Mile 13 Wall

In my metaphorical marathon of waiting out the 45-minute intruder in Baby Z's naps, I think I might be at mile 13 or maybe 15. And I hit the wall. (So I've heard that runners experience such a thing, because, make no mistake, I am not a runner.)
Yesterday I started to doubt my approach and wonder if it was some other issue like hunger or sickness. As soon as I let the doubt in, my resolve weakens and I find myself wanting to cry along with Baby Z. It really wasn't worse than any other day, but I just felt like something needed to change the equation and I didn't know what else to try.

So I called my Baby Wise Guru (BWG). Once again, her practical advice and encouragement have helped me break through a wall. I'm going to try 2 new things today:
1) I'm going to let Baby Z cry until he falls back to sleep. I kept waiting the 45 minutes of what should have been an hour and a half nap and then I'd get him up. She told me that the naps at his age will probably go longer than 1 1/2 hours and that I should wait to see if he goes back to sleep and then let him sleep as long as he'll go. I was thinking I had to stick to about 4 hours between feedings, so even if he did finally fall asleep, he would have only gotten 15 minutes or so of sleep. I guess now, at 6 months, the eating and sleeping patterns are well established, and I can start thinking of his meals in terms of breakfast, lunch, dinner. And, I don't have to ever wake him up from a nap, unless I have somewhere to go, or some practical reason for doing so.
This all makes sense and I'm going to try it today. The downside is that I'll probably have to listen to him cry for even longer, but my BWG swears that he will fall back asleep. And, I have to keep my mind on the long run -- that he'll have this sleep schedule (2 naps a day) for quite a while. We've got to work through this now or I could have a year of struggling with 45 minute naps.
2) I'm going to feed Baby Z solids until he won't take anymore. I had been fixing a portion and then just stopping there, instead of looking to see how much he would eat. I read that the baby will refuse to eat once they are full, but I just didn't keep going to that point. So, in a way, I guess my worries about him being hungry were a little true. Although I don't think he was starving, I'm sure being full will help him sleep a little better. Once again, I can see how I get stuck in a pattern of doing something and Baby Z grows right past it-- I'm at the 6 month-old one ice cube of sweet potato, and he's pressed on to the almost 7 month-old 2 ice cubes and more cereal, too!

I feel more hopeful knowing that I'm trying some new things. It also helps to know that the work of the past 6 months has paid off in establishing a routine, and once we get through this transition to a new nap schedule, that we'll be in this mode for quite some time. Thanks to those out there who "listened" and for your encouraging words. It helps to know that others have hit the wall in the past and still completed the marathon.