Pls help with transition 4-hr easy

[sleepymom80]

My LO is almost 19 weeks.  For the past week, I have been trying to transition to a 4-hr easy but I cant seem to  get it right. He's been having short naps which throws everything off. He is an independent sleeper but I cant seem to lengthen his 2nd nap.

Our EASY is all over the place but it resembles something like this:
6-6:30 wake
E
A 6-7:45 (or 8:15 if woke up at 6:30)
S: 7:45-9:15 (I normally get 1-1.5 hr nap, rarely 2hrs)

A 9:15-10
E 10
A 10-1115
S 1115-11:45 (normally 30 mins) and this throws everything off now. I leave him in the crib until 12:15

A 12:15-1:50
E 1:50-2
S: 2-2:30

A 2:30-4:30
S 4:30-5

E 5-5:30
A 5:30-6;30

Bedtime 6:30-7

11pm DF

I think I am approaching this all wrong. What do I do if LO has a short nap, do I go by the clock until his next scheduled nap or do I count 2 hrs from the time he is awake? If I go. If I go by the clock, then he is really fussy. Help pls!

[creations]

Hi there
What A time were you on before you started to move to the 4hr EASY?
What's his mood like when he wakes?  Are you getting a sense of UT or OT from it?
What does he do when you leave him in the crib until the end of nap time when he is not sleeping, are you with him?

What do I do if LO has a short nap, do I go by the clock until his next scheduled nap or do I count 2 hrs from the time he is awake?

Either really, it's personal preference as some people like to just stick to the times and get LO on routine whilst others prefer to count A from the end of the short nap, avoid OT and go a bit slower with routine changes.

[sleepymom80]

Hi. Thanks for responding. We were on a 3hr easy since he was about 7 weeks. Tried doing the 3.5hr easy as well for about two weeks which worked for a while then he started having short naps again. His second nap has always been short ever since I did some nap training. He used to only sleep while being held and I have since transitioned him to the crib. He normally babbles when he wakes up. He would call out if i leave him in his crib for a while before I get him. So i assume he's UT. Durng bedtime though, I do sense that he is OT because he would be very fussy and will suck on his fingers and closing his eyes. So I am kinda scared prolonging his A time. But i do feel I'm in a cycle that I cant seem to get out of. I know I need to get rid of that 4th nap which is getting difficult. We had a couple of days of 3 naps but I had to do an early bedtime because he was OT.

[sleepymom80]

Oh and to answer your question...he was on a 1.5 A time which i extended to 1.75hr. currently, I am trying to push for 2hr except before the first nap because he gets really fussy at the 1.75 mark.

[creations]

OK if you were doing 1hr 30 and then naps went short and increasing to 1hr 45 made things better for a while but then naps went short again, it does sound like he's ready for 2hrs. If the first nap is more often 1.5hrs that's fine continue for now with the slightly shorter A time, but if it is more often 1hr I think I'd suggest increasing by 5 - 10 mins so even if it doesn't go as long as 2hrs it's more like 1hr 50 or 1hr 55 and see if you can get a longer nap.  With that nap being a bit short it can end up you have extra time left at the end of the day.

Much of the short napping can be down to inability to transition from one cycle to the next without fully waking and calling out for you.  Have your tried W2S (wake to sleep)?
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=223809.0
This is a sleep training method. It sounds like you just recently started putting him in the cot to sleep, learning to fall asleep in the cot is a great start, then he needs to also learn to stay asleep.  you can support him with this.  A times alone do not fix everything.

[sleepymom80]

Thank you! I will definitely try the wake to sleep. And I will also increase the A time. You're right and I do think he is ready to extend his A time. Just in case he still has short naps, how early of a bedtime should i go for? For example, today he took 2 naps of 1 hour each and his 3rd nap is about 45 mins. If I stretch out his A time, it will give me to about 5:15pm. I wonder if I should just get him to go down for the night rather than have a 4th nap?

[creations]

Certainly some people have found that EBT 9early bed time) is helpful during transitional phases. Even as early as 5.15 or 5.30pm.  If you found this happening every day and if WU time the next morning started to get too early then you can reassess it and shift the day rather than let the EBT and EWU times continue.

There's usually a period of settling in to a new routine so it takes a little while.