Is a jump to 4 hour A time possible at 7.5 months?

[sparrow]

Hi again.  Okay so lo is asleep and the good news is she went to sleep without a struggle for both naps after around 3h30.  Really the hardest thing of all is when she cries when I put her down so I'm a happy mum.  However, her first nap was 2h20 mins (wow) and I have a feeling this next nap will be at least 1.5 hours.  We're probably looking at an over 14 hour day here which will most certainly perpetuate the EW trend (and I'm realizing an EW leads to the longer naps, thus continuing the cycle...).  Shortening her last A just doesn't work, she seems to want at the very least 3h10 mins.

Is this just a phase I've got to suck it up and get through?  Although wont her A times just keep getting longer and longer?

[Chicane]

Hey Sparrow - can you post up what a current typical day looks like again. I'm going to ask some of the others to have a look and see if anyone has had this issues before x

[sparrow]

Sure, thanks Chicane.  I'm thinking I probably just have to ride it out (like everything) and it might be different next week.  I just wonder if the days will get longer and longer and....
Anyway here it is, give or take.

Awake 5:30, stays in crib till 6ish
A 3h30
Nap 9 - 1130 (2.5h)
A 3h30
Nap 3-4:30 (1.5h)
A 3h (min)
BT 7:30. 14 hour day.  Today she actually only napped 2 hrs in the a.m. so we may have a 13.5 hour day (IF I can get her down after 3h)

Usually 2 NW where she BF (I know she can get by with only one), and EW at 5:30.

She only naps over 1.5 hours if she has an EW. Which, lately, is always. Thanks again!

[*Liz*]

That final A to bed is too short and so she is doing a UT night (essentially she is robbing some of her night sleep to have such long naps during the day).

Once they hit 3.5hrs A you do have to start the slow process of the 2-1 nap transition.

Have you got as far as reading any of that stuff yet?

Here is a link
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=163278.0

Essentially you have to decide whether to shorten the first or second nap to allow for enough time before bed and bring you back to a more balanced day. The shorter nap also usually shortens the A after it as they are not so rested.

As an example what I did with J at 8 months was
Awake 6.30am
Nap 1 10-11am (I woke after a 1hr nap only)
Nap 2 2 - 3.30-4pm (A was reduced to 3hrs after a shortened nap)
Bedtime 7-7.30pm (ie 3.5hrs A again)

Then over time the shorter nap will have to be reduced to 45 mins, then 30 mins. You can shirten either nap and I actually did both options at various stages in the 2-1.

HTH 

[sparrow]

Thanks so much, these links are very helpful.  I didn't like the idea of waking her up from naps but I'm realizing it's the only way to make this work... cheers!

[stevesmum]

Hey ladies... nice to see sarcasm in good use here!!! Who can seriously survive life without it!!
Well my little one was sick with a cold so borrowed a friends vaporiser and got a morning nap of 40 min, and arvo nap of 1hr30, slept all night with one stir at 5am - so I BF and back to sleep til 7am... (here's where HOPE rears its ugly head)
so next morning, again 1hr30min nap, than 1hr30 in the arvo and I made the serious mistake of TELLING SOMEONE IT WAS WORKING... whatever you do - when something looks like it might be working, don't EVER EVER EVER tell anyone cos the minute you do, it stops WORKING!! so I told my friend thanks, it's working great and guess what?! last night woke at 11,1,3 (so I BF in the hope of sleep) and 5(BF) again but wasn't overly hungry at either....never really is. the night before I discovered the vaporiser was much the same. Usually I just go in, check the dummy is there and that's it - it's not a mega crying spell or anything... tempted just to turn the monitor off.....no - couldn't do that... SO anyway... his nap times were about 9.15/9.30 actually asleep, winddown 15min prior. and 2-2.15. Though guess what - it's not working today cos turkey boy got up early, and won't nap..... I love him dearly but how come I didn't give birth to his operating manual as well!!! hahahaha.... I shouldn't complain as I am gettting the occasional sleep through 7pm-5am but when the curve balls come in, it's not nice!!

disregard that mindless drivel, what A times are you ladies doing - and does it change day to day, or morning to arvo?
thanks.... and keep the sarcasm coming.......

AND DON"T TELL ANYONE WHEN SOMETHING WORKS!!!!

[Chicane]

Hi ya
 you made me laugh this morning! Its always best to assume that nothing is ever going to work EVER! Only joking, kind of.

At the moment I am doing morning A of 3.5 to 3.45, the next A is 3.45 and then evening A 3 more or less. Sometimes I get extreme tired signs at the 3 hr 30 min mark and just put him down. Its a work in progress. We had 3 NWs last night but then he didn't eat his dinner because he was too cranky because we had to go sort out the mobile phones at the time he usually has his solids...so who knows?

What is your day looking like at the moment?

