EW and shorter naps

[julz222]

My almost 6 month old had been doing well with 11 hours solid night time sleep (no feeds), 2 X 2hour naps and a catnap for a while however for the past couple weeks we have had 5:30am wakenings, and our naps are slowly decreasing to 1.5 or less.

I have tried increasing awake time, but he gets super fussy and has to be held after 1.5 hours awake.

This is our current schedule:
5:30 wake
6 breastfeed
8:00 nap
9:30wake
10 breastfeed
11:30 solids
noon nap
2pm wake (although this had been 1:30 past 2 days)
2 pm formula bottle
4:30 catnap
6pm breastfeed, then solids sometimes
6:30 bath, stories
7pm bedtime

These 5:30 wakes time are killing me!! and really throw off our day. He seems tired for the rest of the day despite naps.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Thanks!!!

[newkidontheblock]

Hi there:)  I think that you would need to increase A times in order to sort this out. If she gets fussy, try getting out into the fresh air - great way to stretch A times without over tiring or over stimulating her. This is probably a case of her needing more A time and her sleep needs dropping. As A times increase, you can work on dropping the CN and moving to a 2 nap routine
Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!
All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months
Hope that helps

[julz222]

I was thinking it was A time... but he is just so fussy towards the end of his A time as it is! How do you know when to push, or when they can tolerate it?

[newkidontheblock]

Sometimes you just have to push and if you give their bodies time to adjust, they quickly are able to handle it. With my DD, although she would be fussy, she wouldn't be ready for a nap or at least, a good sized nap. As I said, going for a walk worked great or simply holding her and walking about the house humming. Just low key stuff

[julz222]

So I pushed our awake times yesterday. Naps were great and no problems at bedtime, however woke up this morning at 5AM!!!
How could our EW have got worse???

Our routine yesterday:
5:30 wake
6 breastfeed
Sleep 8:20-10
10 breastfeed
11:30 solids
Sleep 12:50-2:50 (I woke him as I was told not to let a babe sleep longer than 2 hours at nap time...)
2:50 bottle
5pm 15 min catnap
6:30 breastfeed
7pm bedtime
5am wake up! eek!

Any ideas why he is waking earlier now???

[julz222]

5am wake ups continue since pushing to a 2.45 A time. Tried 3 hours yesterday with no change. Really need some advice.... why are EW getting worse???

[ele]

I am in similar situation to yours, age, EW just started, signs of OT through day and shorterning of naps...
I would be more slow-paced in increasing A time and would be patient in seeing the results.

 We are moving in 10-15 min increments to increase A time and sometimes regressing to old time of 2hrs, I also really cut her A if she has a very short nap earlier in the day. I Based this on advise from members of BW and trial and error in previous nap changes.

Interestingly though, could the LO be hungry and ready for a snack and more sleep? In some cases it worked for us. We are still EBF though.

[newkidontheblock]

We had EWs start during the 3-2 transition. For us, it was simply due to accumulated OT and it worked itself out after a while. What I realised at that point was that DD needed a specific amount of day sleep - less and I would get NWs soon after bed. When those NWs stopped, EWs started. It took a week or two of consistently long naps in order for everything to normalise. I made it a point to not get her out of her bed, keep the room dark and so on. Then I would go out and come back in at the time I wanted her up and make a big deal about saying good morning.

I'm posting a link about EWs for you to read through
Early Waking

[julz222]

Thanks for all the advice so far. Unfortunately, things seem to be getting worse not better. I have pushed awake times to between 2.75-3 (they vary based on how long it takes to fall asleep. He usually falls asleep after 2-3min of being put down, but it has started to take up to 10-12min now). This has resulted in many days where I wont be able to fit in a third nap, but leaves him awake sometimes 3-3.5 hours at end of the day. Bedtime is a total nightmare with either talking/playing or full out crying for 45 min AND our early wakenings have turned into middle of the night cot parties. Last night he was awake from 3:45am-5am, finally back to sleep when I woke up at 6pm (I am trying to keep bedtime and wake-up consistent at 6-6).

Why now cot parties? Should I take him back to a 2.5 awake time???

