9mo short naps - how to tweak schedule...?

[Bera]

Well our naps are still a work in progress - he's 9mo now and I'm still not  quite sure what the right times are for him!

Our schedule at present is

E 6.00
A 3hr40
S 1hr15 on average (sometimes needs resettling at 30m)

E 11.00
A 4 hr
S 1hr (naps with grandma, she resettles him if he stirs)

E 16.00
A 3hr15
S 19.15

I can't seem to get that 1st nap more than 1hr/1hr15, is that an UT nap? shall I slowly push the A time? I'd rather he has a longer morning nap and a catnap later, even if I have to APOP for catnap.
We have just recently started 3hr40, we were on 3hr30 prior to that (gave very inconsistent naps 45m - 1hr30 at times!)

Is the 2nd Atime too long? I suspect it is bc granny doesn't put him down on time and I think he only sleeps well bc it's in her bed and she naps with him!

He's started EW a week ago of 6am! (That's early for him, he used to resettle at 6am for another 1-1.5hour) - do you think this is bc of the routine?

Thanks for your ongoing help 🙃

[Colin Macs Mom]

Hi there, I split your post from your original thread so that you can get the right audience.

[VnessMorris]

Hi there,

Do you think you can push his 1st AT to 4hrs? If you can make his morning nap as late as possible, that may help with your EWs. His subsequent ATs may also get shorter. Pushing my DD2'a morning nap helped eliminate her EWs. She's also 9months old and currently her 1st AT is approx 3:50-4:00.

HTH
V.

[Bera]

@ Colin's macs mom - thanks!

@V
This is what I have been considering so we're gradually starting to push that 1st A time. I'm trying 3hr40/45 at the moment, which gives varied results - yesterday he slept nearly 2hrs but the day before he woke at 30m (Crying so OT nap?) and resettled but only for another 40m. I'll stick with this time for a few days and hopefully push it more once he's having longer 1st nap.

I think that the heat bothers him at night too, it's been unusually hot here in the U.K. for the past 2 weeks so that hasn't helped. Plus I think he has hayfever/seasonal allergies so I'll see if I can get something to help with that.

Thanks! I'll keep you posted on our progress 

[VnessMorris]

The 30min wake up in naps usually meant OT for DD2. Like you, I would shh/pat her back to sleep to get another 40-45mins. But stick with it; after several days of pushing the 1st AT and shh/pats we finally got her EWs eradicated!

Good luck!

V.

[Bera]

Getting rid of the EW is the dream! I'd love to sleep until 7am again 😄

Out of interest V, please could you share your daughters easy atm, I'm just curious as to what other people do when Atimes are so long but you still want to fit in 2 naps and have a reasonable BT which isn't too late.

[VnessMorris]

To fit both naps in I've been giving her catnaps in the afternoon. She used to fight the afternoon nap about a month ago until I pushed her ATs. Right. now, she's napping very well in the AM (she can nap through to 2 hours if I let her!) and is going down well for her catnaps. Bc of the longer ATs, her BT is a bit later (7:30pm ish) but she's STTN until we wake her up @7am so I'm not complaining!!

Here's her recent week:

WU: 7am Bottle
Solids 8:30am - 8:45am
A. 3:45 - 4:00
S.  1:25 - 1:45 depending on activity (10:30am - 12noon/12:15pm)

E. 12/12:15pm Bottle
Solids 1:30pm/2pm
A. 3:35 - 3:40's.
S.  Catnap of 35 - 45mins (wake up no later than 4:30pm)

E. 4:30pm bottle
Solids 5:30-6pm
A. 3:05 - 3:25's
Bottle 15-20 mins before BT
BT. In crib by 7:35pm - 7:45pm.

[Bera]

That's great! My DS STTN too but the night ends a bit too early for my liking 

I can see that your A-times get shorter towards the end of the day, mine used to be like that too (the shortest one was always the last one before BT) but the last couple of days it has been the longest which is bizarre! I've put him in his crib by 3hr30 but he takes up to 20/25 mins to actually fall asleep. He's happy and chatting away to himself which implies that he's UT but previously he used to just fall asleep quietly within 5 mins.

