Am I using a prop? I can't get past the 45 min nap!!

[emilyr]

My son is 9 weeks old.  I have been battling the 45 min nap, and failing terribly, so I am wondering if I need to adjust the way I initially put him to sleep.  I do a windown that consists of swaddling, turning out the lights, humming a short lullaby, and holding him quietly on my shoulder for a moment while he sucks his paci, then putting him down. The whole process takes probably 3 minutes.  When I put him down I think he is in stage two, possibly entering stage three - it's hard to know because the room is very dark.  But I think his eyes are sometimes doing the open and shut thing and sometimes just shut. He drifts off to sleep very peacefully this way. Should I not be holding him this far into the process?  I want to because he goes down so easily this way and I have tried to shush/pat him in the cradle and he fidgets like crazy then gets hysterical.  But I want to overcome the 45 min nap and I'm finding it nearly impossible to get him back to sleep after he wakes.  I have been trying wake to sleep also, but without success.  Any insights? Please help me!! I have no life, my baby is not getting the sleep he needs, and my poor toddler feels neglected  . I hate the 45 minute nap!

Oh, I should add that my baby has reflux so I don't know if that plays a role, but it does require that I try to keep him from getting too worked up as the crying makes reflux worse.

[OJ30]

Hi,
We went through exactly the same with our lo.  He is very spirited and was diagnosed with reflux at 7 weeks.  He is now 5 months old and still has 45 minute naps (although some do extend to 1 hr or even an hour and a half).  When he was first born he wouldn't go to sleep at all during the day.  We tried shush pat in the cot but found that it actually made the situation worse so we adapted it for ourselves without becoming a prop.  Our routine begins with a story on the sofa then a quiet walk around the house with me pointing things out to him in a whisper.  We then go upstairs and pull the curtains and he is then swaddled and given a paci.  We used to have to then hold him for about 5 mins until his eyes started to droop and then put in his cot.  From everything I have read this is absolutely fine.  At that time we used to stay with him for about 20 mins to make sure he got off to sleep shushing and lightly patting him on the chest/shoulder.  We gradually reduced the time we spent.  Now we rarely even have to pick him up.  He is simply swaddled and put in his cot with his paci and he falls asleep within 5-10 minutes by himself.  It took a lot of hard work but it has paid off.
We too tried w2s to extend naps but to no avail.  We also tried extending A time, shortening A time and nothing seemed to work.  It was then I accepted that my baby wasn't going to be a long napper!  He mostly wakes up happy and content and ready to play! We adapted EASY for us so it was more like EASAE and I just got used to having very little Y time!  Gradually things have got a bit better and he can sleep for longer for certain naps.  Unfortunately he has now got 2 teeth and has had a terrible tummy upset that has caused lactose intolerance.  This has really messed things up!
I guess I don't have any advice as such.  Just hang on in there- things will start to improve.  When I think back to what it was like, things are now so much better.  Some babies unfortunately need less sleep than others!  Does he cope ok with the 45 min naps?  Is he happy when he wakes?  Does he need more than one nap in each EASY cycle?
Jo x