Is what I am doing to extend naps becoming a "prop"?

[Sydney]

I have been so focused on sleep training my lo that I started to realize that what I am doing may be becoming a prop.  Looking for insight...

DD is 6 wwks - been sleep training for 4 weeks.  She sleeps swaddled and on her back so doing sh/pat on her side, etc. is extremely hard and if I move her in order to reach these areas, it just puts her into a fuss.  So from about 2 weeks to 5 weeks, what I would do instead is shush and rub her chest/stomach and this would work about 40% of the time, but hey, I took it!  If she got really carried away with the crying I would pick her up to calm her down and lay her right back down once she settled, continuing sh/pat if needed.

I have noticed within the last week she is much more aware of her surroundings and me so now when I try and sh/pat her she sees me and gets really excited, eyes wide open.  Nice to see but not when I want her to sleep.  So, I have been resorting to the picking up to calm her down instead (not sure what else to do) and now I am worried that she is going to get in the habit of expecting me to pick her up? 

Any thoughts on this or what else I could do to help extend her naps? We were on 45 minutes A time a week ago (and decent naps) and changed to 1 hour.  Went OK for a couple of days but now we are dealing with serious OT I believe and nasty 45 minute naps.  Sometimes she will put herself back to sleep for the next cycle but this is really a 50/50 shot and it sometimes can take her a good 20-30 minutes to do this.

Thanks so much!

[Claudiamummy]

Hi there, hugs from me... I had the same thing with DD, and still do sometimes.

Forgive me if this sound really obvious but do you avoid eye contact? I would just continue patting DD, slowing as she relaxed, but looking completely I'm the opposite direction

[Claudiamummy]

Also, I think it's great you started early!:-)

[Sydney]

Thank you. Yes I have tried to look in the opposite direction but still doesn't seem to help.

[Claudiamummy]

Hmmm dds are way too smart! Hopefully you get a bit more advice from the experienced bw

[elmarie]

At 6 weeks she is still very young, and it is a process to learn to self sooth.  At this age shh/pat is the best method to teach her to self sooth.  I won't pu at this age it is still too stimulating for her and Tracy recommended that we only start using pu/pd around 3-4 months. You are doing a great job so far by adjusting the shh/pat to suit her needs.  When you want to extend her naps just shh/pat her until she gos back to sleep . What is important is that you stay consistent when sleep training and it will take some time.   

HTH