Naps for nearly 6mo??

[deenz]

Dd2 (nearly 6m) has suddenly started protesting her first nap.  I don't know why...  Up until 3 days ago, this was her routine:

7am wake and bf
8.30am back to bed - waking anywhere between 10-10.40am
11am bf
Putting her down for second nap 2hrs after waking up.
Second nap usually around 2hrs
3pm bf
catnap somewhere here (can be in car or bed or stroller) finishing at 5.30pm at latest
7pm in bed
10pm ish DF

2 days ago I put her down at 8.45am and she protested for a bit (normally goes down without a peep) and only slept for 40min.  So I figured I had pushed her too far.  So yesterday I put her down at 8.30am and she just would not go to sleep - I ended up putting her in the stroller about 9.50am and she catnapped for 20min (my older dd woke her up I think).  Yesterday she also refused her catnap (after a 2.5hr 2nd nap).  She has been refusing catnap every now and again, and I figured she might be ready to drop it.  So today again I tried putting her down at 8.45am to start extending A time).  Again, refusing to sleep.  At the moment I have her sitting in her bouncy chair, and I'll try putting her down again after I've written this (it's 9.20am).

Any ideas???

[llambden]

Are there any signs of teething???

[deenz]

Well, dd1 didn't get her first tooth til 17m, even though she showed many 'signs' of teething... both DH and I were late teethers, so I'm not expecting any for a while yet!

Dd2 didn't sleep til we took a walk in the stroller (about 30min) and now DH is putting her down for 2nd nap (it's 12.05pm).

I forgot to put dd's last bf into her above schedule - 6pm.

Also she is not swaddled, doesn't have a paci (sucks her thumb though I think), but these have been consistent for a couple of months nearly.  She goes to sleep by herself in her cot.

[llambden]

This is my guys schedule

8-8:30 Wake and Bottle if he wakes a 7am then he wants bottle and back to sleep for an hour

9:30-10 Cereal
10:30-11 nap for 1.5 hours
12:30 Bottle
2:30-3 naps for 1.5-2 hours  This can vary depends on how happy he is
4-4:30 bottle
Sometimes has capnap in swing, rocking with dad or we just lay him in his bed.
 but he always wakes in 20 mins.
Sometimes he miss this capnap and goes to bed 1/2 hour earlier.
6:00 Cereal
7:00 Bath
7:30-8:30 Bed (if he doesn't have a catnap after 4 then he is in bed earlier


Now this changes because today he sleep from 2:00-5:30 but he only sleep about 1 hour this morning because we were done at gramma's house so I won't let him have a catnap tonight.

I would say if he fights it don't make him have it but if he has a catnap then I think he needs.  He is probably in the in between stage. Some days he needs it and next day not so much.


Does this help

Try keep her up at 8? or maybe she needs longer then 2 hours maybe 2.5-3 hrs before next nap.

[deenz]

So I see from you and other people's schedules for babies around this age that they're awake at least 2hrs before first nap, and then 2.5hrs between naps... so I'm wondering whether I should be aiming for that??

Today was bad again, and we had the added trouble of the clocks going back (daylight savings ending) so she woke at 6.20am for the day (I had heard her awake before that, chatting, which she fairly regularly does).  I then put her down at 8.25am (slightly later than intended) and had screaming for 40min, before I picked her up and walked around quietly for a bit, then nap routine again, and into bed and sleep.  She slept around 1hr20min.  Then I kept her up 2.5hrs between naps and she had a screaming fit again, but again, by picking her up and doing the routine again, she went off... but only for less than an hour!!!  She then did not catnap in the afternoon (we did errands, in the stroller and car) and was in bed by about 6.45pm quiet and happily off to sleep.  So in the afternoon she was awake just over 4hrs before bed.

I should also add that the morning nap is the one that is fairly regularly interrupted, so that we can get to activities for my 2yr old.

Will it take a while to get used to the new longer wake times?  Do you think I'm on the right track?  I definitely think the catnap is no longer needed, as yesterday I got her to take one by rocking her in the stroller, and she then took ages to go to sleep at bedtime (happily chatted in there for over half an hour).

[Mia & Scarlett's Mummy]

Hi Denise - it definately sounds to me like you are on the right track.

My dd is now 7 months and turning 6 months was like a massive watershed period for her - she started waking at night mainly because she was becoming more mobile and those blessed teeth! and her A time seemed to extend daily.  It seemed to go from 1.5 hours to 3.5 hours in the space of a week!

The catnap is now well and truly dropped and she tends to take a nap of 1.5hrs in the morning and anything up to 2.5 in the afternoon.  Yesterday for example she slept from 2.30 til 5.10 resulting in a slightly later bedtime.

I think when it comes to A time it really is down to the individual baby and how they are on any particular day.  Although having said that she can probably manage longer than 1.5 hours at this stage.  It's a tricky one trying to extend A time but not too far so that they don't get overtired and won't settle....I'm sure you'll crack it though!

[deenz]

Aaargh!  I don't know what we're doing!!  Now been trying to get her down for first nap for nearly an hour!  She woke at 6am this morning  , and I got her up at 6.25am... then put her down just before 8.20am (she seemed ok to me) but boy, I don't know what to do anymore... I have tried a couple of times to get her back up and re-do the nap routine, but it ain't working today!!