Some EASY questions

[Hayleys]

Hi

So here was our EASY today (usually my am and pm A times are 3 hrs 40 mins).

W 6:50 (woke up naturally)
E   7:30
A 6:50 - 10:40 (was actually 3hr 50 min, I completely got my timings wrong, she went down fine though)
S 10:40 - 12:15 (woke naturally after 1hr 35 mins)
E 12:30
A 12:15 - 3:45 (She seemed tired so tried her a little earlier, she took 10 mins to settle but did so on her own).
S 3:45 - 4:50 (I woke her after 1 hr 5 mins of sleep)
E 5:00 and 8 pm
S 8 pm ( but did not actually fall asleep until 8:50 pm!!) No early night wakes though, but think she was exhausted!!

Ok, so as you can see she did well with her day sleep today and had 2 hr 35 mins.  Was I right to wake her during her PM sleep? I did so as she had seemed to have a lot of day sleep and also it then made it 3 hrs 10 mins until bedtime which is what we have been aiming for.

As you can see she did go down earlier for her PM nap.  I was going to keep it at 3hrs 40 mins but she looked tired so I thought I'd try and see what happens.  I think it may have been a bit too early for her as it was only 3hrs 20 mins and it took her 10 mins to settle.  Do you think I should start to aim for 3hr 30 in the afternoon.

So bedtime was a bit of a disaster.  Tonight and the last few nights she has not been falling asleep on the bottle.  I don't understand why! She rubs her eyes but has started to kick legs and move her head around and not really be very still.  The other night our EASY was all over the place and she had a much longer A time before bed and she still did not fall asleep on the bottle.  I have been wanting her to do so as I figured that it may help to set her body clock for bed at 8 pm but it just hasn't been happening.  Also I gave it to her at 8 pm and she finished what she wanted at 8:20 pm.  Should I be giving it to her earlier as that's 20 mins which have then gone by? 

When she doesn't fall asleep, I sing her her sleep song and then put her in her cot and stand outside the room.  Tonight she was babbling for quite sometime and then she started to cry.  Well I say cry, but she was making loud noises rather than actual cries.  It concerns me as I'm so worried about leaving her to cry, but I'm also wondering if I am disturbing her from self settling.  I'm so used to putting her down for her naps and her often just falling asleep without any noise.  She does seem a bit more hyper at night.  So when I intervened by telling her it was sleepy time it did seem to make things worse.  In the end I picked her up and she then really started crying.  Again I felt I had to get her to sleep in the pushchair.  The other reason I was feeling really cautious is her teeth.  Her second one has sprouted now but I'm not sure if it has fully broken the surface.  We offer her meds but she doesn't always take it so it's all a bit tricky!  I do definitely want to do PU/PD soon though as I can't keep using the pushchair.  It just isn't a way forward.  I just really wish she was falling asleep on the bottle right now! 

Any thoughts?

[Ima shel Alon]

The EASY looks pretty good to me, you can just keep doing what you are doing. It could be that either her PM nap is too long and that the A time before BT is too short for her to be tired enough at BT. I actually thought you were capping at 45min into PM nap, did you change that? I don't have a problem with it, just trying to figure out the whole picture. If she was chatty and even loud but not crying at BT it would be either UT or OS. Do you think it's OS? Did she have a very full and exciting A time before BT? Do you keep the last 30min-1h before BT rather quiet?
I think you are doing fine not intervening. You are not leaving her to cry alone if you do that. When she will need you she will let you know, believe me, it's a kind of cry you won't miss. Just let her be even if it takes a while as long as she is chatty, when she cries you go in of course.

[Hayleys]

Hi

Thanks for your post!

So, yesterday afternoon I tried to put her down a little earlier again at 3hr 30 mins as the day before she had been receptive to this and had a long nap.  However, she did not go down easily and ended up getting very upset to the point that it was way past her full A time.  When I put her down she was rolling around and doing what I described at bedtime, after reading your post this really made me think about her being undertired or even over stimulated.  However then I picked her up and she was crying even harder and it became really difficult to get her back down again.  I eventually got her to sleep in the pushchair and it was about 15 mins past her full A time.  Then at the 35-40 min mark she woke crying and I thought that it could have then been because of OT. So that nap was a very difficult one!

