goes down for nap early so when wakes it's not time to eat????

[LaurieJ]

Hi!!  I'm new on here and wish so much I would've found this earlier!!  I love BWSAYP book but never knew this was here!!  My question is, when my DD goes down for her nap earlier than a 2 hour A time (like 45 min. earlier) then when her nap is done it's not time for the next feed yet.  This mainly is an issue in the mornings as she seems to get sleepy after less A time than she does the rest of the day.  Should I just do extra A time when she wakes up until it's time for the next E and just try to lengthen her total A time a bit so that it's not so far off for the next E after her next nap?  Thanks for any help/advice!  This site is amazingly wonderful!!   

[jswmom]

Hi LaurieJ,
Welcome to the boards.  I've gotten a lot of great advice here and hope you will, too.  The situation you describe happens in my house as well.  If DS goes down early for a nap (usually the AM nap, too) and therefore wakes up before it's time to eat, I usually give him light A time until it's time to eat (mostly rolling around in the crib).  I've found that this helps my DS take a full feeding.  If I feed too early, he won't take a full feeding.
Also, I don't usually try to lengthen the total A time, it makes my DS overtired.  I just follow his cues and on these days end up with EASAEAS.

Hope that helps!  I'm sure lots of other Mom's will weigh in on what they do in this situation, too!
Good Luck!

[LaurieJ]

Thank you!!  So then is the whole day "off" usually a bit?  Does your DS usually go to bed earlier in the AM or is it just a once in a while thing?  15 minutes isn't bad, but 45 min or an hour early seems like a lot 

[jswmom]

Yup, then the whole day is slightly off and we just go with it.  It gets a little weird at the end of the day if he goes down early for all naps, but those days usually means he's overcoming overtiredness.  On days where the whole day ends up shorter, I sometimes cluster feed because he goes to bed sometimes before he's ready to take a full feeding, if that makes sense.
Usually in the morning, my DS is up for 1 hour 45 minutes and 2 hours before all other naps (he's 5 months and one week).  Maybe your LO is trying to overcome some OT?  Did your LO have a rough night the night before or were you out all day the day before?  Or maybe has your LO is just combatting some accumulated OT from a couple of days in a row?  I usually find that after a day of going to bed early, my DS is back on his regular routine the next day.

[LaurieJ]

She's just getting done with a growth spurt and I think she may also be teething so I think she's catching up from the last few days of not so good day sleep.  She always seems to do really well with her night sleep but her naps really get thrown off (wakes earlier and more frequently) when she's going through something.  Thanks so much for your feedback!!