5.5 month old 4 hour EASY need advice....

[Jbla17]

Hi,
I have just yesterday and today switched my daughter to a full 4 hour EASY. Previously our routine was a combo of 4, 3.5 and a top up / final bottle at 7 ish. Today our day looked like this:

Awake and eat at just before 7
Sleep 9-10:20 (usually she would do two hours here but she seemed more than happy to get up)
Eat 11
Sleep 12:50 pm ( I tried stretching her a time to 2.5 hours here and she went down with no fuss what so ever and I woke her at 3 so I could fit catnap)
Eat 3
Catnap tried at 4:45 fell asleep 5:05 ( she is still asleep now)

My question is she seemed a bit tired that whole last A time from 3 to 4:45 but she fought the catnap. Why would she be tired after such a big sleep? Should I have let her keep sleeping past 2 hours. If so i would not fit the catnap and she would be OT for BT.
These days her awake time is usually anywhere between 2 and 2.5 hours. I stretched that lunch time WT as recently she seemed to want to stay up longer.
I should add she is a good sleeper and always takes herself off to sleep without my help. Besides this catnap which I gave her the dummy which we very rarely use....

She generally sleeps through from 7:15 to 5:30 early waking and I settle her back to sleep, no feeds. Have been trying to get her wake time later for a while.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated :-)

[creations]

Awake and eat at just before 7
Sleep 9-10:20 (usually she would do two hours here but she seemed more than happy to get up)

If she is usually doing 2hr nap I would increase the first A time a bit and see if you can get her back up to 2hrs. Looks like a 40 min cycle so this is a 2 cycle sleep where as she usually does a 3 cycle sleep. Although it's still an acceptable nap it could leave her tired later in the day.

she seemed a bit tired that whole last A time from 3 to 4:45 but she fought the catnap. Why would she be tired after such a big sleep?

Two possibilities I can think of, first she had less sleep in her first nap than she is used to, this possibly impacted. Second, and the one I think more likely, she looked tired because she was well rested, sleep begets sleep and she probably took time to shake off the sleepiness once you got her up (like adults yawning in the morning despite a full sleep), this would also explain reluctance to have the CN.

You could cap the second nap at 2hrs to try to retain the CN but keep in mind if the morning wake time goes later as you would like then the naps are also going to move later too, there comes a time when fitting it all in is tricky.  If you can get the first nap back to 2hrs and keep a good long second nap (perhaps not cap) you might be able to skip the CN and give EBT instead.  A 5.30pm BT might work, esp if morning WU is so early.
What do you think?

[Jbla17]

Hi,
Thank you so much for replying :-)
So far today we increased first a time so she went to sleep between 9:15 and 9:30. My mum looked after her this morn and said she woke up about 10:40 so her nap didn't increase this morning :-( same as yesterday she is rubbing her eyes but seems in a good mood and content. I'm going to put her down about 1 as she has been awake since 10:40

With the early wake up .....eg: this morning she woke at 5:45 I went to her at six to settle her and found her at the other end of the cot facing the other way and on her tummy!! Haha. I put her back in a comfy position and left. She fell back to sleep finally at 6:30 and woke for 7am. Am I doing the right thing here? I've tried everything to get her to wake later. Black out curtain, later bed time, earlier bedtime,white noise( we use this all the time),  going to her straight away and leaving her to it. Sometimes we get a random 6:30 but mostly a wake up at the 5:30 mark!!

Also with feeding only 4 bottles now I have increased the amount in them slightly but for her 11 am bottle she only drank 4oz/120mls she would usually do 6oz. Makes me worry she's not getting enough! I am trying to get her to have at least 6oz per feed which would be 24oz total. She used to have 27oz. She has started solids by the way.

Sorry this must sound like a mess of questions to figure out but when you try and changes it can feel like you have done the wrong thing if it doesn't go as planned!

