3 months EASY troubles

[RachelC]

It gets hard to figure out... if only these kids would just come with instructions, or just read the BW books themselves and follow them 

[kitcat]

I'm all for an instruction manual...

She is down and the first nap of the day is good. Unfortunately today I need to run some errands for the second cycle (so is life) which will impact the rest of the day and mostlikely require a lot of effort to ger her down for the last two naps. I will give the longer A time a try on Sunday or Tuesday next week. Unfortunately, we will be out and about for most of the weekend...

[kitcat]

I'm thinking you may be right... So this morning we did a good nap from 8 to 9:30 when I woke her and ran errands until 1pm... She had a couple little naps on the go but nothing that lasted longer than 30 minutes. I fed her at her usual times and put her down when we got home after her 1pm feed. It took almost 40 minutes of shh pats but she eventually fell asleep and has been down for just over 2h. How can she pass out like that and be so sensitive when I try a regular day..

I'll come back and report on that longer second A soon.

Thanks.
Cat

[kitcat]

Ok so I tried it this morning.

Awake 7:05
E 7:30
A until 8:35
S 8:35 to 11 (I woke)

E 11:30
A until 12:45
S still sleeping and it has been one hour...

So I guess the 30 minutes are not always UT... Any suggestions for the next A? Also, should I change the first A to 1:45?

Maybe we are getting on track

[Jiinx]

Hi Cat
 Glad things are going somehwat better!
 I think the first A time looks good. The second A time looks great too! Is she on 3 naps or 4?

 Just a thought..I would limit her first nap to 2 hours just so it doesn't rob from her night

 Depending on her nap...I would keep her A time to 1 hr 45 - 50.

[kitcat]

We are still doing 4 naps most days but it is rare that they are all 'good'. On a couple of occasions we have managed with 3 though... I usually cut naps after 2h except on some occasions like today when I know we will be out and she will miss out on another nap or have to do a catnap in the car.... Am I still better to cut the nap when I know the remaining ones may be on the go???

So theoretically I could aim for:

Awake 7

E 7:00
A
S 8:30 - 10:30

E 10:30
A
S 12:15 - 2:15

E 2:15
A
S 4:00-5:30

E 5:30
A
E 6:30
In bed by 7

DF at 11

So this would evolve to two 2h naps and one catnap as I would extend A times towards 2h...

[amayzie]

We don't cut naps at all really- for us it doesn't result in night wakings and means that it's ok if he only does short naps later. Even now he routinely does 2.5 hour naps. But that's totally up to your and how your LO works! And yes- head for 2 hours and the naps should work out as you describe.

[grahams333]

Hi KitCat,
I just joined this site and look forward to seeing how you resolve your scheduling dilemmas! I also have a son born 10-27 so probably pretty close to yours! One thing I've tried is if I lay my guy down and he just screams (Not the fussing winding down type of wimper but the protesting I'm NOT tired yet cry) I pick him up and bring him out to "observe" the family for about 15-20 min, just sitting in his highchair. I watch for other cues that he's tired then try to lay him down again. Generally then after 2-3 min he's OUT! We're also having shorter naps during the day but AWESOME nights. (Except last night...*sigh* but that's supply related) One other thing I'd suggest is to not worry too much about the predictable schedule! I'm not a flexible person by nature but becoming a mom is REALLY stretching me and I pretty much HAVE to be flexible with a young infant... This is my 3rd and for some reason the 3-5 month transition period is just plain chaos for us! =) So hard after having a really predictable baby for the first 3 months! Hang in there...

[kitcat]

Thanks for all the support.

Well I won't say that all is solved but we are well on our way. I had similar schedule/routine issues with my first and found that once I got on track it was easier to incorporate activities. Today was a bit of a mess since the am was a day out with the toddler for Family Day but we managed to get back on track with a long pm nap and a catnap. I'm a little curious, what is a good last A time after the catnap around 3.5/4 months. I recall that at some point if they get UT it is no better for my nights.

The nights are still only ok. I had two 4:40 wake-ups over the weekend but we regressed back to 3:15 last night. I think she was genuinely hungry since I tried putting her back in the crib after one side and she was livid... I guess I will continue to monitor and hope things settle on that end shortly... She is finding her fingers/thumb so maybe that will help her get back to sleep at night. She is still fully swaddled for day naps but only in a sleep sack at night.

[Jiinx]

I recall that at some point if they get UT it is no better for my nights.

Happy Family day
It depends on the child, I think. With mine, if she was UT she would sleep the entire night but wake up at ghastly hours chirpy and ready for the day.

I think the A time should be short and sweet after a short catnap. I think nothing more than an hour, I would imagine. It's just a bridge to connect the two As..so a catnap wouldn't sustain her as much as a regular nap.

Hope you had a lovely day

[kitcat]

Thanks. I will keep the last A short. We are doing a lot better so out of the OT cycle by bedtime most nights for now.

Also, nights have gotten a bit better. She is now waking anytime between 4 am and 5 am. I'm crossing my fingers that things will continue to improve.

[Jiinx]

so glad to hear that, Cat. I hope you have a nice night.

[grahams333]

Hi KitCat,

Just thinking about you and my LO. It seems that my son has been pretty OT and falling asleep while nursing... don't know why I hadn't put that into perspective. However I wanted to share my thoughts with you and what I tried today.
At his 1st wake up at 6:00, I fed 30 min and changed in dark and right back to bed. Awake to sleep pretty happy guy! (Total of maybe 45 min awake) (Generally I would have let him get up and start the day) He slept for 2 hours. He woke around 9:00 and I fed for 30 min, changed, calm play time for about 10 min then noticed he was burring his head in my chest. (50 min awake time) I took him straight upstairs and laid him on tummy and within 5 min he was out. (All on his own no fussing!) He's now been sleeping for 2 hours! He woke at 1 hour stirred but no crying and settled right back down. (I just watched) SO my guess at least for my little one and possibly yours is that shortening the A time would be better. Also watching out for over stimulation and overtired. Getting them to sleep before they're fussing/crying may make all the difference! However, we have a dr appt and I'll be waking him in a few to leave so the rest of the day will be messy...but I'll try again tomorrow when we're home!
Hope this helps you! =)

[amayzie]

Great job grahams 333- it's all about getting that A time right isn't it!! (and the little guys can be so sensitive to overstimulation hey!!)

[kitcat]

Hey I think overstimulation is a factor for sure for us. I have limited the use of the play gym and jolly jumper and it has made a difference. We also needed to increase our A times though. We are now around 1h45 and 1h50 and have gotten overall 1.5 to 2h naps most of the week (when we have been home...). I took advantage of the warm weather and went skiing on Tuesday which messed things up a little... Selvish Mom

We have been home and a great day Wednesday and relatively good today. Nights are also getting better with one feed between 4 and 5:30. She is still waking around 4:15 but if I give her some time she mantra cries off and on for about 20 minutes and goes back down for 40 minutes to an hour. It means less sleep for me but thinking that it is best to give her opportunity to resettle especially since it is a settling cry and she uses her fingers to get back to sleep... Crossing my fingers she will start to settle faster and faster.