What to do after short nap??

[Buntybear]

Please could you just clarify (or point me to correct post) or what to do after a short nap? ie, how long do you try to re-settle etc..

DS is 9 wo and I seem to be getting into a 2.5 hr feed routine where as before it was 3 hr.. is this OK? I don't really want to keep him up to make the 3 hr mark and risk OT.

Thanks

[nursemeg01]

I fed a little early to prevent the OT monster. Just be careful not to feed immediately after waking up but try to extend for a little bit. Otherwise they tend to associate eating with the first thing they do when they wake up. That's great if they sleep to schedule but if they don't and you feed them, you can turn them into little snackers. Also you don't want to feed right before going to sleep so I would aim for feeding about 20-30 minutes before the next nap should occur.

When we were transitioning to a 4 hour EASY we had many days where we were 3.5 instead to preserve the nap. Just stick with it and the naps will eventually even out. The OT monster is way worse...so I would prevent it at all costs. good luck...

[~Sara~]

Depending on the cause of the short nap (if you can identify it), my personal rule of thumb is:
UT=no point in resettling bc LO slept long enough to feel refreshed after doing a short A time
OT=would try to extend for ~20-30 minutes

In either case, if LO wouldn't go back to sleep, I just got him up, fed him close to the E time, shortened the A time (which started from the moment LO woke up early from nap), and then put down.  They normally don't make up the time they didn't sleep during the previous nap...which is something I kept expecting to happen when DS was younger so that our routine would stay on track.  Once I learned that, then I realized that I just had to readjust the following A time (after the short nap) to help LO have a long, restorative nap so that he wouldn't get OT.

DS is 9 wo and I seem to be getting into a 2.5 hr feed routine where as before it was 3 hr.. is this OK? I don't really want to keep him up to make the 3 hr mark and risk OT.

No, don't keep him up the extra 30 minutes.  You'll need to follow his cues and get him to bed within his sleep window so that he doesn't end up OT.  Overall, EASY is a routine--a pattern--so don't worry about the exact times.

If you'd like help with the short naps, you can post what your LO's day looked like and we can take a look

HTH a bit!