5 mo bad napper had a routine now lost ???

[annette.xx]

Hey there!

so glad you had a great weekend! Im on hols next week and feeling worried but Im sure I will cope!

anyway my plan has been going a bit haywire so not so sure now!!

Im wondering whether to just use the A times recommended as age appropriate using the shorter one before the am nap or shorter naps and the longer one for after long naps (as first A time is usually supposed to be the shortest?) and then sticking to a short first nap 45 mins works best for me - this would mean a shortened second A time as well to allow for the shorter first nap but then would hopefully get me a decent pm nap then the next A after that would be the longest full A time - so if the pm nap is a long one and that would mean catnap ends up too late (i.e after 5pm) then I would just not do it and make bedtime 15/30 mins earlier unless really rubbish naps then even earlier!!...

so it could be this;

wake 7 (I wish!!)
nap - 9 - 9.45
nap - 11.45 - 1.45
nap - 4.15 - 5
bed - 7

or this

wake 7
nap - 9 - 9.45
nap - 11.45 - 2.45 (never going to happen but I can dream!!!!)
bed - 6.30

or this

wake 7
nap 9 - 9.45
nap 11.45 - 12.45
nap 3.15 - 4
bed 6.30

or even this!!

wake 7
nap 9 - 9.45
nap 11.45 - 12.30
nap 2.30 - 3.30
bed 6pm

im just soooooo frustrated being stuck in the house for naps so am nap im going to make short so I can always get out - its only fair on DD bless her she needs to go out and have fun!

Annette.xx

[shresmummy]

Hey. Annette that sounds like a good plan.I'm having such bad luck with my am naps these days. I have no hope! He has been going to sleep ok but waking really soon fussing. It's either hunger or something else weird. It completely messes up the day. Yesterday he did it after 25 mins today it was 10 mins.

I am now feeding him and he seems to be feeding ok. Before he used to feed at 6 then go back to sleep till 7 and be ok without a top up when he wakes.  Then his next feed was 10:30. But maybe he needs it now.perhaps a gs? but he is so distracted when he wakes he wont feed properly anyway! It's so hard.now he has gone back to sleep while feeding. Oh dear another day of ap. When will he ever sort himself out?!!

[*Kara*]

Annette - I wouldn't force a short nap in the morning, you will get an OT baby by second nap and you won't get the longer nap you are hoping for  

For those about to force the dropping of the CN.  LO has to be able to handle a 3 hour A time... if he/she can, then go ahead and give it a shot!  It does take a few days to a week for them to adjust though... be warned that you will have a cranky baby for a bit while their body adjusts   When I did it, I moved BT from 730 to 7pm.  Our longest A time was 3 hours

[annette.xx]

oh priya thats such a shame about the am nap going wrong - I hate it when the am nap goes wrong!

what sort of wake ups are you getting? Im soooo frustrated with my start of day always being at a different time - somedays I get EW at 5.30 which I then have longer to get him back down other days its 6am or 6.30 and sometimes if im really lucky I get 7am but very rarely!

Kara - I dont get the needing 3 hrs A time to drop catnap - well I do get it I just dont see how that will ever come about for me when my DS needs his first nap always after a shorter A time! will I ever get there?!!

Annette.xx

[j.and.e]

We have got gs and crawling. Ugh. Will i ever get a nite sleep? Xx

[*Kara*]

You will get night sleep - when baby is no longer a baby

Annette - You will get there!  They don't have to be able to be awake 3 hr for first A, but they will have a 3-4 hr A at some point in the day

[j.and.e]

Yes, night sleep 1day. My 2.5yo still wakes sometimes. Y'day ds1 woke at 5.30 but ds2 slept in till 6.30! Today they both had a lie in til 7, but i had to do a 3.30 nf (has managed without since 4mo)... Everyday is different here xx

[shresmummy]

I have hit rock bottom here! I don't know what else to do.this afternoon me dd and ds all were crying at the same time! For the past few days his naps are ll over the place. He has only taken 3 45min naps all day. We have nw,ew and last night he was up playing from 2-3:45! His waking at the pm nap has made dd skip her nap entirely for 2 days in a row for the first ever. I am petrified that she will get ot and I can't deal with both up at
night. No matter what a time itry the am nap is short.   Seriously what do I have left to try? 2.75 h for the m nap? Nothing else seems to be working anyway!

[annette.xx]

oh Priya I really feel for you...

you know I reckon you might have the same situation I had where the am nap started getting shorter so I kept pushing when infact it was the opposite I needed to do - my best A time for am nap seems to be between 1hr 45 and 2 hrs - anymore then I get a 45 min nap... I have a theory for the madness...here goes...

when we pushed them to stop the short napping they napped longer because with the 2.25 - 2.5 hr A time they were over overtired (if that makes sense!!) what I mean is that they were so tired that they were able to do another sleep cycle cos they fell into more of a deep sleep but then as they got a little older they are just overtired and not overly overtired so now just wake up at the 40 min mark cos they were OT but not enough to send them into that deep sleep...so by cutting down the A time now you might just find that actually its easier to get a longer am nap after a shorter A time cos they wont be OT with the 2hr A time anymore...

