Question regarding length of day:)

[Pinkhippo]

Hi,
My LO is 8 months, I recently posed a question on the nap board and was redirected here.  Here is my question:
"My schedule for bedtime is I start getting my LO ready for bed 3-3hr45minutes after she awoke from her last nap (if its a good one: aka 1.5-2hrs).  Sometimes this means that her day is longer than 13 hours.  She definitely seems tired by the time bedtime rolls around, perhaps verging on OT (as she acts very hyper).  I am wondering if perhaps I should have her in bed around the 3 hour mark. What are your thoughts on this?"
The reason I hesitate to do this, is that we are currently going through some early wakings (which is better than the NW that I was dealing with last week due to teething). I dont want to put her to bed too early: first because I believe she would wake up even earlier, and second I don't believe she would willing go down.

 Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions. THanks!!!

[jessmum46]

Can you post your whole EASY?  That's not an easy question to answer in isolation.....

.....but in general, most LOs do best with a 12.5-13h day at most, and early bedtime absolutely does not always equal early WU.  In fact, overtiredness at bedtime is (in my experience) far more likely to lead to a short night and EW.  Even if you get a WU at the same time, the night will have been longer with an earlier BT so LO is better rested and you are in a better place to start making any routine adjustments

[Pinkhippo]

Sure:)
Here is the EASY

WU:5:15am, BF
A: 3h15 min. (during which we have a solids breakfast)
N:8:30-9:30 or 10am
E: 10am BF
A: 3h15-3:30 (during which we have a solids lunch)
N: 1:15-1:30 to 2:30-3pm
E: 3pm BF
A: 3hrs
BT: routine starts at 6pm, LO is asleep by 6:45

No night WU at this time:) Hallelujia!

[jessmum46]

She's doing a 10.5h night which for us has always been OT, even now at nearly 3yo with DD.  If she is up from her second nap at 2.30/3 I would have her in bed asleep for the night by 6pm and hopefully she will do a longer night for you and wake later.  Even if she doesn't, she will probably not wake any earlier than 5.15am so will be more rested which will allow you to push her first A time a little.  A long nap so early in the day (clock time wise) will perpetuate the early starts so ideally you want to be moving that later to start closer to 9.30/10ish eventually

[Pinkhippo]

OK good to know, so we should be aiming more for 11 hours of night sleep? Also, to push the morning nap back, what do you think of extending the A time by 15 min. over the period of a few weeks?

THanks again,

[jessmum46]

To push her morning nap I would just gradually add 5-10 mins to her A time every few days until you start seeing an improvement in WU time