3 hr transition to 4 hr EASY

[ireneasheard]

Hi all

Just a quick question - looking ahead and trying to work out what is or are signs that your child should commence transitioning to 4 hour EASY? My son is 7 weeks old and on 3 hour EASY and awake around and hour-1hr 15 atm. He has started catnapping which I am dealing with but looking ahead to try to work out what I should be looking for to commence a move to 3.5 hr EASY?

Thanks in advance.

[becj86]

Hi

Average A time at 3 months is 1.5hr, average at 4 months is 2hr - best to watch for shortening naps (1.5hr is generally good, shrinking to 1:20 or so, waking at 45min or fighting naps), earlier wakeups in the morning or just increase by 5-10min every week between 3 and 4 months.

[ireneasheard]

Thank you!  The increasing by 5-10 minutes sounds like a good plan forward.  If this happens then eventually it means phasing out a sleep is that right? So it would be 2 sleeps and a nap?

[Lindsay27]

Yes, instead of 3 x 1.5hr naps you would have 2 x naps (roughly 1.5hrs but could be a little more or a little less) and a late afternoon/early evening CN.

[ireneasheard]

Okay my son is staying awake 1 hour 15 to 1.5 hours. He is 10 weeks old and if I put him to bed he is catnapping badly. Should I be looking to transition his easy cycle to say 3.5 hours?

[becj86]

What's your day look like at the moment? How long are his naps?

[ireneasheard]

Catnapping has been an issue but today was...
E 7.00am
A 7.30am
S 8.15am
E 10.10am
A 10.35am
S 11.30am - catnapped. Went to resettle after nap for 45 minutes and patted until next cycle...
E 1.00pm
A 1.30pm
S 2.30pm - catnapped. Went to resettle after nap of 40 minutes... succeeded in resettling at 3.50pm and slept until 4.35pm.
E 4.45pm
A 5.05pm
S 5.40pm - put to have a rest as was whinging and seemed tired no doubt due to catnapping. Unsure if nap was taken though, went to get babe up and he was lying there awake but resting happily.
E 6.20pm (also did a top up before bed)
A 6.30pm - bath.
S 7.00pm

[becj86]

OK, so those 40 and 45min naps are signs its worth increasing those A times a little - when you see the naps splitting to getting shorter, that's the first sign that its time to increase. If you note this kind of change in LO's naps and act, you should be pretty much sorted from a routine point of view.

[ireneasheard]

Thank you. I'm acting now to push for longer awake time that seems like post illness my son's awake times have increased a lot. He will need to stay awake 1.5 hours then at least. I'll see how I go...