Droping the catnap

[Wink's Marmy]

OK, so DD is nearly 6 months and the naps are crazy right now. We had the whole 45 min. nap thing when she was nearing 4 months and when we switched to 4 hr. EASY, it got a lot better. Now here we are dealing with it again, but not every day. And then she has gotten to the point where she refuses the catnap in her crib but if we are on the go, she'll take it in the car or in the stroller. BUT NOT THE CRIB! (Heaven forbid!) Yesterday's naps were all 30-45 min and today's morning nap was 2 hrs, 15 min. followed by only one nap for 30! I am guessing these are clues that its time for a change!

ANYWAY, I was reading in the FAQ's about going from 3 naps to 2, but her A time is MAX 2 hrs. in the morning. I JUST got her to 2 hrs. For the longest time she was 1.5 hrs. I really don't think I can push her past 2 then. This morning she was ACHING for a nap & could only last 1.5. Later in the day she can def. handle 3 hr. and even 3.5 hr. awake times, but NOT after waking in the morning. Hmmm.... What to do? Other sleep books say there is a 9:00 rythm to follow for the morning nap.... She seems to go for that!

This is her "routine" (I put routine in parenthesis bec. I don't wake her & she'll wake one day an hour earlier than the next, who knows! But bedtime is ALWAYS the same & then with the weird naps, well....)
WAKE 6:15
E BF 6:30
S 8:30 - 9:30 or 10; then A time till E
E BF 10:30
E solids 11:30 (just started this)
S 12:30 or 1 until around 2
E 2:30
S catnap for about 30 min.
E 6:30
BED 7:30
Sleeps till 6:15 usually

[Lana]

It is really common for little ones to have a shorter A time in the morning than they do in the afternoon.  If she can only handle 1.5-2 in the morning then that is fine.  If you are able to stretch the afternoon wake time then you may be able to get rid of the catnap.  But the way your routine looks it is too far from the end of the second nap to bedtime KWIM?  The catnap is sort of a cheater nap really it is your freebie so you can use a prop to get it if need be.  If she is ok with doing it in the car or stroller then just go with it and slowly try to extend your other wake times to get rid of the catnap.

HTH

[Wink's Marmy]

Good idea. I suppose I could TRY to extend that first A, but like I stated earlier, she likes to hit the crib again shortly after waking! I'll work on the other A extensions. Its funny bc. she doesn't cry for me when she wakes, rather she plays quietly in her crib like an angel baby! This can be confusing bc. she'll do it for 45 min.! Anyway, I guess we'll do that nap on the go in the late afternoons till I get the A times worked out. When should she drop the catnap completely?

[malialeanne]

When your second nap ends between 3 and 4 p.m. or so you'll probably find that you can no longer squeeze it in without pushing bedtime too late. When it ends between 2 and 3, that's a REALLY long A time even with an early bedtime, so she'll probably still need it.

[Lana]

Totally agree with pp.  Once she is getting up from the last nap at close to 4pm then you can drop that cat nap.  I wouldnt worry about the morning A time for now, just work on the afternoon one