Naps going great then going back to 45 minutes!

[2Pam]

Hi,
My lo was a chronic 45 minute napper.  He has improved tons, he was doing 2 1h. 30min, and a 45 minute catnap.  I worked for months on getting him over the 45 minute nap.  Probably for about a month he has been doing better until recently!  He is on a 4 hr. schedule, sleeps through the night without a dreamfeed, just dropped it a few nights ago.  His first nap last about 1hr. 15-20 then he second is only 45 minutes, and he won't go back to sleep.  He wakes up happy.  Before he would wake up at 45 minutes crying, I would go in put a nuk in , re-swaddle and he would fall back asleep.  Now he is content to hang out in his crib for 40minutes.  He also doesn't seem to be as tired when I go to put him down.  I have extended his time again by ten minutes but it doesn't seem to help.  Please help!!  He was finally doing so well and now it is like he is taking a big step backwards!
His has been his routine for almost a month now.

7:00am wake (still wakes at 6:00ish, can get him back to sleep sometimes to 7:00
E 7:00am
A 7:00am - 9:00am (tried an extra 10min) it also depends on when he wakes up, I try 2hr. 10min
S 9:00am - 10:30 (this nap is getting shorter??)
E 11:00am
A 11:00- 12:30 (depends when he wakes up) again try for 2hr. 10min activity
S 12:30-2:00pm (has done two hours but now he is only doing 45 minutes!)
E 3:00pm -
A 2:00 - 4:15 or 4:30, seems to be able to stay awake longer
S 4:30 catnap 45 min.
A 5:00
E 6:00 dinner solids
7:15 bottle
7:30 sleep
He goes to bed great! dropped the df no problem.  I have introduced solids this past two weeks.  Could that be the problem??  He at times still wakes during the night, don't feed him, he just goes back to sleep, but this has improved.  He is almost 6 months.  Any advice???

Pam

[KathrynK]

hi Pam
you were doing so great with the naps, and you will sort it out again so don't lose heart!
Most of the time when lo's suddnely shorten their naps it's because they need more A time. Some extend their A time gradually, but Sophie was always one who suddenly one day would need an extra 30 mins with no advance warning! used to drive me mad, grr. Sounds like your ds could be the same.
Having said that, he is still young to have much more than 2hrs, so you need to watch him for o/t. If you've tried 2hr 10 , then try 2hr 20 and see how that works, or even 2hr 30 but careful he doesn't get o/t. Hopefully more A time will see him extend those naps again
hope this helps
K

[2Pam]

Hi Kathryn
I think it is that is all of a sudden wants more A time, he doesn't seemed tired at all at the 2hr. mark, I still have him up now and it is 2hrs.25 min, and he is fine.  Normally, he would be fussy, rubbing the eyes thing.  I think I may have kept him up too long for his first A time but I think for the other later A times he can stay up longer, well we will see when I put him down for this nap.  Thanks so much for your advice.  I will keep you posted. . . .

[KathrynK]

let us know how you get on x

[2Pam]

Hi Kathryn,
Well, yesterday the second nap went great, I extended the A time to 2hr. 25min and he had no trouble staying up that long.  Now, this morning, I kept him up as long as I could 2hr. 15min, he showed clear cues of being tired, and he slept for 1hr. 15min??  Does this mean he is overtired, undertired??  Yesterday for his third nap, (the catnap) I also kept him up for 2hr. 25min, no problem staying up and he slept for 1hr. 30min, I usually only let him go 45 min but because the first nap of the day was 45 min I let him go for 1hr. 30, bedtime went great.  It is just now I don't know when he goes past 45 min in a nap but not really a good 1hr. 30min which is it? overtired or undertired?  It is such a guesses game!  His cues are not very clear, he has been fussy now after his 1hr. 15min nap, but I don't think he is tired yet, so I am trying to hold him off to 2hr. 25min. . . Is this right??  Am I over-thinking this.
My dh things I am nuts and should be happy with an hour and 15min, but I know they eventually have to get longer,
Any advice would be great, thanks
Pam

[2Pam]

oh, another thing. . . it is 2:37am in the morning, my lo keeps waking up once in the night, usually about 4:00am but tonight it was 1:00am,  I can get him back to sleep no problem but here I am wide awake!!  I have tried leaving him, sometimes he can get himself back to sleep but not now.  He use to wake up talking to himself and then go back to sleep, but now he wakes crying.  I get him back to sleep with a re-swaddle and nuk, I know the nuk is bad, but he doesn't use it to go to sleep at all.  please help, I am rather tired!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Pam

[KathrynK]

hi Pam
sorry I've not been here for a day or two 

I always found with Sophie that her A times were not consistent thrghouout the day. She always needed a shorter A time from first waking to first nap, then she would have her longest A time in between her naps, then shorter again before bed. I would perhaps try your 2hr10 in the morning, then longer say 2hr 25 between naps and then something like this
7am wake
9.10am nap 90 mins
10.40am wake
1pm nap 90 mins
2.30 wake
4.50 catnap 45min ish
5.30 wake
7.30 bed & sleep

changing A times is always tricky and can take a couple weeks of juggling to get it right- if you are trying to keep him up for longer but can see he is clearly tired then put him to bed, the last thing you want is him getting overtired. I am guessing o/t os the cause of  the night wakings so maybe shorten all his A times for the netx couple of days so he can catch up some sleep and then try again. It might be although he needs more A time, 2hr25 is too big a stretch for him- he can perhaps handle that much more once a day, but not all day, kwim?
hope this helps, let me know xx

[2Pam]

thanks Kathryn, I think his A times do vary.  This morning, he seemed really pooped I put him down after 2hrs. and he is currently having a 2hr. nap!!  He has a weird morning, woke up at 6:00am, fell asleep at 7:00 to 7:30.

What do you do when he goes over 2hrs?? Like right now?  It is his feeding time.

Pam

[KathrynK]

I think at his age I would wake him at 2hrs, much longer might muck up the rest of your day. Although I always hate waking Sophie it's easier to wake her at the appropriate time to get her back on track, rather than leave her and then have to deal with subsequent problems like nap refusal or early waking, kwim?
I would leave him for 2hrs 15min- that's 3 x 45min sleep cycles so is plenty. If he was overtired that should sort him out.
hope that helps!

[2Pam]

Thanks so much!!  He actually woke himself up at 2hrs 15min.

[KathrynK]

then he is a clever boy and knew he needed 3 sleep cycles to catch up!