Early morning nap-suggestions?

[henrysmomma]

First off, thank you for all of the support you've given; it has been an absolute blessing and I do appreciate your time as I know we all lead busy lives!

I have noticed that my son has been waking up at about 4:30 or so and I give him his paci, settle him and he goes back down.  He is very restless from that time on.  I wondered if he was hungry, seeing as his last night feeding was at about 1 or two, so I tried feeding him at 4:30 this morning to see if he would go back down and sleep until seven.  He did with a few wakings but immediately went back down, unlike any other morning!  But, after feeding and changing-I brought him downstairs to play while I showered and he screamed his 'I am stinkin' tired' cry not even a half hour after we got up!  His bedtime was later than usual last night but he also took a later catnap...

Here was yesterday's EASY

Wake: 5:30
E-5:40
A-til 6:45
S-6:45-9:30
E-9:30
A-9:30-1:30 (zoo outing)
E-1:30
A-1:30-1:45 unwinding/cuddling
S-1:45-4:15
E-4:15
A-4:25-5:00 (vacuuming)
S-5:00-5:45
A-5:45-8:30
E-8:30
A-8:30-8:45 (unwind-snuggle-bedtime routine)
S-8:45-1:00AM (one waking for paci at 11:30)
E-1:00-1:15
S-1:15-5:00 (one waking for paci at 4:30)
E-5:00-5:15
S-5:15-6:50 (one waking for paci and became unswaddled at 6:00-ish)
E-7AM
A-7-8:15
S-8:15-8:45...he is currently wide awake hanging out in his crib, totally calm.  Watching him in the video monitor as I type


I am a stay at home photographer that get to be at home with my little guy. My studio is in my home and my schedule is relatively simple yet I have fluctuations as I do take shoots at different times of the morning.  Mainly, most of my shoots are at night which throws a huge wrench into our EASY. Our tub is downstairs in my studio so our night time routine gets thrown off...not sure how to make adjustments yet still run my business.  As of right now, there is no way that we can financially swing a studio outside of our home.

Is he tired right away in the morning because we aren't getting in our 12 hour night routine?  In previous mornings, he would not stay down after that 4:30 am waking...he might doze but would wake about every ten minutes...so, I thought we had a success with the morning feeding.  He went right back down and didn't wake as often.  We have worked so hard on getting him settled with EASY and he is taking it so well....just not sure how to handle these mornings and then the evenings with my work schedule.  Most evenings, I only have a one hour shoot and other nights (like last night-I had a two hour shoot)...Thank you!

[Papaya]

How old is your LO hun?

[Papaya]

Ok, have just seen on your other thread that he's four months

He would be more tired in the morning if he had a short night - I always pay more attention to the length of the night rather than WU time. But I'm actually wondering if he needs a bit of an A increase - those early wakings could be UT, but leading to OT by the end of the day because the day is long.

I take it yesterday wasn't a typical day, with your outing - so what A time are you usually aiming for? Does he usually do such a long am nap as yesterday?

[henrysmomma]

Thank you for your input!  To be honest, he has been on a pretty set 3 hour EASY; always showing signs of exhaustion an hour and a half after waking from his last nap.  He usually goes down quickly with very little fussing.  His naps are generally 1.5 hours and he requires help transitioning from his first sleep cycle into his next. 

I will track his nights more carefully...my main problem is that he, for whatever reason, doesn't do well with his dad.  Screams the second I hand him over. My husband is wonderful with him, careful to not overstimulate and very good to work with him.  Because I work pretty much every night-my hubby has him for at least two hours each night.  Before this, Henry would finally get to sleep at 10:30-1am each night...and it was always screaming until asleep.  EASY has made a huge difference but obviously we need to work out the kinks.

So, in regards to paying more attention to the length of night-how would I get him to sleep more soundly in the morning hours from 4:30 on?  I tried the feed this morning which did help but he was still up a few times.  When I came in to get him at seven, there was no doubt that he was wide awake, otherwise I would have tried to get him back to sleep. 

I am at a loss as to what to do for those nights when I have to work..and yes, yesterday was a test of sorts to see how he did with a long (and way too long I might add) activity time. Generally, we have a hour and a half activity time including feeding and diapering.  Generally, his naps are a little longer in the morning but not every day.  We have only been on EASY for a little over a week now.  He is doing so well! 

Ok, have just seen on your other thread that he's four months

He would be more tired in the morning if he had a short night - I always pay more attention to the length of the night rather than WU time. But I'm actually wondering if he needs a bit of an A increase - those early wakings could be UT, but leading to OT by the end of the day because the day is long.

I take it yesterday wasn't a typical day, with your outing - so what A time are you usually aiming for? Does he usually do such a long am nap as yesterday?

But I'm actually wondering if he needs a bit of an A increase - those early wakings could be UT, but leading to OT by the end of the day because the day is long.

Very interesting; Should I start with ten-fifteen minute increments on the activity time?  And then that brings the question of how to start that if he is still showing signs of exhaustion early, like he did this morning.  Sorry for the 50 questions! 

Bless you!