[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma,

Thank you for your explanation. I think he is just dosing as sometimes he falls asleep again and other times he wakes up. It is always in the same time period of 715-730am.

Could I pick your brain about one more thing please? Ro has started to elongate both naps (YAY!!!) but to fit them in I am having to wake him. I think this may be because his night is so long i.e. put down at 745pm, falls asleep 10-15 minutes later and wakes usually at 725-730am. With this, I have to cap one nap at 1 hr 50ish and the other at 1 hr 10ish then a short 20-30 minute third nap at the end. These times are including time to fall asleep which is between 5-10 minutes (so the 3rd nap actual sleeping time can be just 15 minutes, which I hope is ok). Is it best to cap the naps or start waking him up earlier in the morning to fit longer naps in? What is the shortest period they should be actually asleep for for nap 3? I would be grateful for your advice.

Best wishes, Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma,

Thank you so much for your explanation regarding capping naps – that makes a lot of sense to me. I was quite confused on what to do as many others have been capping the first nap from 3 months on.

Can I ask is it normal for babies to be sleeping on off in the early hours i.e. 5-6am onwards? He doesn’t cry or call out but I can see he will sleep for 10-20 minutes then wake up then put himself to sleep. I go in if he calls out or is clearly awake for period of time like 5-10 minutes and just playing in the cot. He does this sometimes after 35 minutes of napping where he sleeps on off – if he isn’t fully asleep after 20 minutes, I go get him but sometimes I can see him doing the moves to try to sleep but I figure if he hasn’t got there in 20 minutes then he may not be able to do it. Is this something you see?

Best wishes, Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma, thank you for your reply. I am day 4 of the second attempt at 3 naps and this time seems to be going better. Ro’s wake windows seem to have dramatically increased in the last week and I am just following his lead i.e. today first wake window was 2 hours, second was 2 hours 25 minutes, third was 2 hours and fourth 2 hours 30 minutes. I have been playing around with his feeding too as he used to feed 3 hourly pretty much on cue (formula fed) but now the wake windows mean the range can be 2 hourly to 3.5 hourly and he has never been able to wait more than 3 hours for a feed so he was getting upset and waking up hungry. I thought this might be why he could no longer complete the second nap as he would usually feed right in the middle of where that nap is falling now so I have dropped the volumes and added two feeds before lunch instead of one i.e. at the beginning and near the end of the second wake window – I tried this today and he had an hour and 15 minute nap for nap 2 for the first time since trying 3 naps. He did not prolong his first nap today however which he has done for weeks but woke up hungry with the lower volume perhaps so it is all just playing around at the moment. I imagine it will all change when he starts solids too. The third nap is still in the carrier and currently longer than a cat nap i.e. around an hour but as he settles in to the routine I plan to change to a cot nap but at the moment I think it is helping curb any over tiredness although he is waking cranky for about 5 minutes from nap 3 which he never does normally. Does this sound ok to you? I am just winging it and playing around with things.

Can I ask what you think about this theory to cap nap 1 at one hour to get a longer second nap? Is this something you have heard?

Best wishes, Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma, I also wanted to know your thoughts on something: some Mums and courses are promoting capping the first nap of the day in order to encourage a longer second nap over lunch and I wondered your thoughts on this? Best wishes, Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Thank you for the advice Emma. We initially had three successful days on 3 naps with 2 hrs 30 before bed but on the fourth day Rohan appeared very tired so I put him down when he was tired which was at the 90-105 minute mark in the day leading to 4 naps and 120 minutes before bed – this was his 4 nap schedule. I did this again on day 5 as I thought he was tired. But both day 4 and 5, when I put him down at the end of the day, he did not fall asleep until 2 hours 30 (830pm) and was just lying in the bed. On day 5, he refused nap 3 and just lay there for 20 minutes when I then picked him up (at the 2 hour mark) and put him in the carrier – I have never had to do this before. When I picked him up he looked very awake and smiled at me, once in the carrier with the pacifier he fell asleep immediately. This scheduling meant the last two naps were just 20 minutes long. I think all this means he is ready for a 3 nap schedule with around 2.5 hours before bed and I should have continued or maybe just given one rest day but not two. He has also stopped connecting the second nap now. If you come to a different conclusion based on this information, your advice is always most welcome. Best wishes, Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Sorry Emma – if he does wake up at 6am, shall I start the day then instead or try and get him back to sleep? Thanks, Pav

[Paven Kaur]

One last question – before bedtime, how long should he be awake for? 2.5 hours?