Maybe he isnt ready to drop the third nap?

FYI: Here is todays EASY:
6am wake, feed
8 solids
9-10:15 nap
10:15 feed
11:30 solids
1-3 nap
3 feed
5:30 bath and feed, 6 pm bed

[newkidontheblock]

This has resulted in many days where I wont be able to fit in a third nap, but leaves him awake sometimes 3-3.5 hours at end of the day.

That's why you go for an earlier bedtime. This is explained in the link. During these transitions, you have to tweak your routine to minimize OT

Bedtime is a total nightmare with either talking/playing or full out crying for 45 min AND our early wakenings have turned into middle of the night cot parties. Last night he was awake from 3:45am-5am, finally back to sleep when I woke up at 6pm (I am trying to keep bedtime and wake-up consistent at 6-6).

BT is probably tough since he is OT and getting his second wind. When you say he was up from 3.45 - 5am, what was he doing? Wasn't he crying for you? There is a growth spurt around 6 months also, so maybe food?

[ele]

Since UT and OT signs are so similar, he is probably OT now (since you pushed A to the max already), I would cut now. It is nice how his naps are still long enough.

I would squeeze a third nap, even 10 min, or put to bed very early (can be up to 1 hr earlier if needed) as the difficulty going down for the night time suggests. Also it is the time for a huge developmental leap, those wonder weeks, so may be he is practicing that sitting in his head), try to not despair too soon...

NW , can he be genuinely hungry? Sometimes a little snack (one breast instead of full feed for ex. to keep his daytime feed on schedule) can help. But if it doesn't then you can change the strategy next night. Or do a dream feed (whatever worked for you, but it is known that some BF babies regress around 6 months to eat at night).

Let us know how it went, even if all gets back to normal...

Also, you were right to try capping all daytime nap, it works for some, may be once you solve OT you could cap it to something shorter if nothing else works...I would try one thing at a time.

[julz222]

Thanks for the feedback. We had 4:30 wakening again last night. Didnt go back to sleep so I have been up since then I did try to feed him the night before (when he woke at 3:45) and he still played for over an hour. Wakes generally happy and plays, then starts to cry after 15-20min. I would be surprised if the NW was because of hunger, as we havent had nightfeedings with him since 3 months of age, and the NW didnt start until I tried to stretch A time. I think you are right that now we are in an overtired cycle.

I already pushed BT forward an hour (he used to sleep 7-6, now sleeps 6-6), so pushing it forward any more seems way too early. I think my plan is to try brave our heat wave and to squeeze in a carrier nap (the only way I can get him down for that catnap) and keep bedtime at its original 7 pm.

Will keep you posted.

[julz222]

Wondering if anyone can speak to timing of the cat nap. Lets say your babe wakes at 3pm, with a 7pm bedtime. Should I focus more on a good A time before the catnap? Or try to make sure the nap is over in time to have a good A time before BT.....

[ele]

I don't know, bumping it up.
May be cutting that second nap a little might work (I do it when we go over 2:30) but I wonder what others mights say and whether that is optimal. Or putting to bed later a little (if my dd sleeps too close to bed time it's hell, same as if the gap is too long, so there is no point of putting her down on regular time, she will cry in bed until she is tired).

[newkidontheblock]

I already pushed BT forward an hour (he used to sleep 7-6, now sleeps 6-6),

That's still a 12 hour day though. On less sleep. An EBT does not mean a permanent change to your routine. It is simply a way to cope with OT and you can go back to normal as she adjusts to the new routine.

Wondering if anyone can speak to timing of the cat nap. Lets say your babe wakes at 3pm, with a 7pm bedtime.

My DD at least would not have been able to handle that long a time to bed. 4 hours is a tremendously long amount of time. She couldn't even handle 3 hours to bed at that time. She did long As through the day but she needed a short one before bed. If she WU at 3, I would either go for a 5.30 BT (but I didn't use EBT at that point) or a CN between 5.30 & 6 and then straight on to BT routine. I must mention though, my DD would settle very easily even with a CN that close to bed. Not all would