late afternoon stretch

[misher]

Hello,

My LO is seven months old and has just started to extend his morning nap.  We have been bitten by the 45 min. nap monster for as long as I can remember so this new 1.25 hour morning nap is very exciting in our house.  If he extends his morning nap then his second nap is usually 45 min. Extending both naps rarely happens. We are working on it and I have faith!

Here is our challenge at the moment.... my son can only stay awake for 2 hrs. A time in the morning.  He wakes early (5:45 - 6:00) so he is down for his first nap before 8.  This means his second nap is over before 1:00pm.  The problem occurs when I try to put him down for a third nap around 2- 3ish.  He fights and screams and makes his argument clear that this is not going to happen.  I have tried to take him for a walk or put him in the sling and he just won't sleep. This means that his last stretch of the day is 5 hours long and he is exhausted by his 6:00pm bedtime. 

He wakes once in the night for a feed.
Any suggestions for helping with our nap routine would be greatly appreciated.

Here is our sched. at the moment

6:00 - wake and bf
7:00 - solids
8:00 - nap  1.25 hours
10:00 -bf
solids - depending on timing of second nap
12:00 - nap - after 2.5hrs A time. (45 min).
2:00 - bf
5:00 - solids
5:15 - bath, massage etc.
5:30 - bf
6:00 - asleep

I would love to push bedtime back one hour but he just can't make it. 
Thanks for your help

[misher]

Is this post better suited to go under EASY?
Should I repost it in another spot?

Thanks!

[KathrynK]

hi there
when you say he can only manage 2hrs A time are you going by his cues? At his age short naps can mean undertiredness. If you want to try to extend his A times you can do it really gradually, say 5-10 mins every few days until he gets used to it. Keep stimulation really low key, maybe at the time you would normally start your winddown, perhaps sit with him and read a book for 5-10 mins then carry on with winddown as normal.
Also have you tried to extend his naps? THere are many techniques you can try to help him sleep longer.
I think he is fighting that 2pm nap because he is not tired enough. If he can go from 9.15am till 12noon on 1.25hrs sleep, then if he has a 45min nap at 12- 12.45, he can probably last until 2.45-3pm before needing another nap. I know with dd if I ever tried to put her down before she was sleepy she would go nuts and fight it no end and end up not falling asleep at all, even when it got to her normal nap time, as she had gotten so wound up. Maybe this is what's happening? Try putting him down a little later and see if it helps.

[misher]

Hi,
Thanks for your response.

I have tried to extend his morning A time past two hours but he just loses it going down and his naps get really short (30 min.)  I am going by the clock but also by his cues. I have stretched this morning A time from 1 hour and 45 to 2 hours and it took us over one month.

I have tried several different things to extend his naps (holding through the jolts, W2S - to name a couple).  His morning nap started to extend recently. This morning, he woke after 40 min. and then put himself back to sleep for another hour. 

If he has a decent morning nap then he can go for 2 hours and 20 min. A time for the next stretch.  I am trying to stretch this A time.  I tried for 2 hours and 30 min. and he has difficulty settling on his own and his naps get really short.  Usually his second nap is around 40-45 min. 

I will try and stretch his 3rd A time of the day to 2 hours and 30 min. and see what happens tomorrow. 


I would love a way to drop that last nap and extend his first two.  Not sure how to do this though.

Thanks for your help. I will keep you posted.