Wake to sleep not working :( Help I am tired!!!

[aj's mom]

DD is 5 months old and rarely takes her 2 two hour naps each day - more like 40 minutes 2x a day plus a 30 minute snooze in her swing around 5:30. 

I have tried pat/shhh but she gets extremely upset and cries wayyy harder so I don't do that anymore.

Today I tried wake to sleep for both of her naps and the first, she woke up at her normal time of 40 minutes and the second, she woke up 5 minutes after screaming and has not stopped since (it has been 30 minutes!) 

I am not swaddling - is it too late at 5 months to start up agian?  Will it help? 

I really am tired - I need more than 40 minutes for myself - to shower, eat breakfast, whatever... I am really really getting frustrated and do not know what to do. I do not know what to do to get her to nap longer!!!

What can I do???

We are on the 4 hr easy and following exactly but she only naps 40 minutes for the first two naps, then the third we put her in her swing to fall asleep for 30 min.

She wakes up in between 6 and 6:30am

[aj's mom]

I wanted to add to my post... sometimes when she wakes after 40 min she is bright eyed and stops crying as I come to her bed thinking I am going to pick her up and naptime is over, and other times she is cranky and still cries, and at that point I pop her paci back in and leave the room and she might fall back asleep for a little longer but that rarely happens anymore - now they are all 40 minute naps!

I KNOW she is not getting enough sleep because she gets cranky about 30 min before her next nap and when she doesn't sleep enough for her 1pm nap she is cranky at 4, until we put her in her swing at 5:30 for her catnap.

I am wondering how to keep this EASY plan up if it is not working for naps.  At night she goes down on her own at 7:30 and I df at 11, then she wakes up anytime between 1:30 and 4 for a feeding, then wakes for hte day around 6 - 6:30, but then when I feed her at 7am she falls asleep at the boob sometimes so I have to wake her up.

Should I just give up on the EASY plan - is it not for all babies?  Is my baby meant to take more 40 minute naps instead of two long ones?

Help!!!  I am just so frustrated but I think I am making myself go nuts trying to keep to this schedule.  Should I just let her do her own thing?  I think I would be less frustrated with keeping with times...

[aj's mom]

Thanks for your response.  Goodness I was just so frustrated and at my wit's end when I wrote earlier! 
I am glad to hear that the two hour thing is not going to happen for all babies, but I know that she obviously needs more than three 40 minute naps a day. 

***My question is, if baby can only stay up for max 2 hrs before she should take another nap, then how do I go about getting her to sleep after 2 hrs of activity if she only sleeps for less than an hour? 

Right now I am trying to get her to nap at 9, 1 and 5ish.  If she sleeps until 10 for nap #1, should I put her back down at noon, when she starts to get a little fussy or keep doing what I have been and just keep her up until 1 anyways? 
Should I be strict in keeping with the times - 9, 1 and 5ish for naps?  She goes down no problem around 7:15 to 7:30.
How could I morph my schedule into something where she might get more sleep throughout the day? 
Here is our typical daytime routine...
6:00 to 6:30 -wake... if she wakes at 6, she usually cries for a few minutes, then falls asleep for a few minutes until about 6:30 when I go get her out of bed.  I try to get her as close to 6:45 as I can so that by the time I cuddle and change her it is time to eat at...
7am - feed
7:30 - activity
9 - nap #1
9:40ish - wake and try to get her to go back to sleep for one hour but she just cries for this hour...she is usually bright eyed and has no interest in sleeping anymore.  She gets really upset if I try to pat/shhhh, pacify, etc...
11 - feed
11:30 - activity
12:30 - a little crankiness develops around this time.
1 - nap #2
1:40ish - same as above nap #1...
3 - feed
3:30 - activity
5 - put in swing, usually falls asleep within 15 to 30 minutes for about 30 minutes
5:45- 6 - light activity - hanging out with dad, lots of holding and cuddling.
6:30 - bath, pj's feed (7pm) and she goes down between 7:15 and 7:30.
10:30 - 11 - dreamfeed, goes right back to sleep

She will wake on her own anytime between 1:30 and 4 to feed.  I feed her once at night.  If she wakes up a second time, say around 5, she usually just cries for about 5 minutes then is back to sleep on her own.

Thanks for your suggestions!

[brightside]

I agree with Stacy in that you need to look a bit more at your lo's cues. I TRY to do EASY but my DS also only has short naps so he just 4 or 5 shorter naps instead of 2 long and a catnap. You just have to adapt the routine. in your case I would not have set times for naps. Looking at your schedule I would say that your DD is getting cranky because she is tired. If she wakes at 9.40 from the first nap, then she should have another nap at 11.40. Don't let her go more than 2 hours inbetween. She may be having short naps because she is overtired. I believe by 6 months, babies tend to start having longer naps. If her nap time clashes with a feeding time then bring the feed a little bit earlier. I sometimes feed after 3.5 hours if I know DS is going to need a nap. Good luck!

[aj's mom]

Thanks!
Well after her short naps she is usually bright eyed and ready to get up and play - she gets cranky as we get closer to the next nap - usually 30 min before.

I agree that she should not be up more than 2 hrs so I guess I will start to let her nap when she is ready for it.  I can forget the set times - really these were what were driving me nuts!

Do you think she will begin to nap longer for a couple of naps on her own?  I guess that makes sense - if she finally sleeps for longer than her A time can be extended, etc...

Ok so I just put her down at 9 like usual but she woke at 6:30.  We had a very mellow morning - the extreme of the A time was walking the dog as she is in the baby bjorn.  Do you think I should have put her down at 8:30 so that it is exactly 2 hrs and not more?  Should I keep the 9am nap #1?  She occasionally gets cranky about 8:45 when she wakes at 6:30 but I keep her up to 9 anyways.

Do you mind posting your EASY schedule to get an idea of how I can change mine?  I mean I know it would be different for my DD based on her sleep needs but just to get an idea?

Thanks!!

[brightside]

This has been my EASY plan for today but every day is different. It all depends on when he wakes up and how long his naps are.

E  6.45 wake feed at 7
A
S    8.30 -9.15 nap
A
E   10.45 because I know that he will need to nap around 11 (1hr 45 from wake time from nap#1)
A  10-15 mins
S  11.20-12
A
S  1.50-3.10   I let him go slightly over his feed time because he needed a longer nap.
E  3.10
A
S  5-5.45
play, bath,
E  6.45
Bed at 7.15

As you can see it isn't a straight forward EASY!  . I have to work out when his next nap is due from the wake up time and then adjust feeds slightly. Even though I know roughly when his nap is due, I still watch for his cues.I do the feed a little bit earlier because I want to make sure that he doesn't fall asleep at the bottle or he gets overtired because he is too busy feeding.

HTH