3 month old ready to transition?

[harmrc]

My DD is 3 months old today and has been on EASY since bringing her home from the hospital.  Unfortunately she has been a victim of the 45 minute nap for about 2 weeks now.  I have tried problem solving by adjusting A times, watching for OS, but I just can't figure out where I am going wrong.  Could a 3.5 hour EASY help?  Often, she will wake at the 45 minute mark and go back to sleep after 10 minutes or so of mantra crying, other times she needs my help, and once and a while she sleeps straight through.  I will post our routine below... any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

E 7:10
A 7:40
S 8:35 (woke, back to sleep independently)

E 10:10
A 10:45
S 11:45 (woke at 50 minutes, never went back to sleep)

E 1:10
A 1:35
S 2:20 (put her down early because of previous nap)

E 4:20
A 4:50
S 5:45

E 6:45
A 7:05
S 7:50
E 10:00 Dreamfeed, sleeps until 7:00 am without waking

[~Alexa~]

Hi hun!! Sorry you are having short naps!! They suck!

Ok, so your lo is 3 mo and she should be able to handle 1 hr 20 - 1hr 30 min A.  Some of your lo's As are right, but some are too long.  The first A is 1 hr 25 min long and that's giving you a long nap.  She wakes up in the middle but goes back to sleep, so that means that 1 hr 25 min is a good A time for your lo.  I would try to have 1 hr 25 min A for all her activity times and see if that helps. 

Remember  that after a short nap, your lo will not be able to handle her usual A time, so you will have to reduce it.  Also, A is all the time bubs are awake, from the moment they open their eyes till they close them again.  So, if she wakes up after a 50 min nap, then you count her A from the moment she woke up and put her back down after less A.  So, may be, after a short nap (anything shorter than 1 hr), try 1 hr 10 min A and see what happens. 

When having short naps, your EASY will look more like EASASEASAE, does this make sense?

So, for example if she wakes up at 12 pm from a 50 min nap, put her down again at 1.10 pm for another nap.  Don't keep her up another EASY cycle until 2.30 pm b/c that will make her OT. 

Hope this helps,
Alexa

[harmrc]

Thank you so much for your quick response.  I will try adjusting the A times accordingly.  When you write EASAS, the second A time is just the time she is either trying to go back to sleep or I am using shh-pat?  I am a little confused about your last piece of advice about not keeping her up another EASY cycle.  What I usually do is when she wakes early and needs my help I shh-pat her in the cot until the next feed, but then shorten the next A time.  Is this what you mean?

Thanks again,
Harmony

[~Alexa~]

Hi Harm!! Sorry I wasn't clear! Ok, so let's take a look at your routine so I explain myself!

E 7:10
A 7:40
S 8:35 (woke, back to sleep independently) Your lo woke up in the middle of the nap but she went back to sleep by herself.  She had 1 hr 25 min A before this nap, so this A seems to be working.  I would try to keep all As 1 hr 25 min long and see what happens. She woke up at 10.10 am from this nap, right?

E 10:10
A 10:45
S 11:45 (woke at 50 minutes, never went back to sleep) This A was 1 hr 35 min and she slept 50 min.  So let's try 1 hr 25 min instead of 1 hr 35 and see if that works better.  She woke up at 12.35, right?

E 1:10
A 1:35
S 2:20 (put her down early because of previous nap) She woke up from previous nap at 12.35 pm, and she went down for the next nap at 2.20 pm.  That's almost 2 hrs A!!  That's too long for a 3 mo.  So, here is where I would go for 1hr 10 min A, so instead of having this nap at 2.20 pm, I would try it at 1.45 pm.  Does this make sense? So here is where you kept your lo up from 12.35 pm - 2.20 pm so she had a complete EASY cycle, she had E, then A time of 1 hr 30 min, and then S.  So, instead of EASY, your routine will look EASAES...The A in the middle of the cycle is the awake time your lo has between naps.  So if she woke up at 12.35 pm from the nap, and went to sleep at 2.20 pm, all that time in between is A.  Is this clear?

E 4:20
A 4:50
S 5:45

E 6:45
A 7:05
S 7:50
E 10:00 Dreamfeed, sleeps until 7:00 am without waking

And yes, after a short nap reduce the next A time!

I hope I explained it better.  Let me know if you have any question.  Keep me posted on how things go! 

[harmrc]

Thanks for clarifying, Alexa!  I understand what you mean now about counting the A from the time she wakes and not going through another EASY cycle.  I was not doing this correctly.  We've been out of town for the last 3 days (your insights made our trip better than I expected!) so today is the first day that I am really working on everything in her normal environment.  I also started shortening her first A time in the morning because she plays in her crib for about 20-30 before I go in.  Lo and behold I got a great nap out of her this morning(she woke at 45 minutes, but went back to sleep on her own) and she is on nap #2 and just woke at 45 minutes, but seems to be putting herself back to sleep.  Thank you so very much for your advice!
Harmony

[harmrc]

Naps today... 3 for 3, plus the catnap which is always a slam dunk.  Thank you, Alexa!

[~Alexa~]

Woooohoooo!!