Do I need to put my baby down more awake?

[emilyr]

My son is 9 weeks old.  We are battling the 45 minute nap - every nap.  So I am examining what I might be doing wrong.  To wind down I swaddle him, turn out the lights, hum a lullaby, then hold him quietly on my shoulder for a minute while he sucks his paci, then put him down.  He usually goes to sleep peacefully from that point (until 40 minutes later), unless he loses his paci before reaching deep sleep.  When I put him down I am not sure what stage of sleep he is in as I have darkened the room, but sometimes his eyes are opening and closing, sometimes they are just closed.  Am I teaching him to sleep independently, or do I need to be putting him down sooner, while he is more awake?

[musicgal03]

I think that sounds good! As long as he is not completely out as you lay him down you should be OK. You could experiment if you like putting him down a little bit earlier.Right after the blank stare, when the eyes start falling shut but before they are completely closed. I am sure too as you lay him down he awakes a little bit too even.

Annie

[isaac'smom]

I agree with pp. It sounds like you're doing really well and starting off with great habits from the start! You could try putting him down sooner and see what happens. If his night sleeps are fine then I'd be inclined to leave well enough alone. 45 minute naps can be a pain. You could read up on wake to sleep. It didn't work for us, but it might be worth looking into for you???

[jennandsophie]

My DD was like this too at that age.  Slowly I could just put her down earlier and earlier until she was wide awake.  I'd stay with her and do some pat/shh if she needed to be calmed.  Around 4 months I could just lay her down and leave.  It just takes time for them to learn how to sleep independently without you.  Stick with it and really read your son's cues.  You might notice subtle changes week to week that tell you he's learned how to sleep on his own and no longer needs the pat/shh or paci.

[musicgal03]

I wanted to add that around the 6 wk-12 wk mark my son would not take longer naps then 45 minutes. I worked with him for a couple of weeks with no success. Then I just accepted the fact that 45 minute naps it was.(Although I WOULD somewhat try to get him back down, sometimes it worked, most times it didn't. But I didn't kill myself over it) It didn't affect his nighttime sleep at all.
The interesting thing though, one day his naps extended to 1 1/2 hours without me doing anything, and it kept going like that up until now.(Now we are in a weird 6 month nap refusal time) So maybe there is a point where you just have to ride it out....

Annie

[ahollifield]

I'm battling 45 min naps with my daugher too. She's 3 months...I've tried W2S put it just seems to make it worse.  I'm thinking that she'll grow out of it..like she did with nighttime. Night time sleep is usually great. Maybe the switch to 4 hr EASY in the next few weeks will help things.

[jennandsophie]

My DD did the 45min naps at that age as well.  I learned to just leave her and she almost always went back to sleep eventually unless she got unswaddled.  Sometimes it took her almost 20-30 mins but she'd go back to sleep for another 45mins.  I made sure to keep the room really dark and have nothing stimulating for her to look at.  Took down the mobile over her head.  As the weeks went on, I think it helped her learn that her nap times were 1.5-2hrs, not 45 mins and no matter what mom was not coming back in to play with her.  Now she almost always takes long naps unless she's OT.

[musicgal03]

Yes, feel blessed that the night time sleep is working. That is what I always reminded myself of during the period of the 45 minute naps. (And that is what I do at the moment also...)

Annie

[hattie]

45 minute napper here too from the 4th month on he has rarely gone longer on any nap but nighttime sleep is almost always good so I try not to worry about it and trust it is just a phase.....he wakes up happy and chatty from naps and only starts to cry if I try to put him back to sleep so I figure that is all he needs right now...