fighting 2nd nap at 7 months

[nilly]

our LO is 7 months, and LOVES his routine (meaning he is an angel when he has it), that is why i am stumped. Since last week, his second nap has been a problem (not 1st of bedtime). he has such a hard time falling asleep (although nothing has changed in his routine), cries a lot, and gets himself so worked up. which isn't normal, as he usually falls a sleep without a peep. i was thinking that it may have to do with EASY, maybe i should try and extend his awake time, and that he isn't ready for bed yet, could it be the warmer weather, or the fact that he is getting up at 5:30 and needs to to bed earlier?? i just don't know. here is his routine:

5:30 wakes and talks till 7
E 7:00 (bf)
A
S 9:00 (1:30-2hours)

E 11:00 (bf)
A
S 2:00 (1:30-2hours)

E 4:00 (bf)
A
E 6:30 (bf)

S by 7:00 for sure
DF 9:30

he does eat solid one hour approx after his BF.
i am going to try W2S  tomorrow morning at 4:30 and see if that helps his early wakings. also, i need to confess, that i have gotten into some "accidental parenting". after he has been crying for 45 min (on and of today), he is so worked up, that i take him and he falls asleep on my chest in our bed. i don't want this to continue on or lead into the 1st nap too. could he just need that right at this stage, and i shouldn't fight him on it? so many questions, sorry. any suggestions, comments would be greatly appreciated.

nilly

[malialeanne]

Hi there. It looks like your first A time if quite long if he's waking at 5:30, and your 2nd A time is on the shorter side. Evening out the two A times might help--you can put down for nap 1 30 mins earlier and keep nap 2 at the same time. Once you correct the early waking and he's getting up closer to 6:30-7, you can move naptimes back to their normal times.

[nilly]

so what your saying is you think the second nap is a problem because his A time it too long in the morning because of the early wakings? question: does there awake time not get longer that 3 hours at this age? thanks soooooo much for your help and suggestions. funny though, he goes down really easy for his first nap, that is why i never thought i was a problem.

nilly

[KathrynK]

at 7mo the usual A time is between 2.5 to 3 hours but all babies are different and your lo could be the exception who can handle much longer. Are the early wakings a new/ recent thing? Has anything else changed to cause these?

[malialeanne]

I'm just saying it would be unusual for a lo to easily handle such a long A time first thing (with a 5:30 wake up, a 9 a.m. nap gives 3.5 hours of A) and only be able to handle 2 - 2.5 hours for the next A time. Los can only handle so much total A time per day, so if they're up too long they may nap OK (because they're so tired) but overtiredness will build throughout the day.

3.5 hours is quite long, some los are just getting to 3 hours around 7 months, but as Kathryn says he may be able to handle it. If that's the case and he is fine with 3.5 hours or so, then keeping nap 1 the same but increasing the 2nd A time should help.

Here's a link to a post with info on early morning wakings: https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=87109.0

HTH!

[nilly]

i didn't realise that A time was accumilitive over the day. thanks for that. also the link was great.

kathhryn, yes, the early rising is new

nilly