Need Help with schedule!!

[Claire Marie's mommy]

Hi all,
DDis nearly 8.5 months and we are having some napping/schedule issues!
She has started taking shorter naps (45min - 1hr.) and resisting the catnap at the same time, which REALLY screws things up.  I'm thinking that we definately need to lengthen A time as she is only going 2 to 2 hours and 20 min. between naps.  Also, her wake up times vary and I never know exactly how long she's been up ( she plays in her crib for a while before calling out).  This makes it difficult to set an A time before the morning nap.  I would like to get to longer A times and no stinking catnap, so here are my questions and our current schedule:

Between 6-7am  wake
Roughly 2 hours later Nap for 45 min to 1 hour
Between 11:30 and 12:30  Nap again.  If first nap was short this one is a
             little longer.
Usually awake from 1-1:30 until 4 - 4:30.  At this time I attempt another
             nap.  She has  a very difficult time going down, so often end up
             rocking her and holding her while she sleeps for 20 min.
Bed no later than 7p.  Sometimes earlier if she's wiped out.

So you can see the problem!!! I would love for her to wake from her second nap around 2:30 or so, but it seems impossible!!


1.  Any tips on lengthening A time?  I usually start the windown when she yawns and/or rubs her eyes.  The few times I have tried, she struggles to go down and then it usually ends up being  a short nap anyway.

2.  Should I be trying to get to set naptimes regardless of her wake up time? And what if her first nap is short, do I still keep the same afternoon nap time or adjust?

3. Until we get this sorted, do you think its OK to keep rocking her for her catnap? She rarely falls asleep in the car or her stroller.

I would appreciate any advice.  I'm afraid all of this is starting to effect her night sleep which has FINALLY become managable!

Thank you
Jessica

[Caroline-Charlies Mummy]

Hello Jessica,

I think you are right in that you need to extend A time, how is she when you put her down for naps? Is she cranky, or easy to get to sleep?

It might be worth starting on the second nap (the lunchtime one) to extend the A time. I say this b/c my lo can do much less A time before his first nap of the day, but can do more later on.

So, say she wakes up at around 10am, would you then put her down again at around 12pm? (Correct me if I'm wrong, btw). How about starting gradually to increase the A time in increments of 10 minutes, don't just suddenly decide to increase it by half an hour, that will just end up with a cranky baby .  When I was doing this, I found a good way was to take ds outside for a while. The change of environment and interesting things to look at kept him going for a while longer, and I think the fresh air helped him sleep too. Can you do this where you live?

I think if you can extend A time, and have longer naps, you may find dd not needing the catnap, my ds dropped his recently when his other naps improved.

Should I be trying to get to set naptimes regardless of her wake up time? And what if her first nap is short, do I still keep the same afternoon nap time or adjust?

I think you should really be trying to stick to a routine, rather than a schedule, and look at every day as it is, rather than set times. Look at nap times from when she wakes up, with a particular A time, rather than set nap times, b/c, if she has differing wakeup times, this could give her a short nap if she's not been awake long enough, etc. Or, if you prefer, you could wake her up at a set time everyday. If she's waking up at the same time everyday, then her naptimes will be at the same time. Have a look at this thread http://www.babywhisperer.com/forum/starting-the-day-vt48710.html .That's up to you, really, whichever you prefer.

HTH, let us know how you get on.

[Claire Marie's mommy]

Caroline,
Thanks for your response.  I think that just concentrating on lengthening the second A time is a great idea!  I never thought of only doing one, I was trying to do it all at once and ending up with a grumpy baby.  I'll let you know how we get along.  Thanks again.
Jessica