Giving up catnap?

[ElsMom]

My DD is 5.5 months and seems to be trying to give up the catnap.  When does this typically happen, and how do I make it work when she's not ready to go 4-5 hours between the end of the 2nd nap and bedtime?  Our routine is below:

6:15 - 6:45 wake
7:00 E
8:45-ish - S - typically 1-1.5 hrs
10:30 E
12:15-ish - S - typically 1-1.5 hrs
2:30 E
if 2nd nap ends before 2, can get catnap around 4:15, usually about 30 minutes
if 2nd nap ends after 2, usually fights catnap.  If I wake her from 2nd nap at 2:00, still often fights catnap (it seems to need to be her idea to get up before 2, not mine!)
5:00 cereal, followed by BF
6:30 start wind down, ends with BF and bed by 7:15-7:30

If she refuses the catnap, we move bed up to 7:00.

NF around 1:30.

It seems like if she gets 3 hours of day sleep, she'll sleep well that night, but be fussy during the day.  If she gets 4 hours of day sleep, she does well during the day but is up extra after her NF (talking to herself in her crib for 30 minutes to an hour).  I guess that's a separate issue, but both are related to how much day sleep she's getting and how much she needs, something I can't quite figure out.

Thanks!

[Layla]

Some give up the catnap as early as 5 months so what you would need to do to avoid her from being up 4-5hrs before bedtime is spread out the 2 naps more. So try adding about 15mins or so every 3-4 days until her A time is about 3 hrs. Some babies find it hard to be awake as long as 3 hrs in the morning (as the morning A time is usually shorter than others) so you could try 2.5hrs in the morning, 3hrs in the afternoon & about 3.5before bedtime

6:30 - wake
9-10.30ish - morning nap
1.30-3pm - afternoon nap
6.30ish - bedtime

Also what time do you offer the catnap if she's up around 2pm? The catnap can start as late as 5pm & you would just limit to 30mins so that she is down for the night around 7.30pm... You could also try taking her out in the buggy or take a drive so that she naps there... alot of babies fight the catnap cause it can be the hardest nap to achieve

It seems like if she gets 3 hours of day sleep, she'll sleep well that night, but be fussy during the day.  If she gets 4 hours of day sleep, she does well during the day but is up extra after her NF (talking to herself in her crib for 30 minutes to an hour).  I guess that's a separate issue, but both are related to how much day sleep she's getting and how much she needs, something I can't quite figure out.

I think this is a good point... she might only need 3hrs during the day & 11-12hrs at night. Some babies take great naps during the day but then are up at night because they have slept too much during the day. So in order to keep her better rested during the day & avoid the fussiness... spread the naps out a little more

hth
Layla

[ElsMom]

I've been offering the catnap around 4:15 if she gets up around 2 - I figure if she hasn't started it by 4:30, I give up.  If she gets up from the catnap later than 5, I can't get her to bed until 8... and then it's a cycle!  I have a hard time getting her 11-12 hours at night.  Seems like she has her upper limit set to 10 hrs, so if she's on track to get more, she'll just be awake and talking to herself for an hour at 3 or 4 am.  Last night was a little different, as she was up screaming for 2 hours, but I don't know what that was about.  Maybe we're going through something crazy developmentally this week and things will settle out soon.

Thanks for the advice on the 2-nap routine.  Once we recover from our OT we're suffering today and yesterday, I'll work towards adding 15 minutes to A time and see how she does.