Things are going well as far as slowly getting more crib naps but I remain very confused about her A-time needs.
I think you might have the idea that she needs shorter A times in your head and be perceiving her as sleepy before she's really ready
To be honest, I keep trying to push her A times as in my head they should be longer but there are many times I simply cannot deny that she is tired. I put it off but she gets grumpier and grumpier and when I finally put her in her crib she falls asleep instantly. However, I have realized recently that sometimes I do think she's bored and that's why she gets grumpy so I've been doing better at changing up the activity first before first assuming she's tired. I think I do sometimes put her down UT and I think those are the times she fights the nap and often ends up in the wrap. But I am really not sure what her A time needs are. Our pattern lately has been either short/long first nap, long second nap, short third nap, short fourth nap. Her nights are getting worse with more and more NWs and EMWs and I think it's because she's OT from very little sleep in the 2nd half of the day.
Sorry if this is too much info but I'm going to put down the past several days as I think it will help you see my confusion. The thing that confuses me most is that on the day she had a 1hr25min A time (SUPER low) in the morning, she gave the longest first nap she's ever done.
But I put her down that early because it was very clear she was tired. And then there was the day where she fell asleep in the car after 1hr30 A time which really threw our day off as I wasn't expecting her to fall asleep that quickly and was hoping she'd fall asleep after we got to our destination at 1hr45. And then she gave a short 20min nap in the afternoon after a 1hr30A time but then fell back asleep when I rocked her. I agree that it would be beneficial to move from 4-3 naps but I don't know how we could do that at this point without a super EBT. I do aim for a 12-12.5 hr day and typically that's how things go so I don't think we're keeping her up too late. I have done one EBT before at 7 (Average BT is 8:00) and she pulled off a 13.5 hr night so I do think EBT is an option for her and doesn't result in EWU. Any insights based on what you see? (once again, sorry if it's too much info
but there's just so much variation in the days due to A times all over)
May 2, Day – 3hr55m, Night 11hr5 – Total = 15hrWU/E 7:50
A 1hr40
S 9:30-11 (fell asleep instantly in wrap) - 1hr30
E 11:00
A 1hr50
S 12:50-1:35 (fell asleep in crib immediately, resettle after WU didn't work) – 45min
E 1:45
A 1hr40 (tried to put in the crib at 1hr10 as she seemed to be asking but she cried and resisted so put in wrap)
S 3:15-3:55(40 min in wrap)
E 4:30
A 1hr25
S 5:20-5:50, 6:05-6:35 (wrap) = 30+30 = 1hr
BT In crib 7:45 asleep by 8. A couple of brief NWs. NF 3:30-3:50, WU 7:40 – 11hr5
May 3, 2015 – Day: 3hr45, Night – 11.5 hrs, Total = 15hrs15WU 7:40
E 8:00
A 1hr40
S 9:30 (fell asleep within minutes in the wrap) – 10:20, 10:30-10:40 woke up when we went outside = 30+10 = 40min
E 11:00
A 1hr35
S 12:15-2:15 (tried in crib but didn’t settle, so in wrap, briefly woke a few times, I woke her up at 2:15 – 2hrs
E 2:20
A 1hr35 (put in crib and fell asleep right away)
S 3:50-4:20 (30 min in crib)
E 4:50
A 2hr5 (fussing at 1hr10 so PD but cried, when I picked up she had a burp so I don’t think she was actually tired but she stayed in her crib and tried to put herself to sleep. Totally calm trying to put self to sleep until seemed to fall asleep at 1hr40 but then seemed to wake and couldn’t resettle so put in wrap and asleep in 5 min)
S 6:20-6:55 (woke her) - 35min
E 7:10
A 1hr15
BT – in crib 8:00, asleep 8:10. Night – NF 3:50-4:10, super brief EMWs self-soothed. WU 8:00 – Night; 11.5 hrs
May 4 – Day: 4hrs, Night: 10.5 hrs Total – 14hr30WU 8:00
E 8:15
A 1hr40
S 9:40-9:55(DS woke her but she went back to sleep) 9:55-10:20 (tried to fall back asleep but eventually couldn’t and escalated) = 15+25 = 40min
E 11:00
A 1hr40 (Acting super fussy from 1hrA onward so I put down in crib at 1hr10 but she cried. I now think she wasn’t actually tired but just had gas as she burped a few times in the wrap and then was calm and after 10 min fell asleep easily.)