[stevesmum]

Well - my experimentation....hehhehehe.... worked well last night, I actually paid attention when he woke - which was twice. He wasn't fully awake even, just crying out cos he couldn't find his dummy - put it in his reach and voila shh sleeping baby! As for this morning, got called out of the house so o'stim I guess and only half hour... Chicane I think you asked about this and today I tried to then keep him up until his usual sleep at 2 but could only make it to 1 - by then he was too tired to eat even and fell asleep for half hour again - his cold's not great either but he's got chest rub and the vaporiser and is warm so I can't do much else there. I'm going to see if I can steal another half hour somewhere before bed - i'll wait for him but won't put him down after 5 - just start btime ritual then - and in bed by 6 not 7 today.

Why is it that when it works it gives a false sense of achievement??? A friend asked if I'd ever felt like a failure - and I honestly replied "Only since becoming a  mum!!" But I love it, and it's worth every second.......

how's things at your house....I'm relieved to see that your bubba can do 3hr +   I thought I mighta been pushing mine a little but he's not alone it seems...

Thanks again for your help!

[Chicane]

Why is it that when it works it gives a false sense of achievement???

Have you learned nothing, Stevesmum, from my caustic yet realistic sense of sarcastic world view? Hope, in motherhood, is futile. Abandon such useless and disheartening habits immediately!

The good thing about babyhood is that they have no memory of our fumblings....

things were good for us last night but i don't want to say anything in case I jinx myself

xxx

[stevesmum]

yep, don't jinx it now.... though from experience you definitely have.... oh, it'll fall apart after you breath that relaxing sigh of relief!

oh, at least I'll know he'll talk about me on oprah one day....hahaha ...yep, why i am the way i am - thanks to my mum
!!!!
hehehehe

[kaynay]

hey steves mum i saw on the other post we were chatting about food amounts that you had a 5 am bf then right back to sleep for a 7ish am start...we too have this and you were thinking to cut that out what are you tactics for that i think that 5 am for us will be the hardest to cut out if he has slept all night and woke i tried a few times to leave him to 6-630 but he was ready for me to come and get him some mornings he wakes at 5 some at 530 and some just after 6---i found that if it is before 545 he will eat and go back to sleep but after 6 he is more ready to start the day and thus a long A time before 1st nap...hoping this 5amish bf tapers off because we too barely feed on waking its more a top on then solids shortly after...1st nap doesnt seem to be affect though due to hunger...thoughts?

[empowered mama]

this is such a great thread - I love the realistic/pessimistic view of baby sleep.  Makes me feel like I'm not living in a delusional world of thinking my baby will sleep for once, hah!

we sadly are in the same boat as well.  High As, EWs as all get out, and even some PM nap refusals, argh!  Oh, and let's not forget the lovely side dish of early NWs.  What a delicious combo!

might tag along on this ride with you all....we are in it together!

[sparrow]

EM, I have followed your thread as well... my lo is now 8 months and has many similar tendencies as your little ham bone... wanted to mention to you that a NW shortly after bed time is always OT for us.  It's the one thing I can be sure of.  They're the absolute worst for us.  They're the times when my daughter cries the most and is hardest to settle back down.

Things here are as unpredictable as ever.  A times just aren't consistent, especially the morning one.  But we're getting mostly good naps, and for the last few days we've had some post-6 a.m. wake ups.  We recently realized lo needed at least 3h30, and lately it's 3h45 that gets us the longest naps.  HOWEVER, get this.  This morning she passed out in the car at the 2h30 mark.  After a moment of dismay I accepted that we'd just have a short nap and get over it... but I transfered her to her crib and she miraculously didn't wake up, then she slept 1.5 hours!!!  I could have bet a lot of money that she wouldn't have made it to the crib, let alone slept more than 20 minutes on such a short A time.

So, this was a big lesson for me that babies are going to do their thing and as soon as I start to think I can predict anything she'll just prove me wrong! 

[Chicane]

So, this was a big lesson for me that babies are going to do their thing and as soon as I start to think I can predict anything she'll just prove me wrong!

We should have this tattooed to the inside of our eyelids! Okay, at least maybe write it down somewhere because it is the truest things I have read in a long time!

Babies are natural Buddhists. They are only ever in the present moment - and its a good lesson for us all...to relax and just try to be in each moment as they happen.

(sheesh - sorry to get cheesy on you but its true!)

[sparrow]

So, so so true Chicane.  One of the first things I realized when my daughter was born was how much she was helping me to be in the present with her.  I've been thinking about this sort of thing a lot lately.  On the one hand I'm glad I learned about BW strategies.  My daughter sleeps more and has better feeds because of it.  On the other hand I recognize how easy it is to slip into obsessing over the routine and the timing way too much.  It's been 2 months since we started using some BW ideas and I'm just now beginning to feel like a balance is being struck between our former chaotic, routine-less life and it's opposite, obsessing over timing.  

She still wakes twice a night and I still BF her both times.  She often wakes very early but it's totally up to me whether I get in a foul mood over it.  Sometimes early mornings are really peaceful and nice.... (this is my most peaceful self talking here haha sometimes I hate them).  If she short naps, we're getting pretty good at recovering with the second one.  I could look at these as problems, but it's WAY better than it was 2 months ago and who's to say what my baby "should" be doing, just because she's 8 months old.

It's good to just take a step back from it all and realize it's just one day and it's all good!