How do cat naps work

[MPhamtastic]

I just started doing the 3 hr EASY Method with my almost 3 month old (day 1 today).  I was able to follow the routine pretty well until the evening.  I did the feeding at 4 and got caught up as to whether I should do the cat nap or just a regular nap so I put her in her swing (like I used to do) and she took a 30 min nap.  Then I fed her at 6:30 and put her down for the night at 7:30 and gave her a dream feed at 10.

During the day it took me about 10 min of the first 3 of the s routine and 20-25 min of shush pat to get her asleep. I know a cat nap is supposed to be about 40 min.  Is it best to still do the 4 S routine for the cat nap even though I'll have to probably wake her after finally getting her to sleep after 10 or 20 min?

[Katet]

For most people I know a cat nap is often a "freebee" where in my case DS2 had his in a sling on me while I got things sorted for DS1. It's a short nap to kind of balance out a day.

The thing with EASY is it isn't meant to be an exact clock watching exercise more that the baby has sleep separated from feeding & that there is a give or take idea of how long a baby of a certain age can stay awake.  The other thing about a catnap is it's often a transition in the process of dropping the number of naps in the day.  Some cat naps as longer some are  shorter, there is no "perfect"

Try not to get caught up in needing it to match the ideals of the book, rather look at what works for you in the big picture. So to me the catnap in the swing is fine.

[*Ali*]

As pp said it's just a guide. 

Frequent feeds and night wakings are to be expected at this age.

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