Help!! 9 mth old, just moved to short am/long pm but can't get 2nd A time right!

[lolsyb1982]

Hi I have recently cut DD's morning nap as we were struggling to fit 2 long ones in and she was UT at bedtime. It has also helped with EW.
I am putting her down after 3hrs and getting 40/45 mins for the morning nap. I can't then seem to get her 2nd A time right. Have tried pd at 3hrs and 3 15 but has been waking up after 40 mins some days and seems tired still but can't resettle. Today by the time she fell asleep it was nearly 3.5hrs and she slept for 1hr but woke happy. I think this 2nd nap should be 1.5 shouldn't it?

Any ideas as to what you think her 2nd A time should be? What are others this age doing? Should I pd at maybe 2.50 as she's OT?

Thanks

[lily_layne]

We struggled a lot with a short pm nap at that age and I was never able to resettle.  For DD, shortening her A time did help. We tried 3 h and 3h15 for quite a while and that didn't work. When I shortened it, I think we went to 2.5 hours. 

[lolsyb1982]

Oh so maybe I need to go a fair bit shorter then. Will try that tomorrow. Can I ask how long was you then going until BT?

Thanks

[lily_layne]

We were putting her down for BT around 6:40 and she was asleep by 7/7:30.  On a good day, her nap went until 3 or 3:30.

[lolsyb1982]

Thanks tried putting down after 2.5hrs but still woke after 40mins. Will have to try a bit shorter I think!
It's driving me nuts!!! Don't think we've had a decent nap for about 10 days now and NW have gone from 1 to 3!!

[Haribo2012]

Hi, I could never get the A times right on short AM nap and long pm nap so I switched and did long am and CN in pm which worked better for us. I know u say u switched because UT at BT, how late did u do pm CN or was it a full nap?
I used to find 30 mins about 3/3.30 used to get us to decent BT x

[lolsyb1982]

The UT at bedtime was on a full pm nap. I think maybe I should try a long am nap and see if that works better for us. She always goes down much easier in the morning. I can't wait for the time to come when we're on 1 nap a day although that's a while off yet!!

Thanks

[Haribo2012]

I found it easier also with regards to arranging going out etc as if the nap had been a nice long one in am then I knew the CN could happen while out and about with no pressure on me ;-)
My LO loved am nap always much easier to get down and if EW reared its head or nap started to shorten I just pushed it on a few mins x

[Layla]

We're doing the short am long pm and 2.5 would be too short for my dd. Our am nap is around 45mins and the pm nap is 3-3.25hrs later. She is 9 months old.

Hth

[lolsyb1982]

I had been doing 3/3.25 but was waking after 40 mins and couldn't resettle. One day it was 3.5 hrs before she fell asleep and we got 1hr nap so could she need longer than that do you think? Just seems like such a big jump all of a sudden in the amount of time she's awake during the day.

[Layla]

The av is between 3-4hrs and I guess you tried shorter A so perhaps she does need slightly longer A . It might be a matter of trial and error to find the magical A; but I agree that you could try the other option too and may just have to accept longer day/later bedtime during the transition period. For long am/short pm nap, you could try:
7am-wake
10.30-12 (might be a good idea to wake so that baby is still ready for pm nap)
3.30-4 - catnap
7.30-bedtime

or something like that?

[lolsyb1982]

Today was her first day with a childminder and I went back to work so can't control her sleep on those days but off tomorrow so going to try the long am nap. Thanks Layla for the example routine 😃

[lily_layne]

I think the long am/short pm is good advice.  DD always slept better in the am.  I kept trying short am/long pm because it would fit better with daycare but it was a losing battle and it would have been better to do the long am.  If you do decide to keep trying short am/long pm, it can take a few days for LOs to adjust to a new A time - you might have to try the same one for a few days.

[lolsyb1982]

Well this has been the 2nd night now where she has woken every 1-2 hours. Can't cope with this and working!!!
Is that many wakings OT or is that excessive and likely to be something else?

[Layla]

(((hugs))) hun, can you please post what the last couple of days looked like. If she only has a short afternoon nap, are you putting her to bed earlier? She may be waking up that often at night from being overtired (not enough daytime sleep or too long A before bedtime).