We’re in another nap transition and I cannot figure out nap 2. Nap 1 is great—wake ~6:30-7am, sleeps from 9:30am to 10:45am pretty much every day. Clean. Lovely. 2.5-3hr WW.
Nap 2 is a mess. For the last 7 days, it’s landed at ~3pm (except once, when she skipped it entirely). Always after a long play (or scream) session and a reset. Then it ends up being only 20-30 minutes, which isn't enough for her.
By 3pm, she's definitely overtired, though she is handling most evenings surprisingly well... However, when I aim for 2:30pm, she just plays even though she's tired enough to doze off while nursing. She’s ending up with ~4-hour+ wake windows and crap naps no matter what I do.
Today I tried putting her down a tad later—she was loopy (seemed overtired) by 2:15pm. But we nursed a bit and she dozed off. Woke on transfer into her crib at 2:25pm. I attempted to stay and help her settle for a few minutes (which I don't usually do, but figured it was worth a shot). She did settle down, but when I left at 2:30pm, she was MAD. 😅 She got over it, played for a while, then laid down and gently fell asleep by 2:45pm. Honestly seems like a success so far.
BUT that’s another 4-hour wake window! Just smoother.
She’s always been an early transitioner, so is she just a 4-hour WW baby now? Even though she seems on the edge of overtired by then? Every resource I can find says 4 hrs is too long at this age, but... I'm considering just rolling with it. If she won't sleep until 4hrs anyway, might as well stop trying to get her to sleep earlier? 🤷♀️
(For added context, her average WWs as tracked in Huckleberry are 2.5/4/3.5. Wake ~7am, bed ~7:15pm, one night wake to eat and right back to sleep.)
Edited for clarity.