However then I read your post from yesterday and I decided to give her a full A time before bed and also extra wind down time.  She then actually fell asleep on the bottle and amazingly she had no early night wakes.  In fact she slept really well during the night and I had to wake her at 7 am this morning as I'm trying to set an established wake up and bedtime.

I was so pleased about the evening! But this morning has baffled me a bit.  Usually she goes down really well for her first nap, it is often the afternoon nap which is more prone to being tricky!  I started the wind down time at 3hr 35 mins and put her down at 3hr 40 mins.  However she did not drift off straight away and instead she was rolling around her cot and having trouble settling.  It then turned into the same thing which I had yesterday afternoon and actually ended up using the push chair again.  She fell asleep 20 min after her  full A time.

So now I'm wondering if maybe I'm not doing enough of a wind down for her or perhaps her A time needs an increase?  She is nearly 9 and a half months now and hasn't had one in a while!  I have always kept the wind down quite short as when she was younger she used to cry through it and it upset her, so someone advised me to do this.  Perhaps I should change this now and see if it makes a difference.  Bedtime too has been quite short really.  Around 30 mins before putting her down she has a bath, puts on her pyjamas while listening to lullabies, I sing her a sleep song and then milk before bed.  Last night I make this last nearer to an hour so maybe it was a bit better for her?  Before her nap it is really quite short thinking about it. I put her sleep back on give her a teddy for a few mins to play with and then sing her her sleep song before putting her down.  It all last about 5 mins!

The other thing I'd like to know is what to do now when she doesn't settle so I don't feel I have to resort to the pushchair.  I put her down and leave the room.  If she cries then I go in and sit next to the cot on the floor and tell her that it is sleepy time now!  I find that she doesn't like me to put my hand on her and she wriggles away.  Do I just keep doing this until she falls asleep?  Should I be moving away from the cot at any point?

I was capping the PM nap at 45 mins, that day I let her sleep as just a one off as at the time I thought it would coincide well with a 8 pm bedtime.  Looking back, I don't think this was a good idea.  I'm going to cap it at the 45 min mark and give her a full A time now as last night she fell asleep so well and did not have any early night wake up.  Hope this played a part in that!

Thanks for helping me with this, so appreciate it!!

[Ima shel Alon]

However then I picked her up and she was crying even harder and it became really difficult to get her back down again.  I eventually got her to sleep in the pushchair and it was about 15 mins past her full A time.  Then at the 35-40 min mark she woke crying and I thought that it could have then been because of OT.

It was worth a try. Not all babies respond well to an Ut nap in the PM and need a longer A time, their usual A time. So I would go back to that if you can.
What happened probably was that she went down UT and couldn't fall asleep and ended OT.
I am very happy to hear that you had a good night, it probably shows she is a kind of baby who needs a full A time before BT.

It then turned into the same thing which I had yesterday afternoon and actually ended up using the push chair again.  She fell asleep 20 min after her  full A time.

I am not sure what that is, but for now I wouldn't change the A time. You can't really decide tweaking the A until you see a pattern. How long did she nap for?

Last night I make this last nearer to an hour so maybe it was a bit better for her? 

It's worth a try with the WD. My LO never liked WD but I did tried it again and again as he grew up. After trying one time I knew that nothing changed but it could be that it's better for her. Maybe it's not so much the WD that she needs, but a quiet A time.

The other thing I'd like to know is what to do now when she doesn't settle so I don't feel I have to resort to the pushchair.  I put her down and leave the room.  If she cries then I go in and sit next to the cot on the floor and tell her that it is sleepy time now!  I find that she doesn't like me to put my hand on her and she wriggles away.  Do I just keep doing this until she falls asleep?  Should I be moving away from the cot at any point?

This could work for now, and yes, many babies this age don't like the "pat" anymore. But, if I am completely honest there is a big chance this will become a prop. Sure, you can do that and slowly step out of the room earlier and earlier till she doesn't need you, but I tried it and it didn't work for us. Please don't think that if things didn't work for me and DS they won't work for you - in everything I say and advice. Your LO is different and I am different than you, so you are the one who knows what method is best for you. I would think that PU/PD is more appropriate, PD only if she is already pulling herself in the cot. That's how I would settle for any sleep IIWY.

[Hayleys]

Hi

Thanks for your help!

