Extending naps advice?

[meltown]

If you do the cluster feed right before bed judt be sure your Lo doesn't fall aslepe eating and your ok.  be sure they eat then you finish your bedtime routine and put them to bed. 

[hpling]

Hi mummies, I'm new to this forum. My LO has problems napping beyond 30mins each time. He doesn't wake up crying. instead he is an extremely good mood but that doesn't last for too long. I suspect that he isn't getting enough nap during the day, and that is why he has many night wakings. This is schedule:

5am : Bottle
7am : Wake & Activity
8am : Bottle
8-8:30 : Nap
8:30 : Activity
9:30 : Bath
10-10:30 : Nap
10:30 : Activity
11:30 : Bottle
11:30 : Activity

1-1:30pm : Nap
1:30 : Activity
3pm: Bottle
3-3:30pm : Nap
3:30 : Activity
5:30 : Solids
6pm : Bath
6:30pm : Bottle
6:45pm : Read a book
7pm : Sleep

12pm: Dream feed
(Numerous wakings between 12am - 5am)

Am I doing something wrong here? Can someone help this very tired mother?

[babynat]

Hpling,
I hope you get some good pointers.  That is a tough schedule.  I imagine you don't have much time to relax or take a nap if you need one.  Hang in there, I know there are solutions. 

[meltown]

hpling- how old is your Lo and what is your wind down routine for each nap?

[hpling]

Bryan is 6 months old. I don't have a wind down routine for a nap. Any suggestions?

babynat - thanks for your encouragement

[meltown]

ok, first off, your first awake time is only 1 hour???  this is probably the start to your maddness.  I would be holding off on the first nap until 9:15-9:30

second- 2 hours is a bit short of awake time for a 6 month old.  thia may be part of the problem.  your Lo isn't tired enough to sleep longer but isn't getting enough sleep to get any rest, so he wakes up happy because he really wasn't tired enough to sleep, then gets tired quickly because he didn't really have a restful sleep.  I would try 2 hours nd 15 min.  and adjust it from there. 
Next- the last awake time is way too long.  I would probably try a schedual like this:

7-Wake
8-eat
9:15-9:30-sleep
11:00-11:30 wake
 11:30-eat (or 12:00 if LO can go 4 hours which by 6 months most can.  if you do this the rest of the schedual would move down in times accordingly.)
1:15-1:45 sleep
3:15(ish) wake
3:15-eat
5:15-sleep (cat nap)
6:00-wake (feed if you cluster)
Bath
6:30-eat
7:bed

Also if Lo is waking at 8:00 you may want to move the schedual around a bit so you can put him to bed at 8:00 most Lo'd work best on a 12 hour schedual.  so this may be why he wakes at night.  But I would try the posted schedual for a few days and see how it goes.  the nice thing is if Lo will do it you can sometimes fit more then one nap into the sleep time if they do short naps.  Also if you are doing nothing to extend naps, like W2S, I would suggest that.  And if they wake early and wont go back to sleep be sure to start their awake time then.  os if Lo wakes 45 min into hte sleep time be sure to start the 2 hours 15 min of awake time at that point so they don't get too over tired and try to get as many naps into the day as you can.

Wind down for naps is very imprtant for us.  It made putting him down so much easier!  we go in darken the room, turn on lulibies (which play the whole nap time for white noise), put son in his sleep suit, sit in a chair and rock for 1 song.  then just sit for a couple more until son is drowsy, then kiss him good night and put him in crib.  he is usually asleep in a few minutes after I put him down.  some Lo's need a longer wind down, my son in usually asleep within 10 min of the start of it.

HTH if you have questions let me know.

[babynat]

Meltown,

Do you think you have some suggestions for me too?  I have succeeded in lengthening her naps more or less.  They consist of about 1.5-1.75 hours 3 times a day.  However, her nights are horrible.  And, I feel like they just keep getting worse and she is getting up earlier and earlier.  My LO is 5 months old, is breast fed, is not currently on solids, sleeps swaddled and with a pacifier.  The pacifier she spits out and sleeps without, but I fear it may be becoming a problem.  I tried the gentle removal method and was very frustrated with it as it just deprived her of sleep.  I tried it for 3 days.  I have also been trying to put her to bed earlier and earlier, but it doesn't seem to help any and she has a harder time falling asleep.  She puts herself to sleep independently for naps and at night.  She gets up about 3-4 times all night and I give her a pacifier or nurse and she goes back to sleep.

