What is happening to my perfect routine???

[samijoe]

My lo is 21 weeks old...she has been on a consistent four-hour EASY since 16 weeks and was doing extremely well (sleeping thru 7-7, great day naps).  For weeks right at the 2 hour mark she would begin to get sleepy...and down for a nap she would go.  But lately I've been noticing that I can still get her down for her AM nap around the "normal" time, but now she will be awake from 10:45am till 1:45pm!  I keep watching her for those tired signs, but she smiles away and continues to amuse herself.  Sometimes though, she only makes it to 1:30pm...which can sometimes have her screaming and very hard to put down.  Usually by 2pm, dd is napping....this runs into a feed--which i haven't been waking her for.  She wakes on her own at around 3:45pm-4pm...and I feed her a bottle then.  This should make her catnap happen around 6pm....but, she seems to be dropping it??  I usually go for a walk just prior to the time she should get catnappy (because it is cooler then too!) in the stroller with the dog and almost always, she will sleep for 20-30 minutes.  Except lately....now she seems to sail on thru till her next feeding and bedtime...which has also bumped to 8pm (she just isn't ready for it at 7pm--I won't go any later than 8 though!!!).  Dh and I watched her in amazement last night just sit there and giggle and play till about 7:15pm, then we began the bed routine (bath,bottle,book,bed).  Also, dd had just begun to wake around 6am every morning and wouldn't always last until 7am.....does this mean that she was getting too much daytime sleep (2,2,.5)  Since she seems to be dropping/losing the need for the catnap, and has been going to bed at 8pm (instead of 7pm)...she now sleeps better till 7am.  Is this what is happening???  I need to tweak my schedule somehow.....here it is:

Wake/play in crib/diaper change--7am
E   7:15am
A  7:30am
S  9:00am-10:45/11 
diaper change/stretch in crib

E  11:15am
A  11:30am
S   1:00pm (*this seems to happen at 2pm-ish now?)
        -3pm  (3:45/4)
diaper change/stretch in crib

E  3:15pm  (4:15)
A  3:30pm  (4:30)
S  5:30-6:10  *sometimes this isn't happening at all, or for a quick 10 mins**

A  6:15pm  (7:00) --begin bath (she likes this part so much)
E  6:45  (7:30---has always wanted to eat about 3/3.5 hours apart during last part of day)

7pm  (8pm)--bed till 7am

All bottles are 7oz and she sometimes wakes for a night time feed (bf), but not always.  At her age I expect that she might, and she always takes a full feed when I do.
I am fine with her staying up until 8pm, but I really do like 7pm better (easier to change it to 8pm when older).  I also don't want her to be touch and go...somedays bed at 7, somedays at 8...
I guess my question is mostly...is she trying to drop the catnap?  Is there better schedule changes to accomodate this?  Is she supposed to be doing this yet....or more importantly, how much sleep should I realistically expect my 21 week old lo to sleep?
I understand that her newfound mobility will cause me issues potentially, though I don't see any effect quite yet (she rolls from tummy to back, not other way yet....is trying to crawl--more like a slide right now).
Any and all suggestions would be wonderful.
Samantha  (mum to Avery Louise)

[LŠuren]

Samantha

Your LO is at an age where she wants to drop the catnap Calum started refusing this at approx. 6 months and it took 3 weeks for it go completely - so we were left with 2 naps per day.

I remember the whole process threw out our routine for a while, I seem to remember try to increase the morning 'A' time and the others took care of them selves. I also had to bring his bedtime forward temporarily.

What temprament is your LO?

[samijoe]

DD is a very good angel baby....textbook at her worst!  I am lucky....I was just noticing that this was happening and I thought it might be useful to have the info first. 
How much longer do I need to increase the morning activity time by....get her to nap around 930am instead of 9am?  Will she sleep till only 11am or till 1130am?  What do I do with feed times?  Currently she is not on solids...there is no need to yet...we'll wait a bit longer.

Samantha

[LŠuren]

The reason I asked is that Calum is also an angel and he was also able to stay up 3 hours for 'A' times. When other Lo's this age couldn't manage anywhere near.

I totally hear you on the one minute they are fine and playing away with no signs of sleep then, the next minute they want to snuggle and you can't get them in the cot fast enough to stop any overtired crying.

Luckily Calum now gives me other signs as well now, so I am prepared - he has still never really extended any more than 3.5hrs and it cause difficulty for me fitting his 2 naps in - I now have to limit his 1st nap to 30mins so he can get a decent sleep at 1430 - 1600.

[LŠuren]

Stacy what is his routine like now 

[samijoe]

Thanks for all the great advice so far.
I think dd can wait for the feed from 11:15-4pm.  She seems to be already...though I think throwing in a small bottle feed before the nap is a worthwhile idea...if only for a few weeks anyhow.  
I will work toward my 7pm bedtime again.....hopefully we'll work this out soon.
I agree that she may be losing some of her cues, and unfortunately, just as dh was catching up!!
I keep everyone posted...

[becky1969]

We had similar changes at 5 months. LO started dropping cat nap here and there. It wasn't until he reached 7 months that it was gone completely. Right around 21-22 weeks is when everything changed, and we had about 8 weeks of sort of a goofy routine - catnap some days, sometimes not; long A time some days, other days not. I think he was just stretching his wings!  Just like you, my LO is angel with textbook thrown in.

The feeding thing will sort itself out a bit better once you start solids. That helps get some more calories in them, and you'll probably be able to drop a bottle which will make the routine much easier. In another month, that A time will probably get longer and more consistent too which will help with your planning. In our case, LO shortened his AM nap first to 1.5 hours (from 2), and then the PM nap about a month later. So don't be surprised if those lovely 2 hour naps start disappearing! I miss them SO much! 

[samijoe]

sounds like im in for quite a change over the next few weeks!! 
glad to hear that i am not alone.
today has been pretty normal so far....good ol'regular 4 hour EASY...it will be interesting to see if she wants the catnap today or not?
what else happens at this age that i should know about--hee hee!

[becky1969]

Well, in my January mom's group, probably half of us started having sleep disturbances at around the stage you're at! In our case Owen would go to sleep OK, but would wake 5-30 minutes later. It would take 30 minutes to 3 HOURS to get him back to sleep! I never had that trouble with him before, even as a newborn!

I thought I would snatch myself bald from frustration, but then I got this GREAT book. It's called "The Wonder Weeks", and it describes 8 fussy phases babies go through in their first year. It talks about how during these fussy phases, especially after 3 months, most moms attribute it to teething or separation anxiety. In reality, there are major development leaps that are going on that rocks the baby's world. There's a big one at 19 weeks (that lasts 3-4 weeks) and another at 26 weeks (that lasts 4-5 weeks). There are 3 more after 26 weeks, I believe. I LOVE this book because it gives you a list of behavior changes you may see (including sleep disruption) and also a checklist of skills your baby is working on. It then gives guidance on games & toys to play with your baby at each stage in order to help them with the developmental changes they are making, thereby minimizing the crazies.

Once I got that book, I was much more tolerant of all the weird things going on in our days! LOL! Since I have an angel/textbook, I wasn't used to constant whining, crying, clinginess, and sleep disruption. Owen, even as a newborn, rarely cries! So when he went nutso at 19 weeks, I thought he'd been posessed by the devil!  Going back thru the book, I realize that Owen hit every single fussy period right on target, just like the textbook baby he is! It's almost scary how accurate the book is in describing your baby's behavior. You may want to get it because for us, from 5-7 months was a crazy rollercoaster ride!