A bit desperate now :(

[ginger428]

Oh hun, so sorry about the changes and short naps!!! Hugs!!! Just when things were going fairly well.

Just my two cents about the A times after unsettled days... You probably know better than I do but the first A time was always the critical one to avoid OT for us. So we shortened this when needed, then tried to keep to the set (-ish) times for the rest of the day. Of course it depends on your baby. DS happened to be sensitive to the morning one as I said.

More hugs xoxo

[FPT23]

Thanks ginger! We were on a roll! But as always, it's changing haha

I think that day was a fluke. We've been back to long naps and long nights.

The problem I'm having now is, bedtime. I can't get the A time right and it's our biggest struggle. He pushes it out himself from OT or UT. At this point I get a bit lost in that area.

The other problem has been his morning nap... He's been waking at the 40/45 mark and won't settle himself back. He's acts OT... But I stick to the same A time.. But after getting these longer night stretches, I wonder if he needs more of a push in his A time for the morning nap? Or if he's OT...here's some more of our EASY recently:


7/8 Friday

WU: 6:40

E 6:45
A (2.15)
S (pd 8:50.. Tiny fuss. Asleep on his own)
8:55-9:40 happy

E 9:45
A (2.15 on 45 min nap)
S (PD 11:50 OT fussy since car ride)
11:55/12 - 1:30

E 1:30
A (2.20)
E 3:10
S 4:25 (swim practice) -5:30

E 5:30
A
S (pd 7:50-- slept until 8:15. Struggled; I had to help)

NW: 1:30 feed

7/9

WU: 6:15 resettled

E 7:15
A
S (pd 8:50 bros Bball game) 9:15-9:55 (i woke him up)

E 9:55
A (2:10 on 40 min nap)
S (PD 12:00 easy) 12:05 - 2:15 (I woke him up)

E 2:15
A (2.35)
S 4:50 (pool w Jr. Took a bit) 5:25

E 6:15
A
S 8:00 (BT) (PD at 7:45...struggled needed help)

NW: 10:30 settle on his own, 4am I woke him up to feed (I feel he still needs a NF since he's BF and on the little side)


He's an independent sleeper now a days but for the last week as he was adjusting to his new A times, we had to help settle him with patting a lot more.

Suggestions on morning nap, and bedtimes? If not I don't mind short naps... I rarely have the energy to try and resettle anyway either haha! I don't like the time it takes and the rate is low haha ..I just go on about our day. But I'm just wondering if it's an A time situation I would like to take care of to avoid NWs.

Does anyone have ideas on what's up with our BTs? And the NWs that happen sometimes shortly after?

Xo!

[FPT23]

Anyone have suggestions on how to stop waking only 2/3 hrs after we PD for BT? It seemed the push in A helped and long A time to BT ..but it's happening again. Regardless of BT and regardless of good naps.

I've never had this happen so I don't have much experience in the matter.

If anyone has tips send em' my way xo!

[jessmum46]

Wakings at that hour have generally been OT at bedtime for us, or accumulated OT.  Perhaps you need to shorten up the last A a bit? 

[FPT23]

Oh really? Hmm. Thank you!

Well I've done 2hr A time to bed and 2.15:2.5 ...I've had best luck when he's on longer A. What's would be a good A to BT from my EASY?

Also, what do you make of my first nap too?

[jessmum46]

Not sure I can help on the morning nap just yet - you had one 45 min one and one you woke him from so not really possible to comment on the A times.  Are you seeing more of a pattern than that?  Is it usually 45 mins with a happy wake?  (Sorry if I missed this earlier)  I would suggest UT if so and try a gentle push of the A time. 

For BT I think you are putting down too late - the long A may just have meant he crashed.  I think 4 full A times in the day is asking too much.  If you consider a 'standard' 4h EASY you'd have 3 full A times and then a short one at the end of the day.  I know if naps haven't been great earlier on it's tempting to let them sleep on later but it can impact on the day length and cause problems.  I would aim for a BT 12-12.5h after your typical WU time and then wake from the 3rd nap of the day to maintain it.  Something like (with 2h15/30 A time)

WU 7
Nap 9.15/30-11ish
Nap 1.15/30ish-3ish
CN around 5/5.30 for 30-40 mins
BT 7.30 so only a short A time - perhaps just 1.5h or so

Just to compare when DD was a lot older than this, around 9-10 months and on 2 naps she would do 4-4.5h A times in the day but only around 2-2.5h after the catnap.  Not saying that to suggest you should be on 4h A times!!!!  But just to illustrate that last A often needs to be short as they are tired from the whole day xx

[FPT23]

Ohhhh ok! Good advice! Got it. So aim for the 12hr day thing.

What if he's never been one to do 12hr nights? He seems to do more like 10-11... But it could be b/c we've never nailed BT!

I'll give it a try! Thank you!!!

Keep you posted on that!

The first nap-- yes he tends to wake at the 40/45 mark. But seems like an OT nap TBH. He stays a bit moody after but sometimes he's happy ...then other times he barely makes it to that same A time and still naps the same. So who knows. Guess he likes a longer A time now a days? *shoulder shrug*

[jessmum46]

Not all bubbas do 12h nights, DS rarely does   In which case you may need to aim more towards the 12.5h day and then by the time he settles it will be somewhere around the 12.5-13h mark making an 11h night kind of achievable

[FPT23]

Haha DS1 did 12 hour nights but I notice DS2 is on the shorter side..

Ok I'm sorry- can you explain how I could achieve the 12.5/13 hr day?

You mean extending BT after all? Or how-- so sorry. I got kind of lost actually haha

I don't see how I could achieve the longer day. So if he woke at 7.. Aim to have him asleep by 7:30?

Xo

[jessmum46]

The example EASY I gave above was a 12.5h day you could make it 13h if needed by doing the CN after a full A time (the example I gave suggested possibly doing it a bit early at 5pm - deliberately UT) - say 5.30-6/6.15 and then put down for bed 7.45pm ish xx

[FPT23]

Yes he seems to do best on 13hr days looks like. I tried 12hr day and he was UT at BT.

Gotcha' I'll give it a go!

Thank you

[jessmum46]

Good luck x