Starting a nap between 430 and 6 pm -help!

[scottygirl5]

My 5.5 month old DD has started falling asleep while feeding between 430 and 6 pm every day. Pretty sure this is contributing towards her having a shorter first sleep of the night than she used to have. What do i do? She's a really bad napper,has a morningnap somewhere between 830 and 10,depending how early she wakes. Sleeps for between 30 and 90 minutes most of the time. She won't then get tired for some time and might nap for about 20-30 minutes late lunchtime or early afternoon then collapses between 430 and 6. Tonight she started a dozy feed at 520 and is still on the boob.

What do i do to change things?!?

My dd2 used to have a snooze about 4.30pm and i used to make sure it only lasted about 15 mins so she could make it to 6pm before going to bed. If she is looking mega tired about 5.30 ish j would do your bed routine and put her down for the night

Second what pp said about keeping the tea-time nap short. She is getting to an age where that tea time nap can be dropped - but you say this is a new thing for her? Has she never napped at this time before? 3 naps is pretty typical up to around 6-7 months old.

Can I ask what time your DD wakes up usually? And how long do you keep her awake before her morning nap? I am thinking she might actually be a wee bit OT, esp if she is only napping 20-30mins for her afternoon nap. If her morning nap is short, say 30-45mins, I would try putting her down for her afternoon nap a bit earlier than usual & you might find she takes a much longer nap. This will then help to tide her over until the tea-time CN or bedtime.

HTH.x

Thanks for responses. Naps are pretty much all over the place as she doesn't let you put her down. She sleeps either on/beside me after a feed or in her buggy or car seat though often fights the latter two. She wakes at variable times,between 4 and 5 on a bad day,normally between 5 and 6 and a handful of times in her life she's gone till between 6 and 7. I tend to lie down with her to feed between 8 and 9 and she naps till anywhere between 9 and 10. Hadn't wanted to do it earlier as had read it can contribute to babies waking early but she still wakes early! This morning she woke at 545 and she's been asleep about 15 minutes so far. She's always tended to have a late afternoon nap,unless she won't sleep at lunchtime and sleeps mid afternoon instead. Its just that she's going for longer at this late nap than she used to. Think you're right that she's constantly overtired.

My concern with putting her to bed earlier is that Dh does the evening routine with her and isn't back from work till nearly 6. Also worried that because she's an early waker that I'd end up starting my day at 3! You can probably tell sleep is a bit of a mess here!