wake baby up after extending a 45 min nap?!

[ta_mummy]

Hi, my LO is 4.5 mo now and he's been having 45 min naps for weeks now. I usually manage to put him back to sleep but trouble is that he can sleep for very long afterwards ... should I wake him up to keep him back on track? otherwise, it's hard to fit in 3 naps in a day before bedtime...

His schedule is like this:
7am - wake up, feed
9am - nap 1
9.45am - wake up, put back to sleep
11am - wake up, feed
12.45pm - nap 2
1.30pm - wake up, put back to sleep
2.45pm - wake up, feed
4.30pm - cat nap
5.15pm - wake up
6.30 pm - bath
6.45 pm - feed
7.00pm - sleep for the night

also, he's been having early wake-ups twice this week ... is that a sign that he should be dropping naps???

[ta_mummy]

not sure if i was clear.. what i mean to say is that recently, it seems like whenever i manage to extend a 45 min nap, my LO will go on to sleep for longer than the "ideal" nap time of 2hrs..  should i then let him sleep as long as he wants? and if that means there is no time to fit in a third catnap in the evening then let it be? currently his bedtime is around 7-7.30pm and i would like to keep it that way...

thanks!

[newkidontheblock]

I think that you need to extend your A times a little bit. The am A is 2 hrs but the next 2 are just 1.45. Try to push it to 2 hours for all of them. In fact that might help him transition sleep cycles on his own. I personally would wake to preserve feeds (otherwise he might wake up in the night to get those calories yk?) and also you would want to be wary of too much day sleep. It might eat into your nights. Your routine looks good - just push A times to 2 hours and aim for 2 x 2 hr naps and a catnap for now.

Also, EWs are sometimes because the first nap of the day is too early
Early Morning Wakings

[ta_mummy]

thank you for the suggestions and link! yes, i would like to stretch A times too but trouble is that LO starts to get cranky around the 1h 45m mark ... afraid of making him OT if i keep him up longer?! it's a tough call, how do we know if 45 min naps are OT or UT?! he generally wakes up happy enough at the 45min mark, talks to himself a little... but if i let him be, he never soothes himself back to sleep.. if i go in to do shh/pat, he falls asleep after 10-15min but sometimes even needs 20-30min... should i not try to extend the nap? sometimes wonder if it's worth my effort trying to extend a nap then having to wake him up soon after!

[newkidontheblock]

I think it could be OT or UT. Him waking up happy could have meant that that is all the sleep he needs, except that he falls back asleep after that.

When he gets cranky, you can walk around with him or do finger rhymes..anything low key really. With mine, walking around really helps. This is just until he adjusts to the new time. Also, since you are aiming for 2 hours, you can start with your routine to get him down 5/10 minutes before, giving him some time to settle to sleep. A time is eyes open to eyes closed. With us we go in 5 minutes before, change diaper, swaddle, sing song while closing the curtains and then lay her down.

As to extending the nap, after a while, OT would add up and it will affect bedtime even. If you can extend a nap without much trouble, you should. You never know -  one day he might surprise you by transitioning himself. That is why it is important to get the timings right -- right amount of activity and right amount of tiredness.