After cat nap, but before evening feed...what to do?

[Meghanwho]

So, the book says to put LO down for a cat nap between 5-6, for approximately 40 minutes.

But then there is nothing until the next feed at 7?

What am I supposed to be doing between the end of the cat nap and the start of the next feed? Activity time?

My LO is 10 weeks if that matters.

Thanks in advance!

[trimbler]

Hello and welcome

Yes, it would be activity time, but depending on how long he takes to feed and what you want to do as a BT routine, essentially, consider it time for the BT routine. Depending on how the rest of the day was, you may need to make that last A time really short anyway to avoid OT. Mine took aaaaages over their feeds, so I actually just fed right after the CN and then did BT routine and into bed, since the feed could take the best part of an hour by itself Some prefer to make the feed later on in the BT routine but it's best to avoid feeding to sleep if you can, and if the feed is too close to BT then you may end up inadvertently feeding to sleep. So I guess I'm just saying make sure you allow enough time for the feed so that LO isn't OT by the time you finish.

[Meghanwho]

Thank you so much for your reply. ☺

That's pretty much how I've been dealing with it so far, I just wanted to confirm I wasn't messing something up because the book didn't specify.

Basically after the CN it's bath (or wipe down on non bath nights)/massage first because I find this stimulates him instead of relaxing him, fresh diaper, feed, then depending on how close it is to BT we either do quiet activity time just chatting and cuddling, and then wind down and bed. If it's too close to bed time I skip the quiet activity time but I always make sure to take 10-15 minutes to wind down so he doesn't eat to sleep.

[trimbler]

Sounds good to me, just as long as it's short enough that he doesn't get OT Remember, the book is there as a guideline, but there is always flexibility as your LO is an individual, and as Tracy liked to say, "you can't fit a baby into a clock" So keep listening to and watching him as you evidently already are, and tweak things however suits him (and you!) best