DD is almost 6 months old and is a happy, easy baby. We sleep trained over a month ago and she now can fall asleep independently and goes down for naps/bedtime with very little effort (yay!!). This past week, she has been very difficult to settle (either on her own, or with a bit of help). She also has been playing (happily) in her crib in the middle of the night. I asked the question in the sleep forum on how to improve her night wakings and they suggested I need to lengthen her A time. Seemed like a good idea... but how do you lengthen the A time, when DD is obviously showing signs of being tired (yawning, sucking her thumb, getting fussy, etc.)? Yesterday we went grocery shopping, which was enough of a distraction (maybe?) that she stayed awake the whole morning. She actually only had a 45 minute morning nap and a 2 hour afternoon nap, and then slept through the night. Today I tried to replicate that routine, but we had nowhere to go, so we just stayed home. After an hour of being up, she started yawning. Then no matter how long I tried to keep her up, she got fussier and fussier until I put her down for a nap and she fell asleep right away (so she was obviously tired). She had a short 45 minute nap, but was coming up an a meal, so I took her out and fed her. Again, an hour after she was up she started getting fussy. I tried to keep her up for a bit longer and after 15 minutes she went down for a nap, again settled right away.
So all this to ask - how do I lengthen her A time when it is obvious she is tired? Granted, she might be catching up on a rough week of not sleeping well (I know I am exhausted). I don't want her to be OT - I don't want a miserable baby all day long, when I know the solution is a good nap. I also don't want her to be UT and be up for hours at night (though at least she is happy at those hours!?).
Help!
