5.5 month old "A" time

[hamontmama]

Hi there,

I am not sure if this should be posted under naps or A time...

I have been following EASY since my 5.5 month old was born. She has never been a great sleeper - with 4-5 naps a day of 45 minutes to 1.15 tops - but for the last week or so, she has either been refusing her naps outright or sleeping for 20-30 minutes at a time. Along with affecting the routine as a whole, this cycle has affected her night sleep. She goes to sleep relatively well unassisted at bed time, although has had multiple night wakings during her sleep transitions over the past week. Most of the time she gets through them unassisted, however on a couple of the nights, she is unable to get back to sleep.

Perhaps I am having trouble determining the correct amount of A time for her age? I have tried following her sleep cues and/or extending her A time and nothing seems to work. Prior to this, we had a decent routine of her being put down for a nap after about 1:40 of A time, with her being asleep 20 minutes later.

Our very erratic schedule is below. I am hoping one of the expert moms will see what I am missing and offer some advice. I am at a loss of what to do and would love to be able to give my girl the rest that she needs! TIA!

September 20
WU: 7:00
E: 7:00
A: 7:00-8:30
S: --
E: 10:00
A: 10:00-11:25
S: 11:25-11:50
A: 12:00-1:55
E: 1:00
S: 1:55-2:20
A: 2:20-4:50
E: 3:30
S: 7:10
NW: 8:45-9:20
NW: 10:25-10:55
NW: 11:10-11:30
E: 12:35
E: 4:20
WU: 7:15

September 19
WU: 7:35 *Slept a little longer due to long NW.
E: 7:35
A: 7:35-8:30 *Tried but couldn't fall asleep!
S: --
E:10:30
A: --10:46
S: -- again failed. Almost asleep but failed.
S: "emergency" car nap: 11:55-1:40
E: 2:00
A: 2:00-3:55
S: 3:55-4:30
A: 4:30-6:40
S: 6:40
E: 11:50
E: 4:00
WU: 7:00

September 18
E: 6:45
A: 6:45-8:20
S: 8:20-8:45
A: 8:45-10:40
E: 9:30
S: 10:40-11:15
A: 11:15-1:25
E: 12:30
S: 1:25-1:55
A: 1:55-5:30
E: 3:00
S: 5:30
NW: 9:00-12:00
E:10:45
E: 3:10

[lauradj]

Hi there!  It's a little difficult to tell how long the A times are but I think they're much too short.  It looks like one morning she was only awake for 1.5?   Is it possible she's ready for more A time?  I attached the link below.  You'll notice most babies her age are awake for 2-2.5 hrs and that might just be the push she needs. 

Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!

[hamontmama]

Thank you so much for your reply lauradj! Your input is much appreciated I think the A times are too short as well. I have always kept the average times in mind as a guide but have generally followed LO's sleepy cues to decide when to put her to bed.  It's possible they are not as clear as they used to be and she's actually ready to change to a new activity instead.

I extended the first A time to 2 hour and 5 minutes over the past two days and each nap was still between 25 and 30 minutes. It's my understanding a nap of this length means OT, or could it swing either way at that length? I will try to extend a little further today to see if that yields a better nap time. I am always so anxious about getting the timing of her first nap right as it makes or breaks her entire day.

[creations]

Hi there, hope you don't mind me jumping in
I noticed this:

we had a decent routine of her being put down for a nap after about 1:40 of A time, with her being asleep 20 minutes later.

which adds up to a full 2hr A time when you last had some more reliable naps (however, still short it seems with being 45min-1hr 15) to me it indicates your LO is really for a significantly longer A time.  As she is 5.5 months and ever growing I'd look to increase to 2hr 30 immediately with a view to possibly increasing again to 3hrs over the next 2-4 weeks. Adding just a few mins A at this age is not going to help IMO (ie extending to 2hr 5 mins isn't going to help).  Some LOs this age already need 3hrs.

I would also Go in at around 30/40 mins and ready yourself to help her through the transition into the next sleep cycle, if she has habitually slept 45 mins, one cycle, over the past months she may not yet have learned to transition. This is something you can encourage and 'teach' through helping her know when she is supposed to stay asleep and when it is time to wake up.

WRT worrying she will get OT from A time increase. Try not to worry, so many people do, the thing is if she gets a bit OT it will help her sleep in the end, it is just as hard (harder in my opinion) to deal with a baby who is UT and short napping through not being tired enough.  Looking at your days there are some very very long A times thrown in there where she's either refused a nap or whatever reason, increasing A times is not worse than this but in all likely hood is going to lead to longer naps and help to avoid those really long A times happening.

[hamontmama]

Thank you creations! I am so grateful to get advice from other moms and appreciate the input! Yesterday I increased the A time to 2.5 hours and got even shorter naps. I stuck with it this morning and her first nap was also shorter at 20 minutes, which is not even giving me an opportunity to try and extend them. Should the naps get worse before seeing an improvement, or is this another sign I am misreading that I should extend the A time even further?

September 24
E 7:00
A
S 9:30-9:50
E 10:50
A
S 12:25-12:50
A
E 2:30
S 3:25-3:45
A
E 6:00
S 6:30
NW: 10:00-10:15
E: 11:10
E: 3:10

[creations]

It is possible to get shorter whilst she gets used to the new time, I'd hold at 2hr 30 for several days to see how she settles into it.
If there's any chance of her waking at 20 mins you can begin to sooth her prior to this time. Either W2S (Wake to Sleep - shush pat her through) or HTTJ (holding through the jolts).
If you have the energy I would put her to sleep, hurry up getting yourself a cuppa or snack, go back to her at 15 mins and ready for W2S/HTTJ. Then if she still fully wakes at 20 mins I would spend another 30 telling her it is still sleep time. Pick her up if needed but you stay in a dark room and do your regular soothing method to put her to sleep. It seems to me she needs a bit of sleep training to teach her the habit of sleeping longer and going back to sleep if she wakes early, rather than always getting her up.
It does also depend on how you feel though, it's hard work staying in a room for 30-45 mins shush/patting.  You might consider working on just one nap per day, the same nap each day to establish a habit at that time.

In case you need a refresher:
How do I address habitual wakings? (wake-to-sleep and other methods)
(alter the times for W2S or httj to work with her habitual wake times, ie start at 15 mins don't wait until 30 mins which is too late!)

[cpalacios]

Thank you so much for your response. I will try this and let you know how it goes.