How to EASY with short AM nap & long PM nap?

[MyBabysMommy]

My 4.5 month DD is sleeping 12 hours at night (I must be lucky) from 8pm - 8am. As a result, she only needs a 40 min nap in the mornings. So when she wakes from her AM nap, she is ready to play and it's too soon to eat again. We have activity time until 1pm-ish and then she goes down for a longer nap 2.5-3.5 hours. Unfortuantely, the 4-hour EASY doesn't work for us. AND I want to do a cluster feed at 5pm and 7pm for her 8pm bedtime. So far I just let her eat or sleep whenever she seems hungry and tired. We just can't seem to get the wake-time routine down pat. Nightimes are awesome! Can someone help me fill in the blanks?

8:00am - BF
8:30 - 9:45ish - play
9:45 - 10:30 - nap
I don't know what to do here because sometimes she naps at 12noon but sometimes not until 1:30pm for somewhere between 2.5-3.5 hours. When to Eat, when to play?
5:00-:5:30pm Cluster Feed 1
5:30pm - bathtime
6:00pm - joins us at dinner table
7:00pm - cluster feed 2
8:00pm - bedtime

Any help / comments would be greatly appreciated!

[* Paula *]

Hi there,

You are doing fantastic with your lo sleeping 12 hours a night.

Have you tried putting your lo down later for her first nap so that she sleeps a bit longer?  She may only be napping for 45 minutes cause she is not tired enough for a longer one. If you think she can go longer, try for getting her down at around 10:00 if you think she can make it (make sure she does not get overtired).

Feed at 12 again, and then nap again at around 2, eat again around 4 and then perhaps offer a cat nap if she needs it, and then youcan start your cluster feeding.

HTH, let us know if you have any questions.

Paula x

[Kimberly®]

Just a thought actually, but I was thinking earlier for the AM nap. My DD was the same as yours at this age, great job btw with the 12 hour nights. DD did the same except 7-7. Now when she woke in the am for whatever reason she had to be down between 8-8:30am or she had a very short AM nap as she would tire out faster for whatever reason. Try getting LO down at 9-9:30 see if that helps, if not then move it later. Try earlier first as you don't want to over tire her either.

[yaya]

I agree, DS is 1 yr old now and still naps better for am nap when its close to wakeup time!