Can A times shrink?

[rinajack]

Hi

I have a spirited baby who is a couple of days short of 5 months old.  She was a 45 min napper forever.  Then it shrank to 30 mins, and there were fewer of them, and I couldn't get much done.

So, we devised a new schedule for her involving usually one, maybe two, short naps in morning, a long nap in the afternoon, and her night sleep being a bit shorter than before - 10 hours.  This worked excellent for just over a week.

Then she suddenly reduced her A times, and started having 2 or 3 long naps during the day (1.5 hrs ish).  At first I thought maybe teething related.  Then someone suggested maybe growth spurt (she has never before had one that I noticed).

But now I am wondering - could it be developmental.  She absolutely is never still anymore, not even when feeding.  She is trying really really hard to sit up (she can for a few secs, then falls over) but when laid on floor does crunches trying to sit up.  When on tummy, she is trying to move around (not rolling, and can't crawl) but is kind of moving a little - and turning to look backwards and trying to manouvre herself.  And she is finally interested in picking up toys and chewing on them (this useful, I was holding stuff in her mouth to help with the teething).

So I guess what I am asking - could it be that she is just getting more tired, more quickly, and this why she sleeping more?  She is starting to get tired at about 1hr 15mins, and with lots of effort, and by holding her and helping her play quietly, I can stretch this out a bit, to absolute max 2 hrs.  She used to have A times of 2.5 - 3 hours - easily, with absolutely no tired signs before this time.

[Gippie]

No real answer - we just went through something like that with our DD.  She USED to be able to stay up 2.5 hours in the AM and then it was 1.5!!!!    The first A time was SHRINKING.  What I think was happening is that she was waking and playing in her crib - and I wasnt hearing her on the monitor and then she'd start talking and by then she was already UP for an hour - so she was technically UP for 2.5 hours.   I notice this NOW that I am back to teaching.   I am up at 5 and she at 6 BUT she is a little mouse when she wakes and really sits there and plays.....its a good thing - but it wold throw me off as to when she would need sleep - KWIM?

My suggestion, check her real awake time and let her regress....we were back on track after a week.

crazy kids!

[rinajack]

I don't think this is same as us. ALL her A times have shrunk, not just the first.  By yesterday afternoon, she was getting super cranky and tired signs after just 1 hour and it was 5pm - she was asleep by 5:15pm and slept until 6:45pm, in bed by 8:30 (usually 8pm - adjusted for late wake up).

[Erin M]

I think your hunch is probably right and she's just sleeping more because she's tiring herself out.  When my DD started walking she started sleeping a lot more -- my nephew too is a very active guy and he sleeps a ton, tiring himself out when he is awake.  If she doesn't have any other symptoms of teething/sickness/anything else of concern, I'd just chalk it up to her increase in movement.  She'll most likely gradually stretch out those A times again as her body gets used to all the movement.

[rinajack]

The only teething sign that she doesn't have is night wakings, although the irritability comes and goes, as does the willingness to take a bottle.  But she has had all the signs for a couple of weeks now, and the extra napping has only been a few days.

Yesterday she returned to somewhat normal napping, with a fair effort from us to keep her up (I had to do this as she was starting to do 1hr awake, short nap, 1hr awake, short nap cycle).  But her long nap was in morning, previously in arvo, so I am going to try and switch her back.

Yesterday she started a cough - the coughing is worse today, but she still a happy baby.  Maybe she was trying to fight off the cough....she has no other signs of illness, and didn't the last few days either.

I guess all i can do is keep an eye on her cues right?

[Erin M]

I guess all i can do is keep an eye on her cues right?

Exactly, sooner or later you'll learn what it is that's messing with her A times....or it will just pass on its own and you'll never know  -- these LOs always like to keep us guessing

[rinajack]

Thanks.  The cough is getting worse I think, and she getting a bit cranky, but not tired, so maybe it has sort of passed.  We are on track with her usual schedule of naps today.

So weird - I can't believe I posted worried about baby sleeping too much you would have thought that all my Xmas come at once, since she never used to sleep much in day time.   It seem we always find something to worry about.