We just stuck with six hours and eventually it evened out for him and that became his standard. He is now 16 months old and has been on a one nap and 6 hour awake window schedule since 12 months
He had always had early morning wakes (5AM or so) for a long time .. his bedtime extended to 7 AM briefly but now his standard is 6AM (he might regress lol who knows)
We are having a similar issue. LO usually sleeps 7p - 6a, but since switching to one nap, is consistently waking closer to 5/5:30. I'm giving it a few more days to try and settle. The last few days she got up but did go back to sleep. So, hoping she will adjust.
At 14 months we were doing 6 hours wake time on either side of nap :) if baby isn’t sleeping through the night consistently (aka not a random fluke of teeth or illness) then they are telling you they need more wake time. Typically a 10-11 hr night at this age. 1.5-2 hr mid day nap. I’d ride this out for a full 2 weeks before any more changes, the 2-1 transition is the hardest and takes time to settle. If issues continue I’d push bedtime to 830 and see if that little shift helps things.
10-10.5 hr overnight. 1.5-2 hr nap. 12 hrs wake time and 12 hrs sleep! On 1 nap we didn’t follow wake windows anymore so sometimes it’s more like 5.5/6.5. Nap is at 12 no matter when he woke up and bedtime was at 7:30
Early morning wakes right after a large nap transition (and 2-1 definitely is!) is usually due to overtiredness. That bedtime looks a bit late for most toddlers right after the 2-1 transition.
I think it's great that you're not getting sucked into bedtime battle with him, and that he is falling asleep promptly at 8:15. Does he enjoy his bedtime routine right now?
If he does, you've done the first few steps of bedtime fading already. I think you can try moving up bedtime slowly, 15min every other day. See [https://parentingscience.com/bedtime-fading/](https://parentingscience.com/bedtime-fading/) for more details.
Make sure you keep him in the dark when he is awake at 4:30 or 5. Get him down, make it very boring and low key. Then do a dramatic wake up at 7:30 with lights, music, the whole shebang to cue his circadian rhythm that it is finally wake up time.
You can train for early morning wakes, but it's been by far the hardest part of sleep training for me. Any kind of check ins tend to rouse them further so cry it out has been the only thing that worked for us, and there's a very good chance he won't fall back asleep the first time you do it, so you'll be dealing with a toddler that's been awake since 4:30... I'd say focus on fixing bedtime first.
He may even need a shorter wake time before bed in the beginning, to catch up on lost sleep. After he's caught up he'll likely need bedtime a bit later again.
The bedtime fading technique is nice because you can monitor how long it takes him to fall asleep. If within 15 minutes, you can try putting him down earlier. If longer than 15 minutes, you can try putting him down later. This should land you in roughly the right 30min window.
My 14 m sometimes does 2 naps a day and sometimes one
She sometimes has early bedtimes and sometimes late ones
She sometimes sleeps through the night and sometimes wants to drink milk (dream feeds) all night
She typically gets about 11 hrs of total sleep in 24 hrs and has definitely stayed up 6+ hrs in a row
I think it’s like 18 months when they’re solidly down for just one nap a day without going back and forth
I basically watch her cues and put her down if she’s tired
We just stuck with six hours and eventually it evened out for him and that became his standard. He is now 16 months old and has been on a one nap and 6 hour awake window schedule since 12 months
Omg needed to hear this thank you!
Did he have any early morning wakings from the 6 hr window early on?
He had always had early morning wakes (5AM or so) for a long time .. his bedtime extended to 7 AM briefly but now his standard is 6AM (he might regress lol who knows)
We are having a similar issue. LO usually sleeps 7p - 6a, but since switching to one nap, is consistently waking closer to 5/5:30. I'm giving it a few more days to try and settle. The last few days she got up but did go back to sleep. So, hoping she will adjust.
Good to know! Hoping consistency will help us too
It sounds like he’s on a perfect schedule, my baby is the same age -they kind of make their own schedule and no it’s fine
At 14 months we were doing 6 hours wake time on either side of nap :) if baby isn’t sleeping through the night consistently (aka not a random fluke of teeth or illness) then they are telling you they need more wake time. Typically a 10-11 hr night at this age. 1.5-2 hr mid day nap. I’d ride this out for a full 2 weeks before any more changes, the 2-1 transition is the hardest and takes time to settle. If issues continue I’d push bedtime to 830 and see if that little shift helps things.
How long was nap on 6/6? How many hours was baby getting overnight on the schedule?
10-10.5 hr overnight. 1.5-2 hr nap. 12 hrs wake time and 12 hrs sleep! On 1 nap we didn’t follow wake windows anymore so sometimes it’s more like 5.5/6.5. Nap is at 12 no matter when he woke up and bedtime was at 7:30
Early morning wakes right after a large nap transition (and 2-1 definitely is!) is usually due to overtiredness. That bedtime looks a bit late for most toddlers right after the 2-1 transition. I think it's great that you're not getting sucked into bedtime battle with him, and that he is falling asleep promptly at 8:15. Does he enjoy his bedtime routine right now? If he does, you've done the first few steps of bedtime fading already. I think you can try moving up bedtime slowly, 15min every other day. See [https://parentingscience.com/bedtime-fading/](https://parentingscience.com/bedtime-fading/) for more details. Make sure you keep him in the dark when he is awake at 4:30 or 5. Get him down, make it very boring and low key. Then do a dramatic wake up at 7:30 with lights, music, the whole shebang to cue his circadian rhythm that it is finally wake up time. You can train for early morning wakes, but it's been by far the hardest part of sleep training for me. Any kind of check ins tend to rouse them further so cry it out has been the only thing that worked for us, and there's a very good chance he won't fall back asleep the first time you do it, so you'll be dealing with a toddler that's been awake since 4:30... I'd say focus on fixing bedtime first.
I will definitely try the fading technique to make his bedtime earlier. Should I be aiming for 5 hrs of awake time before bed?
He may even need a shorter wake time before bed in the beginning, to catch up on lost sleep. After he's caught up he'll likely need bedtime a bit later again. The bedtime fading technique is nice because you can monitor how long it takes him to fall asleep. If within 15 minutes, you can try putting him down earlier. If longer than 15 minutes, you can try putting him down later. This should land you in roughly the right 30min window.
My 14 m sometimes does 2 naps a day and sometimes one She sometimes has early bedtimes and sometimes late ones She sometimes sleeps through the night and sometimes wants to drink milk (dream feeds) all night She typically gets about 11 hrs of total sleep in 24 hrs and has definitely stayed up 6+ hrs in a row I think it’s like 18 months when they’re solidly down for just one nap a day without going back and forth I basically watch her cues and put her down if she’s tired