4mth old always wakes up after 45 min, and I have to put back to sleep

[chelled17]

My DD is 4 1/2 months old,and is on a 3.5 easy, She sleeps very good at night, but for her naps I put her down and exactly 45min later she wakes up, and I have to go in there and pat/shh back to sleep, she does this every nap, and when I put her down for bedtime she does it once, then she's good for the rest of the night.  Why does she do this, and how can I prevent it from happening anymore?

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

Could you post your routine for us?  Maybe some tweaking could help

[chelled17]

E 7am- wake and feed
A 7:15-8:30
S 8:30-10:00 (1.5 Nap)
E 10:00-10:15
A 10:00-12:00
S 12:00-1:30 or 2 (1.5-2hr Nap)
E 2:00-2:15
A 2:15-4:00ish
S This is where I get messed up, I've been trying to give her another nap here for 45-90 min, but sometimes she won't take it then she gets over tired for bed.
E 6:00
A Bathtime
E 7:00
S Bedtime 7:30ish

[lcpopelka]

Have you tried shortening the A time prior to that final nap?  I find that my little one does 1.5 hours of activity in the morning, 2 hours of activity by mid-day, but then he's back to 1.5 hours of activity by the late afternoon nap...
Just a suggestion

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

lcpopelka has a good suggestion, especially if your lo is having shorter naps.  I would try for that 3rd nap around 3 or 3:30 depending on when she wakes from her 2nd nap.  This might help

[chelled17]

I'll try that, I'll try anything, today she just started not sleeping after the 45 minutes though, her last nap anyway, do you think maybe she needs to start transitioning over to a 4hr EASY?  She seemed quite happy after her nap too.

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

You can certainly try to transition to a 4- hour EASY.  This is the age that the transition begins, however, keep in mind that some bf babies never make it to a 4 hour EASY (I don't recall if you bf or not).  My baby is bf and does fine So it's worth a shot!!

[chelled17]

Yeah, she's bf, I'm gonna try transitioning her, she had a really restless night, and she's not eating very much at her feeds which kinda messes with her whole routine, those are both signs that she should be moved to a 4 hr EASY.

Also what do I do if she won't go to sleep, She's not crying bad enough to do PU/PD, and she's only doing the mantra cry, she gets mad at me when I pat/shh and won't calm down by herself, she did the mantry cry for like 30 min last night till finally I just broke down and BF her to sleep. (I know, I shouldn't have done that) but I couldn't stay up any longer. I was so tired I just knew that if I just BF her she would be out in a minute.  She was really overtired though cause she wouldn't take her afternoon cat nap. maybe that's why she wouldn't settle herself.  I don't know anymore I feel like my routine is just falling apart at the seems. Please Help!

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

Sounds like a switch to the 4 hour EASY might do some good.  My thought on the mantra cry - just let her go - even if it takes more than 30 minutes.  One time my ds mantra'd for 45 minutes!!  It never escalated to a cry.  If it does, go help her, but if not, let her be.  I know it's hard to listen to, but she's just trying to settle herself.

[SupermansMama]

we seem to be having a simliar problem, except our lo is only 11 weeks old. He's quite big though, 13.5 lbs maybe more since his last check-up, and he eats at least 6 oz per feed, sometimes 8-9.  We are thinking of putting him on a 4 hr EASY starting tomorrow with the strategy in Tracy's solutions... book.  I think he can do it since from birth he only ever ate 3-4 hrs.
The main reason I want him on it is cuz I think it'll help his naps too. We put him down for 3 naps per day plus a catnap - sometimes like ur lo, and every one is sooo inconsistent, most 45-1hr, the odd time up to 2.5 hrs. Its frustrating since we feel like he's so unpredictable when he's going to wake up. I never know if we should wake him to feed if he does sleep long or what to do with him until the next feed if he sleeps short.
I figure he's almost 3 months and big for his age, it'll take 2 weeks to transition him so by then he'll only be a couple weeks away from the suggested 4 month on 4 EASY thing.

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

Good luck with the transition SupermansMama!

[SupermansMama]

Day 1 on the transition is actually OK. Predictable that his naps would be weird....both times so far he woke at 45min and did a mantra cry thing during the next 45min...very weird, his eyes are closed and i think he's sleeping through the whole thing...frustrating for us though cuz theres always doubt that its not a mantra and instead a real come and get me cry....does anyone have this problem???
I hear a cry and i think that i should try PUPD but if i go in he's kinda in mid-sleep and fights back if i pick him up.  Does this mean he doesn't need PUPD?

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

Well, I would say he is a bit on the young side for PUPD.  Normally, this is too stimulating for babies under 4 months of age.  Shh/pat usually works a bit better.  I do understand your doubt on the mantra cry and trust me, after a while you will definitely know...unless the cry escalates, it is just a mantra cry.  He's doing his mantra because he's trying to soothe himself back to sleep.  If the mantra escalates, I highly suggest some shh/pat.  Make sure his room is dark and try not to make eye contact because that usually stimulates them and makes it more difficult (if not impossible) to settle.  My ds has been known to mantra for 45 minutes before he finally is off to sleep.