5mo and late afternoon catnap......when to cut it out???

[slparks]

Hi,  my trouble recently is that my 5mo DS's schedule is not really allowing for the evening catnap, and when it does he doesn't seem tired enough to fall asleep within the window for the nap.

Here's our EASY:
E - 5:30 or 6:00 am 7 oz - I treat this as a night feed and put him back to bed.  He generally wakes at 7:30 - 7:45 am
E - 8:00 am - rice cereal 1 tsp
A
S - 10:00 am to 11:00 am
E - 11:00 am -7 oz
A
S - 1:00/2:00 pm to 3:00/4:00 pm
E - 3:00 or 4:00 pm 7 oz
E - 4:30/5:00 pm - rice cereal 1 tsp
A
E - 7:15 pm 7 oz
S - In bed at 7:30 pm
E - 10:30 pm dreamfeed 5 oz

So, I am finding that when he naps until 3:00 pm in the afternoon, then he could have a 30 min snooze at 5:00 pm and prob still be tired enough to go to bed at 7:30 pm, but I find that I can't get him to nap at that time.  When he naps unti 4:00 pm in afternoon, then there really is no time for him to nap because he doesn't get tired enough to fall asleep until about 6:00-6:30 pm, but that is too close to bedtime.  So lately, I have been just keeping him up until bedtime, but that makes for a rough bedtime because he is overtired by then.  It takes longer for him to settle, and he is likely to wake up and fuss between bedtime and df when he is overtired.

Anyone has insight?

[~Karen~]

Hi, here's the link about dropping the catnap.  Tracey says to drop it about 6 months but some babies will be a bit before and some a bit after

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64837.0

You could try making the catnap a bit later and shorter to stop him getting too tired for bedtime.  You could also cut back the second nap to ensure he has a catnap.  Might just need to play around a bit and find out what works 

[~Emma~]

Most LO's are notorious for not taking taking the CN. My LO rarely does Either but I do think it is the most important nap of the day in many respects, it saves the OT bedtimes which can lead to night waking.

 Just look upon the the nap as a freebie by using AP, it wont cause damage to your sleep traning as its dropped soon anyways. Thats what I always did with DS. DD proves a little more difficult as she doesn't respond to AP! 

[slparks]

Thanks ladies!  I feel like I'm not alone in this transitional phase.  I think I will try to continue the CN, but make it a little shorter and I might try to get him to do it in his swing........the most likely place he will fall asleep.