8wo short naps

[Skyofclouds]

Hi! I'm also having trouble with naps with my 8 week old who's been on EASY since 2 weeks old.

She sleeps well at night but seems to be a chronic cat napper during the day, naps only last 30-45 mins since she was born.

In the past 2 weeks after discovering BW, I have tried shush-patting her back to sleep when she wakes from her naps- this has worked 4 or 5 times but the majority of the time she just lies there awake and coo-ing happily with eyes wide open,  she can't seem to get back to sleep after the first sleep cycle. Our nap routine consist of a dark room, white noise and 4S

I have also tried the wake to sleep method without success.

This is a sample of our daily routine:

E First wake at 5am them back to sleep

EA 8.30 am
S 10 am
1100 wake, shush pat for 30min while awake entire time

EA 11.30
S 1245
130 wake, shush pat for 45 min while awake entire time

EA 215 - tired & yawning after 1 hr AT
S 315, woke 4, shush pat for 45 min while awake entire time

E 445, grumpy so short AT
S 5, woke again at 545, AT
Bath 630

E 7pm start bedtime routine
Asleep at 9pm
Night feed at 10pm, 1am, 5am

Should I accept that she a chronic cat napper, and go with a 2-2.5 hour EASY, or shall I keep persisting trying to drag naps out? I feel like I'm missing out some play time with her as I feel i'm always in the dark room shush-patting a wide awake baby.

Thanks in advance!

[Skyofclouds]

i should add that I can extend her naps while i'm holding her or in a baby wrap- not sure if i should continue these props as shes getting older. she doesnt use a pacifier or any other props currently

[becj86]

Hi, I've split your question off the old thread so you can get more responses.

This is a "what works for you?" question... you can keep payting til next E time or just get her up and feed annd start the next EAS cycle a bit 'early'. It really doesn't matter but I imagine you'd prefer not to be in a dark room for 45min shush/patting... you can try increasing her A time by 5-10 mins. That might increase the sleep length but it might not because these short naps may be developmental.

One questoon - do you keep the white noise going for the whole nap or does it have a handy 30/45min timer?

[Skyofclouds]

white noise plays the whole time.. thanks for the reply, i've been keeping her up for AT until she cries and fusses with tiredness, no change to nap length but it makes it easier to put her down (then she's out within seconds rather than 20 minutes of shush-patting). i think the short naps may be developmental, I'll just be patient and wait it out!

[eva026]

In out case the short naps are developmental. With DD1 they sorted themselves out around 6months. No amount of lengthening or shortening A time did anything. It was worth a try though.
The same thing is happening with DD2 now so I'm AP one nap a day in my arms so she doesn't get too OT and for the rest I just shorten her A time after a short nap. Our EASY is a bit of a mess because she's not usually hungry after a short nap but I try stick it in somewhere between the short naps, while making sure she doesn't feed to sleep.

[eva026]

Btw, maybe you'd like to join the birth clubs? It's nice to share experiences with other moms of kids the same age.

[Skyofclouds]

Just wanted to add the naps sorted itself out at 12 weeks when she learnt to self settle. Now getting 2x 1.5-2 hrs and 1 short nap. Since it is all developmental I probably shouldn’t have worried too much about  good habits between weeks 8-12 and just let her continue her naps in the front carrier after the 45min cat nap