Author Topic: HELP - 5 MTH OLD - 45 MIN NAP NIGHTMARE  (Read 910 times)

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Offline KatieSleep

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HELP - 5 MTH OLD - 45 MIN NAP NIGHTMARE
« on: October 03, 2008, 12:16:52 pm »
Hi all

My little man is just over 5 mths old and is a classic 45min napper and I cannot seem to get him out of it.  Until one week ago he was also waking during the night for his dummy - we are now dummy free after a week or PU/PD and shhhush pat.  He seems to be able to self soothe at bedtime (and a couple of times during the night) so we are making some progress.....BUT he seems to be so tired during the day as he only sleeps for 45min at a time!  I then find he is tired no more than an hour after waking up.  His routine is something like this:

6.30am - wake/6oz milk
Activity
7.30am - Cereal
8.30am - first nap - goes down fairly easily but only 45min!
9.15am - 10am awake
10am - wants another 45min nap!
11am - 7oz milk
Activity
12.30pm - 45min-1hr nap
3pm 6oz milk
4pm Dinner
4.30pm - Catnap
6pm - bath and bedtime routine
6.45 - milk and bed.

Help please!
K x

lilac83

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Re: HELP - 5 MTH OLD - 45 MIN NAP NIGHTMARE
« Reply #1 on: October 04, 2008, 02:41:59 am »
You should probably start by stretching his A time. I see his first A time is 2 hours. Try stretching it to 2 hours 15 minutes and see if he will give you a longer nap. Also, when my daughter does a 45 minute nap and wakes happy, it means she got a rested nap and will do her regular amount of A time until the next nap. It took me a bit to figure this out and I too was wondering why I kept getting all these short naps from her!

So, try for a 1st nap around 8:45am for a few days. If you can consistently get a longer nap, then stick with that new time. The timing for the second nap depends on the length of the first nap. If he gives you a long first nap, I would go with 2 hours 30 minutes of A time, unless he's showing obvious tired signs. You may need to stretch his times a little slower so as not to get him OT. If his first nap is still only 45 minutes but he seems rested, perhaps try for around 2 hours A time unless he's showing tired signs.

I know you say he shows signs after only an hour of being awake. Are you sure these signs are from being tired or could he just be bored? My daughter will yawn every once in awhile, but I know that's not a sign for her. From her I look for slightly droopy eyes and blowing raspberries. Very non-evident sleep cues and it took me a LONG time to figure this out about her.

A 45 minute nap could also mean OT, but if he's sleeping decently at night and not waking early I think your best bet is to try extending his awake time.

Offline brenda2

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Re: HELP - 5 MTH OLD - 45 MIN NAP NIGHTMARE
« Reply #2 on: October 04, 2008, 21:20:30 pm »
great post robin, totally agree.