Extending awake times and achieving a longer morning nap!!

[Blueberry80]

Hi there,
I'm not really sure if I'm posting in the right place for this, please let me know if it should be somewhere else!

We have a 6 month old little boy called Ethan. We have been doing EASY since he was a few weeks old, but I've never really worked out his optimum awake time... At the moment our days going something like this:

7.30am Awake, feed bottle + solids
9.30am Nap
10.05am awake
Midday Nap in pram while I run errands (I go out in the pram with him when he's been awake for 1 hour 30 mins, but it takes him about 30 mins to drop off)
12.45 Awake, feed bottle + solids
2.15pm Nap
3.45pm Awake, feed bottle + solids
5.15pm catnap
6pm Awake
7pm Bath
7.30pm Bottle, bed

He invariably wakes after 45 mins after I've put him down for the night. Then he wakes for a bottle around midnight/1am and at the moment wakes frequently for the dummy after this.

I have never been able to get him to nap for longer than 35/40 mins in the morning, no matter how long/short the awake time is, so I've sort of gone with it and he has two short naps instead. However, I think he can be awake for longer than 2 hours in the morning, but when I've had him up for 2 hours 20 mins, he was overtired and only napped for 30 mins (an overtired nap I think).

Also, he used to sleep through the night and wake for one feed, but all that changed at 4 months when he started to wake a lot more, mostly for the dummy. He doesn't wake crying, just chatting, but these wakings can be extremely frequent... I still only feed him once during the night.

How do I extend his awake time? And do you think I'll be able to get him nap longer in the morning? Any other advice about our routine would also be appreciated!!

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this!!

Best wishes
Chrissy

[*Becky*]

Hi there,
OK well at this age you are looking at around 2.5 A time so I would def start pushing out that first A. Maybe try 2.15 to start and keep the last 10 mins very low key. 35 mins is often an UT nap. Also bear in mind that it may not work the first day so just stick with 2.15 for a few days to see whether it is helping.
At this age lo's are on 3 naps and some start dropping down to 2 so it is time to get rid of one of those naps for sure.
Waking up chatting in the night is also a sign of UT and that his A time needs stretching out. I personally would just go to 3 naps now and stick with it.
I would also cap the CN at 30 mins max so bring his W/U time forward to 5.45pm and see if that helps.

[Blueberry80]

Thank you so much for your reply! I'll have a go tomorrow and see what happens!

[Blueberry80]

Hi there,
Tried 2hrs 15 mins and he woke up happy at 35 mins, so I'm guessing undertired? Shall I try 2 hrs 30 mins tomorrow morning and see what happens? Also, how long should I keep him awake after a 35 min nap?

Thanks so much!

Chrissy

[*Becky*]

yes I would try 2.5 but then stick to that for a few days regardless of short naps as it can take a few days for them to adjust to new times. If we got a short nap I usually took 30 mins off the normal A time.