Hi,
There is a FAQ I think on the ACTIVITY board that says A times for each month - for a 5 month old it's 2hrs - 2.25 hrs average but obviously that can vary from baby to baby. I personally count the A time from when he first wakes up in the morning. There is a thread on the EASY board titled something like "When do you start your day" or "When do you count Wake up from" - sorry can't remember exact title. If you can't find it, let me know and I'll have a look.
With regard to the early wake-up, yes, I've heard it can be a result of OT. What time does your baby go to bed and go to sleep at night usually? Generally I believe they have a 12 hr day / 12 hr night or something around that mark - so for example, if your baby is waking up at 5am and you aren't putting him to bed until 7 or 8 then that would be too long a day.
Have you ever tried to get your baby to go back to sleep at all? I do know from experience that it's not easy to get them back to sleep if they aren't crying. I have a fairly early riser - I think he wakes at 6.15 but I'm not sure. One thing that has been suggested to me recently by a lot of people is to make sure that you get your baby up at exactly the same time each day. For us, we've decided that should be 6.30am. Also to start the day with a feed, regardless of when they have fed in the night. It marks the start of their day. It will hopefully start to regulate things a bit.
As far as the 45 min naps go - I have been battling with 35-45 min naps myself for about a month but am finally starting to get things to improve (gradually!) by adjusting A times. I have not tried to extend the naps, for 2 reasons - I have a toddler so it's pretty difficult and secondly because he generally wakes happy and it's therefore difficult to extend them then.
If you haven't done so already, I would start a log book (I log when he woke, when I got him, Eat, Sleep including when I put him down and when he went to sleep and when he wakes up and whether he wakes happy or crying. I also jot down the Activity time between each nap). After a few days (for me longer) you will "hopefully" be able to see whether his A times are too long or too short and therefore kill the 45 min nap monster. 45 min naps can mean OT or UT (and from my personal experience, even 30 min naps can mean OT or UT in my little one's case!) As you may also be aware, most babies 1st A time tends to be shorter than the next naps A times.
See how you go with that. I am not an expert but I have been battling with similar issues so just passing on what I've learned so far!
Feel free to ask more questions.
