need help with "a" time for 5.5 month old

[aselby]

ok....so, last night was a MESS! is it common, when pushing out the A time, that they will have NUMEROUS NWs and EW? i dont think that he got a lot of sleep last night he went down easily at 7 and then was up at 10, 1, 33 and 545 for the day...ugh. we havent had a night like that in ages...i did push out ALL of his A times yesterday and he handled it well and never seemed OT. anyone else experience this? and how long will this last?

[Canadian_Mom]

I know that when I jumped up in A times I had more difficult nights.  It only lasted a few nights.  It was like his body was confused and just needed some more time to get used to all the changes!  I hope that after a couple of days (and maybe even a nap or two of 1hr 30min!) things will start to settle down.  I am glad you decided to push through and go with the increased A times.  It is a hard decision to make. Anyone agree?

[aselby]

thanks, BM! yes, its a HUGE decision to push them out....but i knew after a lot of trial and error that more A time was what he needed....so, all of these NWs are common for a few nights then?! ugh. i know a big GS is looming so i just wasnt sure...he woke up pretty upset...he was also soaked b/c i tried a cloth diaper last night ( we use them for the daytime) and it leaked big bummer. but, as long as all of these NWs are normal, then i wont fret and hopefully they will pass....

i did a 2h45min first A time and he is up after 30 mins on the nose, chatting away like normal . ..i will keep on with it for a few more days and see if that first nap will lengthen...if not, i will keep pushing

[aselby]

ok...so he has got to be running on empty...but he is still happy! if your lo is going down and chatty in the crib and waking up happy and chatty from a short nap...can that EVER mean that that nap was OT? i mean, we have had 2 30 min naps today after a 9 hr night and he is still waking happy! and he goes down w/out any crying...we slow dance before i put him down and he always lays his head on my shoulder so he seems sleepy, then i lie him down and he might chat it up for 5 ins before falling alseep...and wake up happy! he is not even 6 months old yet and i have been doing 2h45min A times...could  this POSSIBLY  not be enough?

[Canadian_Mom]

I don't know what anyone else thinks but that second nap has to be OT, there is no way that he can be UT that late in the day???  How much did you cut the second A time by?

[aselby]

i cut the 2nd time by 10-15 mins....he has just not wanted to sleep today! i actually just put him down for bed at 530 to try and get him caught up on sleep...this is the first time in ages that he has cried after i have put him down...clearly, he is tired. i just dont know what to do anymore....he doesnt seem tired EVER until its just too late and its been building all day or for days....i cannot read him and have zero idea about his A times...i think i'm about to throw in the towel and just deal with the fact that i have no idea what i'm doing anymore....thanks for all the help...

[*Jo*]

yes that is OT, it gets to a stage where they become "wired" and are happy and chatty. after a 9 hour night i wouldnt have doen a full A time. we had a 9 hour night and I cut back Calebs A time today by about 30mins, they can really only handle a full A time on a good nights sleep.

what are his tired cues??

[aselby]

gosh, jo..as far as tired cues go...he rubs his eyes shortly after waking ....he will yawn later on down the road...i just dont know anymore, honestly. i feel like i have been trying everything for the past few months...all i do is sit back and try to read my baby and the only conclusion i can come up with is that i have no idea what i'm doing period. i have tried to put him down before i think he will rub eyes/yawn/...tried to put down right after i see him do those, put down before 3rd yawn..yadda yadda yadda...he is a textbook baby if that helps. i'm beginning to wonder if maybe all of those times i got a long nap out of him, it really wasnt due to a specific A time and was just the luck of the draw. should i start over and go back to a more age appropriate A time ie; 2.15-2.30? or have i made a complete mess?

