please respond asap re: transitioning

[noomummy]

Thank Bryony 

Let's hope my little one will do the same  I'm struggling a bit at the moment as she's not been napping well at all, sometimes I just feel like giving up on the whole routine  but I have to tell myself it will be much worse if I do. Quick question, to yourself or Monika or anyone who can help  - if for example she naps well, say 2hrs each one - then should I bother with the catnap?, it just seems so unsettling or maybe give her her bath first then feed as she's certainly not ready after her catnap. Thanks in advance. Rachel x 

[*Mona*]

hi Rachel

well, catnap is not 'obligatory' IYKWIM it all depends on how well she naps the very day.
now, bath-bottle-bed has always been our routine, so...

[noomummy]

Monika

Hello again, I'm going to give that a go tonight then, bath, boob, bed! I'm hoping it will work much better.  Again, I really really appreciate your help and advice - it helping me to not go into complete meltdown when we have our off days. You're a star! 

[Bryony]

I think you only need the catnap if it's too long to go to bedtime without it, IYKWIM....

Eg If Katie wakes up at 2:30pm from her lunchtime nap we definitely need a catnap around 5pm...

If she didn't wake up till 4pm then I would go without the catnap...

If it's somwhere in between then we are in a pickle 

Bryony

[noomummy]

Hi Bryony 

thanks for that - today has been rubbish in terms of naps - started off really well but then it all went wrong after we were out and she only had a second nap of about 45 if that so the rest of the day has suffered.  Deep breath.  :(I fed her after her bath this evening and she had a really good feed in comparison to doing it before bath so 'that's a keeper'! I'll give it a go then dropping the catnap if the day goes well - question though, won't that cause a problem because it's cut her 'a' time out so she might wake from that? Rachel

[Bryony]

Rachel - how do you mean it will cut her A time?

Glad the feed went well after the bath!  My LO always seems to think she is starving to death at 6pm (even if I last fed her at 3:30!) so I have to feed her before her bath then top her up afterwards 

Bryony

[noomummy]

They are such little drama queens aren't they?!  What I mean by cutting out her 'a' time is that if I drop the catnap it drops that whole cycle doesn't it and as her 'a' time is quite short anyway won't she wake up because she's understimulated? .....................oh I don't know what I mean now, I've confused myself!!!! I think I'm going mad! At this time of night my brain has definitely switched off sorry!  :)rachel

[Bryony]

I'm still not quite sure that I follow      If you drop the catnap you will probably end up with a longer A time and a cycle that goes like SEAE then bed.....  however your LO may not be old enough to do a longer A time just yet.

Don't worry about following EASY exactly - as your LO gets older you will find you have A in between S and E - as long as you don't feed to sleep and have things happen in an order that works for both of you I don't think it matters too much!

B

[noomummy]

Hi Bryony

I think I know what you mean - it will actually extend her 'a' time from her last nap she gets up at 1630 so she would stay up from then - the penny has dropped !!! I might give that a go next week see if it works. Thanks for your help  ;)Rachel