want to make sure I'm doing the right thing...

[larren]

7m DD who I *thought* was an angel is very fussy and hard to keep entertained and happy at after around 2h A. These past few days her pm naps have been only 45m so today I stretched her second A to 3.15. I just want to make sure that I am moving in the right direction in increasing her A time even when keeping her up for 3h A already makes her a fuss ball.

what we aim for, our typical day before shortened pm nap
E/WU 8
A 8-11
S 11-1230
E 1230
A 1230-330
S 330-5
E 5
A 5-8
S/BT 8

She is currently down for her pm nap with 3.15 A for the first time *crossing fingers*

[Lana]

hey there I am just going to move this over to the EASY board I think you will get more eyes on it there

[Buttonbobs]

Hi there,

I think you are doing the right thing increasing A times given the 45 min naps.  Grottiness at this age can mean more than just tiredness, it could be a sign she is just used to sleeping at that time and expects it, or perhaps she is hungry - are you introducing solids yet?

With extending the A times you may need to reduce he length of one of the naps so that the day length does not get too much as a shorter night will likely lead to OT quite easily.

What do you think.

[larren]

Hi Naomi, thank you so much for your response!

DD is on solids once a day (after morning BF), could her waking from her pm nap mean I need to increase her solids intake?

I have been stretching her A to 3.15 but I still got a 35m nap today. How would I know the difference between her expecting to be sleeping as oppose to going by A times?

Also, which nap do I cap and by how much? It is not uncommon for both of her naps to hover around 1.15-1.20..during which, I would still stretch her to her full 3h A, could that have been the cause of the current mess I am in?

Sorry for all of the questions, I just want to fix this ASAP (what parent wants sleep issues to linger though, right?) life is easier when she sleeps as expected!

[Buttonbobs]

DD is on solids once a day (after morning BF), could her waking from her pm nap mean I need to increase her solids intake?

She is still early on the introduction of solids so it may not be hunger waking her, but it is quite a long gap between her lunchtime milk and the feed at 5pm. I had just wondered whether if you offer some finger food mid-afternoon before the nap whether this will help through her grotty patch - i.e. providing her with something different to distract her and help her through that extra bit of time, rather than specifically helping with hunger. Having said that, if you'd rather not offer more solids, you could offer a top-up feed of milk a bit before nap time (not letting her fall asleep during the feed). If it makes no difference then you know for sure it's not hunger.

I have been stretching her A to 3.15 but I still got a 35m nap today. How would I know the difference between her expecting to be sleeping as oppose to going by A times?

It can take at least three days to a week before an LO gets used to changes in time. Give it a few more days and if there's still no improvement then we can reassess. If you do get a short nap in the afternoon, you may need to bring BT a little bit earlier to prevent an OT night.

Also, which nap do I cap and by how much? It is not uncommon for both of her naps to hover around 1.15-1.20..during which, I would still stretch her to her full 3h A, could that have been the cause of the current mess I am in?

This is really the very very early stages on the 2-1 transition. She may not drop a nap for ages yet and you may not even need to cap a nap yet - you just might need to head towards a slightly longer day first. I think that if you extend the A times you will get better naps and then your DD will be less OT overall. You might want to read this link, but don't think I'm suggesting you start this now, it's just some information for the future.

From 2 to 1 nap transition (10-12m and older)

I hope this helps, please don't worry about asking more questions - that's the point of this site

[larren]

Thank you so much for your help

I always forget to add this when posting my EASY but I do do a top off feed around 2h 30-40m A.

I guess I really need help with figuring out proper A times. When extending her A to 3.15, you said to cut one nap short, would I cut the A time following the shortened nap also, or keep 3.15 A throughout the day?

Yesterdays EASY
WU 820
E 830
A 820-1120/3h
E 1047
S 1120-1256/1h 36m
E 121
A 1256-407/3h 11m
E 340
S 407-517/1h 10m
E 531
A 517-905/4h
S 905

She cut her pm nap yesterday at 1h10m so I tried to put her down for BT at around 2.30 A but she didn't fall asleep until 9:05, around 4h A. I read that when naps are short, to cut the A time back 30m but I'm not sure at what point to consider it a full nap and have her do her full A.

Today, she just woke up from a short am nap  and I'm not sure what her A should be
WU 835
E 843
A 835-1139/3h 4m
E 1057
S 1139-1231/52m
E 1251
A 1231-

I should mention that she might have a cold..her nose is runny but I know babies get runny noses from teething also (she has no teeth and nothing seems to coming through). It kind of why her A times are fluctuating between 3h and 3.15. Is it possible to continue figuring out her naps if she has a cold or is it best to wait? I've never had a sick baby, my 3.5 y/o DS was a healthy baby but now he's bringing snotty fun into the house 

[Buttonbobs]

When extending her A to 3.15, you said to cut one nap short, would I cut the A time following the shortened nap also, or keep 3.15 A throughout the day?

This is a bit of a difficult question for me to answer, my DD always did a full A time following a shortened nap, but many LOs do need slightly less. Perhaps try 20/30 mins shorter and see what happens?

It kind of why her A times are fluctuating between 3h and 3.15. Is it possible to continue figuring out her naps if she has a cold or is it best to wait? I've never had a sick baby, my 3.5 y/o DS was a healthy baby but now he's bringing snotty fun into the house 

If your LO is poorly it is best to go with the flow for a bit and then once she is well move to testing A times again. Remember to stick with the same thing for at least three days before changing things to give her time to adjust.

[larren]

Sorry to resurrect this but I desperately need clarification as my DD's days and nights are unraveling. What did you mean when you said

With extending the A times you may need to reduce he length of one of the naps so that the day length does not get too much as a shorter night will likely lead to OT quite easily.

Since extending her A times to 3.15, I have cut her pm nap to 1h 20m and her last A time before bed to 2.30...I wasn't sure what you meant in reducing nap lengths so I was just winging it 

The past few days have been a mess; more NW, early WU, cot parties, 40/45m pm naps. I know she is going through a wonder week but wonder weeks are new to me so I don't know if I should be adjusting her routines based on that fact or if I'm suppose to wait it out. I am hesitant to extend her A times further because I don't know what her EASY should look like without making her day too long.

[Buttonbobs]

This sounds like UT possibly causing OT now. But also wonder weeks would cause sleep disruption and it could be that. I'd say sit it out for a week and if it gets no better then try some tweaking.

When I said about cutting the nap short I meant waking after 45mins so that the last nap is more of a CN than a full nap. Does that make sense?

[larren]

Thank you so much for responding!

oh, ok, so her pm nap is SUPPOSE to be 45m! It's like she knew better than I did and gave herself a 45m CN. What should her A time be before BT after the CN?

I have been doing 2h 30m A time before BT because of what I thought was a short nap. Maybe because I cut her last A time, she has been UT causing all of those issues (more NW, early WU, cot parties)?

[Buttonbobs]

It's possible, but if you're in a wonder week it is very likely to just be that. Developmental change can cause some crazy sleeping stuff!

[larren]

Should I shorten A time or do the full 3h 15m for her last A time before BT?

I'm so glad her naps are actually where they are suppose to be!

[Buttonbobs]

you'll need to follow her cues but it likely the A time before BT will be shorter.