S 12-2:15 (in wrap) – 2hr15
E 2:20
A 1hr45 (in crib at 1hr40 asleep quite easily)
S 4-4:35 (in crib) – 35min
E 4:50
A 1hr55 (in wrap at 1hr25 as seeming to fuss but fussed in wrap, then calm eventually asleep)
S 6:30-7 (in wrap) – 30min
E 7:15/8
A 1hr25
BT In crib 8:15, some fussing, asleep 8:25. NF 4-4:20. Night – 10.5 hrs
May 5, 2015, Day: 4hrs, Night – 10hr50, Total: 14hr50WU 7:30
E 7:45
A 1hr35
S 9:05-10:10 (asleep in crib) – 1hr5
E 10:45
A 1hr50
S 12:00-1:30 (1hr30 in crib, woke crying pretty hard)
E 1:45
A 1hr30 (was planning for her to sleep when we got to destination but she fell asleep in the car)
S 3:00-3:15 (15 min in car but when we got to destination)
E 4:00
A 1hr
S 4:15-4:45 (30 min in wrap)
E 6:00
A 1hr50
S 6:35 -7:15 (40 min in wrap)
A 1hr30
BT In crib 8:40 asleep 8:45 with a few ENWs. Soother replug a few times between 1:30 and 2:30. NF 4:15-4:40. WU 8:05 – 10hr50ish
May 6 2015 – Day: 4hrs Night: 11.5 hrs (capped) Total = 15.5hrsWU 8:05
E 8:15
A 1hr25 (fussing at 1hr15)
S 9:30-11:20 (replugged soother at 45 min when she woke and she immediately went back to sleep) – 1hr50
E 11:30
A 1hr40 (Fussing at 1hr25 but not able to get home and put down until 1hr40 fell asleep within minutes)
S 1:00 -1:50 (fell asleep right away in crib, tried to put self back to sleep but couldn’t ) – 50min
E 2:25
A 1hr30 Acting fussy and really wanting to go down by 1hr10, finally paid attention but she did struggle and cry pretty hard. I should’ve listened right away but it just seemed so early.
S 3:20-3:40(in crib, woke after 20 min tried so hard to put herself back to sleep but she couldn’t so rocked her and she fell back asleep (4-4:30) = 20+50=50min
E 5:00
A 1hr45
S 6:15-6:45 (in wrap) – 30 min
E 7:00/7:45 top up
A 1hr25
BT In crib 8:00 asleep 8:10. A few soother replugs in the night, NF 5:20-5:40, WU 8:15 (woke her) = 11.5hrs
May 7, 2015: Day – 3hr55. Night 10hr.5 = 14.5hrWU 8:15 (woke her from a deep sleep)
E 8:20
A 2hr
S 10:15-11 (wasn’t falling asleep in the nursery so put her in the wrap and she fell asleep in 5 min) – 45min
E 11:15
A 1hr15 (Definitely acting fussy and tired at 1hr10, put in crib and fell asleep right away)
S 12:15-1:20 (woke and cried but I put the soother back in and she fell right back asleep!) 1:20-2:20 = 1hr5+1hr = 2hr5 ☺
E 2:30
A 2hr (fell asleep very easily in the crib, wasn’t really acting tired but I put her down)
S 4:20- (fell asleep within minutes very easily) – 4:50 – 30 min
E 5:00
A 1hr45 (acting tired at 1hr20, tried in crib but she couldn’t do it so eventually put in wrap)
S 6:35-7 (woke her from deep sleep) – 25min
E 7:30
A 1hr15
BT In crib 8:10, asleep in minutes. Several NWs. NF 4-4:20. Very touchy, fragile on and off sleep from 6:30-7:40. I think this is because she’s OT from very little sleep in later part of day. – 10.5hrs?