Hi there
Night wakings are pretty rotten.
Right then. Just trying to figure this all out. And whether you have a overtired or undertired baby requiring more A time.
Cutting your naps down to 3 hrs max per day (night not included) is a sizeable increase in A time. You have 2 naps @ 1 1/2hr - 2 hr + catnap per day is that right? So possibly napping 4 hours per day, which for his age is bang on. Naps of 2 x 1.5 hrs long is more for 9months plus or babies with higher than average A times. So we need to figure out where you DS fits in this.
There is more info on typical sleep here:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=85134.0And typical A times here:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64158.msg476652#msg476652But babies don't all follow the rules. Use these as a guide not a strict 'must conform'.
So waking in the night for up to 20 mins at a time. Can you tell us a little more about the nightwakings:
* How many times a night on average is this happening?
* When he wakes, is he sleepy-floppy and relatively easy to resettle? Does he wake up shortly afterwards (like he can't get back into a deep sleep)?
* Anything else that could be waking him? Think teething (even if you don't see teeth they can be teething), room temperature (could it be dropping in the night enough to make it hard for him to go back to sleep).
* Is he an independent sleeper?
* How do you currently resettle him?
Looking at your EASY and the issues you've mentioned, you seem concerned that he's OT. If this is the case, increasing his A times will make him more OT. OT and NWs are really good mates. As are UT and NWs!!
So. Without knowing the answers to the above questions, my guess is that you need to somehow drop that catnap. The 45 min wakings does sound like he needs more A time (not tired enough to sleep for longer) or can't self-soothe. That last A time in the day is short. And for a good night's sleep, I'd aim to get this to be the longest A of all. The first A is usually the shortest, although this shifts a little when their naps go wonky as they transition from 2 naps to 1 (you're way off that though!!). Increasing the A by 15 mins when you think he's OT already may be tricky. Perhaps consider trying to increase the A times before the afternoon nap (not catnap) for a couple of days and see how you go. By increasing the A there and making sure he's tired enough to get a good long 2 hour sleep, you should be able to move towards ditching that catnap as he shouldn't need it. If it was me, I'd bring bedtime forward by an hour too.
The aim would be to increase your A times to give you 2 hour naps (at first) so that catnap isn't needed as much...and perhaps do the catnap when you're out and about so he can choose if he wants it. We did ours in a pram and I suddenly realised one day, he wasn't actually napping anymore!!
Sample routines that might give you ideas of what other people have done at that age:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=10386.150HTH. Sorry for waffling. Half concentrating on baby monitor!!
Charlotte
