out of house for 1st nap - short naps rest of day

[staceykaz]

I have a 5m.o. EBF and a 2yr old.  Having the 2 yo means that we have something on almost every morning - which seems to hit right around lo's nap time.  He'll sleep in the car or in the pack/pram for a bit,  not quality sleep and not ideal I know, but not fair on the older one to miss his activities.  You'd think he'd be beat and take long naps the rest of the day, but no - we get anywhere from 30-60 minutes, and cannot get him back down.  His a.m. wake-time is between 6 and 7. That first feed of the day usually isn't a big one - he hardly seems to take anything at all.  Then we try to do a 3.5-4-hour feed from there, but it gets a bit tricky with him not sleeping very long.  He settles for sleep fairly easily most nights around 7, with a DF at 10:30.  He's been waking around 1:30, can resettle quickly with a dummy, and the he's up to eat around 4.  We do use a dummy, but he's been rubbing his eyes/face so much that he knocks it out during the day.  Before bed he will take it and drift off, then we take it out once he's asleep if he hasn't spit it out already.  So, after all that rambling, I guess I need to know what I could try doing to extend his naps.  Also, do you think he needs that night feed (which is probably the best feed of the day!), since he hardly takes anything in the a.m.?  Thanks

[deckchariot]

Can you post what your daily routine looks like in terms of EASY?  It might help to see how exactly the mornings out are affecting that.

[staceykaz]

Here's apx. what we do, based on a 6am wake-up, but that varies between 6am and 7am.
E - 6
A - 6:30-8
S - 8-?
Y -
A - until around 10
E - 10
A- 10:15-11:30
S - 11:30-?
Y-
A- until around 1:30
E- 1:30
A- 1:45-3:30
S- 3:30-?
Y-
A-
E- 5
A- 5:15-7
E- 7
down for night at 7
DF at 10:30
even if he's up closer to 7am, the evenings are still pretty much the same.

[deckchariot]

When are you usually doing your running around?  Is it after he goes down for his nap at 8?  so does he go to sleep at 8 and then you get him up to go wherever until around 10 when he eats again? 

Most lo's at 5 months can handle a bit more than 2 hrs of A time.  So would it be possible to stretch his morning A time to 2 hr 15 min?  Then because he's not likely to get a full nap then (most lo's will not sleep as well in the car/pram as they would in their cots), you'd want to keep the A times for the rest of the day shorter - not more than 2 hrs, just so he doesn't get too OT during the day.  I'm not sure exactly how much he's getting now, because I'm not sure what time he is up from those naps (I'm guessing it varies widely).

In terms of nap extension - what method to use depends on when he's waking - is it always at the same point during the nap?  If so, you could try w2s.  If not, I'd go with pu/pd or pat/shh - try pat/shh first, then do pu/pd if you can't calm him in the cot.  Your best option is first to try to work with your routine to see if you can tweak his A times to make things a bit smoother.

Also, is there a particular reason you're still cluster feeding at 5 and 7?  Does he take a full feed both times?  You could try melding those into 1 feed and moving his bedtime a bit earlier if he continues to have a 6 am wake up.  You want to aim for roughly a 12 hr day.

HTH
michelle

[staceykaz]

put him to bed at 6 last night, DF at 10, then he slept until 6am!  had good naps today - 2 were 1.5 hours and one 1hr nap.  Pushed this mornings outing back a bit to hit his A time, which worked since he was up at 6 (if he would have gotten up at 7, it would have been tricky).  3 days a week we are out of the house around 8:30 and the other 2 by 10.  Think I may have been overstimulating too, so I toned A time down a bit and had some quiet time before putting him down for naps - not always easy with a 2yr-old around!  Also tried to combine that 5 and 7pm feed tonight.
So - will see how we go tonight and the next few days.
thanks!

[deckchariot]

YAY for one good day!!!!  I'm glad you were able to make some adjustments and see some success.  It's always a bit of trying to figure out what works best for you lo, and it looks like you're doing great!!!!  Keep me posted!

[staceykaz]

took a little longer to settle last night without that feed right before bed, but slept from 7:30, to DF at 10:30 and up at 6.  just got him down for his first nap in the cot after some catnaps in the car, so we'll see how we go today.  fingers crossed......

[deckchariot]

consider them crossed