So it's been a few days since I last posted and the last few days have been quite good really, considering that she is still teething!  Both of her top teeth are now coming through (that's her first 4 in the space of about 3 weeks) so she is very grizzly in the day, but as of yet she is sleeping well at night and having reasonable naps too!  I am having to AP naps at the moment though, she is very clingy right now and I'm letting her fall asleep in my arms for the naps and fall asleep on the bottle at bedtime.  Meds is still hit and miss so it just feels right for now!

I have actually added 10 mins to her full A time, on 11th May she will be 10 months.  I was consistently getting UT naps of about 1 hr 10 - 15 mins for her AM nap, so I thought I would try to see if she needed a little extra time.  So far it has made a difference and she is getting about 1hr 30 mins, sometimes she does wake herself after 1hr 25 mins.  Today she would have slept longer though but I woke her at the 1 hr 30 min mark.  The thing is as her full A time is 3 hrs 50 mins now and as she also needs this before bedtime it makes the day quite long, perhaps too long?  I am shortening her A time before her PM nap though and waking her at the 45 min mark if she is still asleep. 

Like I say, it seems to be working reasonably well, but not sure how it would be if I was not AP her to sleep for her naps, especially the PM nap as her A time is reduced by about 30 mins.  Also whilst one day she did not wake early in the evening, for the past two night she has woken.  However, it hasn't been between 35 - 45 mins as usual.  Instead it has been after an hour or so.  I'm not completely sure of the right time as I'm noticing that it has been takes her about 15-20 mins to finish the bottle.  She may have her eyes shut before this, but she is still feeding in small bursts. Is that when I consider her to be asleep or when she has stopped feeding and I put her in the cot?  So I have been giving her the bottle 5 -10 mins before her full A time to allow her to time to fall asleep, is that right?  Maybe I should be allowing for more time as the last few nights she has been slightly over 4 hrs before being put in her cot and then she wakes exactly an hour later!  Is she OT?  When she does wake she has been very tired and has easily settled in my arms and slept very well afterwards. 

When the time over spills at bedtime she does have a day of over 13 hrs and her night sleep is only about 10.5 hrs.  Day sleep is a maximum of 2hr 15 mins.  For AM nap, I am waking her if she is still asleep after 1 hr 30 mins and the same if she is still asleep 45 mins into her PM nap.  Yesterday she did wake crying after 35 mins for her PM nap though!

Here is the EASY, which I've been following

W 7:00
E  7:30
A 
S  10:50 am -  12:20pm ( 3hrs 50 mins ) I wake her after 1 hr 30 mins, if she is still asleep.
E  12:30
A
S  3:40am  - 4:25 pm (3hrs 30 mins)  I wake her after 45 mins, if she is still asleep.
A
S 8:15 (3hrs 50 mins)

Any ideas, particularly about the early night wakes?

[Ima shel Alon]

I actually think the day is a bit long. Would you say that she is doing a 13h day and 11h night, if all other factors are ok (no Ut, no OT)? If she is then I'd try and make sure that she is asleep by 20, not later.
I am not sure about the early NW, but in general NW that occur in the first half of the night are OT, so it could be that she has too much A time during the day.
Have you tried putting her for her PM nap earlier than 3.5h A time? That sounds like a very long A time to me and I would think this is also what makes your day so long. If she is settled quite easily and you don't use the pushchair anymore then I would see that as an accomplishment and just wait it out.

Have you thought about how you want to go about the 2-1 transition? Would you want a short AM, long PM nap or a long AM, short PM nap like you have now?

I wouldn't worry about the AP for now. As long as she is in discomfort you can keep on doing it and afterwards (though teething doesn't seem to ever end ) you can use PD if she doesn't settle on her own.

[Hayleys]

Hi

It's been a while since I last posted as my little one has been unwell with a bad cough and cold.  She is better now though!  Before she was unwell I took your suggestion in your last post and decreased her A time in the afternoon and this has worked well for her but I had to AP this nap to begin with and as she was then unwell, I continued to do this. 

