Could my 5 month old be ready for 3/2???

[arabesque]

Hi! This thread is exactly what I came on to find out. Mind if I ask a quick question? My daughter is early 20 weeks and is fighting the late catnap and bedtime. I have fallen into the AP of patting her off to sleep for naps... But the catnap and night can take 30 mins of patting, so I've got to deal with that AP. She's been resisting them for a good week now.

But my real question is...is 20 weeks too young to be dropping that catnap?
Our day today looked like:

Wake 6:40
E 7am
S 9:02-9:45, resettle (patting) and slept til I woke her at 10:30
E 10:30
S 12:34-2:15 , I woke her (she slept all by herself, no resettle at 45min!! Hurrah!!)
E 2:15
S 4:27-5pm, again I woke her
E 5pm
Bath
E 6:30
Into bed at 7, not asleep til 7:30 :/

Any tips? Thoughts? Thank you so much.

[katie80]

But my real question is...is 20 weeks too young to be dropping that catnap?

It's on the younger side, yes, but definitely not unheard of.  From your EASY, it looks like she's on the way there.

While you keep the CN, it's normal for the day to stretch out to 13hr, with an 11hr night.  I would continue to gradually stretch the A times toward 3hr and not bother waking her until the nap reaches 2hr.  If the naps are shorter and you need to do a CN, you can do a short 10/15/20min one (in the sling or stroller if you want to avoid all the patting) to get you to BT.  If you get two long naps, then you can either stretch to BT, or even pull BT earlier for a bit until she settles into the 2 naps. HTH.

[arabesque]

You are fab...thanks Katie80!! 

[katie80]

You're welcome!   Looks like things changed quickly for you... is she sleeping better at night too, I hope?

[arabesque]

Thanks katie, what a good memory you have! Yes doing a bit better at night, last night she woke before the DF which us unusual, and still EW but getting there! Thanks feeling much better about sleeping. Yesterday and today she did 1.5 hours by herself for the second nap which was brilliant!

[katie80]

 

[arabesque]

Hi...me again!

Naps have gone really short again(30-40 mins) and there's a fair bit of patting to get her asleep or extend as she just doesn't seem tired at the 2hr mark...except she is very cranky from about 1hr15-1hr45!! So you'd think she was tired..but no.

Also, in aust school goes back this week. I've been trying hard for 2 decent naps but I'm not sure that's going to happen any more. In the car she sleeps Max 20 mins. And there is a fair bit of car travel!

Do you think something like this would work? The struggle will be having her wake and not feed immediately, as that's what she likes to do:

E 7am
S 9/9:15-10
E 10:30
S 12/12:15-2
E 2/2:15
S 4/4:15-5
E 5:00
Bath
E 6:30
Bed 7:00
DF 10:30
NF

Do you think that's doable? Only issue is morn nap may be in car and may be 20 mins

[katie80]

Honestly, I think that's too much day time sleep, if she's getting ready to transition to 2 naps.

When do you do school runs? If you keep 3 naps, you could plan for 20-30min, 2hr, 20-30min . But, not 45-60min, 2hr, 45-60min. See what I mean?

[arabesque]

Wow! Ok thanks!

School run is:
Mornings leave home at 7:55, get to school by8:20, leave school around 8:45, 20 min trip back home.

Afternooneave home 2:30, 20 mins there, leave school around 3:20, 20 mins back.

I do afternoon pickup every day but some days my husband will take them in the morning.

Holding her off for feeds is the big deal. Usually play least once a day I end up topping her up at 1-2 hours after a feed.

Thanks katie!

[katie80]

Thought about this a little more and looking back at what she was doing this week, I was maybe a bit short on my sleep estimates, sorry! My DS1 did something like this from about 5.5-7.5mo, keeping in mind he borders on HSN. The first times were when he was younger the second times at the end.

WU 7am
N1 9:30/45-10:15am
N2 12:15-2pm
N3 4:30-5pm
BT 7/7:30pm

So, I guess all you could do is try for a week or so and see what happens. If she falls asleep in the car, will she sleep past 20min if you keep driving?

Oh also, I'm going to split your posts off from the original thread, since we've veered off a bit.

[arabesque]

Thanks

I didn't actively extend first nap yesterday or today, and the days went fairly well...

Yesterday
Nap 1 45mins
Nap 2 1hr 45 mins (I extended)
Nap 3 40 mins
Bedtime not too bad, but she woke before the DF

today
Nap 1 1hr by herself!
Nap 2 1h50mins in pram
Nap 3 10 mins (yes you read that right)
Fell asleep at betime feed

We seem to be having a reflux flare up over the last few days. Not sure why, meds have been working well until now. Possibly teething, but this is early compared to when my boys got teeth. Poor bub, she's been gassy an vomity and pulls off the breast a lot.

Other than that, things are good! It's a relief to only work on one nap a day. Thanks for your help, Katie

[katie80]

Looks good! (((Hugs))) for the reflux flare... hope she's more comfortable soon!

[arabesque]

I think we've arrived at 3-2. Just posted on easy board because I can't work out how this will work with school pickup feeling a bit sad! Nw getting me down too! Where is my baby handbook??

[katie80]

(((Hugs))), hon. It's definitely a lot more messy with older kids, but you'll find something that works. And before you know it, she'll be on the move to one nap which makes everything easier.

[arabesque]

Thanks today she refused nap 3...I ended up feeding to sleep as there's no way she could've made it til bedtime with no nap.

Day was
E 7am
E8 solids
S 9:10-9:55
E 10:30
S 12:05-1:50
E 2:15
Tried for nap at 4...at 4:45 bf and slept til 5
E 5:00
Esolids 5:30
Bath
Bf 6:30 (now, and she's asleep)