Can't get a decent 2nd nap

[MariaG80]

Hello,

Need your help again! Can anyone please tell me why my LO's 2nd nap is only 30 minutes?
She has a morning nap of 1h10m and an evening catnap of 30m. She wakes up happy from all naps and is in a great mood for the most part...sometimes can get a little cranky right before bed but I assume it's due to OT. Here is her typical day if anyone can help! Forgot to mention she is 6 months old today.

7:30 Wake and feed
8:30 Solids
10:00 Nap (1h10m)

11:30 Feed
12:30 Solids
1:30 Nap (30m)

3:30 Feed
4:30 Nap (30m)
5:30 Solids

7:00 Feed and bedtime
Sleeps till morning


Her first  A time is 2.5 hours and that is maxing it out, she is almost falling asleep on me by the time I bring her to her room. As for the other 2 being shorter, she doesn't last any longer than that, she starts rubbing her eyes,yawning and whining...

Anything I can do to fix the second nap??

Thanks in advance!

[Emami]

Hi hun, I'm not sure you're going to like this given you said she's falling asleep by her first nap time, but I think her A time needs pushing.  Her first nap, although it's the longest, isn't long enough to be completely restorative (ideally you want at least 1hr30, ie 2 sleep cycles) and so she's getting OT by her second nap and it's short. 1hr10 is often an UT nap length... do you think she could seem so tired by 2.5hrs because that is when she's used to sleeping?  Iiwm I would take her outside (always kept mine awake and happy for longer) or just cuddle and talk to her, something low key to keep her going a bit, and hope that first nap extends to more like 1hr30.

If her first nap is longer she should be able to make it to more like 1:45/2pm for her second nap, and if she's not OT hopefully that one will lengthen too.  If you get a good second nap that would be enough to get her through to BT, and if it's still short then you can continue with fitting in another CN. 

Have a look at this, it sounds like you are in 3-2 territory:
All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months

Hope that helps

[MariaG80]

Thank you Enami. That link was helpful.

I think you might be right regarding her being used to sleeping at 2 1/2  hours in the 1st A time. I will try to push it tomorrow but I have a question about it before. If I push her A time to 2h45m and I get a 30 min nap, do I got back to 2h30m or let her get used to it?

[Emami]

I would give it a few days to let her get used to it, but if it's obviously too much for her and it messes up your day then pull it back and we'll find a plan B!  Good luck!

[MariaG80]

Ok will try !

Thanks for your help!

[MariaG80]

So yesterday her morning A time was 2h40m and she napped for 30 minutes, then only lasted 2 hours before wanting to nap again, and napped for 1h10m...

This morning I kept her A time at 2h40m and she napped for 1h10m again...
Should I try 2h50m in a couple of days? Is that what this means?

[zissi]

hi maria,

I have exactly the same nap time of 1hr10m. I have tried over several days to increase the A time and she either naps short (35 mins probably due to OT) or she still naps 1hr10mins) My LO is almost 8 months and her A time is now 3.5hrs (up from 3.15hrs) me personally I am happy with the nap time but I get the same problem that I cant get the 2nd nap right and more often than not she ends up having a short one of 35 mins. so i end up squeezing in a CN to avoid all too early BT. it would be great if someone could gives us some insight into whats going on. let me know how you are getting on maria!

[MariaG80]

Zissi, I will definitely let you know if it gets better and how! Please  let me know for yourself as well!

[Emami]

So yesterday her morning A time was 2h40m and she napped for 30 minutes, then only lasted 2 hours before wanting to nap again, and napped for 1h10m...

I would guess the 30min nap was OT from pushing her A time, but it was the first time doing it (right?) so I would expect that to happen while she gets used to it.  And yes, after a short nap she will definitely want a shorter A time too.

This morning I kept her A time at 2h40m and she napped for 1h10m again...
Should I try 2h50m in a couple of days? Is that what this means?

I would keep it the same for a couple more days as her nap got longer and see if it keeps heading in that direction.  If you get stuck at 1hr10 then yes I would up it again.  I do think she needs longer A times to get longer naps, but at the same time be wary of going too quickly.  It's a balancing act between OT and UT!  Although it does also depend on your baby - I could do jumps of 15mins or so and my DD handled it fine, but I know others have to go more like 5mjns at a time if their LOs are touchy and/or prone to OT.

Zissi - hi and feel free to follow along!  But if you want some eyes on your particular situation you are welcome to start a new thread too

[MariaG80]

Thank you Enami.

Will try again in a couple of days.

[MariaG80]

So it got worse. I've now lost my morning nap as well!

I kept her A time at 2h40m for 5 days, and except for the 2nd day of 1h10 nap, every other day her morning nap has been 30 minutes.

Don't know what to do now... Should I go back to 2h30m?

[zissi]

hi maria,

same for me. I also lost my first good nap and now get only 35 mins naps. from tomorrow on I will go back to 3hrs15 mins A time where we got previously naps of 1hr10-15mins which i was happy with. I will try this over a few days and see how it goes. I will keep you posted on how it goes... let me know your progress.
fran

[zissi]

maria, how old is your LO? Mine is 8 months next monday, so I guess an A time of 3.15 is still appropriate, also considering that she always would have had a shorter first A time...

[MariaG80]

She's 6 months
I think I'm gonna do the same as you did. Back to 2h30m A time, and try and get the nap of 1h10m back. Maybe try to up it in a week or so again.. and see how it goes.

Let me know if going back to 3h15m worked for you.

[zissi]

hi maria,

we had some progress in the last couple of days by reverting to the old A time of 3.15hr.

Friday:
1st A time 3.15hr - nap of 1.15hr
2nd A time 3.20hr - nap of 38 mins

Saturday:
1st A time 3.15hr - nap of 1.15hr
2nd A time 3.05hr - nap of 1.35hr

so it seems that we have at least our 1st decent nap back and I believe her A time is less than I thought it was.
Let me know what you decided to do and how it works out. I remember reading somewhere that when the day goes on babies become more and more tired, so I imagine that your 2nd A time could be even a bit shorter, maybe 5 mins or so. also for the time being I dont think I will make any changes if my naps stay decent enough, meaning over an hr.