"A" time question and how long to wait to fall asleep...

[mrsteacher77]

We're doing much better than a week ago.  Thanks so much for all the help with shh/pat in the crib.  Ava is settling down easier at night and for naps.  The thing is, she's settled so well, she lies in her crib for up to 45 minutes to an hour before actually going to sleep!  She doesn't really cry, she will lie quietly and babble a bit for the first 20-30 minutes, then will fuss intermittently for the next 15-30 until she will finally give in.  This is throwing my A time off since for her age (8 weeks) she should have an hour-hour and 15 for A time.  If that's true, she should go to bed as soon as she's finished eating!
   I know she's tired when I put her down (usually 45 minutes from the last waking) since she's fussing or yawning or just blank staring, so I'm pretty sure it's not UT.
   I feel like I'm not getting enough time to interact with her since I'm putting her in bed and then it seems like she's interacting with herself for too long. 
   Sorry for this rambling mess, but I'm petrified of OT/OS since that's where I think I went wrong for the first 6 weeks!  Help!!

[creations]

At 8 weeks you'd be looking more like 1hr 15 or 1hr 20 A time (1 hr would be a bit too short).  This means that sometimes her babble and falling to sleep time is taking her to around the right A time (1hr 20 if I have read your post correctly) and sometimes it is taking her over the recommended A time (up to 1hr 45).

So long as she is happy I would not worry too much.  She may well be loving that time to herself just thinking of the things she has seen (even if you think it isn't much!) and enjoying babbling and cooing, maybe she likes that alone time to practice making sounds and just relax, kind of like an adult lazing by the pool side having day dreams.

Are her naps a decent length when she does fall to sleep?

I know it can seem like you don't get any time with her, you will though as her A time increases with age.

You could experiment with keeping her up just a little longer to spend some of that A time together but I would monitor this closely and keep a written record of the activity and how well she settled and slept following it.  Over a period of days you might see that the extra time up with you makes no difference to her naps or you might see that she doesn't settle so well or falls to sleep much faster...only close observation and experimentation will help you figure that out.