Please Help - Awake Times Need Tweaking

[Nina's Mommy]

Hi all. Was hoping maybe Meg's Mom and/or Taylor's Mommy and others too could help me tweak my beautiful DDs awake times. She is 4 months today and mainly a textbook baby (at times a bit spirited but mostly with regard to eating).

She has been on a 4-hour routine for about a month actually and currently I keep her awake about 1.75-2 hours before her first two naps and just over 2 hours before her catnap. Lately we struggle some days with 45 min naps but other days seem OK.

Basically, I was wondering how long she should be awake for between naps. I don't want her overtired but don't want her taking short naps due to short awake time either. Considering she is mostly textbook, falls asleep independently, etc - what would you suggest as appropriate A times to avoid the 45 min monster and make sure she doesn't get too overtired come late afternoon/evening. Also, how long should I let her sleep at the first nap? I've often heard to limit that one to 1.5 hours or less so they don't just group all their sleep overnight and early morning...

I'll eagerly await your help for my lovely Nina. Thanks.

[Aarismom]

Hiya!

Right now you're in the middle of the day sleep development period. 40-45 min naps are completely normal for this time. You'll have on and off days, but more off days than on for about 3 weeks. Eventually though, I promise, it will work itself out

My lo wasn't exactly up to 2 hours waking time until close to 5 months. However, because every lo is different, yours may be ready for it.

The most you can do during this time is get your DD as rested as possible. Keep pushing toward a 2 hour waking time. Don't sweat the short naps...they're gonna drive you crazy if you let them. The crankiness factor is par for the course during this time .

Nap length (if you can get a long nap) should be about 1.5 hours in the am, and 1.5-2 hours in the pm. If your DD gets about 10-12 hours at night, she'll take a shorter am nap automatically for the most part, assuming night sleep was restful. The am seems to be an extension of night sleep, sleep cycle wise.

Hope this answers all your concerns!

*HUGS*
Sonya =P

[Nina's Mommy]

Thanks Sonya, that does help. I try not to get too upset when the 45 minute naps happen and when I can't extend them. But sometimes I just worry because it throws off the rest of the day and then she is an overtired screaming maniac and I feel badly for her! But we are working through it. Her nighttime sleep has always been and remains great. And she still naps well for the most part - just hit or miss sometimes and was just trying to figure out if her A times needed any tweaking. Thx again.

[Meg's Mom]

Hi

If she is only doing the short naps occasionally then i think you are right on target!

keep up the good work  :wink:

[Nina's Mommy]

Lately it seems one of the first two naps wil be 45 minutes. Sometimes I can extend - often not. Is this just her working through her daytime sleep and nothing to change? She seems extra tired lately too so I'm not sure how much to keep her awake sometimes.

[Meg's Mom]

I think when you start getting them (45min naps) consistently for all or most naps then make some schedule changes, but not until then.

I would stick to the 2.0hrs unless she is going to be OVER tired, vs tired.

[Nina's Mommy]

The past week, Nina has been doing the 45 minute thing (or often 50-55 minutes) for her first morning nap. About half the time I can resettle her. If not, she is SO tired and cranky and it throughs off rest of day. She rarely does it for her second nap though. She seems tired sooner in the morning so I've been pushing her to about 1:45 awake time. In the afternoon I can push her to almost 2 hours.

Do you think the 45 minute thing is just something she is working through right now? Or do I need to adjust the first A time and make it either shorter or longer? Also, if she wakes up 30 minutes earlier than usual in morning, should I try to stretch her first A time more to get the day closer to back on track?

Also, if she's awake in her crib talking sleepily to herself for 10-15 minutes before crying out to get up, do I count that as part of her awake time?

Thanks again.

[KellyC]

Hi Nina's Mom

I've been wondering the same about Zander's first A time of the day - he's awake in his bed before I get him up (as I don't want to rush in until he really asks for me) but often I don't know how long he's been awake.  He seems to get overtired really quickly once we're up and I'm wondering if he's already been awake for half an hour before I realised!  I also wanted to say that Zander has also been an overtired screaming maniac lots lately - I can laugh about it now but it's not funny at the time!

Kelly x

[Meg's Mom]

That is interesting cuz the morning normal develops first...try the shorter A time for 1st nap and see that helps.

the counting starts from they wake up even if she is still in the crib.

[Nina's Mommy]

So what do you think is good? Just follow her tired signs in the morning and maybe aim for 1.5 hours? It is odd - one morning in the stroller she fell asleep after 2 hours while out and slept for 1.5 hours! But usually we are home in the mornings and when I try 2 hours there, I usually get a 45 minute nap. Is that because the stroller is giving her such a long winddown? She usually gets upset if I wind her down this long in my arms though.

So if I hear her talking in crib at 6:15 but don't get her up until 6:30 or whatever, I still would aim for 1.5 hours down after 6:15?

[Nina's Mommy]

Oh no! I heard her talking in crib at about 6:20 - she cried out at 6:35 and i got her up. She was yawning at 7:55. I got her into crib at 8:05 but she had hiccups - fell asleep with minimal fussing though at 8:15/8:20. But she woke up at 8:50!!! Trying to resettle but my intervention often just makes things worse. What can I do? What needs to be fixed?

[Meg's Mom]

Nina sorry things seem a bit messy right now....can you please post your schedule and let's see if we can get you back on track.