5.5 mo old, ready to drop the cat nap?

[becj86]

Sorry, yes. It is a deviation from her previous normal. It may not happen again tomorrow I guess is what I'm saying. There are ways to shift it later too if it does become a trend. The thing to concentrate on now is sorting the timing of the routine.

Can you post perhaps the next 2 days' EAS so we can see where we are?

[hotmessexpress]

Yesterday:
WU 545, She showed signs of trying to go back to sleep and even dozed off a few times so I didn't get her until she cried out at 645a
E 650a
A very fussy, rubbing eyes, crying
S 850a-1030a
E 1045a
A less fussy but still not her normal happiness
S 1:20p-255p
E 3p
A seemed pretty happy during this time
S 530p-6p
A bath time. She normally gets tired and fussy during this time but instead she was very hyper and mostly happy, didn't cry when I put her pajamas on like she normally does. I think this might have been a second wind type hyperness.
E 655p
BT 725p, fell asleep within 7 min


Today
WU 500AM!! I heard her cry for 5 min and then she stopped, I assumed she went back to sleep but I'm not sure bc I fell asleep when she stopped crying. When I turned on the monitor video at 6am she was awake and lying there silently playing with her blanket. I didn't get her up until 645a when she cried bc again, she showed signs of going back to sleep but never did
E 650
A very fussy the whole awake time
S 845a-1020a
E 1045a
A super fussy
S 1p-130p woke up screaming which she never does anymore, tried to resettle and couldn't, gave up at 2p
E 2p
A 2p-330p basically whined the entire awake time and needed lots of distraction, wanted to be held the whole time
S 330p-4p fell asleep in 1 min with binky and swaddled but binky fell out and woke screaming, resettled and got another 15 min out of the nap. Probably a total of 20 min during this time.
A 4p-515p played/bath time
E 515p-6p
BT 6p

We're 2 weeks away from the start of daylights savings here in the US so I think I'm just going to give up figuring out what the deal is with the wake up time bc I'm going to have to readjust her in 2 weeks. I'm hoping she can make it to 6a tomorrow and then I'll get her up and do everything 1 hour earlier with a bedtime goal of 6pm so that when the time changes in 2 weeks, the 6a wake up will turn into 7a and the 6p bedtime will become 7p.

Today was hard, though. She's such a pleasant baby and never ever cries but today was full of tears and whining. I'm hoping she's better rested tomorrow because I just feel so bad that she's not getting the sleep she needs and then gets upset and cries   

[becj86]

I think this might have been a second wind type hyperness.

You are likely correct there.

1030aE 1045aA less fussy but still not her normal happiness S 1:20p

That's quite a bit more than 2.5hr - did you have trouble getting her to sleep? She still slept a good nap though.

This fussiness 4-5 days into the change is unfortunately something that happens. Lets see how she does over the next 2 days and then we can find something to change if needed.

Have we just coincided this change with her 26week wonder week? Its a doozy and LOs can be very clingy with that...

I'm hoping she can make it to 6a tomorrow and then I'll get her up and do everything 1 hour earlier with a bedtime goal of 6pm so that when the time changes in 2 weeks, the 6a wake up will turn into 7a and the 6p bedtime will become 7p.

That makes good sense.

[hotmessexpress]

That's quite a bit more than 2.5hr - did you have trouble getting her to sleep? She still slept a good nap though

Yes, she wouldn't go to sleep. Fought the nap and cried.

Have we just coincided this change with her 26week wonder week? Its a doozy and LOs can be very clingy with that...

She will be 26 weeks tomorrow so that could definitely be it... I thought the wonder week was over already but I haven't been tracking it with the app lately.

Yesterday I got her up at 6a and she didn't pretty great the whole day. Went down for bed at 605p and woke up at 555a this morning. First nap today was 1.5 hours and 2nd nap was 2 hours!! She does seem happier. She woke up from her 2nd nap at 235p and bedtime isn't until 6p. That's 3.5 hours almost before bed... seems like too long. What should I do? I think later bed times mess her up too much and I also think she can't sleep more than 12 hours so putting her down early doesn't seem to be an option either if I don't want her morning wake up to move any earlier.

[becj86]

You could AP a 20min catnap after ~2hr (about 4:30-4:50) if she'll take it, then BT at 6/6:30.

[hotmessexpress]

You could AP a 20min catnap after ~2hr (about 4:30-4:50) if she'll take it, then BT at 6/6:30.

That's exactly what I did! She took catnap 435-455p and then asleep at 610p! She was happy and pleasant pretty much the whole day today except for when I was out of sight... I think that's the wonder week doozy you were talking about!

[becj86]

She was happy and pleasant pretty much the whole day today except for when I was out of sight..

This is the WW where she perceives the distance between you and herself and she doesn't yet have object permanence so she doesn't know that you exist even when she can't see you. That would be pretty scary, right?

[hotmessexpress]

This is the WW where she perceives the distance between you and herself and she doesn't yet have object permanence so she doesn't know that you exist even when she can't see you. That would be pretty scary, right?

Yes! For sure!

She's been doing pretty well the last several days. She's getting at least 1.5 hrs at each nap, once she got a 2 hr morning nap and once a 2 hr afternoon nap, not on the same day. She's going down between 545p-6p every night (which will turn into 645p-7p with the time change).

The first two days she slept until 6a! But the last 2 she's woke at 530 which is a bummer but not the end of the world. I'm not getting her until 6 though and still waiting 2.5 hrs from that time to put her back down again and she's been doing fine with the naps. I'm going to wait it out a few more days and see if that morning wake gets better. Maybe she just can't sleep longer than 11.5 hours, which I can accept bc she's still a great sleeper. I think in another few weeks when she's able to stay up a little longer it will all sort itself out. Right now it's tough bc she goes 2.5 hours + 1.5 hr nap so when she wakes from her last nap she usually has 3-3.5 hrs until bedtime. I don't want to put her down too early bc I don't want her to keep waking earlier. So I'm trying to stretch her to bedtime or trying a short catnap.

[becj86]

So I'm trying to stretch her to bedtime or trying a short catnap.

This is really all you can do through a transition like this.

I thought she might sleep 2hr naps and with 2.5hr A times, that would've been perfect to drop the nap but now she's doing 1.5hr naps, its a little more tricky. You could try a bump to 2:40 or 2:45 A time if you want to, which would even out the A times a bit and give you less to stretch in the evening and may increase the naps but may not. Certainly I'd be suggesting increasing the A time like that sometime in the next week or two so you're increasing gradually rather than having to big increases like you have this time

[becj86]

How are you going?

[hotmessexpress]

Last week was so hard! She was sleeping 1.5 hrs each nap but waking up crying and cranky very quick after the nap. I tried bumping up the A time but then I just stopped fighting it and three days ago started putting her down when she got tired instead of distracting her. This is usually around 2 hr 20 min for the first A time, and 2 hrs for the second. Now she's taking 2-2.5 hr naps!! She still has a long stretch before bed, usually about 3 hrs. We tried to CN but she hasn't been wanting to go down for it so we just bumped bed time up a bit and she's still going 11-11.5 hrs at night. She's waking anywhere from 530-6 but is either playing quietly in her crib or dozing back off until I get her at 6. I think my baby is just a sleepy head!! Lol

[becj86]

I think my baby is just a sleepy head!!

I think you're right. Lucky you! Keep in mind that her A times will have to increase, just probably will always be a bit lower than average and her naps longer than average - if you're posted here again in future, really good to know you have a high sleep needs (HSN) LO.

Well done finding what works for your LO.