5 mo 40 min nap monster OT UT?

[Lou'sMum]

Hi,

Lo is 5 months and has been a great sleeper up until about 4 weeks ago. We have been getting some nights with no NW others with one or 2 and some with about 6! When he wakes hes not screaming but needs a wee pat on the bum and goes over again.

However, daytime naps are whats really getting me down just now and i think I should tackle this 1st. I'm not sure what I should be doing anymore. Every nap needs about 20 mins persuasion and/or screaming and all I get after this is 40 mins. Its driving me nuts. I have a 3 year old to care for too so don't have so much time for patting and holding through the jolts etc. I have resorted to walking in the pram to get one decent sleep in the day but I live in Scotland and its bloody pouring with rain all the time and I'm sick of it!!! I try and squeeze as many short naps into the day to make up for the lack of long naps but it takes up so much time too.

Id say an averge day would be like this (give or take 5 mins here and there):

(4hr easy)

Wake: 6.20
E: 7
S: 8-8.40
S: 10-10.40
E: 11
S: 12-12.40
S: 2-2.40
E: 3
S: 4.30-5
E: 5 (top-up)
Bath. bottle, bed sleeping for 7.15

Mostly when he wakes from the naps he's happy enough, but i'm generally finding it hard to read him.

So what should I be doing? Is he OT or UT? How do I get out of the short nap routine. Am i doing the right thing by squeezing more naps in? I've no idea anymore!

Any advice much appreciated. Lx

[teddy13]

Hi I just read your post I am having the same troubles you are. Its crazy I can't make head or tail of OT or UT. The only advice I could give that seems to be working is reading into the amount of times your baby yawns. I need to get mine to sleep with the first yawn or we are in a complete downward spiral. I hope this helps. I just held him for ten minutes which was not what I wanted but I am desperate to get him out of the OT cycle. Hopefully he will be more rested when he wakes. Good luck

[Lou'sMum]

Hi Teddy13, sorry to hear you are in the same boat!

Lo woke up as always 40 mins into his 1st nap and I left him to chat away quite happily but he didnt go back to sleep. I thought maybe I shouldn't be putting him down so often so fed him a bit early then put him down approx 2hrs after he woke (in my arms though, I too am desperate!) and he woke after 30 mins. Today DS1 is at his grannies so I had the time to pat, which I did for 20 minutes. He was pretty restless during this time but he did go back over.  I should say he is a bit refluxy and is worse the past few weeks than before. Mostly a happy chucker, which is a god send after DS1 was miserable for well over a year - poor thing still gets bother.

How did your LO get on? Any better?

My LO doesn't seem to yawn much at all. Maybe I should be waiting on that yawn to make sure he's tired but its only when we're having a cuddle before he goes down that they come...

[Lou'sMum]

Anyone any help here? . Just spent 40 minutes patting to try extend LOs nap and at first he woke, chatted a wee bit and seemed to settle then cried and cried for 20 mins. I gave up and opened the blinds and he seemed to be sleeping but crying... whats that? He came round and is chatting in his cot quite happily. He was put down for his nap approx 2h 15 after waking.

My back is killing me from leaning over to pat and I'm beginning to lose the plot a bit and cant stop crying through sheer frustration. I'm knakered because he's randomly waking at night and I can't get anything done because i'm either trying to persuade him to sleep or he's awake. My poor 3 yo gets plonked in front of the tv so I can try do this and it's not fair for him.

I haven't a clue what to do to try help this. Why won't he just sleep?

[*Becky*]

Hi,
Sorry things are rough. We went through the exact same thing with DD and at 5 months we set naps. There is only so much tweaking you can do and it is most likely a UT/OT loop that is hard to get out of.

I would set 3 naps for the day and see how you get on.
Average A time at 5 months is 2 hours. Does he usually wake around 6am??

Let me know and also if you have any other commitments i.e. school runs and we can work something out.

[Lou'sMum]

Thanks becky, and hi. I'm sure you helped me out loads when I was on here desperate with DS1! Hope you and your LOs are well.

Most days DH takes DS1 to playgroup/nursery but i have to maybe one day a week. I try to walk there so that LO will sleep in the pram but doesnt always work that way. Playgroup starts at 9.30, so we would leave around 9. I'm also starting a mother baby group this week which also starts at 9.30, but this is one day only. Time-wise I know its not ideal but I need to get out the house or i'll go bananas.

Other than that we have no commitments for now. DS1 starts pre-school nursery in March – every morning 8.50-11.20 – so we will have to work round that then. I'll be picking up most days.

Most days he wakes at around 6.20 and I let him chat for a while before we get up and feed at 7. Today I had planned to go back up to get changed for the day and back sleeping for 8.30-40 but it was 8.50 before he went to sleep. There was no fussing or crying though and all I did was hold his hand. Only slept for 35 mins, but woke up chatting.

Last night he was really unsettled from 8-10 but then slept till 6, which was great. We have always positioned him on his side to sleep as he is a real pukey baby and he seemed much comfier and I felt he was less likely to choke. He's too big to stay that way now and i think he finds it had to settle again when he turn on his back ifkwim?

Any help much appreciated. Had a bad day yesterday, it's so frustrating sometimes. Lx

[*Becky*]

ok, if he wakes at 6.20am then I would try something like this.
A - 6.20am
Nap - 8.30am
Nap - 12pm
Nap - 4pm
These times are just for now, they will change as he gets older and the last one will be dropped and the first one pushed out so he will be napping around 9.30am ish and 1pm ish after a while.
The idea with set naps is to set a body clock so it may be rough for a couple of days but if you try to stick with it for 5 days or so then you can see if it is helping or not. I would aim t resettle one of the naps as much as you can so probably either the first or second nap, whichever is easier for you. The CN can be AP'd if necessary and if the other nap is short then just get on with your day until the next PD. Early BT can help i it all goes completely wrong!
Keep me posted and good luck x

[Lou'sMum]

Thanks becky, i'll give that a go as of tomrrow. Can't be any worse than it is already!!!

How long am I looking for nap wise? 1.5, 1.5 and 0.5?

x

[jcsmom]

Becky, I have a post on EASY. My LO is super inconsistent and we have toyed with the idea of set nap times. Could you pop over to my post and let me know how they would work? Right now my lo's sleep is all over the map! Thanks!

[*Becky*]

will do jcsmom

Lou's mum - Yes I would aim for 1.5, 1.5 and then 30. I never got that with either of mine btw so don;t despair. I think the key is to get one good nap and a CN and then hopefully if the other one is short it is not the end of the world yk?

[teddy13]

Hi Becky,
I had this idea today. To try and make set naps times. My LO is almost 7 months and mostly I am still going by his tired cues. Rubbing his eyes, yawning, whining, etc. But it makes it very hard to predict my day. Do you suggest this method over reading the baby's cues? A typical day for us is:

5:45 am he wakes up and talks to himself for about and hour
6:45 I get up and change him, talk to him, feed him I BF him
9:15 nap on the way home from taking his sister to school
10:00am he eats his fruit, and then BF a little
12:00 naps usually 45 mins
1:00 veggies and bf
3:30 nap 45 mins
5:00 60z formula bottle
6:00 bathtime
7:00 sleeping
He then wakes about three to four hours later for a feed and one more time before he wakes. I also tried to DF but it never made any difference in his wake times.