I think we're about to give up...and I need to vent

[HeatherC]

What where the times of each nap?

[smartypants]

Hi Heather,

Her day was as follows:

E 7am
A 7:30am
S 8:15am (put down but asleep by 8:45am). She awoke at 10:20am and in verrrrrry good spirits

A 10:20-11am

E 11am
A 11:30
S 12pm (but fell asleep at 12:25pm). She awoke at 1:45pm and also happy

A 1:45pm

E 2:15pm
A 2:30pm
S 3:15pm (asleep by 3:45pm). She awoke at 5:15pm and again, very happy

A 5:15pm (hang out with her papa and had a bath and massage)

E 6:10pm
A 6:20pm
S 6:45pm (but did not fall asleep until 7:25pm and had to PU/PD)

So you can see that napped 1h35 mins, then 1h20mins, then 1h30mins.

Denise

[HeatherC]

She awoke at 10:20am and in verrrrrry good spirits

This just made me smile.  She is so cute, and I can just imagine how sweet she must have been when she woke from such a great nap.  I know you are so proud of her.  BTW, I love her outfit in your avatar!

I think it was a great day.  I would hate to suggest any changes just yet since it was such an improvement to other days.  I think you need to give it a few more days to watch for a hopefully new pattern to emerge before you'll find what needs tweaking.  I know the bedtime seemed tough, but in the perspective of what you've been going through, it really was an accomplishment.  Bedtime is tough for babies in general.  It's been a long day, they are wiped, they are tired but just can't express it other than to cry, and it's hard for them to fall asleep when they are tired.  This holds true for even babies that nap well on a daily basis.  The shear stress of their body growing and changing, new developments on the horizon, a whole new world to observe and learn about, being played with, feeding, all of this takes a toll on them throughout the day.  So I think she's doing great, and I feel confident that you'll see more improvements.  Just try to hang back and let her guide you a bit.  Let us know how the night goes.   

[donna_issabella]

Denise,

Your LO looks absolutely adorable!!!

You have made such great progress it seems from the start of this thread, and it seems to only have been a few days already. Well done!!

Henry did exactly the same, in that some days he would go down with absolute ease and other days we would struggle. Consistency is key though, and it gets easier and easier. Really.

I have to agree with Heather in that I would monitor her the next few days and see what pattern emerges and what works for her. At this age Henry had 2 x 2 hour naps and a catnap of 45 minutes. Then he would sleep 12 hours at night. So your day sleep seems similar in time as Henry's although in different stretches. As your LO settles into her routine and learns to always fall asleep independently - and she will, and then the amount of time it takes to fall asleep will decrease too!! - and her A time gets to be right, her naps will fall into place. She might stretch her am and pm naps, thus ensuring her catnap is only 45 minutes. Henry many times had a long catnap, 1.5 hours if his other day time naps were a bit wonky. But as he got used to a bedtime of 7pm, even if he woke up from his catnap at 545/6pm he still went down easily at 7pm. It is all about setting the clock as it were -IMHO. Hope my rambling makes sense.

Might be that she is still overtired and an earlier bedtime would not be a bad idea for a few nights.

Good luck, you are doing a great job. You will see and reap the benefit from your perseverance!! Sometimes difficult to believe in it when you are feeling overwhelmed in the thick of things.

xx
DI