LO's nap reduced from a lovely 2 hours to 1 hour 15 mins

[Padicindy]

Hi I am looking to tweak my LO's EASY to see if I could get the right A time for him. His EASY looks like this for the moment:

6+am: wake
7am: BF
8am: Solids
9.40am: nap
10.55am: wake
11.30am: BF
12.30pm: solids
1.45pm: nap
3pm: wake
5.15pm: Catnap(he may skip this if we are out and becomes quite wired)
6pm: BF
7pm: solids
7.30pm: bedtime

He sometimes STTN but recently stirs often in the night and sometimes cries. I suspect he's also teething, as he is exceptionally fussy when he is awake. So sometimes I get confused, always wondering if he is fussy because the 1 hr 15 mins nap ain't enough (since he used to do 2 hr naps and wld appear happier) or if he is in pain.

My LO is 6 months 2 weeks old.

[Padicindy]

I should also add that he was catnapping for 45 mins for a few days for his morning naps for a while when his nap was originally at 9.30am. Therefor I pushed it back to 9.40am. I am not sure if he can take a later nap time cos he gets quite fussy after 9.30am!

[ZacsMumme]

Ill pop back later, but on first glance your first  A time looks quite long, longer than my 8.5 month old has fir his first A time! Also if your LO isn't getting a restorative first nap his second A may need to be reduced.

Few questions...
When you say 6+ does he usually wake at ~6am?
Does he go down for his naps easily?
Does he wake from his naps happy, or clearly still tired - ie crying out, rubbing eyes etc.
On the days you skip the CN I would say 4.5 hours A is a very long last A for a 6.5 month old so he would be OT by BT. Have you tried giving your LO an earlier BT on these days? If so is he happier/sleeps more soundly through the night when you do this?
Is there anything developmental going on you think ie trying to crawl, roll, sit etc

Am I right your LO is on 3 feeds only already?

Teething messes with sleep too

(HUGS)  

[huntersmummyinoz]

if u think he is too tired to push out the first A time, you could try adding another 10/15mins to the second A time in hopes of getting a longer second nap and then no longer needing the catnap

 

[Padicindy]

Thanks for your responses ladies. I was getting discouraged cos LO did a 45 min nap for nap 2 again. Frustrating. 

To answer some of the questions:
He sometimes wakes at 6am Or 630am. 
If its a 1 hour 15mins nap He wakes up happy. If it's a 45mins nap he's definitely unhappy. 
Actually if he misses his Catnap we r usually out. If he's home he will take the Catnap usually. On days I notice he is OT I try to put him down earlier for bedtime, but it's anybody's guess whether he wakes. 
He is definitely trying to sit at this juncture. Well he did not roll very much as he's quite a big baby, 9.7kg. But the PD isn't too worked about him not rolling. 

Oh yes I miss a feed at 3.30pm when he wakes from his nap. So he has a total of 4 feeds and 2 to 3 solids. How many naps should he be taking now at 6 months? 

I guess I am hearing that he could be OT so he isn't sleeping well. Maybe teething is also messing things up. He is so fussy (and I have a 2 yr old daughter as well) they I feel so burnt out carrying for them. 

Shall try a shorter A time and see if he can catch up on his sleep. Maybe I should try getting him to bed strictly 2.5 to 2.75hr after he wakes? 

Would be happy to have more inputs. Am I the only one who has a baby who is perpetually fussy and unhappy though?

[Padicindy]

LO STTN last night (YAY!) from 7.30pm to this morning 7am, but had a meltdown (again) during breakfast. So by 9.10am he was so exhausted I put him down for his first nap. Again he took only 1 hour 15 mins and woke at 10.25am. However he seems pretty happy when he woke and was able to last a 3 hour for his 2nd A (he didn't seem tired and was laughing and playing with Daddy and my DD) so I put him down for his 2nd nap at 1.25pm. This time he woke up at the one hour mark and I tried all that I can to coax him back to sleep (rocked him and shhh pat). Its almost 4pm now and he is still sleeping. (Yay!)

