[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma,

Thank you for your reply. I have moved him back to 3 naps as I felt he was too tired by day 5. I will see where he is at in a few weeks then reassess. Thank you for your advice!

Best wishes,

Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma,

Thanks for your reply.

I thought Rohan was ready as his morning wake window is 2 hr 15 and then 2 hr 40 then 2 hr 45 then I keep the one before bed at 2 hr 45 just to keep bedtime at 8pm but he has done 3 hours before and sometimes bedtime is 815pm-ish. I am having to cap the morning nap and second nap to 1 hour and 1 hour 15 to fit everything into the day. The last nap of the day is 15-25 minutes – again to fit in. He stays awake 2 hr 45 if the nap is less than 30 minutes which it mostly is now but 3 hours if 30 minutes. Initially on 3 naps, we were waking up at 7am, having two 1.5 hour naps then a 30 minutes carrier nap and still getting to bed before 8pm but now it has become fiddly. There were a couple of days where Rohan didn’t take a long second nap after 2 hrs 30 wake window.

Rohan is mostly waking at 7am, occasionally after 620. He has not woken before 6am.

I tried Rohan on 2 naps and he seemed fine at first but by day 5, he slept 12.5 hours at night then was knackered after being awake for 1 hr 45 so I went back to 3 naps from there.

2 hours in the morning would be a bit short for Rohan. He doesn’t look tired then.

So I feel a bit stuck. It is all fiddly but then 2 naps seemed too hard for him. He did sleep at night every night for 12 hours except that one 5 minute babble but naps weren’t as smooth plus by day 3 he was crying on going down and during the transition for naps, which he does not usually do. He usually doesn’t cry at all on going to sleep, just fusses.

He is 6.5 months and I was thinking of seeing where things are at 7 months? I also wonder if 2.5/3/3 would have worked better as the last 30 minutes of the last wake window was a clear struggle for him.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Best wishes,

Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma,

I just wanted to give you an update. On day 5, Rohan seemed very tired despite sleeping for 12 hours overnight. I did hear him wake him around 430am babbling to himself for about 5 minutes then he went back to sleep. He woke up happy but then crashed quickly about 1 hr 50 minutes later crying alot so I put him down and he fell asleep. I woke him up after an 1 hr 30 to go to a class. Then he was awake for 2 hr 50 minutes, got a bit fussy so put down for nap 2 and I woke him up after an hour to fit a third nap in. He fell asleep in the pram at 2 hours 25ish – he very rarely sleeps in the pram as he is normally so excited to look around. He slept for 25 minutes. I then put him down to sleep for the night at 8pm after 2 hrs 45 awake. It was all a bit messy but I just went with his sleepy cues.

I will see what tomorrow brings but I think maybe he isn’t ready just yet or is it common to go between 2 and 3 naps like this?

Does the babbling at 430am count as an early morning wake?

What should the maximum wake windows be before going to 2 naps as maybe I should spend more time with Rohan on those and maybe a micronap before bed like 10-15 minutes?

Any advice would be appreciated to make the transition smooth and to avoid over tiredness.

Best wishes,

Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma, how are you? I hope you have been keeping well. Here I am again but this time with the two nap transition! I tried to hold on to three naps as long as possible but Rohan started having short naps and waking up slightly earlier in the mornings. I am on day 4 and it looks like this so far.

Wake around 645-7am

First nap 2.5 hours later and sleeps around 90 minutes

Wake up around 11am

Second nap 3 hours later

3.5 hour wake window then bed around 7pm

I have a few questions I am hoping you can help with:

1. What do I do if Rohan sleeps 11 hours instead of 12 at night as this is what he has usually done?

2. On day 3 and 4 he seemed to find it harder to connect cycles during nap 2. In fact on day 3 he didn’t, when he has previously successfully linked for weeks. Does this happen during nap transitions? I recall the same happened when going from 4 to 3 naps for about 2 weeks then it clicked. When this happens I have been going for an early bedtime but perhaps a third cat nap would be better? Day 4 he did connect cycles but it wasn’t as smooth as previous.

3. You previously mentioned you can cap the first nap to distribute sleep to the second. I don’t plan to do that at the moment but if I did in the future, what age is that appropriate from?

4. Do you think the above schedule looks ok as he is actually getting more sleep on this schedule than on 3 naps where he had 11 hours night sleep and 3.5 hours day sleep?

5. When do you increase the last wake window to 4 hours?

Best wishes,

Pav

[Paven Kaur]

Hi Emma, thank you very much for your reply.

He is a little upset (just whimpering) when I wake him from the 3rd nap but this lasts less than a minute and he is then fine until bedtime. I think for now I will carry on capping. I have been trying to make sure he gets at least 3 hours of day time sleep in. I keep thinking if he wakes before 730 then I will start the day earlier but he falls back asleep majority of the time eg today he woke at 7am and was babbling, by the time I got to his room, he was asleep again so I left him then woke him up at 730. I don’t think he is ready for 2 naps yet but I do not think he will be on 3 naps for long.

Currently his routine is:

Wake 730am

First nap 930am – I tend to wake him if he hasn’t woken after 1.5 hours around 11am.

Wake window around 2 hours 15 then second nap – if he hasn’t woken himself then I will wake him up around 1445. He doesn’t always have a long second nap but it is becoming more often than not.

Wake window 2 hours 15 – 2 hours 30 then third nap in carrier – I wake him by 1720.

Last wake window 2 hours 30-40 then bedtime around 1950.

It seems to be working ok for now but I will keep an eye..

Best wishes,

Pav

[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