My baby is not on a good schedule at all, and it seems like everything is riding on his first nap. Can someone please help me figure out how to tweak the schedule if we have a bad first nap? I feel like once the first nap is bad (and it always is), I just have to wait til the next day, and on goes the vicious cycle with a chronically OT baby. (Btw, he acts happy and is rarely fussy but I know he's OT.)
So, lets say this is our EASY for our 9 month old, 7 months adjusted age for prematurity (though we've never been successful at this schedule):
E - 7:30am
A - 8:00am - 10:00am
S - 10:00am - 11:30am
E - 11:30am
A - 12:00pm - 2:00pm
S - 2:00pm - 3:30pm
E - 3:30pm
A - 4:00pm - 7:00pm
S - 7:00pm bedtime
Then lets assume the day actually starts like this:
E - 7:30am
A - 8:00am - 9:45am
S - 9:45am - 10:30am
So, he conked out 15 mins early despite my attempts to keep him up. Then he slept for exactly one sleep cycle. What do I do now? I know what went *wrong* but don't know how to fix it for the current day.
This is what ended up happening:
E - 11:45am
A - 12:15pm - 1:00pm. He was clearly very OT at this point, so I put him down.
S - 1:00pm - 1:30pm. Exactly 30 min nap. I tried to resettle for nearly 45 mins but gave up. He is now playing happily although I know he's still OT.
What should I have done for his second nap? Also, what do I do now? Give a 3rd nap or just deal with an OT baby til bedtime?
Thanks for your help! I love the schedule idea on paper but I am getting so frustrated and discouraged trying to implement it in real life! Ever since swaddling stopped (just about a month ago due to bad reflux and sleeping in a RnP), I have not gotten more than a 45 min nap from him, besides maybe once or twice getting an hour nap.