is this normal?

[mthyne]

My ds is 4 months now, and has always been a chronic 45-minute napper.
Then, about a week or so ago, he started taking these great 2-hour naps in the morning!  I was so excited, but now, in the past 2-3 days he's reverted back to the short nap again!  I can usually go in and get him back down with patting and his paci, but I'm worried that we're starting from square one again!  Is it normal for them to waffle back and forth before being good about the longer naps?   
Thanks!
Melissa

[Taylor's Mommy]

It is normal for them to regress for a couple of days after changing old habits, but anything longer than 3-4 days I'd say is no longer a regression but onto becoming a habit.  The last 2 days that he went back to the 45 minute naps, were A times and winddown exactly the same as the days he took great 2 hour naps?

[mthyne]

Pretty much, yes.  Our wind down is always short, he gets squirmy and wants to go to bed.  "A" time is approx. 2 hours, and then we have a diaper change, lullaby, cuddle, and into the crib with his blankie and paci.  We did have company last weekend, which I know can disrupt sleep, but the change back to the short nap didn't start until after they left.
He goes down like a little dream, but at that 45-min point, if you don't go in and help him re-settle, he gets all worked up and is awake and grumpy.

[Taylor's Mommy]

Hi There

it has been a couple of days.  Is he still back to taking the short naps?  If so, please post his routine for the entire day includign awake times. 

Thanks

[mthyne]

Well, his schedule seems to be changing in the past few days.  This is where we're at right now:

6 am  bottle, (7 oz) then right back to sleep
9/9:30 am wake and cereal (just 2 tsp)
10/10:15 bottle (6 oz)
11/11:30 nap
12/12:30 wake (I have to take my dd to school at this time)
1:45/2:00 bottle (6 oz)
2:15 nap
3:15 wake (I have to pick up dd)
5:15/5:30 catnap
6:00 wake and bottle (6 oz)
7:00 cereal
8:00 bed
10:30 df (7oz)

Now before this he was getting up earlier, around 8 am, so his morning nap was longer.  When he started the 45 min naps again, his wake-up time in the morning got later.  So it's hard to give him long naps because of my dd's school.  Plus, he seems to be able to handle more A time now (this morning he was up 2 hr 15 min and was fine).  I've been able to get him to extend his naps by going in and patting him/giving his paci back, but I was hoping he was done with that after sleeping so well last week.
I know the schedule seems a little off, but since we have to go every afternoon it's hard to do an exact 4-hour EASY.
Should I just continue to help him extend his naps and not worry about it?
He usually wakes up happy, but that's pretty much his disposition all the time.
Thanks for any advice!
Melissa

[Taylor's Mommy]

Hi there,

by looking at the routine, it looks like he is getting 13+ hours of sleep at night because he is sleeping until 9/9:30 am.  Is this the case?  If so, he may be getting so much night sleep that he doesn't need a long nap, especially in the morning.  If he took 2 2 hour naps, plus 13 hours at night, he would be getting about 17 hours of sleep a day, which is about 2-3 hours more than the average.

IMHO I would set a wake up time at around 7-7:30 am.
What do you think about that?  Is that something you would be interested in doing?

[mthyne]

That actually makes sense.  And yes, I could do that (of course, I love to sleep in!).  So if I wake him earlier, you think his naps will elongate naturally?  Because I'll be giving up my extra time in the morning so I don't want to have to run to his room every 40 minutes.  Does that sound selfish?  I don't mean for it to; I just enjoy my down time throughout the day!