Hello
I wonder if anyone has any suggestions for how to tweak Katie's current routine?
Our current routine is as follows:
- She usually wakes anywhere between 6am and 6:45am, and talks to herself and sucks her feet (through the sleeping bag
) until I go in and say good morning at 7am
- 7am - get up and BF
- 8am - solids (but she is not really having much - it's more of a suck on some stuff before spitting it out)
- 9am - nap
- 10:30 - wake up - currently I am waking her at 10:30am if she has not woken up herself - I think she would sleep longer on most days if I let her. I have been waking her after 1.5hrs in the hope that she will sleep longer than 45 mins at lunchtime.
- 11am BF
- 1pm ish or whenever looks tired - nap - usually only 45 mins... this is where the day goes pear shaped...
- 1.45pm - spend up to an hour trying to persaude her to back to sleep. Sometimes successful, but increasingly not successful.
- 3pm BF
- 4:15pm catnap (45 mins) - later and shorter if she DID have a longer sleep or go back to sleep at lunchtime
- 5pm solids (as above)
- 7pm bed
- 10:15pm BF (I am in the process of slowly moving this earlier with a view to dropping it in the next month or two)
The problems are:
1. The lunchtime nap - she's been a 45 minute napper since she was 7 weeks old, but the morning nap sorted itself out months ago. I used to be able to pat/sshh or put her in the buggy to have the second 45 mins of the lunchtime nap, but my success rate is really dropping now and most days she does not go back to sleep before it's time to thnk about her 3pm feed. She usually wakes up happy and wanting to play. So I think I am going to have to resign myself to the lunchtime nap only being 45 mins for the time being. Our A time bewteen morning and lunchtime naps is currently between 2hr 15 and 2hr 30. I have tried increasing it but at 2hr 30 or more we tend to get 30 minute naps. I have also tried reducing it but we still get 45 minute naps.
2. She is getting more difficult to settle at bedtime. Used to be just lie her down and leave the room, and she would go to sleep without a peep. Now it often takes several goes and half an hour or so to settle her. Not sure if this is undertired or overtired.
3. We get NW's if she is overtired - ie less than about 3hrs day time sleep.
So, I feel as though something needs to change, but not sure what. I am wondering whether to do one of the following:
1. Let her sleep as long as she wants in the morning, then 45 mins at lunchtime and 45 mins in the afternoon
2. Drop the catnap on the rare day that she sleeps for 1.5 hrs at lunchtime, and hope this results in a longer lunchtime sleep more often
3. Cut the morning nap shorter in the hope that she sleeps longer at lunchtime (bit of a high risk strategy if she doesn't!)
Any thoughts anyone? Sorry it's a bit of a long post!
thanks
Bryony x
