Confused about cat naps!

[kirspence]

Hi,

I am about to transition my DD from a 3hr to 4 hr routine and have been reviewing the suggested routines in Tracy's book, 'The Baby Whisper Solves All Your Problems', pg 34 & 230. I have since discovered that I have not been implementing a cat nap and instead have been treating the 4-7pm slot like any other 3 hour session, i.e. E-4pm, A-4.30pm, S-5.30pm (1.5hr) and then E-7pm. That was the plan anyway, although my DD is not the most consistent!

Another issue I have had which I think is linked, is that I have never been able to understand how it was possible to fit in a feed, change, bath and bedtime routine into half an hour, i.e. from 7-7.30pm, and so invariably DD only goes down to sleep at 7.45 or 8pm.

Anyway I would appreciate any suggestions on how you would structure the the 3-7.30pm slot in the 4hr routine, specifically how you incorporate the cat nap?! i.e do you have an activity on either side of the cat nap or do you feed straight after the cat nap? is the awake time not too much for them, if they only have a 45 min nap in a 4-4.5hr period? Is the cat nap like other naps, or more informal, i.e. do you have wind down routine and put DD in her cot or just let her nap on her play mat? Do you start feeding before 7 in order to fit in the feed, change, bath and settle them by 7.30?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks!

Kirsten

[elmarie]

Hi Kirsten,

the purpose of the catnap is to get LO through bath and bed time rather than restorative like a proper nap.  Typically it will be 30-40 min just so you can get through your night routine without a meltdown.  Doing the feed after the catnap will probably be better as you can create a prop feeding before cat nap and LO associating sleeping with eating.

So typically after your catnap you will start with the bath/bed time routine and winding down

HTH, plse ask if you ahve anymore questions 

[creations]

Do you start feeding before 7 in order to fit in the feed, change, bath and settle them by 7.30?

In our house we have 'bed time hour' which is more like an hour an a half!  To fit everything in and have DS in bed and asleep by his BT we feed earlier than 4hrs (it's more like 3hrs) for that final feed of the day.

[kirspence]

Thanks for the feed back! So just to check I understand, a possible routine in the 3-7.30pm slot might look like this:

E: 3:00 (30 mins)
A: 3:30 (1 hr 30 mins)
S: 5:00 (45 mins)
E: 5:45 (30 mins)
A: 6:15 bath and bed time routine etc (45 mins to 1 hr)
S: Bed time by 7:00 or 7:15

The above seems to make sense to me, although I am confused why Tracy refers to the 3 hr routine feeds being at 7,10,1,4 & 7 and the 4hr routine feeds being at 7, 11, 3 & 7 when it doesn't appear to be possible to actually feed at 7 and get the LO to bed by 7.30?!

[creations]

I gave the CN at 4pm and in bed at 6.45 to 7pm (we have an early start and end to the day here).  5pm is fine for the CN.
The thing about the EASY routines is any Tracy gives in the books are just samples and suggestions to give guidance rather than strict time schedules.  LOs are also expected to become more efficient eaters so take less time to feed (maybe 10 mins rather than 30) which makes a big difference to how much time things take.
I also think many give the last feed just prior to bed rather than before the bath.  It's good practice to give it before the bath, then wind down and bed to separate the E from S, it also makes teeth brushing after the last feed easier when LO has teeth as they don't expect another feed to come.