5 month old nap timing issues

[lch3r]

My 5 month old son is having napping issues. He had severe acid reflux so slept in a seat in his crib at night and in his swing during the day till he was 4 months old. At that point we moved him out of the seat onto his stomach at night and out of the swing for 1 nap. He was taking a 2hr nap in the morning(which I always had to wake him up from) from 9-11 and then another nap around 1 in the crib. He always was sleeping 30min on the nose at 1pm. Then would sleep again in the stroller from 3:50ish -to 4:30 and was sleeping through the night with a 7pm bedtime. I shortened the morning nap to 1.5hrs bc I really wanted to get the 1pm nap longer. I also tried putting him down closer to 12:30 but he is really not tired yet! He finally has napped longer a few days during the lunchtime nap but then it is too late for him to squeeze in a 3rd nap before bed. I don't know what I should do. The days I moved his bedtime earlier he didn't sleep as well at night. He always has woken up at some point between 4:45am and 5:20am. I let him play/fuss and he will almost always fall back asleep around 6:00am for 30min. Thank goodness he does bc otherwise our whole day is thrown off. Any thoughts on how I should be changing the schedule. Thanks

[Founder]

Can you clarify something?  Where is he now sleeping for those first two naps and is the first nap still 2 hours?  Sorry if I didn't understand?

[lch3r]

Yes, sorry not to be clear, I was trying to cram too much info in:( He is now only napping in his crib. I have shortened the first nap to btw 1.5 to 1hr 45min (he has started sometimes waking on his own around those times also). The second nap I try to start around 2 hours later but when I put him down he usually plays/talks in his crib for 20-30min before he goes to sleep. The last few days he has been napping btw 1hr15min-1.5hr, which is a HUGE improvement over the 30min on the dot naps he was taking before. He usually wakes 2 times during this nap but the pacifier will generally put him back to sleep within 15min. Since the nap is ending late he doesn't have time for a third nap but goes a long time from the nap to bed, btw 6:45-7:00. Today I put him down at 6:30 so hopefully that will go well. We still have the problem of him waking around 4:45am. Even though he usually will go back to sleep (I don't go into him till 6am) I would love for him to get the extra sleep. Thanks so much. I am sorry for all the info again:(

[Founder]

I wouldn't limit that morning nap at all especially at his age, he really needs all the sleep he can get, really.  If his nap ends close to 11, you can still do a 1pm nap, if that nap ends around 3, then opt for a bedtime around 6pm.  If his nap ends earlier, like 2, you could try for a third nap around 4pm but if he really fights it for longer than 10 minutes, then just get him up and put him down around 5pm instead.  He might do better with the two naps and the super early bedtime rather than three naps or you might find some days work better with 3 and some better with two.  Give the extra early bedtime a chance, with not limiting the first nap for about a week consistently and let us know what happens, okay?  Be patient, he's still pretty young but doing tremendously well.

[Founder]

I wouldn't limit that morning nap at all especially at his age, he really needs all the sleep he can get, really.  If his nap ends close to 11, you can still do a 1pm nap, if that nap ends around 3, then opt for a bedtime around 6pm.  If his nap ends earlier, like 2, you could try for a third nap around 4pm but if he really fights it for longer than 10 minutes, then just get him up and put him down around 5pm instead.  He might do better with the two naps and the super early bedtime rather than three naps or you might find some days work better with 3 and some better with two.  Give the extra early bedtime a chance, with not limiting the first nap for about a week consistently and let us know what happens, okay?  Be patient, he's still pretty young but doing tremendously well.

[lch3r]

Thanks for the advice. I am excited to try but tonight I tried putting him down earlier and it didn't work. Last night I put him down at 6:30 and he went to sleep pretty quickly. Tonight I tried for 6 but he would not go to sleep. I am very nervous not only bc tomm is daylight savings but also bc his bedtime routine has always worked sooo well. Since he was 6 weeks old we have done the same routine at roughly the same time and he has gone right to sleep. How should i deal with this if he doesn't seem to want to go down at that early? Am i messing with his little internal clock.Today he did take a third nap from 3:35-4:05. Thanks again!:)

[aps]

I think if you're going to try putting him to bed earlier, do it in 15-minute increments instead of 30-minute increments. 

[Founder]

It's a balance and I think when you have to get him down earlier because the wakeful period in between the last nap and bedtime is too long he will have difficulties going down, because he's tired.  It's not about him not needing to go down earlier, it's a reaction of being tired.  If you don't feel comfortable going right to a super early bedtime you can do it slowly.  This all has a cumulative effect so over a period of weeks you will see a difference with the early bedtime, o most likely in about a week. .