7 months & the persistent catnap

[katkniep]

Hi

My daughter is just turning 7 months and she still has problems with the naps, sometimes i manage to extend, sometimes not, i try every time either by taking the nap with her and quickly putting on the white noise or running in with the white noise and hiding behind the cot. A few times she's managed to sleep right through herself without intervention, although less than 20 since she was born.. Sometimes she wakes happy after a short nap but other times crying. I've been successful with extending sometimes up to 4 days in a row, but it never catches on.

It's slowly driving me crazy that i'm spending the whole day trying to extend. I'm also not sure why some nights she only stirrs at 3am for a feed and other nights is really restless.

W2S has only succeeded in waking and staying awake.
I'm lucky if she takes 3 naps in a day, a lot it can be 4, i've tried bringing her bedtime earlier when i don't want 4 naps and she just wakes up early at 5am.
1 day last week she tried just 2 naps for some reason and that night was hell! She's really not ready for the 2 naps just yet, especially when they are so short.
She shows sleepy signs at about 2.15 hours.
She is a big baby at 9kg (was big at birth).
She can stirr quite a lot at night time, not really waking but enough to wake us.
She sleeps in her own cot by my bed, i do take her into my bed a lot for naps to get the extensions. We will be keeping her in our room for at least the first year.
She falls asleep for naps and at BT own her own and has a consistent BT and nap ritual.
She does use a pacifier to go to sleep and doesn't wake up when it falls out any more.

Sample EASY (she slept really well on this night only stirring for the 3am feed)

NF 3am
A 6.40
E 6.50 (bottle)
E 7.50 Brekkie
S 8.48
A 10.20
E 11.30
E 12.30 Lunch
S 13.50
A 14.20
E 15.00
S 16.34
A 17.15
E 19.00
S 19.20
DF 22.30

Sample EASY (was unsettled at night time)
NF 2.46am
A 6.30
E 6.50 (bottle)
E 7.50 Brekkie
S 9.00
A 09.34
E 11.00
S 11.44
A 13.07
E 13.30 Lunch
E 15.00
S 15.47
A 16.19
E 17.55
E 18.37
S 19.05
DF 22.49

Hopefully that's enough info?

Kat

[Buttonbobs]

Hi there

I think the key in this case is probably that the A times aren't quite right for your LO. Have you seen this?

7 months & the persistent catnap

So I think some of your A times are probably a little short for a 7 month old. A 45 min nap can be an indicator that the A time before was a bit short and your LO went to sleep not quite tired enough for a full nap. An undertired nap can be very hard/impossible to resettle. A 30 min nap would more likely be an overtired nap, it is possible to resettle these but not necessarily easily.

Looking at the first EAS day you posted:

A 6.40E 6.50 (bottle)E 7.50 BrekkieS 8.48A 10.20E 11.30E 12.30 LunchS 13.50A 14.20

The first A time was 2 hours and 10 mins - a little short for the average A time for this age but you did get a 1.5 hour nap approximately so this is quite good.
The second A time was 3.5 hours - this led to an OT nap of 30 mins.

I hope this makes sense. Some LOs like to have even A times throughout the day - so perhaps 2.5-3 hours each A time. Other LOs like a shorter first A time and then longer A as they head towards BT.

Have you looked through some of the sample routines for 7 month olds here:

7 months & the persistent catnap

I would probably try and get that first A time a little longer and then stick with a similar A time throughout the day. If you get a short nap then you'll need to go for a shorter A time before the next nap so she doesn't get too OT.

What do you think?

[katkniep]

Hi

Ahh that was the day she had hiccups for an hour which started just as i was bringing her to bed (sorry have just remembered!), i was aiming at the 2.5hr mark as she was being sleepy!

I do try to follow the A times as appropriate for her age (have read the lists and the sample plans), but i'm never sure what to do though when she yawns after 2 hours!

She does seem to want a shorter first A time, so i'll try extending that and seeing how it goes. Usually she makes it to 2.15 before she really gets moany!

Thanks!

Kat