EASY with the 45-minute nap?

[first_time_mommy]

Ok, despite what my username says, this is my second child...Unfortunately, I am having the exact same issue that I had with my first (which leads me to believe that I must be creating the issue)!  Also, I know that there must be a post about this already, but I couldn't find it.

Jacob is 11 weeks today.  He is very textbook, and was the easiest baby for the first 3 weeks.  Then, he had his first growthsprut and we haven't recovered!  He goes to sleep well, a little rocking and then in the crib and usually helps himself to sleep.  He goes to sleep around 7pm, wakes around 7:30am.  He is on a (loose) 3 hour EASY.  Loose because we are having major issues with sleeping longer than 45 minutes.  In the beginning, he had a  perfect EASY and I often had to wake him to eat.  For example, here was today:
740 Wake/eat
8:55-9:40 Sleep
10:15 Eat I try to feed him before he is too tired, it takes him about 30 minutes to nurse, plus a diaper change, (because he usually poops during the feed) and then 20 minutes to winddown
11:15-12:00 Sleep ( I started at 10:45, but he took forever to settle, i guess OT)
12:30 Eat
1:30-2:10 sleep (Again, started at 1:00, but he took forever to settle)
Now, it is 3:20 and he is in the swing.  I know he is tired, but will not drop off and I (to be honest) am totally sick of rocking/shhing/patting, so I stuck him in the swing for a break.

Any thoughts on why his naps are so short?  It seems like the first one always screws us up and then the rest of the day just gets worse and he is tired when he wakes up and there is no way to catch up...

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

[Ima shel Alon]

Hi!
I think he ready for some more A time, because 1h sounds a bit short to me at his age. You can have a look here at what other babies are doing at the same age: chronological EASY samples, 0-3 months
So what you are aiming for right now is around 1.5h A time. If you are doing now only 1h then you'd increase it gradually to prevent OT, so by 10-15min every 3 days and then another increase till you are around 1.5h A time.

11:15-12:00 Sleep ( I started at 10:45, but he took forever to settle, i guess OT)

I don't think he was OT here I think when you put him down he was UT and that's why he couldn't settle and probably by the time he did fall asleep it could be that he was OT. The lovely UT/OT loop.

It could also be at this age that 45min naps are still developmental and you might just need to wait them out.

[first_time_mommy]

I was wondering the same thing.  now today, I watched for cues and he went down the easiest I have ever seen. here's the thing, I put him in his crib at 52 minutes A time! He was asleep within 10 minutes with no effort from me...(usually I have to go in for a minute and pat him as he settles)but woke again at 45 minutes. I was able to get him back to sleep by rocking (I figure this is better than no sleep). When I do get him back to sleep, he will often still be sleeping at the 3 hour mark. Do I wake him?

Finally, last question.  Is it normal when increasing A time for it to take longer for them to settle?  Or, does that tell me that he's not ready yet?

[Ima shel Alon]

The sleepy cues will still come at the same time as always, even though he is ready for more A time. Think of it as he doesn't know it yet.
In the first couple of days you will see some resistance and perhaps naps will even be OT, 30-35min long, but this is normal and you just need to stick to the new A time and he will get used to it.
I wouldn't let him nap longer than 2.5h, it might steal from his night sleep. Later on, at around 6-7m I would cap a nap at 2h.

[first_time_mommy]

Ok, so we had a terrible day and night...30 minute naps all day and then unable to settle at bedtime and 3 NWs!  Here's our Easy so far:
E6:30 (early, usually at 7:30)
S 7:45-8:18, 8:40-10:10  (I held him from 8:40 to get a good nap)
E 10:10

Any thoughts? I feel like I am doing it all wrong these days and messing him up!

[Ima shel Alon]

It could be that he was still tired from the night. I would just go through the day, AP if you can to get good sleep and start tomorrow again. There is no other way but to get OT naps when you are increasing A times, but it just needs to be done.

[first_time_mommy]

Thanks for the input.  It is definitely frustrating when that first nap doesn't go well.  It seems like the whole day is shot and then you have to wait until tomorrow.  Looking back, I had a few days I logged his EASY a month ago...Most good naps had somewhere close to 1hr20 for his A time, so I am going with that tomorrow morning.  What gets me is that just a week ago, he was taking one good nap a day (at least 1.5hrs) and for 3 nights in a row, he slept from 7pm-7:30am with one feed around 3am! 

 Is it better to watch A time, or to stick with a napping schedule?  I ask because I have a toddler who struggles to be quiet in the morning and she wakes around 6:30.  He seems to prefer to sleep until 7:30/7:45.  It seems like it would be hard to teach his body when to be hungry/tired when it is different by an hour each day...

