Afternoon catnap -- am I doing something wrong?

[Paulsmama]

Any ideas on why DS is SOOO tired by the end of the day?  Two weeks ago I really thought DS (8.5 mos) was getting ready to drop his late afternoon catnap.  But for some reason around 5 pm every day he is still yawning, rubbing his eyes and fussy after 2 hr A time following a 1.5 hr nap.  Then after a 30 min catnap (5:30-6) he acts almost overtired at bedtime (try to put him down to be asleep by 7:30).  What gives?  He has 2.5 hr A time on wakeup and 3 hr A time after his first nap.  I am exhausted from a huge struggle at the catnap and at bedtime to get him to settle down.  Otherwise he thrashes around and yells in his crib getting himself really worked up.  This usually involves me walking him around to calm him down and him falling asleep on me for his catnap and a lot of pat/sh with maybe some PU/PD at bedtime.  Even with the catnap if we miss the bedtime window by even a little bit it takes him 45 min to get to sleep and then he cries 1 hr after that.  I would really appreciate any ideas/opinions/tips.  Sorry I have just been getting frustrated and losing my patience as I've been so busy with the baby at the end of the day then and DH is saying "where's dinner"

My first thought was that the afternoon was too active, but the past couple of days we have just gone for a walk in the stroller or car ride/errands, come back for supper and then played quietly on the floor (sometimes a neighbor visits) and on the bed.  One day I did put him in the doorway jumper for maybe 10 min around 4 pm before supper.  He seems really happy all day up until 5, then it's like he is just trying to hang on until his next bottle/bedtime.

Here's our whole routine:

6:30/7 wake (~2.5 hr A)
7:15 bottle
8 breakfast
9/9:30 nap for 1-1.5 hr (no later than 10:30)
10:30 wake (3 hr A)
11:15 bottle
12 lunch
1:30 nap for 1-1.5 hr (almost always wakes just before 3)
3 wake (2.5 hr A)
3 bottle
4:15 supper
(5:30-6 catnap)
6 wake (1.5 hr A), bath
6:30/6:45 bottle (a bit earlier if no catnap)
7:30 asleep  (7:00 if no catnap)
10:15 DF

Sorry if this is TMI but he doesn't fall asleep right after his evening bottle because also recently 2 out of every 3 days he poops a little while after (and the other day he is trying) and sometimes we miss the window if his diaper doesn't hold it all and we have to do a wash up/PJ change.

[Taylor's Mommy]

Hi Cynthia,

I think Paul is ready to drop his catnap which is why he is putting up such a struggle.  I think some tweaking in the routine and you two will be on your way.  I would start stretching out the A times, going gradually, with only 15 minutes every few days.  So your day would end up lookign something like this:

7am wakes up - stays awake for 3 hours
10am - 1st nap (1.5 hrs.)
11:30am wakes up and stays awake for 3 hours
2:30pm - 2nd nap (1.5-2)
4-4:30pm wakes up

As dc doesn't wake from dc second nap until 3:30/4 that means dc can now last without a catnap until bedtime at 7/7:30pm.

Do you think this is something reasonable that ds can do or is it too much A time?

Let me know your thoughts.

[Paulsmama]

Thanks for responding so quickly.  It is worth a shot although the 2.5 A time in the morning already seems to be a bit of a stretch for him.  We will give it a try next week.  One more question if you have a minute --

I was talking to DH about this last night (as we were microwaving the prepared meals I bought at the store) and he looked at the EASY logs and noticed that DS's early afternoon nap has been getting shorter and shorter while the others are pretty much the same length.  The early afternoon nap used to be 2.5-3 hrs at 4 mos and is down to just under 1.5 hrs now.  DS has always woken up around the same time but the nap just starts later now since he is up to 3 hrs A time before it.  Do you think I also should cut back on DS's morning nap to try for a longer afternoon nap?

[Taylor's Mommy]

Gosh that is a tough call.  SOme agree with this method and some do not.  My gut tells me to try this:

If the afternoon nap stays at at least 1.5 hours in length, don't do anything.

BUT, if it starts to consistently (3 days or more) get shorter than 1.5 hours, cutback on the a.m. nap to no less than 1.5 hours and see if that helps.

Anyone else have any ideas?