Awake time after cat nap

[H7]

My little one is 5 months old and has recently stretched out to 2 hr awake time. Her last nap (cat nap) of the day normally ends around 4.30-5 but I don't think she can manage the 2hrs at the end of the day before bed time. I'm wondering if that's causing her 5am wake ups.

Does anyone else find they have a shorter A time at the end of the day or is it normally longer?

[Scottishmummy]

Hi!

I think it varies from baby to baby. My DD is also 5mo and has always needed her longest A time at the end of a day and her last A time is always the first to increase but I have heard of other babies needing shorter last A time.

Are you sure 5am wake ups are overtired? That's always a sign of UT for us. How long is your last CN? Just wondering if you might be starting the 3-2 and need to cap it?

Of course if you think your baby needs a shorter A time after a CN, you could bring bedtime forward. It's all trial & error!

[H7]

We were in such a good routine and she was sleeping 6.30/7 til 7/7.30 but then her awake time started stretching out to 2hours and it's all gone a little haywire.

She was having a 2hr morning nap, 1hr 30 afternoon nap and 45 min cat nap and then sleeping 12 hours plus at night.

Increased awake time and she's having a 1hr 30 morning nap, 30 min afternoon nap and 30 min cat nap and waking crying from the last two and then waking up at some point in the night its been 1, 3, 4 or 5 chatting away to herself. Depending on the time of night seems to vary how long she chats so if awake at 1 it's less chatting time than if she wakes at 5. She only tends to wake up doing the happy chatting once so if its at 3am once she settles she will then sleep till 6.30ish.

I've tried decreasing the awake time but then she screams when I put her down for naps if I go to 2 hours she settles well for the naps but doesn't seem to sleep as long as she was before.

I had wondered about her wanting to drop the cat nap as yesterday she was screaming when we  tried to put her down for it so ended up with a 3hr awake time before bed and this morning she was chatting from 5.15 til 6.45 and then went back to sleep till 7.15.

Today has been a better day though nap wise she had 1hr 45 for first nap, 1hr 30 for 2nd and then 30 for CN and woke crying from that at 4.30.

I put her in her cot at 6.15 and she was asleep by 6.25 so 1hr 55 awake time after CN and 11 day hours from waking up. She was rubbing her eyes and sucking her thumb by 5.45 so reckon she may well have gone to sleep even earlier.

I will see how it goes but fingers crossed for less chatting tonight.

Any thoughts or comments on our current routine/issues set out above would be really welcome 😃

[Scottishmummy]

Sometimes LOs need the longer A time but take a few days to adjust to it, maybe that's what's been happening? Sounds like she might also be going into the 3-2 if she was fighting that last nap & waking early but happy.

Today's naps look great.  If I were you, I'd hold the 2 hr A time, with a 30 min capped last nap and earlier BT if needed and see how you go.

Good luck xxx

[H7]

Yeah been holding the 2hr awake time and hoping she's gradually going to get used to it. Today's naps were better which I'm pleased about. We were home all day which helped ... we've been out a lot lately so wondered if that was impacting routine so thought I'd have a few days at home to try and see if that helps us get back on track.

How would the 3-2 work? She can just manage a 2 hr awake time and her last nap finishes at 2.30 latest she can't go to bed at 4.30 even stretching her to 3 hrs would only take us to 5.30pm?

[Scottishmummy]

There is a thread on the FAQ Sleep board about the 3-2. Have a look there.

It's a gradual transition & usually babies don't go to 2 naps until they can do 3hrs A time. If your LO has only just got to 2hrs I would keep 3 naps but you might have to just shorten the last one if she's not settling easily at night or waking early.

My DD is 5mo also and does 2-2.5hrs A time. If she has 2 good naps I have to cut the last one to 15mins only to get her to bed at normal time & avoid EW. All babies are different though and yours has been sleeping lots (16hrs total?) until recently so might be high sleep needs and not go to 2 naps for a while yet.

[H7]

Yeah she was doing

2hr morning nap
1hr 30 afternoon nap
45 min cat nap
12 hours at night

So 16hrs 15 minutes sleep with 1hr 45 wake time between naps.

Now switched to 2hr awake time with shorter naps and that's led to the early waking. Managed to stretch out morning awake time to 2hr 10 put her down at 9.10 and she was asleep by 9.12 and is still asleep now 1hr 30 later.

I slept a lot when I was a baby/toddler too according to my mum. So I do think it's over tiredness. Going to work on that basis for a few days and see how we go. If no difference I will work on under tired basis 😃

[Scottishmummy]

Sounds like a plan.

Babies do gradually start to cut back on amount of daytime sleep as A times increase, so maybe it's a natural progression for her?

Good luck & come back if you want to chat more xxx

[H7]

So yesterday she only had 2 naps. 1hr 45 in the morning and 2hr 20 in afternoon which i woke her up from at 3.40 and then she went through til bedtime at 6.15. This morning was better as she woke up at 5.10 chatty til 5.30 then slept til 6.15 left her chatting and got her up at 6.45.

Today she had a 1 hr morning nap and is currently at 2hr 45 for afternoon nap. Which feels too long but then part of me thinks does she need the sleep if she's sleeping and is she gearing up to drop the 3rd nap and this long sleep will help push her through to bedtime?

Also that totals 3hr 45 daytime sleep which is less what she was doing before across 3 naps. Just not sure she will manage from 3 til 6 for bedtime!

[Scottishmummy]

How did the rest of your day go?

Neither of mine have ever slept as well as your DD during the day, I'm in awe!  I wonder if she's compressing her sleep into 2 big naps?

Every baby is different so it's hard to know w hat is right for yours without trying stuff out.  I think you could try leaving her for the 2 long naps and see what happens. Maybe set a maximum time you're comfortable with or would want to wake at to feed? If you find that the mega naps are affecting your nights you could cut the naps shorter and squeeze in a little CN to get her through to BT.

[Scottishmummy]

A thought struck me- is she on 4hr EASY (4hrly feeds)? I *think* the textbook nap pattern for that is 2x 2hr naps and 1 CN e.g.

E: 7am
A: 2hrs
S 9-11
E: 11am
A 2hrs
S 1-3
E: 3pm
A: 2hrs
S 5-5.30
A:2hrs
E &S : 7pm ish

So maybe she is ready for something like that but if first nap is shorter e.g. 1hr then she is having 3hrs 2nd nap to make up?? And you could experiment with CN length to see what gives you best settling for bed and night sleep. Some babies should do no more than 10-15min after 5pm, some can do 30-45mins and still sleep ok for Bedtime & night sleep