I know I am Crazy!!! But....

[Kyles_mommy]

Hi Ladies,

I have an Angel Baby that is 4 1/2 months old.  We have been on EASY since he was 6 weeks old and all is well.  But I can not get his activity time past 1 hour.   He still take 3 hour naps!  I know all the mom's with baby's that only nap 45 mins would kill to have my son, but my concern is could there be a reason why he still naps 3 hours?  Here is his EASY.  By the way, the only way I have been able to get him longer than 1 hour is if we go to the mall or walmart.  (he will sleep in the stroller for a walk)  he will stay awake if we go shopping. (he is 18lbs)

E 7am -8oz (formula feed)
A 7:15  toys
S 8am
E 11am 6-8oz depends on his mood
A 11:15 varies
S 12pm
E 3 6-8oz
A varies what we do
S 4-5pm
A 5 play, bath,
E 6pm 8oz
S 6:15
E 10:45 DF 5oz  Sleeps from 6 - 7 every night

Any thoughts at when he will want to wake up more?

[Antoinesmom]

Is your son a preemie? Preemies tend to need more sleep longer than a full term babe.

If not, it could simply be that your DS requires a little more sleep than most babies. I wouldn't worry about it. It took a while for us to push our son's activity time too. I actually started with 5 minutes increment. I would keep him up for 5 minutes more, ie. 8:05, before bedtime for three days before uping the anty another 5. I did have days when we had to go back to the old bedtime, (8:00). When I reached 15 minutes (8:15) more of A time, I started pushing the anty another 15 minutes. It was harder, but with lots of funny faces, looking at the chimes, miror or outside. We managed it. It's hard to change the internal clock and he will be cranky/tired a bit, but go at your and your son's pace.

Most important do what you feel is right for him. Again, I wouldn't worry. Just try pushing the A time more slowly for him.

[Kyles_mommy]

thanks,  I will try that.  We just got back from the mall and we are 1/2 past nap time and he is cranky!   If I catch him at the right time and I put him to bed he just goes to sleep.  No fussing or anything.  Today there is alot of crying!  It's hard to even leave the house because we have so little A time.  And that hour includes his 20 mins to eat.  So all in all we only have 40 mins to get out and back and him to bed.  I will try the 5 mins starting tomorrow.  Thanks for your advice.

Leigh

[Antoinesmom]

Hang in there, it is hard to have short A time. Just be patient and go slow. I did have a few rough days with Antoine when increasing the A time. He was cranky and didn't know what he wanted, with a persistant mom, he is now up for two hours before nap and sometimes more.

Let me know how things turns out.

[Kyles_mommy]

Thanks for your advice.  I have decided to wait a week to try to extend his A time because he is sstill swaddled and I want to get rid of that first.  We started last night and it seems to be going ok, but I know that I have to get him to bed as soon as I see his first tired sign as to not upset him to much with unswaddle.  I will let you know how it goes....  by the way he was not a premee, he was born 40 weeks 2 days.  Weighing in at 7'9.  My little angel!  ;-)

[GG]

My suggestion is to not unswaddle all at once. Leave 1 arm out first for a little while (a few days maybe), then both arms (only body swaddled), then go altogether.  That may be easier (though, if he's an Angel, he could probably go all at once... depends on the lo).

Btw, Antoinesmom was right on target with the advice. Btw, don't worry about it too much. My ds was 5 mo before he was comfortable with 4 hour EASY. Just depends on the lo.

 

[Antoinesmom]

Good idea to wait before changing A time. One big change at a time. More than one can really upset the little guy. Taking the swaddle out of the equation can be tricky business. We went cold turkey, going slow just made him mad (I've got a spirited babe).

Please don't feel presured to push your son's A time if you don't feel the time is right for him. As GG said some babes takes longer to stay up longer. You could also wait and see if he give you a sign that he is ready to stay up longer. Never feel pressured to make a change unless it feels right.

[Kyles_mommy]

My lo doesn't have a problem with the 4 hour easy, he has been on it since he was 6 weeks old.  He just didn't want to eat every 3 hours.  but he loves the 4 hour.  He just likes to sleep.  We tried to go slow on the unswaddle and he just got mad.  So I went cold turkey and we are on day 3 and I found that if I gave him a blankie to snuggle he does great.  He goes to sleep now with no problems.  I think he likes it better unseaddled now.  He can wiggle and move around.  And by unswaddleing him he seems to have extended his A time on his own by about 10 mins.  So things are going great.  It took about 1 hour to get him to sleep the first night, but by the next night it was less then 10 mins and now there is no fuss at all.  I am a very lucky mom!
 

[Antoinesmom]

Glad to here. Keep it up.