I have thought about letting the second nap go longer and drop the catnap.....5:30 seems so early!! But if she needs it then it has to be. I would think she would wake really early then! Her usual bedtime is between 7 and 7:30 she is usually asleep by 7:15 pretty much.

Thankyou again I hope this makes sense to you.

[Jbla17]

Hi! SORRY!! Just to update today..... She went to bed at 1pm no problem at all. Woke at 40 mins and decided to turn onto her belly. This is becoming a regular thing this or trying to sit up so I'm thinking this is where my nap problem is at the moment? Or possibly not helping the situation anyway....She screamed out and I had to come running from the shower dripping wet with shampoo still in my hair!! I gave her dummy re tucked her in and left and I think she has drifted back off..... Strike that she is lying there awake but happy. I'm so confused with UT/OT at the moment as she seems to be able to handle 2.5hrsA and goes down without protest..... Arrrrrrrgh!! I don't know!

[creations]

An A time increase doesn't always lengthen a nap on day 1. You need to keep going for at least 3 days, often longer, and you may also need to increase again. A time for 5.5-6 months is around 2hr 30 to 3hrs, it can vary quite a lot.  Keep going and see how she settles into it.
Can you do a W2S at 30 mins, look at naps option 1, shush/patting (or adapted) through the transition and into deep sleep
How do I address habitual wakings? (wake-to-sleep and other methods)
This may help with the rolling, sitting etc which is going to happen at transition, then she may become uncomfortable or get stuck etc and become fully awake. These sort of developments can disturb sleep and mostly you need to ride it out. You can give as much floor time s possible in A time to help her gain the skills (so less time in bouncers, walkers, car seat, stroller etc if possible) which may help the phase pass more quickly.

You may not need to do a 5.30pm BT every day but during nap drops EBT is really useful, I was surprised how useful and how well it worked with my DS.  The early mornings may be down to a bit of OT so I would have suggested an earlier BT even without the nap drop, see if the WU can come a little later.  Of course that early WU can be the developmental rolling etc too, during lighter sleep and transitions in the early hours.  it's great she went back to sleep until 7am!

Milk intake looks ok. If it drops more or suddenly I would cut back on the solids.  Is there no DF or night feed (making 5 bottles)?

hth

[Jbla17]

Hi :-)
No we haven't done night feeds for a long while now, never dos a dresmfeed either,she cut them out herself and slept through. I have tried feeding her at 5 or whenever she did that early wake and she still didn't really settle well. Also breakfast bottle at 7 ish sometimes she's not that hungry. She has seemed fine with four bottles though, still sleeping 7-5:30-7. Yesterday's naps did go wonky and she has a catnap for about 20 mins after not being very happy about it.
You are right it will probably take a while for her to settle into this routine, I just worry I've stuffed it all up!!

I did realise I will have to keep extending her A as she is nearly 6 months now.... I'll try adding a little more over the next few weeks and then the catnap won't be a problem!

You said an earlier bed time even though she is having a catnap? She would wake from this about 5:30-5:40 and the n be asleep for the night at 7:15. She is tired while I get her ready for bed but pretty much always drinks her full bottle and goes to sleep easily.

I will try your suggestions on w2S and keep persisting with the A times.

Thanks again!! :-)

[creations]

You said an earlier bed time even though she is having a catnap?

With the CN there I wouldn't put her down for bed at 5.30pm - no. But with the CN yes she might like a slightly earlier BT. Sometimes when LOs are OT at BT it can cause an earlier waking in the morning, waking in the early hours.  It might be this, it might be developmental. It's up to you if you want to try it, you did say you'd been trying to get her to wake up later for a while. 15 or 20 mins can make a difference.

[Jbla17]

Thanks so much Creations :-) ill give it a go and aim to have her in bed asleep a bit before 7 see how we go! Thanks for your help... This forum is great when you feel stuck and see others are having same issues and its not just us :-)

[creations]

Hope it goes well for you.