How and when to try to extend naps??

[Ambinsi]

Hi all,
We're going through a big transition right now. We've just come back from a vacation that included hotel stay, plane travel, etc. DD, who is 7 months old, is definitely "off" and we're trying to get back on track. I am ready to try to implement some changes in her routine and I figured we might as well start now while she's trying to settle back in anyway. I didn't want to settle into our old routine only to change it up on her immediately after, if that makes any sense.

We're trying two things right now: dropping a bottle (from 4 down to 3) and seeing if we can eliminate the 3rd CN of the day. DD was a chronic short napper and although we had the occasional long nice nap, short naps were the norm and I think perhaps eliminating the 3rd nap would help the other 2 naps. This is something we're currently working on, trying to see if we can increase A time and just doing a little trial and error.

My question is this....when is a nap "long enough"?? If she wakes up after an hour happy, is that considered a decent nap? We were getting 45 minutes max in this house before, so if its over an hour I'm thrilled, but rarely is it 1.5 - 2 hours like all the books say it should be. Should I bother trying to extend when she wakes up happy?? What if she has a short OT nap? How should I extend?? I need advice on this because I feel that going in there is often a distraction and once she sees me, she's up.

Thanks!

[Canwi]

Just bumping you up for now, hon.  My BW books are at my neighbours house & been a while since I had to deal with these issues. 

[mamatolevi]

My question is this....when is a nap "long enough"??

Hi there! It can depend on your LO, and the reason why the nap was short. I've been told that a short nap is anything less than 1hr 15 min, but this depends on your LO too. For some, anything less than 1.5 hrs is a short nap. Sorry if that's not very helpful, but it really depends on your LO - and you know your DD better than we do
Here's my experience:
With 30 min OT naps, I go by my LO's cues mostly - but I don't cut his next A by anything more than 30 min. If it's a UT nap, it depends on the length of the nap: ie if he wakes at 45 min, I cut his next A by 20 min. If he sleeps 1hr 10 min, I only cut his next A by 10 or so min.
HTH!