Sorry for peppering you with questions.  I am just desperate to get my happy (content) baby back! 

[Ima shel Alon]

1:20 sounds like a good plan, but if he was on it a month ago then it could be that he will need another increase. But just stick to the 1:20 for now.
We never had set naps, so I don't know much about it and never bothered finding out because tweaking A times was so great for us (when we got the hang of it).
Does he wake up then at 6:30. If he is then it's ok, you can simply make BT a bit earlier so he has a chance of a good night sleep. If he sleeps till 7:30 despite your toddler, then just start the day then. If you want more consistency then you can also decide you wake him up in the morning at a certain time, but you'd need to allow enough night sleep as well. You basically allow a 12h day and a 12h night.

[first_time_mommy]

So, another exhausting night...He woke up at 10:30 (hasn't done this since 6wks), 4, and 5:30.  He just doesn't seem to be sleeping well at anytime of the day.  At 5:30, I have no idea why he was up.  It was like he was up for the day!  Wasn't hungry at all.  He finally fell back asleep at 6:15 and then was awoken at 7 by sister.  I put him down and he fell asleep very quickly, at 1hr 10min. Still had a 45 minute nap.  We had an errand to do and had 1hr35 for the next A time...again, fell asleep very quickly.  He was sleeping for 50 minutes when I started putting sister down for her nap.  She threw a royal fit (gotta love those toddler moments) and I heard him at what would have been 60 minutes into the nap.  I am pretty sure it was the tantrum that woke him up this time.  Ugh.  I am watching him like a hawk now for a cue as to when he will be ready to nap next, since he was very upset when he woke up and clearly still tired.  I guess there is always tomorrow :/

[Ima shel Alon]

There is a big GS at 12 weeks so it could be that's why he is waking up more often at night.
If you offered 1:10h A time yesterday then I would just stick to that for a couple more days and then up it to 1:20h. It's really important that you don't jump from one A to the other too quickly because LOs need 3-4 days to get used to a new A time and not get OT by it.

[first_time_mommy]

I have been watching for the big 3 month growth spurt but no signs of increased food intake so far.  Over the weekend we watched for cues and settled on 1hr30 A time.  We had an OT nap on saturday but then all 45 minute naps.  Luckily, he was easier to settle and we were able to keep him in his crib for a second 45 minutes.  The last two days he has woken up 2x at night for very short feeds and then a third time at 5ish with horrible gas (he has always been gassy, but not to the point of waking up because of it).  He is battling some very strange looking poop now too, so I am thinking that there is more to his early waking than just A times.  We are going to stick with 1hr 30 for a few more days, watch the poo, and maybe take a trip to the doctor if it doesn't improve.  thanks for the help.

[Ima shel Alon]

We are going to stick with 1hr 30 for a few more days, watch the poo, and maybe take a trip to the doctor if it doesn't improve.

Sounds like a good plan, let me know how you are doing.

[first_time_mommy]

Well, yesterday we ended up with two naps longer than 45 minutes and now this morning's nap is going on more than 1.5 hr.  what changed?  I put him to sleep at an incline of about 30 degrees.  I took an online quiz that said he has reflux, so we are going to see if we can make some environmental changes and help him sleep that way.  Still at 1hr30 A time too. Keeping my fingers crossed that I found something to help him!  also, been off dairy for 5 days now...which has changed his poo as well.

[Ima shel Alon]

Well, I don't know which thing helped but something did! Great news!
If you think he has Reflux then he should really see a Dr. for that.

[first_time_mommy]

Just came home from the doctor...She said he "without a doubt" has reflux and prescribed zantac.  Hoping this helps!

[Ima shel Alon]

Glad you saw the Dr. and I hope as well the Zantac will help. I don't know if you know this board? Colic, Reflux, & Crying there is a lot of useful information there.

[first_time_mommy]

Ok, on the off chance that this helps anyone...I finally feel like we have it figured out.  The doctors recommended that in addition to the Zantac I also avoid dairy...After 1 week off dairy, I started to see a change.  After 10 days the lil' man had normal poo and was not waking upset.  We are a few weeks out now and it is like night and day.  We still have some short naps, but they are usually because of my A time not being right.  Last Friday, I accidentally had dairy.  Friday afternoon and night were pretty bad.  No long naps and a bunch of NWs, spitting up all over the place and stinky poo.  I have learned that dairy can often induce silent reflux and create a very uncomfortable sleeping experience for babies.  Thanks for all the support in this, I feel sane again    

[Ima shel Alon]

Great update! I am glad you found something that helps!