[*Jo*]

...all i do is sit back and try to read my baby and the only conclusion i can come up with is that i have no idea what i'm doing period

I hate to say it but sometimes i STILL feel like that (Im talking about my week so far too!)

anyway, you can always look back and try to find an A time you feel comfortable starting with, for example i know that the last time i got a good couple of days out of Caleb was on a 4.5 hour A time, well the past two weeks i cant figure him out so today ive gone back to that time and seeing what happens, if i get a short UT nap then i will push it 10mins etc thats just how i do things, Caleb is an Angel/textbook baby though.

[aselby]

hhmm...well, can you tell me anything about a textbook/angel baby b/c thats what charlie is! are they pretty much by the book? i think that the last time i got a few good naps out of his A time was around 2.30.....what do you consider an UT nap? anythin 45mins and above or can 40 mins qualify? and how much of a factor does the night before play on that first A of the day? i mean, if he slept 11 hrs vs 10 , lets say....

[*Jo*]

anything under 10 hours is not enough really and for his age even poss 11 hours will really affect his day...

for us an UT nap is anythign over 45min to 1 hour 20, BUT a 50min nap is OT! (confused yet?) the trouble i feel wiht Angel/textbook babies is that they are so jolly happy all the time that they dont give off great tired cues most of the time. for example today Caleb was chasing the cat around laughing and i was thinking "its 15mins till i want him to be asleep, hes not even tired, this isnt gonna work!" however once we got into his room sat down with a book he started rubbing his eyes and looking tired.... had i kept him up he probably wouldnt have given me tired signs for another hour or so (one day we waited 7 hours for tired signs, that was NOT a good day!)

Its been nearly an hour now that hes been asleep so only time will  tell if i got hte right A time. the thing with these babies is that once they have a good A time figured out they are gold! once it starts changing again is when it gets a little messy and you have to work it out and then when you find it again its back to being great. thats what we have found with Caleb anyhow

[aselby]

hhmm..sounds like caleb and charlie are very similar in demeanor....so, i might go back to square one and try to at least find a time whe he sleep for 45 mins and then go up from there....its been so long...i feel like all i ever get are 30-37 min naps anymore. and then when he wakes from them happy as can be, i automatically think that they are all UT....i guess thats where i have been going wrong so- it seems like somedays i end up getting a better nap ( and i mean better by 1 hour -1.15mins) so, if i get a nap from a time like that, where would i start the first A the next day from ? that time from the 2nd nap? does this make sense? i'm having a hard time saying what i mean...also, lets say i get a 45 min 1st nap...where do i go from there? ie; next nap, next day?

[*Jo*]

well if you get a 45min 1st nap i would scale the 2nd A time back to only 2 hours.

where would i start the first A the next day from

it takes about three days to see actual results from a change in A time so stick to the same A time for three days, then you can reasses where to take it from there

[stevesmum]

hang in there aselby.... my little man wanted to be up for 2hours straight at 2am.... I sympathise on the sleep issue.....

My little one likes to rise and shine way too early for me, talking to himself for about an hour or so before getting irritated, which is when I declare him AWAKE for the day.... Despite this, he likes to have a morning sleep two hours after i get him - a time officially 3 hours or so, then the next nap usually falls between 2 - 2and a half hours a time. In the arvo I try for a catnap, after 2 hrs a time, because otherwise there's not enough time, but he won't want it - yet by bed time (total a time 5 hrs) he's been asleep for an hour - so technically awake for 4!!! He only gets grizzly at the end... So who knows? Let me know if you get any help though... I tried messing with going to bed time, and ended up with more Night wakings.... so I'm currently sticking with one night waking, one early morning start and trying to fit a catnap in in the hope that he will NEVER wake up for 2hours at 2am again....! Mind you at least he wasn't crying for all that time - just talking......

[aselby]

OK, jo....i have one more question here....so, he waok eup around 5ish and i went to feed him around 530 and put him back down in hopes of him falling back to sleep....he just babbled and so i got him up at 610....count all the time that he's been awake? also, what , in your opinion, is an early bedtime? and how do we get there on early days like this? these are the norm now...