Hmmm 40 minute happy waking nap????

[Bex09]

Hi, well it took us 6 months to get my DD to nap for longer than 40 minutes (she is now 8 months). She went onto a PPI for her reflux and ever since then her naps have generally been much better. We tweaked our EASY with help on here and have been getting 2 x 1.5h naps most days and pretty good nights too.

Then today (on exactly the same routine as everyday) we got a random 40 minute pm nap with a happy waking and no chance of extending. We even went out in the car to see if that would extend her nap... but no. Any ideas what could have caused this? She has been struggling with teething but has seemed much better today so don't think it was that. She is doing 3h morning A time and 3.5h in the afternoon and this has been working great. Any thoughts? I am a bit stumped. Maybe it was just a one off... I hope so.

[~Karen~]

I wouldn't worry too much for today as it may just be a one off.  I found at times with ds2 that he'd have a couple of days of shorter napping and then just sort himself out again without me actually having to do anything.  See how she goes over the next few days to see if she gets back on track 

[Bex09]

Thanks, I am probably just worrying because of her past history of awful napping! Will see what tomorrow brings.

[Bex09]

OK so today we had a 45 minute am nap and a 35 minute pm nap, had to fit a 10 min catnap in before BT and now she won't go to sleep! Having an awful time with her. Things are not looking good. Both wakings were happy enough and no chance of extending at all. Any ideas?

[~Karen~]

Can you post her EASY for the last couple of days and I'll have a look.

[Bex09]

Hi and thanks. Yesterday was the same as most of our days except for the 40 min pm nap. It went...

Wake 6.30am play in cot until 7.00
E- 7.15 bottle  8.15 solids
A- 3h
S- 9.30-11.00 (1.5h)
E-11.15 bottle  12.30pm solids
A- 3.5h
S- 2.30-3.10 (40 mins)
E- 4.00 bottle  5.15 solids
A- 3h 50
E- 6.45 bottle
S- 7.00

Today was a disaster so not sure it is worth looking at, it went...

Wake 6.20am play in cot until 6.50
E- 7.15 bottle  8.15 solids
A- 3h
S- 9.20-10.05 (45 mins)
E-11.15 bottle  12.30pm solids
A- 3h 15
S- 1.20-1.55 (35 mins)
E- 4.00 bottle
A- 3h 5
S- 5.00-5.10 (10 mins in the car)
E- 5.30 solids
A- 2h 55
E- 7.15 bottle
S- 8.05 (took 35 mins to get her to sleep) She has already woken twice in an hour!

Any thing jump out? TIA.

[~Karen~]

She may be in a bit of an OT cycle now so you could try putting her down a bit earlier for her am nap and see how she gets on and plan the rest of the day from there.  How was her night last night?  Did you get any OT nw? 

Is she teething at all?  She might be ready for a routine tweek and need longer A times.  Have a look at some example routines for her age and also a read of when sleep goes wrong at 10/11 months.  I know she's a bit younger than that but some babies reach the start of the 2-1 transition younger than others and you made need to start capping one of her naps now in order to get a longer second one.

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=164030.0
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=95670.0

[Bex09]

Thanks Karen, I had thought the same about a shift in A times or an early shift toward 2:1. Will have to get her back on track first and out of OT. We had the 2 NWs early in the evening last night (before 10pm) and then not a peep until 6.10am when she was then awake for the day. Not a good amount of night sleep though when she didn't go to sleep last night until gone 8pm and usually does an 11-11.5h night. Plus had crappy naps yesterday too.

She seems to be teething on and off all the time recently. I can usually tell by her dribbling, rash and red cheeks though and she hasn't had this the past couple of days.

Interestingly she still went down for her am nap after 3h A time, I hadn't read your reply by then and DP was looking after her. She was absolutely shattered by the time I put her down but that was 1h ago and so far she is still asleep! I thought we would have a short OT nap for sure. Makes me wonder if she is using her 1st nap to catch up on NT sleep. It says that in the 2:1 link that you posted.

Will see what today brings and let you know. Thanks so much.

[Bex09]

Hi I am back again! Well we are still getting random short naps some days and it is throwing us right off track. I have increased her morning A time just by 15 minutes and this seemed to have worked for a few days, then the short naps returned. What is tending to happen is that she takes 1 long and 1 short nap each day, so today we had a 40 minute am nap and a 1h 50 pm nap. Then yesterday we had a 1h 45 am nap and a 35 minute pm nap. If she has a good night then it is the morning nap that is short and if she has a bad night then it is the pm nap that is short. Then some days we get 2 lovely long 1.5h naps! Very confussing as I always keep her A times the same (unless it is after a short nap).

Does this sound like 2:1 transition? Already?? The problem is that she can't handle the longer A times that need to go with the kind of days we are having so by BT she is always either OT or UT! She is a nightmare to put down for bed at the minute. Any ideas? TIA.

[~Karen~]

She does seem a bit young but knowing that there are babies on here who have gone to one nap at 10 months then it is possible.  Is she low sleep needs?  How much A time is she doing?  If she's having a good night and a 40 min am nap then that may an UT nap and you may need to increase A time a bit more. 

[Bex09]

She is currently doing 3h 15 A time in the morning and then if her morning nap was good she does 3.5h A time in the afternoon and anywhere between 3 and 4 h A time to bed! I need to work out which A time is best to BT as I really can't get this right at the minute.

What is throwing me is that it is so random that on the same A time one day she has a great nap and then other days she doesn't. I do suspect she is low sleep needs as she has never been a good daytime sleeper, even as a newborn she was awake for much longer than she should have been. She sleeps anything from 10.5-11.5 hrs at night.

[~Karen~]

Have you tired putting her to bed early and keeping the last A time short when she has a short pm nap?  If she's getting a bit OT then an early bedtime might help her catch up on sleep.

[Bex09]

I haven't really ever gone for BT earlier than about 6.40. I know that if she has a short pm nap and it finishes at say 3pm then BT should be no later than 6pm really, but I find it so hard to fit everything in then, like bath and tea, etc. I must try harder though as otherwise we get into an OT loop. Think aswell I always worry what if she did a 10.5h night from a 6pm BT? I couldn't handle a 4.30am wake up call!

[~Karen~]

That can obviously happen but when I had ds1 doing that I could usually get him back down and extend the night sleep.  I even had him in bed at 530pm a couple of times and he woke at 530am the next morning.  This was his usual wake up time so at least he had a 12 hour night if he was waking up that early anyway.  I'm doing 6pm bedtimes with ds2 a lot right now as we're going through the 2-1 transition and on no nap days he's in bed by then. 

It's worth a shot anyway as it's usually the best way to get them to get extra sleep if they're not napping for long enough. 

[Bex09]

Ok thanks so much for your help. I will give it a go if we have another bad nap day and see what happens. Maybe better NT sleep will help to get our naps back on track then too.