She has been better for a few days now and is going to sleep independently for her morning nap but it seems that she now needs an A increase as I was getting a shorter nap in the morning, so currently her A time is 4 hrs.  Just to recap she also needs a full A time at the end of the day too otherwise she won't fall asleep on the bottle, so our EASY is becoming a little tricky!!  Are we in the 2-1 transition, she is 10 and a half months.  For her afternoon nap she is needing a 3 hr 15 min A time.  For both of her naps with these A time increases she is sleeping well and I am having to wake her in order to try to stick to EASY.  For her AM nap I am waking her after 1 hr 30 mins and 45 mins for her PM nap.  She often is hard to wake from her PM nap though and seems to want to sleep longer.  As she needs a long A time before bed, this I'm not letting her go back to sleep.  She is waking at 7 am and going to bed at 8pm.  She seems to like a 13 hr day and 11 hr sleep.  Over the last few days she has been waking a little earlier and struggling to get back to sleep.  So basically our EASY is a bit out of sorts right now and she is still doing the early night wakes as I've described previously but funnily not as often as before it would be every night without fail!

Could you help me to work out a new EASY for her as I think we need some adaptions.  In your previous post, you asked if I had thought about the 2-1 transition and if I would like a long morning A time or a long afternoon A time.  Ideally I think a long morning A time would work well  for us but as she seems to need a full A time before bedtime, perhaps this is not the way forward?

Thanks for everything, really appreciate your help!   

[Ima shel Alon]

It does sound like she is starting the 2-1 transition. Have you read about it a bit? There is a good link here: From 2 to 1 nap transition (10-12m and older)
I personally did a long AM nap and a short PM nap but it was because Alon decided himself at 9m that his PM nap is only a CN, so I went along with it. The way I did it was to set the PM nap at a certain time, for us it was 16 'cause that worked well with BT at 19. He didn't need full A time before BT, but even though I think that setting the PM nap could work for you. If BT is at 20 and she needs 4h A time before it then she needs to go down for her naat 15:15 and be up at 16. When you go through the 2-1 transition there is always one A time which is shorter (the one before the capped nap) because you anyway want it to be a short nap so it's ok if LO is Ut for it.
What do you think?

[Hayleys]

Hi

Thanks!  I think your suggestion could work well for us as having a long A time in the morning and evening is what we are doing now as well as a shorter A time in the afternoon, so we can stick to the same format and not have to make too much of an adjustment. 

I've just done a rough type up of an EASY and that would leave only a 2hr 45 min A time in the PM. 
W  7 am
E   8 am
A  (4 hrs A time)
S  11:00-12:30 pm
E   12:30 
A  (2 hrs  45 mins A time)
S  3:15 -  4:00 pm
E   ?
A  (4 hrs A time)
S  8 pm


That does seem very short but I'll give it a go.  I'm thinking that I may have to AP the PM nap though either by holding her to sleep, going out for a drive or time out in the pushchair.  She does still go to sleep independently for her AM nap though, do you think if I need to AP this nap then that is ok and she is also falling asleep on the bottle at bedtime?  Perhaps after doing this for a while then in time her body clock will adjust and I may be able to get her independently down for her PM nap.  Also I am waking her from her AM nap if she sleeps passed the 1 hr 30 mins mark, is this the right thing to do?

Also when do you recommend I give her food after her PM nap as it will only be 3 and a half hours since I last fed her.  Should I wait until it is 4 hrs or given her age is she able to go without for a little longer, say 4.5 hrs?

[Ima shel Alon]

I think that after a week of doing something like this you should try and push the CN a bit later, to like 16:30 and then have a shorter A time before BT. You see, right now she needs a full A before BT but she will not have so much sleep in the afternoon anymore so she will be tired sooner than she is now. That way you'll have a bit longer A time before the PM nap as well and more chances of her going down easier. As well, after a week I wouldn't wake up at 1.5h from her AM nap, 'cause she is going to be more tired from not having a full PM nap anymore. I would try and let her nap 2h and only if things go wonky I would go back to capping it.
Don't worry about AP or the bottle at BT, you just do what you gotta do. The 2-1 transition is one that parents struggle with the most and it's also very long, so whatever you can do to ease on things for you and her, I say do it .
Re the feeding, it's very much up to your baby. You know when she is hungry so just feed her then. It doesn't matter so much if it's 3.5h or 4.5 from last feed.

[Hayleys]

Hi

Thanks!  I'm just a bit worried about your suggestion of having a shorter A time before bed, even if she has a short PM sleep.  The reason being is that this has never worked in the past even if we have had a wonky day and she has perhaps only had a 30 min sleep in the afternoon.  I don't know why but even after a short sleep she still needs a full A time.  Sometimes at night if I give her a bottle 5 mins early then she won't fall asleep.  Would a longer A time in the afternoon change this then?  It would be a lot more convenient from my perspective as it's much better for us to have a longer afternoon so we can go out and not be so concerned about the time.  The only time I think she would be able to fall asleep without a long A time is actually before her AM sleep.  She does seem tired in the mornings but if I put her down before her full A time then she will only do about 1 hr 15 min sleep, which isn't great.

