short to long nap

[abassoonie]

My DD is having trouble transitioning through sleep cycles with her naps. She goes down easy sleeps 35 minutes then wakes. I can shush/pat her and she will go back to sleep until her eating time. Should I wake her up to eat? She is sleeping 45 minutes or longer (depending on how long it takes me to get her to go back to sleep). She is 16 weeks (16 lbs give or take a few ounces) and on the 3 hour EASY. I am going to try the wake to sleep and see if it works out. Any other suggestions?
-Erin
Elena 3.5 mos
Bf only
E:6
A
S:7:15ish (she is pretty sleepy so I have trouble keeping her awake til 7:30 without having nap battle)
35 minute sleep go back to sleep until E
E: 9
A
S:10 :30
E:12
A
S:1:30
E:3
A
still trying to figure out the catnap
Bath E: 5:30
S:6
Df between 9-10 Bottle of EBM

I have only been on the EASY for a few days. We followed a similiar schedule before but with nap problems. The first night we had a waking at 4:30 then 6. The following night several waking, but I think due to later than usual bed time because of Father's Day (it is my MIL fault)

[deckchariot]

does she always wake at the 35 min mark for every nap?  If so, you could try w2s - here's a link for that:

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64168.0

Also, it looks like her first A time is 1 hr 15 (max of 1.5 hrs), but her next A time is almost 2.5 hrs?  If she's waking at 8ish and not going down til 10:30?  right?  That's a pretty huge jump in A time, especially if her first nap is short - so my guess is that her OT is just building over the course of the day.  If her first nap is short, her next A time needs to be shortened.  Most lo's have their shortest A time first thing in the am - so if she's doing 1.5 hrs max in the am, and takes a short nap, her next A time will need to be even shorter so she can catch up.

Is she still swaddled?  If not, I would swaddle her - that may be why she's waking at 35 min.  If she is swaddled, I would try w2s on that first nap (if her waking is consistently 35 min) to see if you can extend it that way. 

As she moves towards 4 mos, her A times should lengthen to 2 hrs, and then she'd feed every 4 hrs.  Some ebf babies cannot make it to 4 hr feeds, and I know with my dd, we went to a 3.5 hr EASY first.  But until we can extend those naps a bit, 2 hrs of A time is going to be too much for her, I think.

hth
michelle

[abassoonie]

No, her second A time is about 1.15 as well. 9-10:30ish
She is swaddled but with one arm out. She gets it out anyway and the struggle seems to keep her awake anyway. I watched her today and she woke from the first two naps after 35 min, but went back to sleep until the eating time. The last nap she woke after 45 minutes. I watched her and can see her going through the cycle and she is jerking herself and waking up. I will try the wake to sleep tomorrow and see how it goes.

[deckchariot]

if you can see her beginning to wake up, then you should be able to have success with w2s.  You may want to try the Miracle Blanket or the Swaddle-Me blanket if she's getting out of the swaddle - no doubt it's the jerking between sleep cycles that's waking her.  When I did w2s, I did it for 10 days and saw success about 50% of the time, which I thought was discouraging, but did actually turn out to be effective, as she learned how to get over the jolts after that all by herself.  Let me know how you get on.....

[abassoonie]

Unfortunatly no luck today. She DID go BACK to sleep in her first two naps but not the third. I didn't catch her in time for the w2s in the second nap she was laying quietly in her crib when I go into the room, but she didn't get herself back to sleep. She smiled and talked to me instead. I will keep plugging away. Of course today she doen't jolt awake she just wakes up. I woke her up at her eating time and kept her quiet for nap 3 until eating time. I am putting her down 10 minutes after she eats because she is not getting a full 1.5 hour nap. That is what I am suppose to do right?
She is killing my back with the pu/pd and leaning over shooshing. But I am going to prevail (begin olympic sound track here), she is only a baby after all, but she is stubborn as they come.
On a happy note she went to sleep (finally she was OT) at 7:00, woke for feed at 2:30 slept until 6  DH dreamfed at 10:30, but she only took 1.5oz
-Erin   

[abassoonie]

I use a Swaddle me blanket but she manages to get out.

[abassoonie]

IT WORKED!!!!!!!!She has been sleeping for 1.5hr. Hopefully it will work again. I was watching her like a hawk. I wasn't totally sure when she was past the transition part, but I kept patting until I was sure. Here is to hoping it will happen again

[deckchariot]

yay glad it worked for one nap!!!!!  Like I mentioned, I only got it right half the time - but that was enough to teach her how to do it herself!  Every good nap is worth celebrating!!!!  I never used the swaddle me blanket, but I know my olympic wrestling swaddle breaker never once escaped from her miracle blanket!  But if you can teach her to get past the jolts even if she's breaking her swaddle, that's better in the long run.  Hang in there - and celebrate the good nap!!!