Getting strange naptimes after increasing A time...OT or UT?

[hillybean]

Thanks for reading...

I'm trying to increase my lo's A time because she's getting closer to dropping her catnap.  She's 6 months old.  For the past couple of days, her naps have not been good and I'm starting to see more 1hr 15-20 min naps.

I'm really not sure if she's UT, or OT.  For today's first nap, she woke after 1hr and 15 min.  I went up because she was kind of fussy to see if I could get her back to sleep.  When she saw me, she started to coo and yawn and rub her eyes.  So I walked away where she couldn't see me, and she talked to herself for a while and then her cries escalated a bit.  I go back and try and shush her, etc...sometimes I can get her back to sleep, sometimes I can't.  Today, I was able to get her back to sleep.

I'm just so confused if she needs more A time, or what.  She's an angel baby, so even after a short nap, she's still sorta happy.  Her easy has been all over the place because I'm not sure what A time to give her, but today he first A time was 2hrs and 40 min. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!  Thank you:)

[Emami]

Hi hun, I would guess UT from her A time and length if nap.  I generally found that when my DD had been doing nice long naps and they started getting shorter it was because she needed more A.  Having said that, if you are in the 3-2 transition her naps might be wonky for a while anyway while she adjusts.  Here is a guide to A times by age, and some info on the 3-2:
Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!!
All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months
And also some other mamas dropping the CN:
Anyone want to talk about the 3-2 Nap transition? Part 2
Hope that helps!

[hillybean]

Thank you . I have all of those pages bookmarked already!

Today was a little better.  I stretched her first A time out to 2 hrs and 50 min.  She woke after 35 min, but put herself back to sleep.  After a nap of 2 hrs and 10 min, I had to go wake her! 

She was pretty cranky after that, so for her second A time, I gave her 2 hrs and 25 min.  She woke after 35 min again and I had to shush her back to sleep a couple of times.  Her total nap time was about 1 hr and 25 min of broken sleep.  She was cranky again after that too.  We ended up skipping the catnap and doing early bedtime.  She was definitely ready for sleep and went down right away!

So I guess my questions are, should I be waking her after a certain point if her nap is long?  She sure didn't like it when I did It today!  Also, is it okay to give her much less A time for he second nap?  She still seemed so tired from the first A time stretch. 

Thanks again! 

[Emami]

Personally I wouldn't wake from a nap at this age unless it's getting crazy long, like 3hrs+. That's just me though, I know some do, but especially during nap transitions when the A time is being stretched anyway I would let her sleep and get used to the new 2 nap routine.  I also think it is fine that her A times aren't all the same - whatever works!  It seems like you are reading her well! 

[hillybean]

Ugh, still battling the 1 hr and 10 min nap.  Stretched her A time out to almost 3 hrs, and she woke after 70 mins.  Hubby is up in her room right now trying to get get back to sleep...

So what do these short naps mean?  We are really trying hard to watch her sleep cues in the morning, but it seems like no matter what time we lay her down, she wakes shortly after an hour.

Is she just getting used to dropping the catnap?  This is so frustrating .

[Emami]

Yes it could just be that she's getting used to dropping the CN.  My DD started the 3-2 transition at 5.5mo and wasn't settled on 2 good naps until 7.5 months.  And the 2-1 took even longer!  Nap transitions are generally weird and wonky.  When she wakes after an hour does she usually resettle or is she up?  Crying or happy?

[hillybean]

Her attitude varies when she wakes up, but yesterday she was fussy.  It was very hard to get her to resettle, so we just got her up and did a catnap later on.

I think the thing that's the hardest is that so many other things are going on, like teething, and nap transition, that I'm unsure if the A time I'm giving her is enough, or if she's waking for other reasons, ya know? 

[Emami]

It's true, there is always something going on with these little people! I try to remember that everything is a phase - the frustrating naps (and nights!) don't last forever, and appreciate the good sleep when it happens!  Personally I would stick with the longer A times because by this age I always found DD easier to resettle if she was a bit OT than if she was UT.  It's not like with a tiny baby where OT meant hours of screaming yk?  I would stick with what you're doing for a week or so to give her time to adjust to the longer A times and see how she does.  You can always reassess and pull it back or push it more if naps don't improve