Author Topic: Should I wake up 5 month old during cat nap?  (Read 1418 times)

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Offline Bbylove

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Should I wake up 5 month old during cat nap?
« on: May 25, 2018, 19:03:40 pm »
Regarding catnaps, I find that if my 5 month old son has a short 2nd nap (of 30-45 minutes), his “catnap” is typically around 1.5 hours. It’s like the length of those naps should be switched. I’m wondering if I should wake him if he’s sleeping too long during the catnap? I find if he’s sleeping longer during this time, that he’s waking up super early the next morning (I’ve posted in the NW section). He must be using it towards his night sleep.
Advice appreciated!!

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Re: Should I wake up 5 month old during cat nap?
« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2018, 08:09:37 am »
Hello and welcome to BW forums :)

I had a quick look at your NW thread.  The EASY you posted there doesn't really show what you have said here about the second nap being more like 30 - 45 mins and the third nap being long  This could affect the advice you are given as we really only have the information we are given to base support on.  Perhaps you could "modify" your other post to show the actual times of the naps (there is a button you can click to change your post).

Looking at the information on both posts my guess is that your LO is able to do a much longer A time than you imagine (he's going from 4.30am to 8am awake which is 3hr 30) and it could well be that because you are basing your day on a 2hr 30 A time you are offering the second nap too early, leading to a short CN of 30 - 45 min rather than a long nap.  This means he is more tired by nap 3 and can manage a longer nap again which he does need.
He is likely ready to shift to 2 naps per day rather than 3.
The 3-2 nap drop happens around 5 - 6 months.

I would probably start to move the first nap later (yes I know his A is already long there, he needs to be encouraged to wake up a bit later in the morning) in shortish steps of 15 mins (this needs to keep moving every couple of days until WU and nap times are in the right part of the day)
At the same time I'd increase the length of the second A time by 15 mins, wait a few days then increase again, making it 3hr.  This should help him have a long nap for nap 2.
The third A time will need to be 3hrs before BT however as it stands at the moment this means BT would be around 5pm which makes sense based on his 4.30am WU time but is not ideal in terms of an appropriate routine.  Therefore you would keep moving this 15 mins every few days in line with the morning nap so that the whole day shifts around until you have WU at 6.30/7am or what you consider suitable and BT around 6.30/7pm.

There is an alternative which may work to shift the day more quickly which would be to put in a third CN for a day or 2 and let that CN run late followed by a full A time of 2hr 45 - 3hrs which in turn makes BT considerably later. The CN would be maybe 4.45pm - 5.30 making BT 8.30pm or if the CN went longer BT could even be 9pm.  This would be *short term only* to help shift that morning WU time and get the whole routine running in the day time hours.

hope this helps.


Offline Bbylove

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Re: Should I wake up 5 month old during cat nap?
« Reply #2 on: May 26, 2018, 10:34:23 am »
This is wonderful!
I posted an update to my last thread outlining how yesterday went. It shows that shorter 2nd nap.
I do feel he’s ready for the 2 naps as well. I will likely do the gradual adjustment as with his feeding schedule and current routine, I just know he won’t last that late in the evening.
Thanks so much!!

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Re: Should I wake up 5 month old during cat nap?
« Reply #3 on: May 27, 2018, 09:18:29 am »
Glad to have been of some help :)

Just a little warning about gradual routine changes...whilst it's great to go in steps to help LO adjust don't go too slow or you can get stuck with the issue perpetuating over a longer period.  Keep moving that 15 mins and you'll get there but if you follow cues too closely at this point you may get stuck with the early waking and early BT for too long which doesn't really do any of you any favours.
Good luck with the changes.  Here if you want to post an update.


Offline Bbylove

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Re: Should I wake up 5 month old during cat nap?
« Reply #4 on: May 27, 2018, 23:04:34 pm »
For sure, thanks! Yesterday he did 2 naps, resisting the 3rd nap completely. It was a longer A time before BT than I would have wanted for him, but he made it and then slept 11 hours overnight until 5am. So today we did A of 3 hours, and he did 2 naps better than I thought. Hopefully this keeps up for a good transition!

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Re: Should I wake up 5 month old during cat nap?
« Reply #5 on: May 29, 2018, 08:30:58 am »
That's a great result :)