all naps short apart from first nap of the day

[SRG]

My DS is 4.5 months old and I'm having issues with all his naps being short (30-40 mins) apart from the first nap of the day when 9 times out of 10 he'll do about 1h20-1h40.

I always put him down when he starts rubbing his eyes, which for the first nap is usually 1h-1h15 from when he's woken up which is between 6.50 and 7.10. He goes down fine and wakes up happy. He will then start rubbing his eyes about 1h15-1h20 later so put him down again he goes down fine again but wakes fussing (never crying) 30 to 40 mins later. And this continues for the rest of te naps that day.

I've tried shush pat and PU/PD but it never works and he ends up screaming, if I just leave him he will fuss and whine until I go get him.

I'm BF him after every nap which is working out as every 2.5 hours, and he's now waking 3 times a night to feed so am knackered, if I could get some of his naps longer I could have one too!

Any ideas?

[*Kara*]

Sorry you have been missed

I think he is in the dreaded UT/OT loop hun... his first A time is much to short for his age.  He likely does a good first nap simply because he is still tired from the night (many babies will do this - mine was one of them!).

Here is a link to age appropriate A times:  Is my baby ready to increase his ‘A’ time? (incl. 'A' times for younger babies)

At his age, his first A time should be at least 1 hr 45 mins.  To get him there, lets try a couple days at 1 hr 30 mins (use the last 15 mins or so to walk around and look at things in the house while holding him so as not to overwhelm with the extra A time)... after a couple of days, push to 1 hr 45 mins.

Ideally, we want each nap to be at least 90 mins.  If he naps less than this but more than 1 hr, do a 1 hr 30 min A time before the next nap.  If he naps 45mins, keep an eye on him but he should still manage 1 hr 15-20 mins.  If he naps 30 mins or less, try to resettle as he is OT and should go back down... if not, put him down after 1 hr 15 mins.

How does this sound?

[SRG]

Sounds like a plan, am going to try it out starting Monday, weekends always seem a bit of a mess when my husbands home, however much I try to stick to his normal routine, he knows there's someone else around and wants to play with Daddy!

Just to check (I'm a sucker for instructions!) If I increase his A time to 1h30 to start off with, I take it that that's asleep at that point? I normally look for tired signs and then start his wind down (nappy change, up to nursery, blind down, cuddles and lullabys, white noise then put in cot) which takes about 5 mins and then it can take anywhere from 5-20 mins for him to fall asleep with a little fussing, the length it takes him to fall asleep doesn't seem to have any bearing on how long the nap will last. So how long should I allow for him to fall asleep, I.e, start the carrying around at the 1h mark (15m carrying, 5 for wind down and 10 to fall asleep)?

Looking forward to giving it a try and keeping my fingers (and toes!) Crossed   

[*Kara*]

I am not a huge fan of a long wind down to be honest... with so little A time to begin with, it can leave them UT for a nap since they spent a chunk of their A time relaxing, KWIM?  So I would start wind down with the intent for him to be asleep about 10 mins after you start a wind down... but don't take loads of time relaxing him... and yes, A time of 1 hr 30 mins means his eyes are closed at the 1 hr 30 min mark

So like this,

7am  - wake
820am - start wind down, up to his room, bum change, snuggles and maybe a nice song while you cuddle, then into the crib by 823am.
830am - eyes close and he drifts off  

At least that happens if the stars and moon align 

Give it a go... I always found a no nonsense wind down worked the best with mine.. still does.