3-4 hr transition at 15 weeks?

[hkgirlo]

My daughter is almost 15 weeks and is starting to show many signs (I think) that she is ready for the transition.

She started staying up for 2 hours after her catnap and no matter what I do this has been consistent for the last week or so.
She is EBF, so its hard to know how much she takes at a feed, but she often feeds shorter than usual and doesn't seem really hungry.
She sometimes goes down for her first morning nap and sleeps past the 3 hr feeding mark. Today she her first A time was 1.45 and she is stirring right now- probably going to wake up and it has been 3.15 since last feeding.
She catnaps for her two later naps. I have tried adjusting everything and it doesn't matter- she always has a 45 min nap and is very difficult to settle back down and still seems quite tired. I know this is developmental- so I don't know how one knows if it means they are ready for longer A times or not.

Is 15 weeks too early to start the transition?

[Ima shel Alon]

15 weeks is a good time to start the transition because you won't jump to 4h EASY straight away anyhow. Have a look here: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=63161.0 and http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=120362.0

And about the feeding, maybe this helps: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=65904.0

Would you like to post your EASY so we can have a look at the naps? Usually 45min naps are UT and she might be ready for more A time.

[hkgirlo]

Our EASY varies from day to day but often looks like this:

E/WU-b/n 6-8 am- varies
A- 1.5 hrs
S- 1.5-2 hrs
E- 3 hrs later
S- 45 min- often spend 40 min trying to get her back down afterwards but the last few weeks she seems tired but cries and will only sleep on me and won't go back into a deep sleep- just keeps jolting
E-3 hrs later
A- 1.5 hrs
S- 45 min- same as above
E- 3 hrs later
A- 1.5 hrs
S- 40 min cat nap
E- b/n 5:30-6
A- bath, jammies- stays up usually 2 hours now
S- b/n 7-8

She seems tired after 1.5 hrs and whines and is cranky. This morning before her 1st  morning nap she stayed up 1.45. She has consistently been having a good first morning nap lately and transitioning well to the next sleep cycle. The other 2 naps she does not. The A time is usually the same, 1.5 hrs.

[Ima shel Alon]

Many babies prefer their first A shorter, my DS was like that. So I would try and stick to 1.5h in the morning if it gives you a good nap, but I would try 1:40 or 1:45 for the other naps. It looks like she is UT for those naps and that's why she is hard to settle back to sleep, she is just not tired enough. I know that you follow sleepy cues, but when upping the A you would ignore them for a few days. You increase it only by 10-15min so you prevent OT, but at the same time you need to stick to the new A for 3-4 days to see if there is a real change, that's how long it takes them to settle into a new A.

[hkgirlo]

Thanks. So yesterday she had 1.45 A before first nap, and one of the other naps but still had the same problems- so you are saying if I up the A for a few days for the later naps I might see some difference? I'll keep trying it!

[Ima shel Alon]

How long did she nap after 1:45h in the morning?
I would stick to 1.5h for the morning and 1:45h for the rest of the day and after a few days we can see again if to up it again.

[hkgirlo]

She napped 1.5 hrs after the 1.45 A, but she usually does this for the first nap. The other naps we have not seen any difference. My question is, if she is having a 45 min nap I would think she would be tired enough by the next nap? Yesterday she did 45 min naps for the after noon naps and 1.40 A times. She should be good and tired I would think! She doesn't usually show any tired cues sooner than her normal A time (1.5) when she has had only a 45 min nap, so I just let her stay up that long when she has a short nap. She had a 45 min nap this morning and is now struggling to resettle after waking at the 45 min mark for the 2nd nap- she struggled for about an hour, slept on me with multiple jolts and then eventually went down for a good sleep for 1/2 hr. She seemed tired the whole time and kept her eyes closed for the most part!

[Ima shel Alon]

It could of course still be developmental but I would just try and stick with the 1:40 for a few days and if you still get 45min naps then I'd up it to 1:50 and see what is happening.

My DS always had it like this that after a short nap he needed a full A, some babies are like that