I know thats probably the most confusing advice ever huh!!! but I now know that when I used to put my DS down at 2hrs A time and he short napped the reason he did was because he wasnt developly ready for it yet and infact not ready for such a long A time first thing...I kept pushing am A time out to get a long am nap and as I got nearer to 2 1/2 hrs yes I got a 1hr 30 nap but he would always wake crying and be a bit grumpy in next A time...

ive since been reading alot on the internet and ive read that the first A time should be between 15 - 60 mins shorter than all other A times...

so my advice is stick to the recommended age appropriate A times - 5 months is 2hrs to 2 1/4 hrs so I would do 1hr 50 max in cot for first nap so sleep stage 1 is happening by 2hrs  and then allow a nap of upto 2 hrs then do maximum 2hrs 15 for all other A times...

as they are soon going to be 6 months then it goes from 2hrs 15 at first half of month upto 2hrs 30 by second half so I would leave first A at 2 hrs and aim to push pm A time out to 2hrs 30 by 7 months....

apparantly around 8 months is when they start to naturally get into a 2,3,4 schedule so am nap stays after the 2 hrs maybe 2.5hrs then the pm nap starts after 3 hrs then 4 hrs till bed...this is what im aiming to do - if I ever get there!!!

im beginning to realise that all this is developmental and its just a waiting game until they can manage longer A times!...its sooooo frustrating though - such a guessing game!

oh and just as an example - 2 wks ago I was on 2hrs 15/30 A time and getting 1 1/2 hr naps - they started getting shorter so now im on 1hr 45/2 hrs A time and today had 1hr 45 A time before 1hr 30 am nap - woke him to go shops he was grouchy cos he wanted to sleep longer!! then pm nap had 2hrs 15 A time (cos I got back late!) and he was clearly slightly OT as rubbing his eyes at 2hrs - napped 1hr 30 - think if id done 15 mins less A time that he woluld have napped 2 hrs...never mind!!!

I really hope it gets better for you and please dont be scared to pull that first A time back in!!!

Annette.xx

[*Kara*]

I hate to admit it, but I am the last one to give advice right now... DD' s napping has gone to $h!t in the last few weeks... ugh.

[shresmummy]

I will try anything! I am so desperate! Again we had the same problem. He is now 6 months as of 3 days ago. I took him in at 2h 15 mins a time today. He was not showing any tired signs at all. He screamed his head off and then had a 50 min nap and woke at 9:40 which sucked cos the earliest I could put him back down after picking up dd from pre school was. 12:30. He went down without a peep. Then I raced around put dd for a nap before he could disrupt it again today. Then while he was sleeping I stuck him in the sling. I may not have needed to cos he was still asleep. But today I wasn't in a mood to wait and find out! I needed them both to sleep!!

I was reading some of my old posts from 2 years ago with dd ad her napping issues. By 7 months she was on 3 hr - time fr the morning that was the only way she had a content good nap. But right now I think ds is so far into ot nap land I am going to cut back to 2 hrs on the weekend and see what happens!

Kara sorry to hear that you dd has started playing around! Oh no! In your case do you think it might be testing or needing more a time?

[shresmummy]

I found the link to my oooold post about dd and the 3-2 transition if anyone is interested. It was started by another lady but her problems got solved thankfully whereas I continued for several months!! But please feel free to ignore it! I thought it may help cos I too re-remembered a few thing while reading it again!

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=147435.0

[shresmummy]

I am so deep in such a mess I don't knowhow to. Get out or what to do.can someone pleas help?he is waking up around 5:45 which I guess is not really an ew cos  he is having only 3 short naps in the day and no matter what a time I try h refuses to resettle even in the sling. The day keeps getting earlier and earlier and I don't know how mMuch earlier I can do bedtime.

Yesterday was a mess! He woke at 5:45 I tried to put him to nap at 8:10 when he started fussing. And that too was in the sling to apop and catchup. But he woke at 8:45 and refused to resettle! Absolutely protested. Then he was up till nearly 11:25 because I ad to do things for dd too. But funnily he went down without a peep in the sling and slept till 1. Not great but something. Then he fell asleep during his feed from 2:15-2:45 and I let him. But then e refused to cn and I had to do as early a bt a I could. Tried from 5;45 but e was unsettled till 9! Yuck! Woke several times. Then only 1 , 3 but was up at 5;35!

Help me! Each day is starting earlier and earlier! And his short napping and refusal to resettle is not helping. I am o lost. What should I do? How do I fix it?

[j.and.e]

am also strugling. Last 2nites he setld well with a long windown but we had 3nfs 9.15, 12.30, 2.30 and up at 6.30. Fed at 6.30 and 7.30. I offerd him a banana at 8.30 cos he was climbing up me trying to get another feed! Dont know whats going on here. I put him down at 9.20 after 2:50 and he setld well and is still asleep 1.5hrs later xx

[NikNik]

Hi ladies,
Sounds like we are all in the same boat, but I am only dealing with one LO so I feel like I have no excuse. I have no advice- our routine which was looking so promising has gone downhill so fast. In last 3 days she has refused 2 regular naps and I tried for the full 40 minutes recommended. Ugh! I feel like I will never get her A time right! Then today after a total of 1 hour 45 minutes total of sleep, she went down to bed without so much as a peep and I haven't heard from her since (3 hours later). Makes me question what I am doing and if it is right for my baby or am I just trying to force her to sleep Maybe she needs more A time but do I outright just ignore yawning and eye rubbing? I will leave it there as I have a more detailed post on a different thread.  Hope we all get some sleep tonight!