Difficulty with EASY for 5 months old

[Ima shel Alon]

Every baby is different, so some will need 2.5h A time at this age and some will need 3h and more (DS needed way more than 3h at this age). The length of naps, the way he wakes up from them and NW give us signs if we increased enough A time or not. As long as naps are 45min-1:20h long and baby wakes kinda happy from them then A time is not enough and he is UT. When there are long NW that are chatty, no signs or pain or hunger, then it usually indicates as well UT.
Most babies go through the 3-2 transition at around 5-6m: All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months.

[Iryna_B]

Thank you for clarification! I see that we are not ready for 3-2 transition, my daughter hardly can stay 2 hr 30 min, after that she'll give my an OT nap, even less then 30 min.
However I have another question. I kind of confused now and don't where I'm going with increasing A time. So, I was trying to increase A time gradually. Last week I tried 2.20, now I'm trying 2.25. But this time is different throughout the day. Because once she wakes up from short nap, I try to make shorter A time, less then 2.25. Then again she had short nap and I make shorter A time again. It's hard to stick to 2.25, naps are still short.
And also in the morning she needs shorter A time, she can hardly stay 2 hrs. So we do about 2.10. Is this normal to make morning A time that short or I should still increase it? Last time she had a decent 1.30 min nap was 2 weeks ago after morning A time 2.10.
I'm really confused with the system. So far I have no idea what A time is good for us, since she still naps 30-40 min.

[Ima shel Alon]

BW is all about watching cues, right?
The thing is that when you tweak A times you kinda forget about them and just look at the clock.
If 2:10 gave you a good morning nap a couple of weeks ago I would go back to that and stick to it for 4 days. If after 4 days naps are UT (45min-1:20h long and baby wakes up content) then I would increase by 10min and stick to the new A time for 4 days. Only at the 4th day you can really see if the A times work because that's how long it takes babies to get used to a new A time.
It's always easier to focus on the first A time and the first nap, because like you say some babies need a shorter A time after a short nap. Once you get the first A time right and get 1.5-2h nap then you can continue with the rest of the A times.
Some babies are easier and adjust to a new A time quick and some need a bit more time, so the process of tweaking A time can seem to be taking long.

Does that help to clarify things?

[Iryna_B]

Thank you for clarification! Now I understand!
I've been observing first naps for a couple of day. I gave her about 2.10 A time and she slept only 36-37 min. Woke up crying, but PU/PD not always work. When I see that she is not going back to sleep, I don't proceed. Such a short nap is considered OT, right? But is this possible? Couple of weeks ago with this A time she gave me normal nap and now she sleeps even less then 45 min.

[Ima shel Alon]

It's hard to tell.
You could try and shorten the A time for a couple of days and see if she stats giving better first nap. If not then I would stick with 2:10h for 4 days and if naps are still short then I would consider it to be an UT nap and increase the A time.
Most babies wake up content from an UT nap and crying from an OT nap, but my DS ALWAYS to this day wakes up crying from naps, even if he slept 2-2.5h!

[Iryna_B]

Ok, thank you! Will try to do as you said. By the way, my daughter also almost always wakes up crying even if she had a long nap:)

[Iryna_B]

Hi Ima shel Anon,
It's been a while since I posted here. My daughter is almost 7 months old in a little more than a week. And for the last month I've been trying to determine what A time is best for her. And I had a success only one time when her nap was 1.15 min. At that time her A time was 2.30. And after she made that nap I considered it UT and decided to go up to 2.40. I'd better left it 2.30. Because the routine went all over the place. It was very difficult to keep her up 2.40, because sometimes she would wake up at 5 am and practice her rolling skills for an hour and then she'd go to sleep but for 40 min. So she wakes up at 6.40-7 and it seems like she cannot handle full 2.40 A time because she had that "pre -wake up" activity and then slept just a little bit. So I'd cut her A time. I don't know, maybe I should still keep her 2.40.
After all these efforts I could hold 2.40 for some days, but naps length were so different, I don't know in what direction should I move now.
For first 2 days she had A time 2.45 and had 45 min naps. On third day she 2.36 A time, but woke-up after 26 min. Then 3 days in a row she had 2.40, 2.42 and 2.43 A time, but naps were 50 min, 16 min and 30 min. So, i'm trying to understand If I should go up or go back to 2.30. What is your opinion?
I'm tired to stay on this particular A time, because I don't see anything good comes out of it and tomorrow I'm planning to go up to 2.50. Do you think this is the right idea?

[Ima shel Alon]

Yes, that's a great idea!
All your naps sound Ut to me and I believe that you will see a difference in her naps once she is on more age appropriate A times (Average A times- BOOKMARK ME! ).
I would do now 2.40h a time for 3 days and then go up to 2.50 and after 3-4 days I would go up to 3h A time. I know it's really hard to be consistent with the A times when LO doesn't nap well and the A times don't seem to work, but the consistency is actually what makes it work.
Maybe at the end of the day she will be a tired from not enough day sleep so you can shorten the last A time before BT.
Good luck!

[Iryna_B]

Thank you!
Currently I'm working on your suggestion. In regards to second and third A time: should I still do it the same throughout the day or if her naps are short, should I make the A time shorter as well?

And I also I have question regarding her NW. Maybe you could advice me something. Recently she started waking up more often - every 2 hours and then closer to the morning - almost every hour. I don't breastfeed her every time, but just shush/pat her or gently shake her. I don't know what is the reason for these NW? Sometimes they are too long.

For the last couple of weeks her routine looked like that:

6.50 - WU (2.40)
9.30 - S (30 min)
10.00 - A (2.00)
12.00 - S (1.30 in a stroller)
13.30 - A (2.30)
16.00 - S (0.30)
16.30 - A
18.30-19.00 BT

I feed her every 3 hours, although I know that at this age she has to be on 4 hrs routine. Could it be the reason for NW? And she started solids about 2 weeks ago.
She wakes up for DF at 22.00. And then I feed her 2 more times at night and 1 time closer to morning, because she starts to wake up at about 5.30-6. So I just wanna keep her sleeping that way.

She goes to sleep quite easily, but almost never resettles by herself when wakes up.

Or could her NW be due to still having 3 naps?

[Ima shel Alon]

Currently I'm working on your suggestion. In regards to second and third A time: should I still do it the same throughout the day or if her naps are short, should I make the A time shorter as well?

That depends on her a lot and what she prefers. My DS always needed a full A time after a short nap to get a good nap out of him, but many babies need shorter A times after short naps. It's just a matter ot trial and error.

Her NW sound UT to, that should get better once her A times are more accurate.
I really don't have other advice than pushing A times, because I believe this is the only way for you to fix her naps and NW. I would keep on pushing the A times as by now she should be on more than 3h A time and on 2 naps.

[Lexy boo]

Hi
I'm having the exact same problem my 5 month old is driving me crazy with her waking up virtually every hour, she wakes up crying and it's only on the odd occasion that I can get her to fall asleep without the boob! I was thinking that she's either teething or ready to get weaned hence the waking cos she's hungry. She is my 2nd child and I'm sure my first never gave me half the sleepless nights. 

What exactly is EASY and how does it work

Desperately in need of advice

[Ima shel Alon]

Hi Lexy boo and welcome to BW!

There is information here about EASY: Starting EASY - all you need to know and more! and if you want specific help with your LO please feel free to post a new topic in the relevant board