Confusing nap-schedule

[hulababysmommy]

My DD is 5.5 months old and sleeps really well at night. However, her nap schedule is confusing to me.
She’ll wake up between 6 and 6:30 am, eat, play and go down for a nap at 7:30 or 8:00. She’ll sleep for 45 minutes, talk for 15 minutes and fall back asleep (yeah!) for another 45 minutes.
Her next nap will be about 1 1/2-2 hours after waking up from her first nap, so between 11:00 and 11:30. This nap will last for 45 minutes and then she’s done sleeping.
Now, it’s her next nap that confuses me. She’ll get tired again after being awake for 1 1/2-2 hours. So I do everything the same way as with the other naps – same routine. But this time, she will not go down for a nap.
Sometimes she won’t stop crying and I don’t know what else to do then go back to the living room. She’ll play again but also fuss a lot throughout that part of the afternoon. Sometimes she will finally go down for a nap between 4:30 and 5 pm. After waking up from that nap she is very fussy. She doesn’t seem to enjoy her bath and is happy to just eat and go back to sleep.
Should I try to keep her awake longer between nap #1 and nap #2 so at least her second nap will be later in the afternoon? Any ideas to solve this strange nap-schedule?
I posted my question before, but didn’t really get an answer. I’m hoping someone will throw some suggestions at me this time…….
Thanks a lot!

[sa]

how long does she sleep during night-time?

typical hours for 6 months old:
Night: 12 hours;
Day: 2.25 hours - 2 naps, 1 of 1 hour and 1 of 1.25 hours;
Total: 14.5 hours

so, if she sleeps 6 to 6 (12 hours), she will need roughly a morning nap and a afternoon nap of about 1.5 hr each.

if my memory is correct, i think since my DS was 5.5 month i do 2.5 hour awake time in the morning, and 3 hours A time between morning nap and afternoon nap. he dropped his catnap around 5.5 month.

hope this help a little.

[Meg's Mom]

It sounds like she is packing in all the naps she need too early in the day.  I would gradually extend her A time (15min every 3 days) between the naps like suggested.  That should help.

Be  very thankful she will put herself back to sleep  :wink: