Hello,
My son is 11 weeks old. For naps, I shush pat him to sleep and he always wakes up at the 45 minute mark crying. I have left him to cry for 5 minutes to see if he can soothe himself, but he cannot. After bedtime, he is able to sleep 3-4 hour stretches so I am not sure why he cannot get through the 45 minute sleep cycle transition for naps. I noticed that at the 45 minute mark he fidgets quite a bit as if he wants to get out of the swaddle. So far, I have been picking up when he cries and trying to extend the nap by holding him. It is not a great idea, but shush patting him to extend the nap does not work and I find that if he does not get a good nap in, he is very overtired at bedtime and can stay awake for 5-6 hours from 7 to 1am!
Is my son a chronic 45 minute napper? Is this developmental or is there something I can do to help him get through the sleep cycle transition (i.e., teach him how to soothe himself and to sleep independently)? Should I bother extending the naps, or just let him have a series of 45 minute naps in hopes that his 3rd or 4th nap will be long?
I am trying to go on a 3 hour EASY but it is hard when he takes such short naps.
Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!