5 1/2 month Activity time?

[meggieandme]

HELP!!! I'm having a hard time getting my dd to go down for naps without a struggle.  I've been trying to follow EASY since she was very little, so we have that order pretty established. My biggest question, where I begin to doubt myself whenever she cries at sleep time, is how long should awake/activity time be before she becomes overtired or not tired enough for me to try to get her to sleep?  I try to go by sleepy cues, but usually by the end of the day yawns in particular are totally absent.  She has been awake on average 2 hours, sometimes 20 minutes sooner. Please tell me how long your little ones would be active when they were 5 1/2 months!

Thanks,
Dawn

[Mom to M&M]

At that age we were at about 2.25 hours A time - sometimes a few minutes more. Any less and we had short naps.

[Cohensmom]

Hi Dawn,

My lo is 5 months old and he's just starting to stay awake longer than 1 to 1.5 hours.  If he's tired I don't try to keep him awake longer cause then he just gets overtired and he cries when I put him to bed.  He usually takes approx. 3 naps a day of around 45 min to 1.5 hours.  I don't like him sleeping long in the afternoon cause it affects his nighttime sleep.  Right now he is going to bed at 6pm and sleeping straight through until 6-7am. 

Try to follow EASY as best as possible but realize that every baby is different.  By watching her cues you'll probably have an easier time getting her to sleep and you'll have a happier baby.

Michelle 

[meggieandme]

Karen and Michelle, thanks for answering!!! The last couple of days I've been allowing her to stay up for an additional 15 minutes and she's been going down easy for the most part.  Last night at bedtime was a real battle, but I don't know what happened there. She was up for 3 hours before she went down for the night, 45 minutes of that crying in my arms.  Should the A before bedtime be longer for our little ones? It's so weird because by the end of the day, she's not yawning, maybe rubbing her face in her bath which is usually 1 hour before estimated bedtime.  But then after her 10 minute bath while we put a diaper on her and lotion for her eczema and jammies, the kid is acting so hyper that it's hard to calm her down every night!  Wondering if I should give her her bath right off and let her play quietly before bedtime.

I've read the one baby whisperer book but am learning so much more by reading all your threads on this site. For instance, I've been bfing dd after she wakes, including wake up for the day, 4 naps, before bedtime, and then her one usual nightwaking.  She's a huge baby, over 20 pounds, and now I'm reading sample schedules and wondering if I feed her too often!  I'll probably post on the 'E' board about this.  Yet I can see how if I adjust her onto a feed schedule, it won't resemble 'EASY' for too long!  Might be some A then E then more A! 

Ugh.  These catnaps are killing me.  Yet I see I'm not alone as I read on the Sleep board!

Thanks again for being here for me,
Dawn

[Mom to M&M]

The last A time is often the longest, although it never was for us (the middle one is). However, even so, 3 hours is a lot at her age - that combined with all the crying sounds like she was overtired to me. I would try not to go past 2.5 hours A time yet at her age I think. We also always let Marisa play for a bit after her bath - it can be pretty stimulating so many LOs need to let off a little steam before sleep.

[meggieandme]

Hi Karen!  I totally tried to have her down by the two hour mark last night, but she cried almost an hour with me, and then it took my MIL about a quarter of an hour to rock her down after I couldn't do it.  Yet there have been times, like today for instance, where her last nap ends around 4.  I can't see putting her to bed for the night at 6 because I don't want her waking for the day at 5.  I also can't see putting her down for a nap so late at 6 because that also makes for a too late bedtime and sometimes a struggle too!  It's soooo hard to know what to do on days like this where her last nap falls during such a weird time.  She's not on any fixed schedule. Basically I had been trying to get her to sleep every two hours upon waking. Usually she has 4 30-45 minute naps.  Today she actually took an hour and 45 minute nap!  She needed the rest, that's for sure, but then it throws me for a loop how to organize the rest of her day.  For the first two naps I started soothing her down at the 2 hour mark, taking about 15 additional minutes to get her to sleep in the crib.  This last nap I think she needed to go down sooner as she yawned and rubbed her face and began whining after an hour and half A time.  I couldn't believe she was tired after a long nap and tried keeping her awake.  She wasn't so happy when I tried to get her to nap! I imagine I'll be trying to get her down for the night around 7.  That's usually a struggle for us as she oftentimes treats it like a nap and wakes up within the hour crying pretty hard. But I think I will do as you do, bath first, then a little quiet play tonite and see how it goes!
THANKS!
Dawn

[Mom to M&M]

A nap every two hours is probably too soon at her age - hence the short naps and viscious overtired cycle. Ideally you'd have her napping every 2.25-2.5 hours and getting naps of 1-2 hours (for the first two) and a catnap of 30-45 minutes.

[meggieandme]

Thanks again, Karen. Okay, I will keep her up for a bit over 2 hours and see how she feels about it! 
Dawn