40 minute naps, are they ever ok?

[KellyC]

My brain is scrambled today so I doubt it!  I actually thought the LO here was 12 months old (must have been thinking of another thread!) so my earlier post isn't even relevant.  I'm going to delete it as I don't want anybody to read it in relation to a 6 month old and to follow my advice!

Kelly x

[~Alexa~]

  Hope to see you around!! 

[emmiebruce]

Alexa, thank you so much for this advice.

Yesterday started off badly but I think things may be starting to get back on track.  We aimed for a 5.45 bedtime yesterday (so a 12.5 hr day) and although he was in bed he didn't go to sleep till 6pm so I was worried about him being OT and having a bad night.  As it turned out although he did wake and chatter to himself for a while at 1am he then slept till 6.15 so it looks better for todays bedtime.

I kept the 2.75 hr first A time today and settled him fine.  Also yesterday a 2hr 20 min A time after this nap resulted in a 1hr 20 sleep at lunch which is a vast improvement so I will aim for that again depending on the length of this sleep. 

As you say, if I can get the lengths of days and nights right again I'm almost there!!

[~Alexa~]

I'm so glad you are having some progress, Emma!!  I'm sure once we find the right As, your lo will give you longer naps, and that will bring bedtime later causing a later wake up!

Let us know how it goes,
good luck
Alexa

[emmiebruce]

Thankyou, yesterday was ok, naps weren't great and I didnt get a long lunch time one but I just couldn't keep him up long enough to get enough A as he was so tired. Bedtime was 6pm and we had a 10 min NW at 3am and then awake at 4.45!!  This time though I just changed his nappy, told him it was still night night and left him.  He cried for a min when I left and then winged and chattered on and off until 5.30 when he went back to sleep till 6.45 so I think there is def progress.  Will keep on with the naps and the A times and see what happens.

I just want to say how good it is to have somewhere to discuss this and bounce ideas.  It makes it all so much easier to deal with...

Emma

[Barbaara]

Huge hugs, you're doing great!! 

i think you made the right decision by just changing his nappy and then leaving him to it last night.  At some point they just need to learn we just don't start the day that early! 

Barbara
x

[~Alexa~]

I'm so happy you are having some success!! 

Could it be he was hungry at 4.30 am?

[emmiebruce]

No, he's a typical spirited baby and I think once he wakes up he just wants to get into everything and because I kept the blind down he couldn't play!! 

I stretched his first A time to 3 hrs this morning and he settled for his nap with no fuss at all and was asleep within a few mins.  I will see what he does.  He woke at 6.10 this morning with wakings at midnight, 3am and 5.30am but they were literally 10 mins max and back to sleep do that's a real improvement.  A 12 hour

[emmiebruce]

night is much better!

[~Alexa~]

I'm happy for you!! 

Keep us posted and let us know how it goes!

[emmiebruce]

Hi ladies, we seem to have got the nights back on track now and are averaging 11 or 12 hours depending on how good the days naps were.  I just need a little bit of advice on how to gradually push bedtime back so that our day starts a little later please...

[~Alexa~]

I'm happy things are better now!

Ok, so for pushing your day later, try to add 10-15 min to the first A in the morning every 3 days until you get bedtime and wake up where you want.  So, for example, if your am nap is usually at 10 am, for the next 3 days push it to 10.15 am, so bedtime will be 15 min later too.  Then after these 3 days, push it 10-15 more min, so instead of 10.15 am, it will be at 10.30 am. Does this make sense? Keep doing this until you get bedtime at the time you want!

Keep us posted

[emmiebruce]

Ok, I'm back, I'm still trying to find the right A times.

The am nap is now between 40 mins and 1hr 20mins but I am struggling to find the right A time before the pm nap.  I have worked out that if he has a short am nap then an A time of 2hr 20 mins gives a good pm nap (1.5 hrs yesterday) but can't get it right if he has a long(ish) nap.  Should I be using the 3 hr A time again or would this be too long.  At the moment his sleep cues are hard to read as both tired and boredom show the same signs!!

Yesterdays routine looked like this:

Wake 7am
A 3hr 15 mins
Sleep 10.15am
A 2hr 20min
Sleep 1.20 (1.5 hrs)
A 3 hr 30 min
Bedtime 6.30pm (slept 11 hr till 5.30am with df at 10pm)

This was an unusual day as he never sleeps till 7 but he woke early at 5am and went back to sleep after half an hour playing.  The first A time was 15 mins longer than planned but we were having a lovely time together and I missed the right time!!. I've had mixed success with a 3 hr A sometimes getting a good nap and sometimes a short one so I was thinking of extending to 3hr 15 anyway.  We usually get a short nap on the first day of extended A time so this might account for yesterdays nap.  I've gone back to 3hr today to see what happens.  Also the last A time was a bit too long but didn't seem to cause too many problems overnight.  We usually aim for a 12.5 hr day and 11.5hr night but with the naps at the times they were and no chance of getting in a CN (lo refuses all attempts even with APOP) we had to bring bedtime forward.  This of course meant an early start today but we should get back on track with bedtime at 6 tonight.

If I can figure these A times then I can start working on moving the day back a bit...

[~Alexa~]

hi there!
Yay for the long pm nap!! 

So, now you know that after a short am nap your lo needs 2 hr 20 min A.  This is great! Lots of moms take weeks to find the right As after a short nap!
Now we need to find the right A after a long am nap...How long is your lo's A first thing in the morning when he takes a long am nap? I guess I would try to repeat the same A after a long am nap and see if that's the right one. 

How did today's am nap go after 3 hr A?

You did the right thing by having an earlier bedtime.  If your lo seemed happy, then that's perfectly fine! After a 1.5 hr nap, 3.5 hrs A may be ok for him.  Some babies like to have their longest A before going to bed.

[emmiebruce]

The 3 hr A led to a 45 min nap but one very smiley baby so I guess I could stretch it a bit more.  It's funny as over the last week the 3 hr A has led to both long and short naps so I think the night must have an effect, i.e. a good night means a longer A etc. 

I've stuck with it today and maybe tomorrow will push it to 3hr 15min and see what happens.