[Paven Kaur]

Thank you so much for your detailed response. Since I typed my message, he has started falling asleep for his first nap at 920am after 100 minutes awake then just under 8 minutes to fall asleep. I assume it is ok to put him down at 910am and make sure he is awake by 1110am (before the 2 hour mark?).

I noticed yesterday that when I put him down for his 3rd nap, he was just cooing in bed for a while then fell asleep after 20 minutes for a 28 minute nap, which has never happened before so may be time for the transition. I actually wake him up from 3 out of 4 naps to fit the 4 naps in! I have wondered if I let him sleep as much as he likes, if he then would be more comfortable staying awake longer as he has gotten the sleep he needs?

Best wishes and thanks again,

Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma,

I hope you are keeping well. I was hoping to pick your brain about when to transition a 4.5 month old to 3 naps. About a month ago, I dropped from 5 naps to 4 naps as he was doing 5 x 30 minute naps. He easily dropped to 4 naps and if given some time, he will always link the first nap and most of the time the second nap but rarely the third nap. I do the fourth one in the carrier as he needs encouragement with this one more recently and I have had to give him a pacifier and rock him for the fourth one, which I did not need to do before. When I last did the fourth one in the crib, he slept for a total of 13 minutes. The first naps last about 1 hour 15 as I wake him up – I have no idea how long he could sleep for as I have been waking him up to fit the four naps in. The third one is about 35 minutes then he sort of nods on and off for another 20 minutes but doesn’t link very often (maybe once or twice). His nap total is just over 3 hours. I wake him up at 730am and I put him down just after 8pm. His current wake windows are 90-95/100/100/100/110-120 and I would say he does these comfortably. He has never shown great sleepy cues but when we are doing the nap routine he is laughing, making good eye contact etc with no fussiness but he falls asleep for his naps after 5-8 minutes of being laid down in his crib with no help. (except the last one). I am wondering if it is a developmentally appropriate time and also the best way of going about it if it is.

Best wishes,

Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Thanks Emma! That makes perfect sense. I am definitely over thinking it as he is a happy baby.

Best wishes,

Pav

[Paven Kaur]

I’m also not sure i mentioned before but the last feed is already part of the bed time routine and done 20 minutes before laying down.

Best wishes,

Pav

[Paven Kaur]

I was considering a dream feed and I wonder your thoughts on that?

At the moment, the baby isn’t waking at night for a feed and I still wake him up in the morning but I have worried it is a long time without a feed…on the other hand I figure he would wake up to tell me if he was hungry and every baby must be different with him being a larger baby. If he starts waking up hungry, I could add a dream feed or increase ounces in the day? I essentially feed him whatever quantity he wants every 2.5 hours in the day.

I will most likely need to drop the 5th nap soon too and at the moment each feed is after a nap hence how I ended up with 6….does that mean I might feed after nap 4 then again just before bed in the same wake window?

Best wishes

Pav

[Paven Kaur]

That’s great. I was hoping I was doing the right thing as that is what I have been doing. Your reassurance is all I need to keep going. Thank you!

Pav

[Paven Kaur]

I realised I should probably give you more information on what we are currently doing:

Wake at 7am then first feed around 710-715am.

First nap then feed 2.

Second nap then feed 3.

Third nap then feed 4.

Fourth nap then feed 5.

Fifth nap is a cat nap around 30-45 minutes max but more on the 30 end then feed 6 is just before bed, currently around 820pm with a put down time of 845pm and asleep by 9pm.

He is 13 weeks old, a larger baby in height and weight on the 75th centile, formula fed and feeds around every 2.5 hours in the day. Even if the nap is short, I will wait 2.5 hours to feed then do some activity before the next sleep to break it up.

Best wishes,

Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma,

Thank you for giving me even more useful advice – we are at a 9pm bedtime now, which is lovely. I just wondered as if I continue to move bedtime back then the 6th feed will no longer happen – do you have any advice on how to handle that?

Best wishes,

Pav