I have actually increased her A time to 4 hr 10 now as she was doing a short sleep in the morning and not falling asleep on the bottle at night.  After doing this she is now doing a 2 hr sleep in the morning, in fact I am having to wake her up some days.  As I'm typing I'm thinking that perhaps I should just try your suggestion now  and she how it goes as we are there already.  I'll do that today if she sleeps for 2 hrs.  How long should the PM nap be though, 30 mins and then an earlier bedtime? 

Any thoughts about all of this?  Do some babies just need that full A time before bed?  She is like a night owl at bedtime, even if she seems tired she still doesn't fall asleep without a full A time.

Also she is still having her early night wakes at around the 45 min mark, sometimes a little earlier.  I do think that this is perhaps overtiredness but not sure how to sort this.  The only time I see her tired and perhaps wanting to go to sleep early is sometimes in the mornings, but like I said if I put her down early she will have a short nap so this probably isn't a solution.

Finally, I want to start doing PU/PD with her again soon as now she has stopped teething and there is a window where it feels right.  She can go to sleep on her own but sometimes I do hold her back to sleep if she wakes, for example 45 mins into her night sleep.  Sometimes this comforts her but she can start pushing me away and then I have to use the pushchair to calm her.  Previously you said that I just need to put her down when she pulls herself up but she isn't pulling herself up yet.  Instead she will roll around her cot crying.  Should I set up a new post for this in the PU/PD forum as I did this previously and found it really helpful to post every day and someone to guide me through it. 

[Hayleys]

Just thought I post the EASY which I may try to work towards unless you think otherwise.  I've set the PM nap at 16:30 as you suggested in your last post and then a shorter A time before bed of 3 hrs. If 30 mins is enough for her PM sleep (she will be 11 months on 11th June), then do you think this looks ok?  I thinking only 30 mins as that will make her day sleep a total of 2hr 30 mins and also she may be more prone to having the earlier bedtime with this short sleep.  Fingers crossed!!

W 7 am
E 
A  (4hr 10 mins)
S  11:10 - 1:10 (2hr nap)
E
A  (3hrs 20 mins)
S  4:30 pm - 5 pm (30 min nap)
E
A  (3hrs)
S  8 pm

[Ima shel Alon]

That looks like a great plan to me! I hear about the shorter A before BT, but my experience was that I would be afraid of trying something that didn't work before but actually after a few months he was a different baby with different needs and the thing that didn't work before then worked. For example, DS never needed a full A time before BT. In fact, I could put her after 2h A time to bed in the evening when he was doing 3-3.5h A time the rest of the day. That worked the whole transition to 1 nap. 16 was his CN and 19 his BT. But now that he is older there is no way! He needs to be awake long before he goes to bed, which is a problem because to get a good nap from him at lunch time he needs to go down late (13:30) and then the A before BT is shortish.
Don't mean to drag you into our sleep issues just wanted to say that their needs are different as they grow and what worked before doesn't anymore and vice versa .
IIWY I would just give it a try and see what happens. Who knows, maybe it will help with NW in the early night!
Usually the CN is 45min but of you think she can handle 30min without getting OT then go for it.
Re PU/PD if she is just lying and crying then you can either do WI/WO or what I did (because DS got very upset when we went in and out and in and out) was to stand next to him without making eye contact and say the same sentence again and again: "I am here, everything is ok, it's time to go to sleep now". At first I was almost an hour there with him, but every night it was less and less. It's ok that baby cries, as long as he is not alone, yk?
If you wish to post on the PU/PD board there's no problem, but I would need to lock this thread as we ask that every poster has one thread running about routine issues to ease the workload of the moderators and so the posters doesn't get contradicting advice .

[Hayleys]

Hi

Thank you!  So yesterday I stuck to the EASY which you looked at. 

