Author Topic: How much time between catnap and bedtime for 5/6 mo?  (Read 1665 times)

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Offline becky1969

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How much time between catnap and bedtime for 5/6 mo?
« on: June 06, 2006, 21:49:54 pm »
The last 3 nights my 23 week old LO is suddenly not going to sleep like he used to. Since 12 weeks old, bed time has been sometime between 6:45 and 7:15. He's had no problem going to sleep then, and sleeps marvelously from then until the dream feed, always.

For some reason the last 3 days, I can get him to sleep initially but he's waking up 5 minutes (Sat), 15 minutes (Sun) or 30 minutes (Mon) later. The first night we thought it was bad gas. He's also been teething (though seems to be mostly done - tooth 1 is all the way in, as of 2 weeks ago, and tooth 2 is partially in), so we thought he had pain. But it wasn't totally like normal gas pain signs. He would quiet down when we'd bring him into a lighted room, and meltdown in his room. Day 2 of sleep problems I recognized his signals as overtiredness, and lastnight it was SUPER clear to me that it was the problem. Each night he sleeps a little longer before waking, and each night I can get him to sleep a little easier (Sat 11 pm, Sun 9:30 pm, Mon 8:30 pm) but it's still really weird.

So, I'm wondering if it's a scheduling problem. I've been cutting back on his daytime naps from two 2 hour naps and a 30 minute cat nap to approximately 3.5 hours of naps split between the two naps and a 30 minute cat nap based on teh advice form another board. We were having some wake-up problems at 4 am, and he was getting up for the day around 6:30. He is now sleeping to 7 or beyond, but this nighttime problem is making me crazy!

I'm wondering if the time between when he wakes up from catnap is too long or too short. In the past, I couldn't get him to go down before 1.5 hours of being up after waking from cat nap. But now he's showing sleepy signs before we even finish the bath, so I'm wondering if shortening the naps is making him too tired after catnap?

Please help! Just some ideas of how long your LO is up after the catnap and before bed at 5-6 months old would help immensely! I'd like to know before bedtime tonight as I can't go through another night of this!!  :o
Owen, 12/28/05 7 lb 2 oz

Enjoying the toddler years!

Offline *Natasha*

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Re: How much time between catnap and bedtime for 5/6 mo?
« Reply #1 on: June 06, 2006, 22:34:35 pm »
Hi Becky,

Could you please post your daily routine this will help us out with your question  :)

Natasha proud Mum to:

My big princess Catherine 7/8/05
My little princess Mirelle 17/10/07

Offline becky1969

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Re: How much time between catnap and bedtime for 5/6 mo?
« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2006, 00:06:52 am »
Here's our routine from Sunday:

7:30 wake up (slept later than usual b/c of late night)
8:00 bottle
8:30-9:30 Activity
9:30-11:15 Sleep

11:15-12:00 Activity
12:00 Bottle
12:30-1:00 Activity
1:00-3:00 Sleep

3:30 Bottle
4:00-5:00 Activity
5:00-5:30 Catnap

5:30-5:45 Swing while mom & dad finished dinner
6:00 bath
6:30 bottle
7:00 put him in bed and he was asleep

7:15 awake, and didn't get him back down to sleep until 8:30. Then asleep rest of night.

Only difference from normal days is that we usually get up at 7. Yesterday his naps were 1hr40 and 1hr50 and then 30 minute cat nap, but otherwise routine the same. He woke up at 7:30, and didn't get back to sleep until 8:30. He was jolting REALLY hard. The jolts were making him cry. I held him until the jolting stopped so that I'd be sure he was in a deep sleep. That worked because he slept great the rest of the night. This morning, I'm not sure what time he woke up because I was going to let him sleep a bit longer again due to late night, but when I went up to check on him at 7:30, he was lying there quietly with eyes open! So who knows when he woke up.

Today for the first time, naps got messed up. Morning nap was 45 minutes, but I got him to nap 2 hours in the afternoon. He's taking the 30 minute cat nap right now.


Owen, 12/28/05 7 lb 2 oz

Enjoying the toddler years!

Offline becky1969

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Re: How much time between catnap and bedtime for 5/6 mo?
« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2006, 17:08:28 pm »
Last night he woke from catnap at 5:30, and I got him down for sleep by 6:45. He was definitely ready. He was rubbing his eyes, rubbing his face against my shirt, etc. But he woke 10 minutes later. I was able to get him back down by 7:30, so that's an improvement! but he woke at 2 am and didn't get back to sleep until 3:30. That's only happened once before, and that was about a week or so ago. After that, though, he slept great until after 7. Not sure when he woke because as usual he played silently in his crib!  ::)

Help! Is this a temporary phase, or can I change something in our routine!
Owen, 12/28/05 7 lb 2 oz

Enjoying the toddler years!

Offline *Natasha*

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Re: How much time between catnap and bedtime for 5/6 mo?
« Reply #4 on: June 08, 2006, 00:33:58 am »
Hmm could you get him to go down for his catnap at 4.30-5pm instead? Then he would have an awake time of 2hr before bed and probably be more tired to go into a good night sleep.
Otherwise your routine looks great and very similar to ours before we dropped the catnap.

Natasha proud Mum to:

My big princess Catherine 7/8/05
My little princess Mirelle 17/10/07

Offline UNCMomma

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Re: How much time between catnap and bedtime for 5/6 mo?
« Reply #5 on: June 08, 2006, 17:42:39 pm »
I think it's SO hard to know what's a result of not tired enough or overtired.  I think it's a sign of overtired to have them wake so soon after going to sleep initially, but it sounds like your awake times are good!  I have found the ONLY way my 16 wk old goes to sleep easily at night is with a strict 1 hr 15 min awake time before hand.  Which makes timing naps tricky and critical!  Maybe it is just a weird phase, but keep experimenting and maybe he'll work it out!  SOrry I don't have more advice!   ???

Amanda