2-1 transition 11 mo...trying to find the right A times

[mylittlelovelies]

Hi everyone,

Just looking for some advice re: length of A times for my 11mo

trying to do the short AM long PM nap thing in preparation for 1 nap later on...

7am wake
10am sleep
11am wake (i wake her)
2:30 sleep (3.5hrs A)
3:45 awake (wakes after 1hr 15ish mostly...want it to be longer, not sure if she's OT from 3.5A...do i need a shorter middle A after waking her from morning nap?)
7:15 bedtime

So have been working on 3hr morning A time, then about 3.5 and 3.5 for the rest of the day.
BUT we have been having NWs and EWs and generally quite cranky a lot of the day so feels like she's OT as she just doesn't seem settled like she usually is.

Can someone look at our routine and give some ideas for her at this age??

Thanks!
Jessie

[*Jo*]

Hi Jessie, just wondering why teh first A time is different from the rest? its quite a big difference too, i would look at increasing that to 3.25 hours, then shortening the first nap to 45 mins and then offer the 3.5 hours A time, that might help give her a longer PM nap. how does that sound?

[mylittlelovelies]

Hi! Thanks for getting back to me. The reason the first A is 3hrs is she always seems tired by then and naps well so have kept it at that. Plus she only just manages the next A so i thought if i made the morning A longer she might be OT by the PM nap. At the moment with not great night sleep and EWs she is barely coping with the A times as they are. In fact today they were 3hrs, 3hrs 20, 3hrs 20. So really confused about what they should be. Her PM nap was 1hr 20 again, morning was 1hr.
What do you think?

[*Jo*]

I would say her body is so used to being tired at that time andthat is by she sleeps well atthat time but it might be time for an increase, have you thought of doing long AM/shirt PM nap if you are happy with the first nap?

[mylittlelovelies]

Hi, i'd rather do short AM long PM nap as i've got a 3 year old and we go out in the mornings most days. Plus its nicer for me to have the long nap in the afternoon as thats when i'm tired and need some baby free time.

[mylittlelovelies]

so based on your previous post...how much should i stretch her A times to, given how short they were today?

[*Jo*]

We always recommend a gradual increase to ward off any OT that may come in, I would increase by 10mins or so just for the first A time for a couple of days to see what nap it produces

[mylittlelovelies]

thanks, i'll give it a try.

only thing is, that i am sure we'll still get a good morning nap...she has done 3hrs 15 in the morning before quite a few times and still naps well for the morning nap...i can't remember the last time she's woken up on her own from the morning nap...i wake her at an hour...occasionally if i haven't woken her she might do an hour on her own, but pretty much its minimum 1hr in the morning. So i'm not too worried about the morning nap, but its the afternoon nap i'm concerned about.

So would you suggest i do A times 3hrs 10, 3hrs 20, 3hrs 20 (leaving the 2nd and 3rd A times as they are, just increasing first one) and see if the PM nap is longer just from that 10mins extra morning A time? Do i keep the morning nap as an hour?

thanks!!