7 month old and naps messed up

[lizt]

My 7 month old had a good 4 hour EASY routine with 2 1h30min naps and a 30 min catnap but was only managing 2 hours of A time so I've been trying to extend. Her A time was then varying from 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
I watch for her tired signs and put her down when she yawns or rubs her eyes.
Things were going ok until this weekend when she started to take 30-45 min naps. Normally she would put herself back to sleep if this happened but now she lies in her cot happily talking to herself for the next 45 mins.
Her routine before the short naps started was

E 0700 I'm often unsure of her exact wakeup time
A
S 0830-1000

E 1100
A
S 1230-1400

E 1500
A
S 1630-1700

A 1700
E 1800
S 1900

I thought that perhaps I'd pushed her too quickly in extending her A time so for the past 2 days I've been trying to shorten the A time after the 45 min nap. I brought her bedtime forward to 1830 last night and she slept through until 0650 this morning. However she started yawning at 0745 then again at 0830 so I put her down at 0850 and she slept for only 1 hour. She then had only 2 hours A time before tired signs came but only managed a 45 min nap.

I should also say that she's teething at the moment and has also started rolling around in her cot which may be disrupting her getting back to sleep after 45 mins.

Should I keep trying to push her A time? I now can't work out whether the short naps are OT or UT.
What's the best way to go from here?

[Tweakster]

Hi there, it sounds like your LO has had a jump in A time but is still getting tired at her old A times.  What I have had to do for Finn with the increase is make it active for a week or two but also watching for OT.  It's hard.  He gets bored more easily these days and often yawns and I mistake it for tiredness.  I started pushing his A's and taking him out to do new things a lot more and am getting better naps this week.  Ideally she needs to come off of that CN...so she would have two longer day naps and an early bedtime if needed.

Teething is going to throw everything off though so perhaps you can just ride it out until you feel that the worst part is over.  At least we usually find that he teethes in fits and starts.

Just guessing really - let's see what the others say :-)

[becky1969]

Typical A time for 7 months is 3 hours.  My guess is she's UT as she seems happy upon waking.

I think I'd keep As to around 3 hours for 3 days solid and see what happens.  1 day at a new A time isn't enough to figure out if it's working.

[lizt]

Hi to becky1969 and All4Finn and thanks for your replies. I was thinking myself that she was UT and that I should keep going with the increased A times but got a bit jumpy when the naps suddenly went haywire. I thought that all the weeks of hard work getting her to nap well had been for nothing. I tend to panic a bit when things change and we had been getting along so well with her routine. I think perhaps I've also been mistaking her yawns for tiredness as they seem to come at odd times now.
I'm going to try the 3 hour A times and see how we go.
As for dropping the CN-should I just cut it out completely or is it better to gradually reduce the time?

[Tweakster]

Hi there, they loooove to throw a spanner in the works don't they?  It's like part of their genetic make up - ohh mum has finally figured me out...not having it! lol

With the dreaded CN - we are still trying to get rid of that thing.  I STILL play it by ear on a daily basis.  Most days we just do without it...and really concentrate on 2 solid crib naps.  But he has an early bedtime and we can also push out his last A without too much drama.  We extend the wind down or just keep very low key before bed to sneak in extra minutes.  I know that a lot of people were able to reduce it and/or offer it every other day to wean off it and keep the OT at bay.  It depends on the LO and also assumes that LO is taking a CN regularly, which Finn never did. 

[lizt]

You are so right about the spanner! I wish they came out having read the manual. Then we'd be on the same wavelength.
I'm pleased to say we're making progress. I've pushed her A time to 3 hours and she's now taking 2 1 hour naps without the catnap. Do you think if I push her A time a bit further she'll extend her nap to 1 1/2 hours? She never seems very tired at 3 hours but if I'm honest I seem to have lost the ability to read her tired signs and I'm so worried that she'll  become OT, especially as she's only having 2 hours sleep during the day now.

[Tweakster]

Good news about the progress...how is she at night?  If nights are still going ok it might be ok to slowly push her out beyond 3 hours for a couple of days to see what happens.  But I would go slow and watch for OT like a hawk.  Something new might crop up in the meantime and then here comes that spanner again...

[lizt]

Nights are ok. If anything I think perhaps even better than before. She seems to be sleeping consistently past 6am whereas before I think she would sometimes wake at 5.30 and not go back to sleep. But I don't want to speak too soon!
I'm just wondering what the 1 hour naps mean. Are they UT same as the 45 min naps?
Today we had 2 lots of 45 min naps again. I think that now she sleeps on her side and curled up at the top of the cot she may find it difficult to get back to sleep when she wakes. I'm hoping it's something she'll get used to and will be able to make the transition again but maybe I'm dreaming!

[Tweakster]

Hi there, 1 hour is anyone's guess.  For us it was a good length nap lol.  But every LO is different.  You would just have to monitor the A times and naps following to see if any OT is creeping in.

Yay about the nights...but I won't say too much lest I jinx it!

[lizt]

Well, after the first 2 days of having 1 hour naps the last 2 days have deteriorated to 30 mins. I think the problem is the first A time in the morning. I've been keeping her up for 3 hours (2h50 today) and this has been followed by 30 min naps both days. The rest of the day has then gone to pot with more 30 min naps. I've tried shortening the following A times but haven't managed to hit the right time yet. I've been looking at the sample routines on the EASY forum and many babies around 7 months seem to be doing a 2-2.5 hour A time in the morning rather than 3 hours. I think I may try this but can anyone explain why this one needs to be shorter? Do I still try for around 3 hours for the others?

[Tweakster]

Hi there, they use the first nap as an extension of night sleep...it's mostly REM that first nap and most restorative.  Sets you up nicely for the day.  There is great explanation in the Weissbluth book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child".  Although that book advocates CC it also gives great information about sleep.

I think I have found the magic morning A this week for Finn at 6 months is 2 hr 30.  So I wind down at exactly 2 hr 30 and he is asleep by 2 hr 45 and I get a 1.5 hour nap.  It's hard to calculate but you have to ensure that the time it takes them to fall asleep has to be included in that A (eyes open to eyes close).  I think this is where I fall down a lot of the time.  He never seems to be consistent on the time it takes him to go to sleep.  Today I caught the first yawn and plunked him down at 2 hr 30 and there was a bit of mantra and then nothing 5 minutes later. 

If that first nap is good, I find that he can be pushed to 2 hr 45 for his following A.  And then back to 2 hr 30 for the next A (and pray I can get a CN in) and then he can do sometimes 3 hours leading up to bed if I really drag out the bedtime routine. 

It is entirely possible that your LO is on the shorter end of A's.  Some are just working on different things, milestones at different times and aren't following any averages per se.