Your routine is exactly what I'm aiming for, I have had to APOP the second nap at times to get him to go down, often earlier than the normal Atime bc I don't want BT to be too late- he doesn't refuse it as such, he's just often too nosy and excitable to wind down on his own!

I'll keep you posted. His perpetually runny nose is causing lots of crankiness and unsettled sleeping so i may have to wait until that's better to implement my Atimes properly.

[Bera]

Just thought I'd post an update. We had a difficult week last week due to teething and a cold, I was doing 1st Atime 3hr45 but was getting varied results. So I decided to jump to 4hr on Sunday bc he was feeling better and we've had a long morning nap of >1.5hr on both days! I had to wake him up from both so we can fit the second nap in and still have a reasonable BT of around 7.30. I haven't solved the EW yet but I'm hoping that the longer AM Atime will start to work its magic!

I'm starting to struggle to fit everything in though... our routine yday was

WU 6.00
A 4hr
S 10.00 - 11.45

E
A 3hr
S 14.45 - 15.30 (have to APOP for this one)

E
A 4hr
BT 19.30

If I put him to bed any earlier than 4hr, then he ends up playing and standing up in his crib for a while then gets frustrated and cries.

My question is - How do I fit everything into one day? He does well with an 11 hour night, bedtime between 7-8. How do I fit in 2 naps and 3 long Atimes into 13 hours...? Esp if he starts to wake later, around 7am, he would be going to bed after 8 based on my current routine, and he doesn't sleep as well with a later bedtime.

[VnessMorris]

So glad to hear he's doing a bit better!

For DD2, the only way I can fit everything in is to cut her afternoon nap short e.g. Catnap. She loves her morning nap so I don't mess with it. I can see her catnap is getting shorter until she drops it completely while at the same time her long ATs will push her morning nap until the early afternoon  (2-1 transition).

Which nap does your DS sleep best in? Keep that one long and cap the other. May need to experiment a bit. I've seen some posts where moms cap the morning to give their LO's a nice long afternoon nap. Whatever works best for LO. I've also seen posts where both naps are kept long but then BT is very late and less night time sleep. I guess it depends on LO's preference and family lifestyle.

V

[Bera]

He definitely sleeps better for the morning nap so I try to let him sleep as long as he can, he very rarely has long afternoon nap, so I rarely  have to cut it short.

I can see that the next few months will be tricky leading up to 2-1. As his 1st Atime is getting longer, I suspect I may have to cut the morning nap short to try and fit the 2nd one in too. From what I've read, it's best to keep them on 2 for as long as you can rather than rushing into 1 nap and risking OT?

Thanks again for your ongoing help 

[VnessMorris]

Yes, I think keeping 2 naps as long as possible is what is recommended. I think DD2 will end up  doing 15min afternoon catnaps just to make it to a decent BT. That's what happened to DD1; she ended up doing a lot of 15min catnaps on me (APOP) until she transitioned to the 1 big nap around 12-13months.

BW Forums has helped me and will continue to help me with both DD1 & DD2...all I can do is try and help out other mommies if I can, whenever I can! 

V.

[Bera]

We've consistently been doing 4hrs for the 1st Atime which seems to give a good AM nap (more often than not) but still no better with EW at all.. he's still waking up between 5.30-6am every day 

What should I do? Just carry on with the current routine? I considered that the 1st A might need yet another push but that happened accidentally a few days ago and he didn't nap well. Plus he struggles to go the full 4hrs as it is, already. Any suggestions?

[VnessMorris]

Hmmm. Maybe there's something else we could look at.

Here's a link to possible causes of EWs. For DD2, it was #8 and the solution provided helped her sleep thru. Take a look at the list and see if anything sticks out?

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=253524.0

V.

[Bera]

Thanks for the link, I've had a read and nothing jumps out at me. I think I'll continue with 4hr Atime for a few days, then try to increase by 10mins if he's napping well.

One thing my husband has suggested is to push his whole routine forward one hour (similar to what some people do for daylight saving) so I think I'll try that too. It may well result in OT for a few days but I'm hoping he'll catch up and it'll push him back to a 6.30/7am WU.