Cutting out 4th nap, OT at bedtime, EWs

[libbyseliger]

Hi,

DD is 6 months old and was sleeping through the night (7-7!) for over a month now. Things have started shifting recently. She's been resisting her 4th nap now over the last two weeks. She usually wakes up at 4/4:30 from her third nap and is overtired at bedtime. She's also been waking up gradually earlier every morning (today was 5:45am).  Awake time is still 1hr45min. She is mainly breastfed and is having solids for breakfast and dinner.

I suspect I should be increasing her A time to 2 hours but with such an early start to the day I will still be struggling with a cranky baby before bedtime.

Any advice? Thank you!

[jessmum46]

Hi there

I definitely think she needs more A time - most babies this age are hitting the 3-2 nap transition, not 4-3   although some little ones who only have very short naps may need that extra one.  Is she a catnapper?

Could you post her whole EASY for me?  But in principle I would start with the first A of the day, extend it with low-key activity by 10-15 mins and hold at the new time for a few days so she gets used to it before increasing again.  Around 6-7 months 3h A time is more typical so you have a little way to go  

[libbyseliger]

Thank you so much for your response. I figured she probably needed more time between naps but am always concerned about her being overtired.

She used to be a catnapper but thankfully has been having longer naps recently.
 
Here is a sample schedule:
 
6am wake up (hoping we can delay this to 7)
6:40 feed
8am sleep
9:30 feed
10am cereal and fruit
11:30 sleep
1pm feed
3pm 20 minute nap (!)
4:15 feed
5pm 40 min nap
5:45 dinner - veggie and fruit then some low key activity
6:30 bath and wind down (cranky and tired - ready for bed.)
7pm feed and sleep.

I've found that it doesn't matter how late in the afternoon her last nap ends, she's always very ready for bedtime at 7pm and is easily overtired at that time of day.

I would love to try and get her on a 7-7 schedule again.

[libbyseliger]

PS. I extended her A time to 2 hours today and she seemed OT by the time I put her in for her second nap at 12. Im pretty sure this is what caused it to be a 40 min catnap... : (
Don't think we can get away with only one more nap today...

[jessmum46]

See how it goes, don't be afraid of using an early bedtime rather than trying to get in another nap x

[libbyseliger]

Hi,
So we tried that. I kept her up from 3:15 until 6:30 bedtime and she was up before 6 this morning.
8:15 sleep
9:45 feed then cereal
11:45 sleep
12:30 awake...

I really have no idea how to proceed? Should I keep her up two hours again now?

[jessmum46]

I would, I'd bet after such a good first nap that was an UT nap, not over tiredness.  If you go shorter than 2 hours and continue to do so you're just going to get stuck needing 4 naps again and go round the loop . I know you're worried about OT but in my experience UT causes just as many, if not more issues.  It won't be fixed in a day or two, that's just not realistic, but if you take steady steps towards a two nap routine over the next 3-4 weeks then I do think things will get a lot better for you x

[libbyseliger]

Thank you so much! Just wanted to report that I've been consistently giving DD 2hrs15min A time and we are officially at 3 naps how long would you recommend I stay at this time before I try extending?

Still at 6am wakeup (7pm bedtime).

[jessmum46]

How are her naps going with that A time?

[libbyseliger]

Today her first nap was 1hour, second nap 1.5 hrs and she refused the third! I gather this means A time needs to be longer.

I am wary of giving her an earlier than 7pm bedtime if we are aiming for a 7am start to the day.

[libbyseliger]

PS. By 6:30pm she was overtired and conked out while I BF her before bed. She was up 40 min later and had to be resettled which took another half an hour.

[jessmum46]

That's great!  Yes it sounds like touch more A time may be needed to extend that first nap a bit, so perhaps aim closer to 2h30 and see what happens?  Can you AP a catnap if she refuses in bed?  Car/pram etc?  Sound like OT at bedtime today, it's to be expected as she moves towards transition but extending the A time earlier in the day will help.

I get you on the 7pm bedtime and I really think it depends on your child.  DD tacked on sleep brilliantly - I put her to bed at 5.30 sometimes after a terrible day and she would sleep right until her normal 6.30/7am.  We had some 13h+ nights for sure around nap transitions.  But DS is more of an 11h night man, 11.5 if really really tired but that is rare.  So with a 7/7.30 BT we get a 6/6.30am WU which works for us.  Aiming for 12h with him got us into a mess at one stage and it was one of those occasions where bedtime actually did need to go later to improve things.  May just need to experiment!

[libbyseliger]

Thank you so much.
Things have been going great other than the 6:15am WU. First A time of the day has been 2.20 and she's been sleeping between 1.5-2.5 hours  !
Then 2.30A time and today 1.5 hours. I still find that she needs another catnap before bedtime and even so is very ready for bed at 7pm. Can't exactly take her out in the car for her catnap because she has 3 older siblings at home so it's a busy time of day.

[jessmum46]

Yes you won't be able to properly drop that catnap until she can get to around 3h A time.  Just push it gently, an extra 5-10 mins every few days and keep it low-key so she can get used to it xx

[libbyseliger]

When is the latest I can put her in for that last catnap? The last two days she's been fighting it and skipping it altogether, then going to sleep overtired and not feeding properly because she's falling asleep .
Can I still give her a nap close to 6pm?