sign for more A time?

[grahan]

My baby is almost 7.5 months old.  Her 1st thing awake time is somewhere between 2.75 - 3 hours.  Sometimes she falls asleep instantly, sometimes she talks for 10 - 15 minutes.  For the 2nd nap, I lay her down after she's been awake for 2.75 hours, so that she'll be sleeping by the 3 hour mark.  She has always been the better napper (I've got twins) and that nap would usually be 1.5 hours.  Lately, she has been waking 45 minutes into her nap, talking, sometimes a little crying but always falls back to sleep on her own.   Then today right after I put her down, she talked for a bit, then started crying.  By the time she fell asleep, she'd been awake over 3 hours.  She then woke 45 minutes after falling asleep and cried a bit but fell back to sleep.  Is all of this a sign that she is ready for more awake time between nap 1 and 2?

[marensmama]

Still hanging out on the naps board, huh?  

My guess would be that she's in need of more A time, but I wouldn't push it more than 15 minutes, in case it's actually teething causing restless sleep or something like that.  3 hours is about right for this age, with some babes getting more...  At 8 months some babies are getting up to 4 hours (although we're barely at 4 hours at 13 months!)

Let me know how you make out.

[grahan]

Yep, still here.  I'm not sure what the issue is now.  This morning she woke at 6:45.  I put her down at 9:20 and she talked for 20 minutes, then whined for a bit, now at 10:00 she is crying.  She is not screaming, just a whine/cry so I am not going in there.  I just don't know what happened.

[marensmama]

It sounds like you're on the right track.  9:40 would be 3 hrs A time, but what happens if they're in bed too early is that they get bored and can fuss but that stimulates them so they 'forget' to go to sleep, IYKWIM.  That's why getting the timing right is crucial for those A times.  Hope that makes sense!

[grahan]

That made perfect sense.  Today, they woke at 6:45, same as every other day.  I waited until 9:30 to put Grace down and she talked a bit, even whined but was asleep at 9:50 and is still out at 10:30, so far so good.  Hannah is another story.  I've been consistently getting 1.25 hours from her for her morning nap.  She usually falls right to sleep, maybe 5 minutes to settle.  So, she usually sleeps from 9:25 until 10:40 ish.  Today she fell asleep at about 9:30 and woke at 10:05.  I was able to get her back to sleep but that only lasted an extra 10 minutes.  So, at 10:20 she was up.  I know that the first sleep of 35 minutes indicates OT but I don't see how that could be.  She is up now and playing just fine, not whiney or crabby at all.  I'm telling you, if it is not one, it's the other!!  Twins!!!

[marensmama]

Those girls like to keep you on your toes!   If Hannah woke up happy and has shown crabbiness when previously OT then I'd bet she's ready for a little more A time as well (gotta keep up with her sister!!).  Unless she's an angel babe, that is, or it could be a one off.  If she does it again tomorrow then you'll know!

[grahan]

HA!!  Hannah is far from an angel baby.  This girl gives new meaning to the word spirited!  Today she woke at 6:45 and I she was in her crib at 9:20.  She was crying so I went in and she had thrown up   She has reflux that sadly does not seem to be improving.  She does not show signs of discomfort usually but she throws up after almost every feeding.  I also can see her bottom teeth getting ready to pop up.  Plus, she is this close to crawling.  I went in and comforted her for a minute.  She went right out at 9:30.  She slept until 10:50.  I am very satisfied with that nap, especially considering everything that is going on with her.

[marensmama]

Aww, poor bug.  Did you know that teething usually makes reflux worse?  I'm glad she had a good nap despite everything, she's got a lot going on that is bound to interfere with her naps.

Let me know how you make out when things settle down a bit!

[grahan]

Boy oh boy, today has been a day!!  First Gracie decided to wake up at 5:40, despite having a really good nap day yesterday.  Of course I was not prepared and she woke Hannah who had a lousy nap day yesterday.  So, they were both up at about 5:45 and actually in pretty good moods.  Hannah napped from 8:40 until 9:55.  Grace slept from 9 until 10:30.  I put Hannah down at 12:40 and she fell asleep at 12:55 and was up at 1:30.  She woke up crying and I tried to get her back to sleep which just made her mad.  When I took her out of the crib, she was happy and is happily playing.  I put Gracie down at 1:25.  She talked for quite awhile and then began whining, then full on crying.  After about 5 minutes of the loud crying, I went in.  She was all smiles.  She did not nap at all!!  Now it is 2:35 and they are on the floor just playing and laughing at each other!  I'm guessing that the 2nd awake time needs to be longer for both of them (despite Hannah's 35 minute nap).  I looked through all of the sample EASYs and I did not see anyone on 3 naps a day having longer than 3 hours in between, maybe a few with 3.25.  I just don't know what is going on here.  I'm sure I've figured out that Grace needs more awake time than Hannah.  But, the rest is a mystery.  I have a feeling that I will not get naps right until they go down to one!

[grahan]

I'm SO sorry to be such a pest but I am totally confused.  I'll start with baby Grace.  She seems to need more awake time than Hannah.  She had been okay with 3 hours 5 minutes awake time first thing and a tad more for the afternoon.  Now, she talks and fussed for the morning nap and the afternoon nap.  For 2 days I have put her down 3 hours after waking from her morning nap (which is 1.25 - 1.5 hours long).  She talks, then whines, then cries, then screams.  At the point of the screaming it had then been 3.75 hours since she woke and I knew that nap was not going to happen.  I went in and got her and she was actually happy and playing??  I put her back down at about 3:45 because she need some sleep before bed.  She was mad.  She finally fell asleep (I actually let her cry a bit) and slept from 4:10 until 5:00 (I woke her).  She was crabby when she got up and was asleep at about 7.  She woke this morning at 5:55!  I put her down for her morning nap at 9:00.  She talked, whined, then cried, just like always.  She was alseep though at 9:30 and slept until 10:45.
My questions is, do I keep her up longer before the morning nap?   And that afternoon nap is just a mess!!  I don't know what she is trying to tell me.

Then there is Hannah.  Hannah always falls right to sleep for the morning nap.  Today, she also was up at 5:55.  Usually she only takes about 2 hours 50 minutes of awake time, maximum.  But, since she got up so early I wanted to push it out just a bit.   I put her in her crib at 8:50 and she was asleep at 8:55 and woke at 9:05.  She almost always sleeps for about 1.25 - 1.5 hours for her morning nap.   She is usually so happy but lately is just miserable.  She is whiny and clingy.  Could that be due to teething?  Now, the afternoon nap for her is horrible in a different way.  I have been putting her down (trying to stay consistent for at least 5 days to see what happens) 2 hours and 45 minutes after waking from the previous nap.  She's wakes up after only 35 minutes, yesterday was only 30 minutes.  BUT, there was one day that she slept for over an hour.  She is teething, could that be it?  Even thought the morning nap is okay?  So, she always gets a little catnap from 4:25 - 5 ish. 

I'm just SO confused about the whole awake time thing.  My sister said that set nap times worked for her.  At what age might I be able to try and experiment with that?