Any idea why my 6 week old has changed to a short napper?

[laurak2015]

My 6 week old had always been quite a good napper - having about 3x two hour naps a day. The last week however his naps at home have reduced to 40mins and he has only napped for longer if we have been out and about and in his car seat. I cant think of anything that has changed. Some of the short naps he put himself to sleep so its not that, he still goes down well at night so I dont think its a cot thing. The short naps make his feeding difficult as he always wakes hungry and it means its usually only been 2hours (if that) since his last feed. We try and catch his first yawn so I dont think its overtiredness. Any ideas?

[creations]

Hi welcome to BW

As your DS was taking some long naps he sounds like he is able to self settle and transition from one sleep cycle to the next.  It could just be a case of needing a slightly longer A time before being put down for his nap.  40 mins is often indication of an UT nap (under tired) so he is tired enough to go to sleep but not tired enough to stay asleep for the next cycle.
Here's a list of average A times
Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!
Every child is individual of course but it's somewhere to start.

Please feel welcome to post your EASY times so we can support you with getting naps back on track.

[weaver]

I think he grew

So as pp says perhaps a slightly longer A time but I would go quite gently with that as he's so young - just add on 5-10 minutes and see if that works for a few days.  I'd also say that around 6 weeks is the time when most newborns start to 'wake up' a bit more, they notice the world around them more, interact a bit more, so he's probably getting more stimulation, and that might need to be managed a bit, help him have a bit of low-key time just before naps.  Yawns aren't necessarily reliable as sleep cues, though obviously I can't see your LO so maybe it really is for him! Sometimes a yawn can mean "I need a break from this" (whatever it is he's doing right then).

HTH.

[laurak2015]

Thanks both. I hadnt considered undertiredness as I am so used to him struggling to stay awake more than 45mins sometimes even less. He is definitely more awake this week!

Yesterdays day went something like this (surprisingly his wake time was quite long, mostly over an hour but I may be being too cautious with what I do with him, I tend to keep things very low key)-

E 7:00
A
S 8:20-9:00

E 9:00
A
S 10:15-11

E 11:30
A
S 12:30-14:10 (needed resettling halfway through)

E 14:10
A
S 15:50-16:30

E 17:00
A
S 17:30-18:40 (slept on me)

E 18:40
A: Bath and bedtime routine
S 19:30

Dreamfeed at 11:30 (we fell asleep) and he woke at 4am and then 6:30 this morning, both times fed and went back to sleep.

Im not very good at timing the feeds so dont know the distinction between E and A. A usually involves nappy change and chat. His Wake time today was probably about the same as yesterday but I tried to do more with him, the first nap was an hour technically but included shh/pat. The second nap was an hour. The rest of the day is a bit hit and miss as he had a hospital appt.

If at home nap/bedtime includes blackout blinds/music or white noise, swaddle, cuddle and into cot. Usually dont need shh/pat.

[creations]

Thanks for posting your EASY.

Im not very good at timing the feeds so dont know the distinction between E and A

Don't worry about it. A includes E anyway so we count A as anything which is not sleep. A begins as soon as he wakes and continues up to when he is asleep, including eating, nappy change, play, shush/pat - anything that is not sleep.

Your A times are not typically too short for age but it is important to remember A times are only a guidance. It does look to me like he would likely nap better with either slightly more A time or slightly more stimulation. As you say, today you did more with him, he slept better as he will have been more stimulated and therefore more tired.  You might want to increase the A time by 10 mins too.  It looks like by the third nap yesterday (and quite longish A times) he was eventually tired enough to sleep a better length.  The aim would be to return to all naps being of decent length of course.
Keep looking for cues but also be aware some LOs do like longer A times than others.  Mine liked a very long first A and shorter for the rest, other babies like a shorter first A and longer for the rest, this is why we look at the individual sleep needs and so on.

[Domestic Engineer]

How many days has this been going on? It could definitely be the six-week growth spurt.

[laurak2015]

Its been going on for three or four days. It could be the growth spurt as didnt have a great night with him. He went down OK at 7pm and slept until 2:30am with a dreamfeed at 22:30 but then was up at 4:30, 5 and on and off until 6 taking 9oz at those feeds (he usually as 2-3oz at night). He had 35oz yesterday so def wasnt short on his quota. Unfortunately it means i have the opposite problem today of a little boy who is very overtired and resisting going to sleep....

[creations]

Hope you both manage to get some rest today.
let us know how you get on.

[Domestic Engineer]

Definitely sounds like the growth spurt to me. Those are rough! Hang in there! If he's overtired from eating all night, and he won't go down for his nap, you might try letting him nap on your lap, just once or twice today, to get in a solid nap and start making up lost sleep. Good luck!

[laurak2015]

Just an update: today we had an awake time of 1hr 45 and he has currently been asleep for his morning nap for 1hr 15mins. Yay! I think undertiredness was the problem mixed in with a growth spurt. Thanks for the help!

[creations]

Great update!
Do feel free to post another EAS if you feel another tweak would be useful to get that nap a little longer still.

And thanks for coming back to let us know how you're doing - it's always good to hear how people are getting on.