Author Topic: 5 1/2 month old sleep regression or more A time??  (Read 1333 times)

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Offline Mommyadel

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5 1/2 month old sleep regression or more A time??
« on: January 04, 2015, 03:28:15 am »
Hi all,
LO is 5 1/2 months old. I can't seem to get her past 45 minute naps during the day and at night she use to go to sleep when she was put down but now she woke 45mins after being in bed and has also done this te last few nights. She is also getting up at 5-6am... Today she woke at 5am.

I've been pushing out her activity to 2 hrs which she is at now. This week and a ad I have been pushing out her feeds to 4 hour feeds. We are at 3:45 now and will be at 4 hour feeds in 2 days ( was doing 15 min incriments every 3 days). Is it sleep regression or is it changes in her activity and eating times that may be causing her to wake so early? Should I increase her activity time more- the catch is that she won't sleep longer then 45 mins and generally is in a good mood after naps. Doesn't wake up crying.




Offline becj86

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Re: 5 1/2 month old sleep regression or more A time??
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2015, 03:38:07 am »
Hi :) keep pushing those A times, 2hr is appropriate at 4 months and the average kid is moving towards 2:45 to 3hr A times at 6 months. You may find just jumping to longer A times rather slowly increasing is the way to go when you're so far behind the average  A times as otherwise you'll be tweaking til she's 9 months old. All this is presuming she was not premature.

The most important A time to increase is the first one from wake up, that encourages her to sleep longer in the morning and also gives her the best chance at a long first nap.

Check out the links about 3-2 nap transition, see if you can find a model routine that you think may work and give it a go. Once you've done that for a week or so, you should be able to see where to tweak to suit her.

Hugs, the sleep disturbance thing is really hard.

Offline Mommyadel

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Re: 5 1/2 month old sleep regression or more A time??
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2015, 06:32:34 am »
Ok I will try 2:30hr for her activity time for her after her first wake up. If she sleeps past 45mins should I continue with the 2:30hrs activity time through out the rest of the day? What if she only sleeps 45 mins after she first wakes with 2:30hrs should I stick with that or should I decrease since she might be iOT towards the end of the day ?

Thanks! Hopefuly she will sleep past 45 mins ... Fingers crossed

Offline becj86

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Re: 5 1/2 month old sleep regression or more A time??
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2015, 08:02:37 am »
Yes, if she sleeps 1hr+, you can safely assume she's made it through the transition. You may find it's useful to be there at the 30 and 45min marks just in case she wakes to help her get back to sleep as she's not in the habit. A 30min waking is OT an can be expected when increasing A time but should be easy to resettle. It doesn't mean the A time is wrong, jut that she's not used to it. You have to give it 3-4 days before you can say it's not right.

If you're unable to resettle and she sleeps a shorter nap, you kind of have to go with her signs a BT. I'd definitely be doing 2hr minimum after a 45min nap but you know that gets you an UT nap so better maybe to stick with 2:30 for your second A time too and reduce the 3rd A time if you get two short naps.

Offline Mommyadel

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Re: 5 1/2 month old sleep regression or more A time??
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2015, 15:59:25 pm »
Ok so update! Lo went to bed last night at 7pm woke up at 4:50am... Waited to she if she would settle...By 5:15 she was crying went back in room poped soother in mouth and she slept til 6:35am.( sometimes I have to give her the soother to re-set her)
Feed at 7am and nap at 9am.... 2:30hrs.... And she was toast LOL! I put her in the crib and didn't even get a chance to offer the soother and she was out ( bonus and no soother use!) I'll let you know how long she sleeps :)
« Last Edit: January 04, 2015, 16:01:23 pm by Mommyadel »

Offline Mommyadel

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Re: 5 1/2 month old sleep regression or more A time??
« Reply #5 on: January 04, 2015, 20:39:34 pm »
I am happy to report that she slept 2 hrs!!!! She stirred at 30mins and she settled herself and slept for 2 hrs!! We are driving now and planned it so she would nap whe driving so hopefully it will be over 45 mins as the drive is 1:20.

I'm going to keep at 2:30hrs as suggested by you ( thank you!!) and if she starts to regress push out her activity time a little more.
On a side note any advice for my friend who has a 9 month old for general or average activity times? Her girl only sleeps 45 mins and some times 30mins. Or better yet, any idea where I can find the info?

Thanks you!!!

Offline becj86

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Re: 5 1/2 month old sleep regression or more A time??
« Reply #6 on: January 04, 2015, 22:27:27 pm »
That's great! So glad that's helping.

Here's some general info
What are A times and how do they fit into the EASY plan?
Sample EASY Routines from 0 - 13mths+

It gets a bit trickier with a 9 month old, as the variation in routines that suit LOs at that age is much larger than at 5 months.
And what your friend is heading for, things to watch for when she's got her routine going.
From 2 to 1 nap transition (10-12m and older)

She can always post here and someone can have a look at what's happening and see if there's a pattern and suggest a tweak :)
« Last Edit: January 04, 2015, 22:29:45 pm by becj86 »