19 week old naps - I'm at my wits end!

[lilasmum]

Hi all

I have a 19 week old daughter who has been a catnapper since probably around 2 months.  I've been working with her on the advice of Tresillian to get her to extend her naps by resettling when she wakes after 45 mins.  Her naps seemed to be lengthening to an hour and she was able to be resettled 90% of the time.  But lately, I don't know what is going wrong!??!  She is teething and one tooth has broken through with the one next to it now far away but she seems happy enough in herself so I am not sure if this affects her sleep?

She is at her happiest when she sleeps for 1.5 - 2 hours but this isn't happening lately.  This morning she has had two naps of 30 mins and 20 mins with at least that much in resettling time.   

We have been doing EASY since day dot almost and she is fed 4 hourly.

Wake - 6am
Feed - 630am
Sleep - 8am (this rarely happens and she is usually in bed by 730am as she gets so grouchy).  If I am lucky she will sleep til 9 and I will be able to resettle her and she will sleep til 10ish.  Today, she has been awake since 9.45 after her 20 min nap.
Feed - 10am
Sleep - 1130pm (I try to hold her til 12 but again, she gets so grouchy).  We are usually out and about at this time and she sleeps in her pram for 2 x 45 min lots.
Feed - 2pm
Sleep - This depends on her midday sleep.  I try to hold her out til 4 and she sleeps til just before 5 which is good for us and makes her able to last til bedtime.
Bedtime routine starts at 5.15 - bath, feed and bed.  She is generally asleep by 6.15 most nights and had been sleeping through for a month or so but I think the teeth have been waking her for the past week. 

From what I have read on here, maybe I need to persevere and keep her awake for 2 hours before each nap?  I have no idea and am totally desperate.

Thanks in advance!

[eshea]

Hi lilasmum - sorry to hear it's been rocky!  So she's over 4 months or so, yes?  I remember things going a bit crazy around that time.  They can handle more A time but it's hard to figure just how much!  Someone with better advice than me will hopefully take a look, but maybe taking a day to just let her dicate the routine would help?  Instead of holding her off, can you follow her cues and see where she takes you?  Might go totally awful, but in my experience having a day to "reset the clock" so to speak seemed to help me out. 

Are her nights pretty good?  Is she crabby in the morning from lots of NW?

[creations]

Hi there and welcome to BW

The teething certainly can disturb sleep even if she seems happy when awake, there is so much distraction when awake but when rousing or transitioning from one sleep cycle to another the discomfort can seem amplified.

2hrs A time is good to work towards as you approach 5 months and it could help to lengthen those 45 min naps (they look like UT naps), however I would hold off for another couple of days until the teeth calm down as the 20 and 30 min naps are more like either pain or OT related.

This is a useful link for the coming months
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64158.0

hth x

[lilasmum]

Hi lilasmum - sorry to hear it's been rocky!  So she's over 4 months or so, yes?  I remember things going a bit crazy around that time.  They can handle more A time but it's hard to figure just how much!  Someone with better advice than me will hopefully take a look, but maybe taking a day to just let her dicate the routine would help?  Instead of holding her off, can you follow her cues and see where she takes you?  Might go totally awful, but in my experience having a day to "reset the clock" so to speak seemed to help me out. 

Are her nights pretty good?  Is she crabby in the morning from lots of NW?

Her nights had been great - she was doing 6.30-6.30 with very little waking.  I think I had to give her the dummy twice in a month.  It all went a bit haywire with her teeth though and a few nights ago, we were up every hour from 11.30.  Knock on wood though, we have since had two good nights so maybe (just maybe!) she is on the mend?  She isn't crabby in the mornings but I do notice that she needs to go down for her 1st nap alot earlier if she has a bad night.

[lilasmum]

Hi there and welcome to BW

The teething certainly can disturb sleep even if she seems happy when awake, there is so much distraction when awake but when rousing or transitioning from one sleep cycle to another the discomfort can seem amplified.

2hrs A time is good to work towards as you approach 5 months and it could help to lengthen those 45 min naps (they look like UT naps), however I would hold off for another couple of days until the teeth calm down as the 20 and 30 min naps are more like either pain or OT related.

This is a useful link for the coming months
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64158.0

Thank you for your reply.  Do you suggest working in 10 minute increments up to 2 hours AT?  How often do I move up another time increment if that makes sense?  Do I stay at 1 hr 40 for a week and then go up to 1 hr 50?
hth x

[creations]

Yes whenever you increase A time you would go in increments to allow LO's body clock to adjust.  It depends how well your LO adapts something like 10 or 15 mins every 2 or 3 days is OK.

Also though I notice on your EASY that (it seems) you are counting A time from the E.  A time is anything that is not S, therefore it begins the moment LO wakes up and ends the moment she is asleep.
On your EASY she wakes at 6am and sleeps at 8am, this is a 2hr A time.  Possibly too much for her just yet.
The nap looks like 8am to 9am, a resettle then a further 20 mins, so 1hr 20 (broken)? and followed by a 1hr 45 min A time.  Trying to hold her off until 12 would again mean a very long A time for her age.

hope this helps

[lilasmum]

Thanks again for your responses!