This is our routine:
  6-6:30 awake
E 7:00 nurse
A 7:30
S 8:00 nap (1.5-1.75 she wakes after 45 min, I help her back to sleep)

   9:30 awake - play
E 10:30 nurse
A 10:45
S 11:15 nap (1.5-1.75)

   1:00 awake - play
E 2:00 nurse
A 2:15
S 2:45 (1.5-1.75)

  4:30 awake - play
E 5:30 nurse
A 6:00
   6:30 bedtime routine (bath, massage, pjs, nurse, but she is awake when she goes in to her crib)
S 7:00

She then gets a bottle at 11 p.m. for a dream feed.  She wakes (I think out of habit) at 1 am, awake again at 3 am (I nurse her) and she wakes again at 5 a.m.  I give her a paci and she sleeps till about 6 a.m. 

What do you think I am doing wrong?  Is she dependent on the paci?  I am sooo afraid to take that away as she goes to sleep so well on her own and when I tried to wean her, she stopped being able to go to sleep independently.  Also, I was doing the 4 hour EASY, but I didn't think she was taking in enough, so I went back to 3.5.  She gets very distracted when nursing.

Thanks for your help.....
Heather

[meltown]

Did you do a yeild before you decided to go back to hte 3.5 routine??  I would do that before even thinking about changing back.  the biggest reason is because your LO may be getting too much sleep on the 3.5 routine.  at that age 2 1.5-2 hour naps and 1 45 min. cat nap is enough.  so, I would say to go back to the 4 hour schedual and do a yild and see how much you are supplying.  if it isn't enough then try t do more of an EAE(diaper change)S until your supply gets up. 

Also I am wondering what time LO wakes?  could it be habit?  I would pop on the props board and aks about the paci.  I think if your Lo is waking that much at night then I think there is a transition problem form one cycle to the next and it sounds like your LO has to have the paci or the boob to do it.  I would ask them though as I have never had a paci problem because my son rarely would take one no matter how much I wanted him to. 

[Layla]

Babynat - my lo at 5 months was doing something similar to your lo. What worked for me was to extend her A time a little and have her nap at different times. I've read somewhere that its not only about the amount of hours they get during the day/nights, its also when those naps are taken. I would try and have your lo napping around 8.30am. Then the midday nap should be around 12.30-1pm and catnap around 4.30-5pm. Try to add 10-15 mins to her A times every few days so that she doesn't get overtired. My lo couldn't handle alot of A time in the evening so between the catnap and bedtime, she could only do 1.5hrs A time max. They can't do full A time before bedtime.

She wasn't on a 4hr EASY until 8.5 mo (just recently).

I also agree that maybe the paci is a prop. My lo had a dummy until 4mo and was waking up for it ALL the time at night so I went cold-turkey and started shh/pat.

HTH
Layla

[babynat]

Thank you all very very much.  I think the consensus is she needs more awake time and not so many naps.  I really appreciate the input and hopefully the nights will be better. 

Meltown, I did do a yield and pumped 3 oz.  That wasn't very much so I am working on increasing my supply.  I know that babies are able to actually get more than the pump, but I'm going to increase anyways.  I have implemented the bottle for the dream feed and that has helped a tremendous amount b/c I know she isn't hungry. 

I also tried not reswaddling her and letting her have her arms out.  That worked pretty well as she was able to suck on her fingers, thereby hopefully lessening the need for her paci.  I'm going to work on weaning her of that too.

Again, thanks for your comments.
Heather

[meltown]

no problem.  hope it gets better for you.  I would do EAE(diaper change) S so she could have more awake time and get the feeds she needs.  this will also help to increase your supply.

[babynat]

Meltown -
I have tried to have her nurse more often, but she won't.  Is that normal?  I stopped solids (I started them briefly hoping they would sustain her longer at night) because I wanted her to nurse more, but she will only nurse when she's pretty hungry.  I guess pumping after she finishes is the way to go?

[meltown]

do you know her cries?  because if she isn't hungary then maybe she is getting enough.  KWIM?  are you sure the night wakings arent habit?  are you sure she is always hungary?