DS will be 5 mo tomorrow and this week his routine has gone crazy. He suddenly won't nap more than 35-45 mins (whereas I used to have to wake him up at the 2hr mark nearly every time), and he is waking around 5 or 5:30 am instead of the 6:30/7am wake up he used to do. I posted on the Night Wakings board about the sudden early waking and I was directed the the 3-2 transition sticky. When I read it, nearly all of the bullet points that describe the signs that he may be ready describe exactly how he has been this past week.
He has been on a 4hr EASY for the past month and we generally have been shooting for these times:
W/U and E - 7:00
S - 9:00
E - 11:00
S - 1:00
E - 3:00
S - 5:00 (45 min CN)
E - 7:00
S - 8:00
E - 10:30 DF
E - Usually wakes around 2 or 3 for a night feed
We transitioned him from a 3 hr EASY within just a few days and he settled right into this new routine with no problem. He had been doing great with his naps, almost always having 1.5 to 2 hr naps for his morning and early afternoon naps. He has always fought the CN a little, but we would generally be able to get him to go down by 5:15 or 5:30, at least for 30 mins.
Things started to go haywire on Monday night/Tuesday morning when he woke early around 5:30am. He was happy and chatting in his crib. We eventually went in when he got more restless and got him to sleep 30 more mins until about 6:30. That day (Tuesday), he still napped ok taking two 1.5 hour naps and a 40 min CN. He went to bed around 8pm, but woke during the dream feed and it took 30 mins to get him back to sleep (this never happens!). He woke again for his night feed at 2:30am, and again woke himself completely and it took another hour to get him back to sleep. He woke again happy and ready to play around 5:30. I think we may have gotten him to sleep another 20 or 30 mins max. That day, (Wednesday), his naps started to go off. He wouldn't sleep more than 45 mins for any nap. A couple of naps we were successful in getting him back to sleep for an additional 45 mins, but most times we were not able to do that. The next few days were essentially the same thing: short naps and early waking. Last night he refused the CN so we had to put him down early around 6:45 and he woke this morning at 4:30. I was able to get him back to sleep at 5:30 and he slept until 7:15. He showed signs of being tired at 9:00, so put him down at 9:15 and he woke at 9:55. Was able to get him back to sleep after about 5 mins, and he slept 5 mins. Took 5 more mins to get him to sleep again, then slept 5 more mins. This pattern continued for the next 45 mins or so before I gave up and got him up.
So I'm wondering based on what I have described above if it sounds like he is ready for the 3-2 transition? The signs fit, but I'm also wondering if his routine could just be off because of the holidays and having extra people around. My MIL was staying with us for a few days this past week which I'm sure didn't help and there has just been more family in general around him. We have tried to keep him from getting over stimulated and tried to keep him on his same routine, but it just seems to have spiraled out of control.
Anyone have any thoughts on this? I don't want to rush into the 3-2 transition if he isn't ready since he is on the very early side of it at just 5 months. I also wanted to try to get him to drop the night feed as I think he is probably ready for that. I'm also not sure he could handle 4.5 hours between feeds as he is EBF and just started cereal, though he hasn't really gotten the hang of it yet and doesn't eat that much.
I appreciate any input anyone may have and thanks for your hard work answering these questions. Happy holidays!