So I am a bit confused. Does he need a shorter A time, or does he need a longer A time? He used to do 2.5 hours very comfortably and would clock 2 hours nap with his nap at 9.30am and 2pm. I even have to wake him up from his naps previously!

[huntersmummyinoz]

many LOs have a natural sleepy time around 9-10am and want to nap then so that is fine. and because he is a little UT for the nap it will become a little shorter and shorter over time. that is totally fine if that is what he wants and he gives you long second nap to get thru the day.

i suspect he has shortened his naps from UT so i would try for slightly longer second A time to get a nice long nap there. the 3hrs may be a nudge too long just yet so woke at 1hr OT. maybe try 2hr45 and see if that gets you a long nap without the waking.

LOs tend to drop the catnap around 6 to 8mths old. ds1 was on 2 naps at 8.5 mths old and ds2 decided the day he turned 6mths old that he was no longer taking a catnap, lol.

yay for the STTN

[Padicindy]

Thanks for your advice and today I saw some improvements! Am just hoping it'll last! His EASY looks something like this today:

7am: wake
10am: Nap (my bad, we went out for breakfast and returned home late as DD was playing at the playground)
1040am: Woke up crying
1.10pm: Nap 2
3.15pm: Woken up by DD (but he took a 2 hour nap!! Which was WONDERFUL and a first in 2 weeks!)
5.30pm: Catnapped in sling as we were out (which is difficult on most days in the last few weeks! So glad he took it!)
6.10pm: Wake
7.30pm: Bedtime

So I guess I can aim for a shorter A time for the morning nap and a longer one for the afternoon. Will see how tomorrow goes!!

[ZacsMumme]

Let us know how tomorrow goes, that afternoon nap looks lovely

[Padicindy]

Didn't work out quite as well today. He managed a 45 mins nap in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. He seems OT. Sigh. It's really challenging trying to fix his A time.

[Padicindy]

My LO's naps have now been reduced further to 45 mins. If he is on his tummy sleeping (been testing to see if he sleeps better that way since he has been weaned from his swaddle but doesn't seem to sleep well on his back). I feel so demoralized and wonder if I will ever get back the nice 2 hour naps ever again. it was just a month ago that he as napping all so nicely!

[Padicindy]

I forgot to add that he has also been having EWs of 545am in the last 3 days. He babbled to himself and doesn't fuss much till I pick him up at 7am though. I try to put him down to nap by 9am and still gives me a 45 mins nap. I am now also wondering if he is also trying to learn to sleep without the swaddle (I got rid of it when he started waking early in his naps cos it bothers him that he can't move much).

[ZacsMumme]

(HUGS) hun,

Can you re-post easy as it is now and hopefully get some fresh eyes on it.

[Padicindy]

Sorry for this late post. We've been going out a fair bit over the weekend so he hasn't been taking his naps at the usual time. Today we've been home and his EASY seems like this:

5.45am: wake (this is tricky as he sometimes goes quiet for a long while so I don't know if he fell back asleep or is playing quietly on his own!)
9.35am: nap (I wait till he is asleep and then flip him on tummy)
10.30am: wake (cried out loud and refused to go bk to sleep)
1.25pm: nap
3.30pm: wake (yay! Altho he did wake briefly to give a yelp before going bk to sleep)
5.50pm: Catnap in sling
6.15pm: wake
7.30pm: bedtime

Don't know why he is doing EW suddenly!

[ZacsMumme]

Could be the short A between the PM nap and CN? I would say your AM nap was a touch OT and your PM nap just right. Your CN may have been UT.  Other than that your routine looks quite good

Maybe try bringing the AM nap forward 10/15 mins and you may get a longer one. Then if you get two long naps you could try early BT of 6 or 6.30 and look at phasing out the CN...