She slept for 2 hrs for her AM nap and I actually had to wake her up at this time!  For her PM nap, I took her out in the pushchair and she had half an hour, again I woke her at this point.  Then her bedtime went well too! She didn't actually fall asleep on the bottle but she was drowsy and closing her eyes.  Once she had all of the milk she wanted she pushed the bottle away and then tried to snuggle into my arms.  She was a bit fidgety and grizzly and she actually sat up 3 times.  I just let her do this as apposed to try to hold her and as soon as she had sat up she actually collapsed back into my arms again.  It took maybe 3-4 mins and she was then asleep and I transferred her to the cot.  I was so pleased that she fell asleep after the shorter A time.  I think you are right and her needs are changing!  I was surprised that she didn't fall asleep on the bottle though when she was obviously tired!  The other thing I noticed is she was a lot less grizzly and moany during her wind down time.  Recently she has hated me getting her sleep suit on and not very receptive to songs etc. Last night was the complete opposite though which was lovely as she was enjoying the cuddles and songs!

Ok, so then further good news was that she then did not wake at around the 30 - 45 min mark which is so fantastic and perhaps shows that her EASY needed some adaptions.  However unfortunately there is a but; she did wake at 11:45.  I heard her stirring a few times after 10:30 and getting herself back to sleep but this time she was taking a long time to get back off and fussing a lot.  I have to say that she wasn't actually crying but I then decided to give her some milk as she hadn't eaten well in the day for some reason and it was playing on my mind that she may be hungry and I was hoping this would settle her back to sleep.  She does still have one bottle of milk in the night and usually this is around 6ozs at various different times of the night.  I'm thinking that to drink that much she must be hungry but also I'm wondering if it may be a bit of a habit as she is 10 and a half months, not sure?  Anyway so she had around 4 ozs and then fell immediately back to sleep.  Fantastic I thought, but then about 10 mins later she woke crying and this time was not fussing.  So I picked her up as I haven't started PD with her yet and she could not settle on me, instead pushing me away.  So I resorted to the pushchair and she settled very quickly in there but she was fully awake now.  I'm not sure how long, as I couldn't see the time but it took at least half an hour for her to fall back to sleep and then I transferred her into her cot. Later in the night I heard her again at around 5 ish but she settled herself back to sleep without much fussing at all.  She then happily woke at 6:45 am, so 15 mins before I would have woken her so we can stick to our EASY.

So as you can see lots of positives but there was this night wake later on which never usually happens.  So I'm wondering, did I perhaps make it worse by responding to her as I did as perhaps I actually woke her more as opposed to perhaps leaving her to settle in the first place.  Or does her EASY needing some adapting?  The other thing is I gave her the bedtime bottle at 8 pm which is when she was due to go to sleep.  She wasn't actually asleep though until 8:20 pm so this would have extended her A time before bed.  Should I try and give her the bottle say at 7:45 pm?  Would those extra 20 mins make a big difference?  I waited until 8 pm as I was so nervous about her not falling asleep on it but as it went so well I feel better about trying it earlier if necessary.

With regards to PD, I do want to start this as I actually think she will settle better in her cot and most of the time she actually doesn't even want me to pick her up really as she does self settle.  We are spending the night away from home on Friday so I'm thinking about starting next Saturday so I know I can be consistent and I don't want to wake other people up who are not used to living with a baby.  I do have a few other questions but I'll leave them until another post as this one is quite long already.

Also as she woke at 6:45 today, should I make bedtime for 7:45 pm?  Will this keep affecting the time she wakes up if I do though?  It's nice to always have bedtime at 8 pm where possible.

Thanks again for your help, greatly appreciated!!!!!

[Ima shel Alon]

Wow, that's a great update.
I know you are worried about the night, but don't be. Sometimes when adjusting the day is can cause the night to be a bit wonky, but it doesn't mean it will last more than a few nights. Perhaps she just needs time to settle into her new routine, so no, I wouldn't change anything else right now.
But I do think, like you said so I think you know it yourself really, that you go to her too soon and try too much to help her go back to sleep. I know this feeling, I did the same thing, I just wanted him to go back to sleep as quickly as possible and was worried that he won't if I don't come and help him. But I can't emphasize enough how important it is to not go in too early, it's so important for her to learn and settle herself without mommy rushing in. Believe me, if she needs you she'll make sure that you know it!
Re BT, I did it the way I stuck to the BT hour no matter what. Unless I had a very long A time before BT, which is not how things are for you, then I did BT at 19 even if A times were a bit longer or a bit earlier than usual (and by that I mean even 30-45min longer or shorter).