in the morning. I never thought of it until now, but the twins were always going to the sitter so they were up by 6:45 am from the time they were 4 months old. I remember the twins (by 9 months old) being in bed for the night by 6:30-7:00.

So, should I start waking Olivia up around 7 am and trying to get somewhat of a schedule back??

How about that 3rd nap? Do I keep letting her take it? If not, how can I "drop" it?

Geez, you would think I've never done this before.

 

Here's my thoughts. You say she wants to nap 6:30-7:30. Try to gradually hold out there a little, and then make that be bedtime instead of a nap. She may need to CIO at 7:30, but if the girls don't go to bed until 8-8:30, then it shouldn't bother them too much. Then I bet she will wake up earlier on her own, too.

 

QUOTE(HRE @ Nov 20 2008, 08:31 AM) [snapback]1078627[/snapback]
Try to gradually hold out there a little, and then make that be bedtime instead of a nap.


I would do exactly the same thing!

 

Me to i think my 2 were going to bed around 6.30/7 when they your dd age. x

 

ditto previous posts!

 

I've tried keeping her up, but then I think she ends up getting over-stimulated b/c the twins are running around and there is just a lot of chaos at that time. I've had her up for 3-4 hours after her 2nd nap in order to try to get rid of the 3rd nap...well, when I think it's "bedtime", I put her down and she's up an hour later. Maybe I just need to try it more and be consistent with it. On the other side of things...I woke her up at 8:15 this morning and she still seems happy

 

QUOTE(twinzmom2b @ Nov 20 2008, 11:40 AM) [snapback]1078757[/snapback]
I've had her up for 3-4 hours after her 2nd nap in order to try to get rid of the 3rd nap...well, when I think it's "bedtime", I put her down and she's up an hour later.


I think that it is time to get rid of the 3rd nap. It is such a tough time because I am sure it is SOO convenient for her to be asleep so that you can get dinner ready. It should only take a week of consistent effort to adjust her schedule. Try letting her CIO when she is up an hour after putting her down "for the night". She might just adjust on her own.

Good luck!!

 

I think you could go either way at this point. . depends what is easier for you.

You could try waking her up earlier to see if she will take her naps earlier in the day, including the 3rd nap; therefore Hopefully getting her to bed earlier..

Or you could try eliminating the 3rd nap by pushing the first 2 naps to a little bit later i.e if she is taking the first nap at 11:30, try to hold out until 12, and then she should sleep a little later, and then you should be able to put her down a little later for the second nap, and she should sleep a little later, and maybe that will hold her until 7:30ish, so she can go down for the night. I dont even remember what mine were doing (sleep wise) at that age, but everything sounds good when you talk about it.. doing it may be another story.

 

I would keep her up and then put her down to bed at 7 p.m.