need help with "a" time for 5.5 month old

[~*Nicole*~]

Hope it gets easier.

[aselby]

ok...so this is how our day has gone thus far:
530 awake...left him in crib until 630
E 700
A 2hr 10 min
S 740-817
E 900 CEREAL
E 1000 BF
S 1024-1104...WOKE UP BABBLING AND FUSSED FOR UNDER 5 MINS..PUT HIMSELF BACK TO SLEEP
S 11:12..UNTIL NOW..ITS BEEN 15 MINS BUT STILL ASLEEP

so my question is, i did a 2nd "a" time of roughly 2hr10 mins...when he woke and resettled himself back to sleep...does that mean that i was pretty darn close? he is not one to resettle very often....i looked over my months of logs this morning trying to find a pattern ...looks to me like his first a time might be around 2.15-2.5....and that the first nap was indeed UT , so after reading through a few other posts, i learned that maybe just subtract 15 mins from next "a" time if previous nap was UT and subtract 30 mins if previous nap was OT...so, i came to the conclusion that his 2nd "a" time should fall around 2.10-2.15...he fell asleep about 1 min after i put him in his crib ( a titch earlier thani had planned)....so, any thoughts? i am excited to get a long nap!

[aselby]

ok...so he slept another 33 mins...so, in all, we got a 1hr 15 mins nap...but he woke up crying...so, i am wondering, would 10 more mins of "a" time resulted in a longer nap?

[~*Nicole*~]

It is a good sign that he resettled. I think the way you're thinking makes sense. I would probably have done the same so I hope it works out for you!

It may have or may not. It's so hard to tell. Even getting consistent naps of 1 hr. 15 mins. would be better than what you have going on so I'd stick with that A time for at least 3 days and if you get pretty consistent 1 hr. 15 ish min. naps....then slowly increase the A time. If you get shorter naps then revisit afterwards. But if he gives you at least an hour that's way better than he was doing.

[aselby]

ok. i will...so, should i do another 2.15ish a time before next nap in your opinion?

[aselby]

so i did an A time of 2.15 and he woke after 37 mins.,...he's happy so maybe he needed a titch more time after a longer nap?

[*Jo*]

hmm i wold try another 5 mins or so, just judging her carefully, watching her for a sign of a meltdown though

[aselby]

ok...so we have/had been trying a first A time of around 2h30-35mins after having (2) 1h20 mins nap from that, sporadically. then, we got a 1 hour nap from that on saturday....now we are getting 30 mins on the dot and he is waking really happy! so, yesterday i bumped it up to 2h45 mins and he slept for 30 mins and woke up happy again....and then short napped the rest of the day resulting in a tired baby! but this is the norm around here....anyway, anyone have any ideas? should i stick with 2h45mins? he is usually getting around 11 hr of nightsleep....lately, its been more like 10.5..but last night we got back ontrack with 11....help!

[~*Nicole*~]

How long did you do 2 hr. 30 for? How many days?

[aselby]

well, the first time i did it was 10 days ago...right off the bat, i got a 1h20min nap...then, he had a few wonky nights,m so he went down a titch earlier..so then i tried it again 3 days later and got a 37 min nap ..he woke up happy and chatty so i assumed it was UT....tried it the next day and he wasnt going down so he ended up doing a whopping 3hrA time and having a 40 min nap....then did 2hr35 min A time on sat and he slept for 1 hour and woke up crying.....tried it sunday and he woke up after 30 mins happy as a clam////yesterday, i bumped it u[ to 2hr45 min...he woke up after 30 mins happy and chatty....and thats where we are. he just doesnt seem all that tired when i have been putting him down for that first even 2nd nap....and he more often than not, wakes up cheery and chatty. and then i feel like the 2nd nap is always UT and by the time 2pm rolls around, he is getting crabby and all the short naps are catching up with him...what do you think? i am at a complete loss here.

[aselby]

after looking at my logs, it looks like the first time he did a long nap off of this A was actually about 4 weeks ago when he turned 5 months...

[~*Nicole*~]

It's hard to tell...like you said after 2hr 35 min on Saturday he napped 1 hour and woke crying (seeming to me to be that he should have/needed to sleep longer) but then on Sunday he napped shorter on the same time but woke happy. The first sounds OT and the next sounds UT. I guess you'll have to trust your gut since you know him best. It sounds like you believe he is UT. So if so...then you can increase the A time and keep it at 2 hr. 45 and do that for 3-5 days consistently and see how it goes.

[aselby]

well...he just crashed after 2h35....we'll see how it goes...

[aselby]

well, he woke up after 38 mins...happy and chatty! do you think thats an indication of needing more A time? i think we've proven this A time is maybe a little short. also- he hwas having EW anywhere between 3am-530am for about amonth...whe i began upping his first A time, he began to sleep longer in the morning...i think i read somewhere on here that EW could be due to needing an increase in A....maybe i should be upping? just a thought. i think he may be a low sleep needs baby?!

[aselby]

ok- i need help ! i decided to just watch him before the 2nd nap and not jump the gun....so, he went down at 2h45min and IS STILL ASLEEP 1hour later....what do i do before next nap and what does anyone think his first A time would be? i have been trying 2h30ish for so long i dont think that is it...his first nap this morning was after a 2h35miN A time and it resulted in a 37-40min UT, happy waking nap...so, i have no idea what to start with tomorrow morning...or what to do before the next nap today....help!