Should I cap the catnap?

[ellen109]

We run into BT issues with 7:30BT if my LO sleeps past 5pm.  (he is 6 months and a chronic short napper) But he is really sensitive to OT and tends to hit a neverending OT cycle very easily, so I don't really want to do the 4 hours to BT.  Plus he is a chronic 5am early waker and I'm trying so hard to keep rested right now to see if that helps the EW.

Anyway.... if I get him to fall asleep around 4:50pm or something, should I cap the nap at 20 min or so?  How long is this nap supposed to be?  I worry about waking him up mid sleep cycle, but I don't want to push BT cause I think that is causing some of the EW issue.

Thanks!

[creations]

Hi there
At 6 months you could be looking to drop the CN, some keep it a while longer though and if you are getting short naps all day you may not be able to drop it just yet.  However, the short naps and EW 'might' be helped by dropping the CN or another routine tweak.
If you'd like to post your EASY we could have a look at the bigger picture with regards to naps?

I only ever capped a nap if I really had to and at the end of a sleep cycle (for us 40 min) but lots of people do cap naps if it helps their overall routine.  The CN would be 30 - 45 min usually.

[ellen109]

We are in transition right now so our EASY is a little all over.  It depends on how long his naps are.  last week they were all 30 min and we tried like crazy to get him caught up on sleep using APOP, now we are getting some longer ones but they are still very unpredictable.  He just gets OT so easily, probably from waking up at 5am, it is hard to keep him caught up.  Plus he doesn't do early bedtimes well at all and usually ends up fussing and falling asleep at his normal time. 

The last two days he got up at 6am and we've had great naps so hopefully this will stick around a while.  But now with the better naps we'll probably start flirting with cutting the catnap.  Ugh... always something!  Once it is cut do most people have the long A time before bed?  He does best right now when the CN ends at 5, I can't imagine any 2nd nap that would go that late in the day.

[creations]

The last two days he got up at 6am and we've had great naps so hopefully this will stick around a while.

Hey, great news!

Once it is cut do most people have the long A time before bed?

I think it really depends on what works for your LO.
Some seem to prefer shorter first A, longer last A, or longer middle A!
Mine liked a super long first A and super short last A.  We actually cut the middle of the three naps when we went down to two just due to family circumstances etc so continued to have a short A to bed.
There may be a bit of a bumpy ride whilst you get into the new routine and work out how he likes his awake time spread out.
Good luck x