naps in a 5 month old - some questions

[mgscnm]

My LO just turned 5 months. We recently started to get her to take most of her naps in her crib and put her down awake/drowsy to learn to self-soothe.

I am having a few issues that I wondered if others could comment:
a. her awake times seem to be max of 90 minutes - any longer and she gets very cranky. Is this typical of a 5 month old?
b. she tends to take a longer 2nd nap of 1.5 hours or so but her first and third naps are usually short - only 40mins max (or one sleep cycle). any tips on how to get her take a longer naps?
c. she was taking 4 naps per day which helped us to get to a bedtime of around 6:30-7:30 but has lately refused her 4th nap. this makes is very difficult to get even to a 6pm bedtime without her getting cranky.

any thoughts would be appreciated!

[newkidontheblock]

her awake times seem to be max of 90 minutes - any longer and she gets very cranky. Is this typical of a 5 month old?

The amount of A time varies from one baby to the other. However, at 5 months, A times would be more like 2 hours, maybe a touch more. If you find her getting tired very quickly, a few things you should evaluate are -- how are her nights? And how are her naps? If she is up a lot at night, then she might be tired for her first nap pretty quickly. If her naps are short, her A time before the next nap would be shorter, you see? I found it best to stretch A times with the first nap of the day. Gradually add 5-10 minutes every few days and hold at that point.

she tends to take a longer 2nd nap of 1.5 hours or so but her first and third naps are usually short - only 40mins max (or one sleep cycle). any tips on how to get her take a longer naps?

Actually this answers a few of the questions I posed. If her first nap is so short, it probably means that she needs more A time in order to do a longer nap. Then you are getting a good pm nap as she is tired because of A time +short morning nap. Then again short nap because of too short A time. At 5 months, you could aim for an A of 2 hours (ish) with 2 naps of 1.5-2 hours + a 30-45 minute CN to tide her over till bed.

she was taking 4 naps per day which helped us to get to a bedtime of around 6:30-7:30 but has lately refused her 4th nap. this makes is very difficult to get even to a 6pm bedtime without her getting cranky.

Everything written above should help with this. 

Starting EASY - all you need to know and more!
chronological EASY samples, 4-6 months

Hope that helps

[mgscnm]

Thanks so much for your response/advice. Her nights are generally good - goes down to bed between 6:30-7:30, up once between 4-5 and then back to bed post-feed. Then up for the day between 6:45-7:30. I tried to stretch her awake time in the am but this just made her nap shorter (only 30mins instead of 45mins) as she seemed more overtired by the time I put her down. Any suggestions?

[newkidontheblock]

Well honey, if your routine was working for you and you were getting good nights, then maybe leave it be?