Please help with our (obviously wrong) EASY

[LaraMom]

Hi everyone, I would love to hear your advice on our easy because something is wrong i think.
DD2 is 15 weeks tomorrow and an excellent napper. There is almost always a bit fussing at naptime but she can selfsoothe and if not, i can calm her with shh/pat or breastfeeding and lay her down awake. When I do this I always feel not doing it right because I kind of destroy our EASY (it’s then an EAEY) but as she sleeps like a champ afterwards and I put her down awake I assume it’s ok?!?!? (Am I right that her waketime is perfect when her nap is 2 hours?)

But in the evening the struggle starts: she fights bedtime so badly!! It takes looong (yesterday 2 hours!) and we are all so exhausted!

Here is our schedule:
E — 7
A
S — 8:30/8:45-10:30 (i often have to wake her up)

E — 10:30
A
S — 12-2 (i often have to wake her up)

E — 2
A
S — 4-4:30 catnap when outside with DD1

E — 4:30
A
E — 6:30 before bed (in dark room with sound machine and Pyjamas)
S — 7 (this should be her bedtime but because of her fighting it, it often takes till 8pm and she is overtired by then, screaming and screaming...often I feed her once more!)

DF — 10:30pm
1 night feeding around 3/3:30am


Is there something we are doing wrong? Are 3 naps not enough? How can we improve our schedule? How can I help her with these fussy evenings?

TIA!!!!
I attach an overview of our sleeping pattern

[creations]

Hi there
I suspect she may be OT at BT.  Considering she sleeps so well for the two long naps it looks like her A time earlier in the day (and S and E times too) are good for her, however that last CN she is awake for longer before the nap (2 hr rather than 1.5 which the other A times look like) but then only has a 30 min nap which is not restorative.  The non-restorative CN is then followed by another, even longer A time of 2hr 30 min before BT.
Often the A before and after a CN can be shorter than the other A times, not usually longer.  My guess is that with these two long A times and only a short 30 min nap she is OT by the time you get her ready for her night sleep and is then unable to relax.

Some suggestions you could try:
Reduce both the last 2 A times and increase the nap length. With A times of 1.5hr and a 2hr nap you might manage BT at 7pm.  This option might offer the most consistency in routine and could perhaps give you a good length of 1:1 time with DD1 while LO naps for longer.
or
Let her sleep longer for the 2 long naps (looks like you often need to wake her) and see what time you make it to in the evening and work out a suitable A time and nap length based on where you get to.  For instance if both naps end up 2.5hr in length you might not need a 2hr nap for nap 3 but possibly 1hr instead - but whatever the nap length bare in mind the A time before and after.  This option might suit the family better if LO doesn't like to nap too long when DD1 is around (or if it isn't possible to have a longer nap because it's a pram nap or out and about etc).

It looks like your LO is perhaps higher sleep needs than some.
It looks like a great routine but as you said a bit off at the end of the day.

hope this helps

[LaraMom]

Thanks so much for your fast reply. I am sure you are right with her being OT at BT.

The CN is in the carrier and she wakes up after 30 minutes, but to be honest, we sometimes even wake her after 30 minutes because we thought that she should't be too much rested before BT. But maybe thats wrong. So I will try today and decrease the wake time before last nap and let her nap longer in the carrier (if she lets me ;-) ) then another shorter wake time and BT. But as you wrote LO doesn't like to nap too long when DD1 is around and we are  out and about.

And if that does not help, I will try to let her sleep longer as you suggest. To be honest I am a bit confused about this because I thought naps longer than 2 hours ruin the night sleep. Still worth a try! 

Thanks so much! I will post Saturday how it worked out!

[creations]

If you have a look at this FAQ, it is only for guidance but you'll see one of the guides at this age is 3 naps of 1.5hrs plus a CN I don't think you can fit all that into your day though so I'd probably go for 3 long naps but longer than the 1.5hr, does that make sense?  If you also look at the guides for 4-6 months there is an example of 2 naps of 2-3hrs each.  Usually LOs don't drop to 2 naps until 6 months but that's because they do 1.5 or 2hr naps and need a CN until then...but that 3hr nap option is in there.
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=85130.0
Your LO might not sleep beyond 2hr 10 min if you leave her to wake naturally, it might not be 3hr, but if it was 3hr then you'd have more chance of 2 naps and a CN and getting through the day without OT.  Otherwise though your current routine is more like that of an older LO and it can just be that your LO can't cope with it yet (ie needing 3 long naps rather than 2 long and a CN).

I would choose one thing to try for several days to see how it goes rather than chopping and changing each day although on any day you can bring BT earlier to keep that last A time more suitable.