4.5 month old - 1.5 hour nap - move EASY up?

[haleytreat]

I have a 4.5 month old who seems to only take 1.5 hour nap. she is happy when she wakes so I am assuming 1.5 is ok. My question is though do I move entire routine up 30 min? Not the eating part but the naps. If I don't she will be up for 2.5 hours and that is way too long for her.

[Martini~]

Can you please post your routine...?

[haleytreat]

7 am - wake up and eat
7-9 - activity/wake
9-11 - sleep
11 - wake and eat
11-1 - activity/wake
1-3 - sleep
3-5 - activity/wake
5-530/545 - sleep
6- 7 - activity
7  - eat
730 - bed

We are new to this. Just started the routine last wednesday. I know the book said to be pretty set on times at first but didn't say for how long. So i am not sure if i should still be doing pupd or what. When she wakes from her 1.5 hour nap she wakes up happy. She will stay in crib for about 10/15 min before starts to fuss. So should i do pupd even though she isn't crying at 1030? or just be ok with the 1.5 hour nap. But if that is the case then does the whole day move up 30 min? And what if she only takes another 1.5 hour nap in afternoon. So does the whole day move up an hour then? Or do i keep her up for 2.5 hours instead of moving the routine?

[Martini~]

1.5h naps are ok as it's still a restorative one. To match 12h day you may make BT slightly earlier, make some A times slightly longer (not 2h but 2:15 and that may encourage her to take slightly longer nap so you will still within a 4h interval). Or let the catnap be a bit longer. Still she maybe fine on that routine with longer As and that's also fine!

[haleytreat]

ok thank you!

[haleytreat]

I noticed today that she seems tired after an hour of getting up. could that be her just getting use to the routine or should i try to lengthen naps? should I do pupd/shush pat even though she isn't crying right away to try to lengthen them?

[Martini~]

Lengthening 1.5h is almost impossible Honey. If they wake after 2 sleep cycles they are restored enough to have a lot of energy for protesting. So to lengthen the nap, you would have to firstly make her A longer to make her slightly more tired so she wants to sleep a bit longer.

And yes, at that age already tiredness can be a routine thing. They are just used to being tired at specific timing:).

[haleytreat]

oh ok thank you!!

[haleytreat]

So i just need to get her use to being on a 4 hour routine is what you are saying? The fact that she seems tired so soon after waking is because she isn't use to a routine right? It seems if i lengthen the A time she is over tired and has a hard time going to bed/nap. yesterday she wouldn't take her cat nap at all. I did shush pat for 45 min. I knew she was tired because she fell asleep in the car 5 min before i got home. and it was time for her to go down. Is this just another example of her not being use to being on a routine and it will get better with time?


Also, do you have any suggestions on what i do if she wakes up at 6 am? I know she is hungry so I am understanding i should feed her but then it makes it so I need to put her to bed early (my thinking is because she has a hard time going to bed when she is over tired) but if i put her to bed early won't that just make her get up early every day?

I am really struggling with getting on consistent times with her. Am i doing something wrong or am i just not giving it enough time and thats why i need to really stick with the strict times right now?

[haleytreat]

Also, she is just getting use to self soothing. The paci became a prop so along with the routine i took away the paci. If she is not overtired she goes down well. When she is over tired is almost impossible to get her to sleep. Would it be ok to give her the paci for a little bit just to calm her and then when she is almost asleep remove it? or would i be confusing her?

[Martini~]

If you already made it without paci, I would stick with no paci at all as it will be helpful soon.

Usually without paci, they are quickly not interested in catnaps in the evening so any form of apoping (buggy, car, sling) that catnap is fine, they usually don't get used to it, as this nap will be dropped soon.

In the evening I would feed just before bed if you are not doing it yet, but not feed to sleep. Up to 6mo I would say it's fine and usually don't create a prop. Just feeding calms a baby and it's worth doing in first months in the evening to have a baby quickly settling for a night.

And yes - pusging the routine is hard sometimes. Babies are used to old routine and it may be  hard - but be gentle, push 15min every couple of days and she should be fine.

[haleytreat]

thank you!