So Fussy from 6-7 pm

[AshleyMegan]

Hello,
I'm not sure if I have the proper board for this.
My 5 month old daughter is so fussy from 6-7pm, I really don't know if there's something I can be doing to help her out.  We have finally figured out her proper A time with the help from a lovely lady from this forum.  Her routine is as follows
E-7am
A
S-9:30
Y
E-11am
A
S 1:30pm
Y
E 3:00pm
A
S 5:15 (45 minutes only)
Y

She eats at 7, bath then bed by 7:30.  She is sleeping through the night until 7am.
She now eats 9oz. per feeding.

Her naps are still occasionally only 45 minutes, but usually 1.5 hours.

Is there something that I could do different or is it something she'll grow out of?

[Lindsay27]

Her routine looks really great so I'm not sure that there is anything routine wise that can be causing the fussiness.  My only thought is that perhaps she is getting ready for her A times to extend more and drop the CN...I think that usually happens closer to 6 months though. Is she grumpy upon waking from her CN?

Is she generally happy during the day? Most LOs just have a fussy time and it's usually in the evening unfortunately.  My other thought is maybe she's in a wonder week/developmental leap?

[becj86]

2:15 A time off a 45min capped nap may be a touch too much - she could be wanting to eat a little sooner than 7 with aiming to be in bed at 7 but really, routine looks pretty good. Is she sleeping those full 1.5hr naps?

[AshleyMegan]

She usually sleeps the whole 1.5 hours.  Occasionally she will wake up at a 45 minute mark, but  is usually able to put herself back to sleep now. 

She is generally happy during the day. Right after her cat nap she does wake up fussy. 

[Lindsay27]

It is probably as Bec suggested, she is just a bit OT from having a 45min nap after a full A time.  It is likely something that you need to ride out, or you can try pulling the CN forward a bit to 5pm or even 4:45pm...it means your A to the CN is shorter so she may be happier when she wakes and then has a bit longer A until bed.  Because it is just a CN she doesn't necessarily need a full A time, just enough to get her to go down yk?

[AshleyMegan]

That makes sense! I think I may try that. 

However, today, we had to go out during her catnap time.  Usually she does sleep if we're on the run, but today, for some reason, she didn't.  And she wasn't miserable at all, and went to bed great.  Is this just a coincidence or can this be a sign she's about to drop the catnap?  How do I know she is ready to drop the nap?  She will be 6 months on May 16.

[Lindsay27]

It can be a sign that she's ready to drop the CN, though the fact that you were out and about...maybe she was just distracted.  Normally what happens is you'll notice a decline in her daytime naps, she might start taking short naps at which point you push A times a bit more which eventually causes the elimination of the CN as there will be no time for it anymore.

[AshleyMegan]

I'm back 😕

I really am on the fence as to what to do.
My daughter's early morning naps are usually good from 9:30-11ish, and we have been extending her 2nd A time to 3 hours.  She was doing great with that and I was able to drop the cat nap for a few days and she did awesome.  However the past few days, she wakes from her 2nd nap after 45 minutes. Should I try shortening her A time back a little bit? Could she be over tired?  Or just leave it as is and hopefully she'll get it?  It's frustrating since she was ok with it.  And it's not like I could extend it more because she'll be miserable.  Thank you

[Lindsay27]

Have you found her A times to normally be on the high side? 45 min naps usually indicate UT, but her A times are near the high side. When you were getting a good 2nd nap previously you were using a 3hr A time? Sometimes after a good morning nap the 2nd A needs to be a touch longer.

[AshleyMegan]

I just don't know anymore.  She was taking decent naps after 3 hours of A time but recently they've been awful.  She's so cranky when she wakes up and we're back at the 45 minute wake up.
😣 

I don't get how it can be going so good to going so bad

[Lindsay27]

Sounds like she might need a wee push...if naps were going good with a 3hr A and then they started to shorten she might just need an extra 10/15mins.  Is she happy when she wakes after 45mins?

[AshleyMegan]

She starts off happy and talking to herself then tries to put herself back to sleep after 10-20 minutes but can't so then gets fussy.

I was tempted to try the wake to sleep again but when i did it before she just wakes up with the slightest sound of the door opening.

[Lindsay27]

Is give those A times a little push, if she's waking up generally happy then I'm thinking she's UT.  Even 10mins might do the trick

The W2S might not be working because she is probably already coming out of her sleep cycle/in a light sleep when you try to creep in.

[AshleyMegan]

Some progress im thinking...she is still waking up after 40 minutes but about 50% of the time is able to soothe herself back to sleep.  Should I just stay with the current A time? I did add another 15 minutes as suggested and it seemed to help.  Do you think she'll eventually not wake up at 40 minutes? 

[Lindsay27]

If you added 15mins and she is self settling some of the time then yes I would maybe just hold for a bit and see what happens.