5 1/2 not napping well`

[amandaty01]

I am new to all this so I am hopeful that I will get some advice as a new mom. My 5 1/2 month old is not napping well at all. He wakes at 7am..nurse then solids at 8 and I try to put him down by 8:30 and he just screams. When and if he falls asleep it's for 45 min. Im not sure if his wake time is too short, too long? I tried to put him dowm at 9am and he still did 45 min. Then I did 9:30 and he slept for 30 min!! Im not sure if he needs an early nap anymore or should he be getting just two naps a day? Can anyone offer me suggestions....thanks

[lilac83]

Hi and welcome to BW! Is he giving you any tired cues at 8:30? If not, I would keep him up longer. Average A time for a 5 month old is usually a bit over 2 hours, so I'm thinking he's not tired yet and that's why he's fighting his nap. How does the rest of his day look?

[KathrynK]

definitely sounds like he need more time awake

a 45min nap usually means he is not tired enough, a 30 min nap usually means he was overtired! If he was up for 2hrs and then slept for 45 min, but then up for 2.5hrs and slept for 30 min, I would guess his preferred A time is somewhere between 2-2.5 hrs.
Also it depends on how stimulating/ relaxed things are whilst he is awake. For example, Alex's normal A time at 6mo is about 2.75-3hrs. But two days a week his 3yo sister is at nursery, so it's a lot calmer and quieter at home, and then he can handle over 3hrs easily.
When he needs longer A time to counteract the short naps it usually takes me about 3 days of experimenting with different timings to get it right again
hth x