((((hugs)))) dear. Let me tell you, the next year is just going to be fraught with sleeping difficulties, no matter HOW much you stick to a good BW routine! I actually just had this conversation with another mum to a 4 month old. I sort of went into sleep training with the idea that once I had him napping well and STTN then I was done! I could cross sleep off our list, and work on the other parenting stuff like, oh, teaching him calculus by age 2.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's not how it works at all! The first year they just go thru soooooooo many changes. They triple their birth weight in a year, go from not being able to even control arms and legs to walking! Not to mention up to 12 teeth poke thru and those things are SHARP! Then you have illness, emotional changes, etc. It's a whirlwind experience for them, and all those changes can cause sleep disruptions.
What the BW method is for is to give you and your child a framework to work with. Then you both have a lovely predictable structure that gives your days some form. This will help you achieve wonderful sleep when things are going right. When things go wrong, it gives you a place to come back to. No one can go thru the whole first year without short naps and NWs. They crop up for EVERY child -- I don't care how wonderful the mommy or how great the sleeper! They are unavoidable. But BW will give you a way to come back from those disruptions to a sane routine.
And I can't TELL you how much this routine is helpful when they are older. After age 1 the changes really slow down in frequency. And you are left with a child who is extremely used to a routine and so that helps get over the bumps that *do* crop up in the 2nd (and 3rd and 4th) years. My friends envy me having a son who when I say "5 minutes until bedtime!" he says "OK, mama!" and just hops upstairs without complaint. Lots of routine-less toddlers have screaming fits, beg to stay up later, etc. eliminating the quality time that parents need to regroup after a long hard day. What you're doing right now is building the foundation for that agreeable toddler of the future. Not only that, you'll reap the sleep rewards most days. It's just that sometimes, no matter how hard you stick to your routine, your child is going to have sleep disruptions every now and again.
Whew. That was long! But I remember how frustrating it was when we hit our first rough patch after Owen learned to STTN and I was devastated. I really thought I had sleep problems kicked and it was humbling to find out that I wasn't done. Sigh. But it's all good experience that will go to help another BW member down the road!
If he takes 10 minutes to settle and sleeps a looooong nap (1.5 hours or more), then you're doing fine! Actually, typically it takes around 20 minutes for a child to fall asleep. That's considered 'normal'. If it takes him 10 minutes to settle and then he short naps, then yes go ahead an move up 5 minutes and see if that helps. Make sense? The way you know you've got the right A time is the nap length: if it's a good quality nap, then your timing is right. If your nap is short, your timing is wrong.
The end of may is a looooong way off, especially in the life of your LO! My goodness, that's nearly 1/3 of his life right there! So a lot will change. You will be amazed at how different he becomes over the next 2 months! You'll probably be closer to a 3 hour A time by then which is when life got fun for us! We could go somewhere and not worry about missing nap. So hang in there!
