Reducing A time after short nap- HELP PLEASE....quick quesiton

[vixter07]

Hi,
IF my LO wakes 45 minutes and I can't extend the nap how do I handle the next nap? She is 11 weeks old on a 3 hour EASY.
EG-
Wake 8:00am and E (5oz bottle)
Sleep 9:20-10:05 (tried but couldn't extend)

The next feed is at 11:00.
Do we put her down at 11:25 (1 hour 20 after she woke) or 10:55 (reduced A time by 30 minutes- but feed her before this)...or do I base her next Activity time as starting after she eats at 11 time and put her down at 12:20 or 11:50 (reduced by 30 minutes).

We started getting solely 1 hour naps when she was having A time of 1 hour-1hour 10 so have tried increasing A time to 1hr20..some of the naps are getting longer and some are still an hour and then some are 45 minutes when I can't extend well!

I am really trying to work on getting a good first nap as that seems to lay the framework for the whole day but if I can't get a good nap in the morning I really don't know what to do with the 2nd nap! Today was like this:
E 7:45
S-9:05-10:00 and couldn't extend
E- 10:35
S- 11:27-12:15 (right now)....guess I'll try to go extend.
These naps are so annoying and any advice would be great!

[jessmum46]

A time starts when she wakes up, so I would follow sleep cues but go for an A time a bit shorter than normal (there's no exact formula, unfortunately).  So waking at 10.05 I'd go for the next nap around 11.15, give or take.  Feed her a few mins early, change her nappy to avoid feed to sleep (ie short A time), then put her down . She's coming into the age where short naps are common, it's normal as she learns to transition through sleep cycles.  So some days will look like EASAEAS or even AEAS.  Both are fine, just separate the feed from sleep by a few mins and try to plan ahead if you can forsee an eat/sleep clash.  Hope that helps

[vixter07]

THanks! You wrote exactly what I was thinking...and I am okay with EASAE, etc but just was worried about ending up with OT or UT all day if I wasn't timing naps right (as I think her sleepy cues may be a bit off).
LO ended up settling herself and her 2 afternoon naps were great. I always have problems with the first nap! I watch her sleepy cues but they come so early (around an hour) and thought the short nap was a result of UT so have been trying to gently push her first A to around 1hour 20 but am still having mixed results I will keep working with this time for a few days and see what happens!

[jessmum46]

Good luck