7 month old routine question

[zportiss]

Hello,
My lo has been on 2 naps a day since she was a 5 1/2 months.  I've tried to move her wake time from 6 to 7 by sticking to the later nap in the morning, but it seemed to make her very wakeful from 4-6, often taking 2 attempts to resettle when she woke.  Now that I'm giving her the nap roughly 3 hrs after she wakes, this moves her 2nd nap way up too and we're left with a long stretch before BT, and she's clearly overtired, crying and it takes her 30 minutes to settle. She starts yawning a lot around 5.    I tried moving her bedtime a half hour earlier one night and it took her an hour to fall asleep.  Here's her schedule when she wakes at 6:00.  Should I try to move her bedtime up our go back to the catnap?  She rarely takes a nap longer than 1:10, sometimes 1:20. Thanks!

A 6
6:20 nurse
8 solids
9:15-10:10 S
10:10 nurse
1:25-2:35 S
2:45 nurse
4:15 solids
4:45 try for a catnap, didn't seem tired, cried, gave up
5:00 nurse (dozed off for 10 minutes)
6:00 start by routine
Asleep by 7:00-7:15
Between 10-11 wakes for feeding
Between 3-4 wakes for feeding

[nevinsmama]

Well, it's hard to know. If I were you, I would push those A times out a bit more as her naps look like she made it over most of the sleep bumps but isn't quite tired enough to sleep longer. If you choose to bring back the CN then I would really go all out with the AP to ensure it is a full CN. If you get 30-45 minutes you might be able to do 2 hour A after that. If for whatever reason the CN blows up I would surely try to keep the day no more than 12 hours. Then go for EBT, hope for a good night and push A the next day. What do you think?

[zportiss]

Ok, I will try to push her.A times.  At her.age, 7 months, 1.week,.is the max wake time 3.5?  When your pushing A times do you then not put them.down if they seem sleepy, or fussy, but stick to the time you're trying to reach for new A?  This is the trouble I have.  Yesterday she was crabby and yawning leading up to her nap for the half hour prior to the 3 hr.  Laat night she seems to have gotten a really good night sleep, so hopefully we got rid of the overtired cycle we seemed to be in and we can stretch A times. Should I also be trying for earlier BT moving it up 15 min and holding for a few days?

[nevinsmama]

It is all so individual, you know? Based on the naps she was doing, I would push the As. Some can do so much more than the "average" and some are a bit below.
The sleepy cues can be so tricky at this age, it seems that they will look so sleepy, when really they are a bit tired ( enough to do and UT nap!) and are also, thirsty, or bored and so on.
As far as BT goes, if she is up at 6 and has OK naps i would surely aim for BT no later then 6:30. If naps blow up and you HAVE to have a CN, then a 13 hour day is necessary. Keep us posted!

[nevinsmama]

Just wanted to drop this link off for this thread as it sounds as if your LO "may" have some similarities with the higher A needs and what all?
Any ideas, routine woth long A

[zportiss]

I am so totally confused by what's transpired the last few days!  I have been trying to push A times to 3 1/4 at least or 3 1/2 hours.  I am still getting early wake time around 6:20, then 2 days ago she slept until 7:20 and refused BT until almost 8 (just rolling around and playing in her bed, not crying).  Then yesterday she woke at 6:20 and nursed with her eyes closed until 7, refused BT again until 8.  Also yesterday & today she's refusing her first naptime until almost 11 am!  She's just playing and rolling around, etc. 

Do you think she's over tired or needs longer A times? 

Also, should I be doing the set wake time and just set my alarm at 6:00 to beat her to the punch and get her on a routine?  I feel like we are all over the place and its making things worse.

I start her BT routine at 5:45, and she's usually in her crib around 6:30.  Here's the schedule from.the last two days:

6/4
2:35 r,l
A 6:20?
6:20 l,r
9:37 r,l
S10:43-12:14 (first 1.5 hr nap ? with 4:20 A???)

6/3
1:48 r,l
6:22 r,l
9:05 l,r
S10:44-12
12:09 r,l
2:59 l,r
S 3;46-4:55
6:03 r,l
S7:40
10:15 l,r

6 /2
1:48 l,r
5:30 r,l
A 7:15
8:56 l,r
S ? Forgot to write it down
12:03 r,l
S 3:03-3:40
3:45 l,r
6:10 r,l
S 7:50
10:19 l,r

[zportiss]

Ok, I think I'm on to something....catnap while nursing prior to first nap is the culprit!  Just added this in when everything  got messed up.  It pushed her first nap, which then pushed the rest of the day!  Now what...  The issue I have is she's sleeping from about 8 until about 6, and then catnaps again during her first feed until almost 7.  I don't think I can really control whether she dozes while she nurses.  Thoughts?

[nevinsmama]

If she went to bed at 8  and then woke at 6, honestly, if I were you, I would zip in to her room in the dark, keep her wrapped up snug, feed her and don't disturb her at all if possible and plop her back in her bed and hope you both get another bit of sleep. No lights, no talking, just feed and cross your fingers and see if that could nudge the day out a bit!