Wakes up happy and alert after 30 minute naps, should I work on extending?

[EnzoMama]

I watched closely my baby today and he did not show signs of being tired till 3 hours after waking up. He slept 60 min at the
Morning and 90 minutes at the afternoon. Woke up at 6:20, naps 9:20 and 1:30. Is it possible that he actually needs to increase A time and was UT?

[becj86]

Yep, it is possible, especially if he has shorter sleep cycles than average. 30min naps are typically OT and 40-45min naps are typically UT but some babies have shorter sleep cycle...

The other thing is that he is just coming up towards 6 months when development-related short naps start to disappear but I think he may just need those A times slightly longer. This is around the age that LO's start to drop the CN and go to two solid naps.

[stevesmum]

Hi enzomum
My ben is the same.. except i also have a 2yo to contend with. I figure that his 30min might actually be ut and his ot naps are actually more like 25.. but no promises, i certainly don't lay claim to having it all figured out.
what i have found though is that mostly after a short nap first up, his next nap will usually be longer regardless of a time... yesterday 2hr+ and a 1h15nap today 1h45 (he was telling me sleep) and 2h20nap. only trouble is he has no distinct cues for his first nap! and trust me i've looked ! though he is very happy which is a Godsend! i've tried w2s with no success, and have an almost 30m winddown to ensure he's not os with steve gettin about. but at the end of the day, i'm afraid i have to roll with it. i will follow your post though to see if i can get any ideas!
all the best and hope something works out for you, but at the end of the day, if ben's happy (which ot or not, he always is happy) i;m happy!

[Den1]

Hi ladies I am currently in same situation so I'm interested to see how your Lo got on - my lo is 4 month old has always had difficulty in napping so started the pu/pd. Up until 5 weeks ago he was always sleeping from 8pm-4am then a quick BF and back to sleep till 7-7.30am. Then suddenly he began weakening twice a night and over the past week has sometimes been every hour! Finally decided it may be to do with nap time hence reason for beginning pu/pd
So lo has 30 min naps, wakening with smiley face and if left for 10-20 mins cries out so then I begin pu/pd but have only had success with this during one of lo's naps over the past 2 days and he slept for 1hr 30.
My problem is if I follow the correct routine for pu/pd as recommended by BW his last nap runs on so long that it's nearly time to begin his bed time routine! Funnily enough he has always gone down for BT on his own. Only day 2 of this and I'm exhausted but I have to try something as getting no You time day or night

[EnzoMama]

At what point in the nap did you do W2S, EnzoMama (like, how many minutes in)?

I have done it from 20 minutes to about 40 minutes. I really have not tried it since. My baby now takes a 1 1/2 nap at the morning and still short 30 min at at afternoon. I might try it on the afternoon nap again tomorrow.

I also can not do pu/pd because my little guy does not cry-he will just happily play in the crib. I have read several sleep books and do believe there is such thing as short napper. They say there id really not much you can do (Sleeping thru the night, Healthy sleep habits, happy child)

Maybe I am missing something (please anyone correct me if i am wrong) but my intuition tells me that babies are really made to nap in the motion, if you look at primitive cultures, babies were rarely put down on scheduled naps in room alone twice or three times a day.

Also I believe that the four months are very hard because the babies truly awaken-at least mine did. Could genetics play role as well? My mom told me she could never put me down for a nap when I was a baby and she had to go for long walks to get me to sleep during the day. The same is true for my sister's two daughters.

Maybe its a lack of the proper technique...I really don't know. I tend to go the extra mile with most challenges in my life, so I would expect my baby to sleep "perfect" by now if it is in my power.

Well, it is a mystery my friends :-) i reminded myself this evening not to be too attached to al the things my baby "should" do and to truly enjoy and celebrate this magical and very special moment in our lives which will be over before we know it. i found myself being too preoccupied with all the scheduling and right ways to do things. I definitely think it really helps to have a framework such as BW-it has made a tremendous difference for us but every baby and every mama is unique. It is really amazing to me to learn about parenting attitudes around the world and how differently can people view what is normal.

Well...I am just rambling here...

If you have any new tips, please share them!

Sandra

[atlantamomofthree]

Just my 2cents...

My ds did the same thing when he was 4-5 months old. Very happy, alert, SHORT napper! IMO I don't think anything needs to be 'done'. Samuel just slowly started going longer and I hadn't changed anything (except his A time lengths-based on his changing needs . His naps these days are almost always over an hour, sometimes closer to 2 hours, but even if he has a short one, he is still very happy upon waking.

Is your LO, by chance, an angel baby in temperment? Mine is and I think that makes all the difference with whether or not you need to do anything to extend naps.

[EnzoMama]

Is your LO, by chance, an angel baby in temperment? Mine is and I think that makes all the difference with whether or not you need to do anything to extend naps.

Thank you for your reply. I am so happy to read it! Yes-he is an angel. My challenge is that he wakes up before 3pm from second nap and refuses to catnap unless he is in the car. I guess I don't have another baby to compare him to and he does not complain till he goes to bed at around 7:30 but I just wanted to make sure I am doing the right thing.

If I put him to bed earlier he will wake up too early, I have tried before and then it gets even worse...

[EnzoMama]

Ok, so I did W2S by rubbing his belly just now for his afternoon nap which is always 30 minutes. I have done it between minute 25 and 48, he had jerky movements of his legs and half open eyes most of the time-opened eyes completely for a second once and then went deep. He has been sleeping for an hour now! OMG!

So, he does need more sleep, just does not know how to get there at the afternoon? Should I do this daily? Will he start doing this on his own and after how long?

Having a baby is such a journey...Lol

[atlantamomofthree]

Oh, yes that would pose a problem then! ;)My ds will CN in his carseat (in the house!) 

Way to go on doing W2S! After I posted this morning, Sam took a 2hr15min nap which he never does!! Lol These kids will make us liars any chance they get!