Sleep at night/ nap question not asked yet today...

nicoleRI

OK, My DS has been waking at 5:45am and usually he goes to bed at 8pm (last night he went to bed at 9 and still woke at 5:45).  I think he is starting to transition to 1 nap- but the problem is he wakes up so early he is exhausted by 9-9:30am and is not ready to give up first nap.  I have been forcing the second nap thinking he must need it again by 3pm.  His first nap is only an hour.  However, I am wondering if I don't push the second nap and suck it up for a couple of miserable afternoons- will he start to wake up later and then push the nap back gradually?  This waking up at 5:45 thing sucks.  I really don't care about 1 or 2 naps- but I am wondering if 1 nap would mean he would sleep later.  Anyone have this experience?

Thanks

peapine

How about trying to put him down for the night earlier? That really helped us out. Weirdly enough, sleep begets sleep. When she goes down on time (around 7:15ish) she sleeps later and does better with naps the next day.

nicoleRI

peapine:

How about trying to put him down for the night earlier? That really helped us out. Weirdly enough, sleep begets sleep. When she goes down on time (around 7:15ish) she sleeps later and does better with naps the next day.

Huh, interesting, maybe tonight I will try to get him to bed by 7:30- last night the 9pm thing was an absolute fluke...he is always in bed by 8pm.  But maybe that was part of the problem last night- I just assumed that he would sleep later this morning because he went to bed later...I was wrong.

peapine

try it out! it really does work. the better they are rested, the better they can regulate their own sleep too. the nights she goes to bed late or its a crappy sleep - she wakes early, naps suck the next day and now we know to put her down early when its like that- and then she bounces back to her normal schedule after shes made up the sleep at night.

beachlovinbride

I would get your lo to bed earlier, and just offer the one nap as well.  Our lo wakes extra early and we had to resort to cio in the morning.  Not sure if you would consider that but ds will sleep til 645a-715am now.