3-2 transition?

[Renatapogacnik]

Hello
My son is 5,5months old and i have some questions. I put him down for his naps with shhh pat and if i get his A time right he sleeps only 1h 10 min, but I can't lengthen his A time because than he wu after 30 min. His A times are between 2h15min-2h30 min. He has two naps and one cat nap of 30 min, but he is struggling every day at the afternoon. At the evening he falls asleep by himself or sometimes i have to help with shh pat. He wu twice or once for bf.
I think we are moving from 3 to 2 naps slowly but i don't know how to go with catnap. He doesn't want to sleep in a pram or sling, I tried a lot of APOP but no sucess, i now rock him in dark room so he has those 30 min and i have to put him down sooner than he would want, otherwise it's to late for night sleep.
Will he sleep any longer when he will be just on two naps? Those 1h10min naps are not enough i think.

Thank you!

[arabesque]

I'm in the same boat...dd is 6 months next week and even on a two nap day they aren't increasing in length! Hard isn't it, because like you she's OT by bedtime.

I would keep rocking for that late nap until he's really fighting it/ that's where we are with dd no, I can't even feed her to sleep then! Hugs to you x

[weaver]

Renata, it's normal enough at his age to have a hard time getting them to sleep that little bit they need to get them through to BT.

At his age, with my LO2, she was in the sling or the buggy, and I didn't pay too much attention to how long she slept for, or, towards the end, if she slept at all.  She got to the point of doing 10 mins and after that we stopped trying for it With LO1, much more time to ourselves , I lay down with him and let him feed and snuggle to sleep for a wee nap.  And I got a rest too.  That's a nice option if you have it. 

It's very individual territory.  I would try to stop worrying about the length of that nap for now, given his age you want him to start going towards not having it, yk?, and do what is easiest for you. 

If he's waking happy and has energy for his activity, then 1hr 10 may be enough for him now.  It could be that he has a 35 min sleep cycle.  His naps are likely to lengthen when he drops to 2 naps, yes.

[Renatapogacnik]

So, I just have to survive for the next month or two, right? And i will have to sleep train to, i tried yesterday and went ok, but today he was to tired and i just stayed with him and shh pat.
I hope this is ok, so he won't feel abandoned: i do a ritual put him in his cot give him paci and say you will sleep now, everything is ok. And i go out. I go in when he start crying, but that is usually 10 min after in put him down, i go in give him paci and go out, and i go in everytime he starts cryin, but I don't go in if he just complains. I hope he will soon learn how to put his paci in...
Thnx for the support!

[weaver]

Lovely, sh-pat *is* a sleep training tool.  You use it as part of your wind-down and by working to reduce its use, you teach baby about sleep.  Have a look here for a little reminder:
What does a good wind down consist of (Includes 4S ritual)

I don't quite know what you understand by 'sleep training' but if you think about it, most BW sleep training happens with mama and baba together (and dada sometimes too!). 

If he's happy to go into his cot and self-soothe to sleep, that's great.  A bit of mantra crying is also normal, that is stop-start crying/moaning, as he settles to sleep.   If he's crying every time, then maybe you need to change your ritual a bit so he's more relaxed at sleeping time.  It's up to you.  I think for putting his soother/paci in for himself, he might need to be about 8 mos.  In the meantime, I'd help him a wee bit more to get to sleep.  The 4S really is about teaching baby that it's sleep time, time to really relax, and then once those cues are established, reducing them until you're doing the minimum and he's doing more.  Obviously, I don't know what ritual you do, so I don't know how relevant my words are

So, for the catnap, yes, just find a good way to survive for the next few weeks, and he'll be dropping it soon enough.  It's a clear sign that he's going to, if that's so hard to get him down for it!

[Renatapogacnik]

Yes we have a routine it is not strictly 4s, but the principle is the same. After bath we read/look books and we talk and cuddle for 5-10min, than i sing two songs with him in my leap (he has paci), than i said you will sleep now and give him a kiss and put him down in his crib and go out. He never cries, he starts crying after10 min mybe, than i go in and give him paci, if he starts crying again i go in take him in my leap tell him again to sleep, put him down and usually he falls a sleep after that. But i was thinking now he won't fall asleep until i pick him up and say those words again...? What do you think?

[Renatapogacnik]

And another question: he is 5,5 mnths and for the last two days he is wu at 5am!!! And is impossible to put him back to sleep... Is he OT or UT or what is going on... Our Easy is totaly confused now...

[weaver]

Hi Renata,
well that sort of EW generally means a routine tweak is required! How close do you feel to dropping that CN?  How would he do without it?  How are his naps earlier in the day?  Did anything particularly unusual happen the two days before his EW?

We've had a spot of EWing here too (from 2 yo) due to it suddenly being very sunny in the morning.

[Renatapogacnik]

Well, i dont know what happened but everything is confused. Yestrday he wu at 5am and i put him back with shh pat and he slept until 6.30.
Wu 6.30
E 7.50
S 9-11 ( he wu after 30 min, guess A time was too much but he didnt show any signs of sleepines)
E11.20 and 12.15 solids
S 13.10-13.55 ( he slept only 45 min, i guess UT but he was so sleepy so i put him down)
E 14.10, 16 ( i had to do like this because i have to pick my oldest in kindergarten
S 16.30-17
E 18 solids 19 bf
S 19.30
E 23.30 and 4.30(after that he was awake andi used shh pat to put him down)
Wu 6.20

I think that he is not ready yet because the naps are not good enough... He never slept more than 11h at night, but when he was younger he went to sleep at 8pm and slept until 7am, but now...