Can't seem to get past the 45 minutes

[bmcp]

DS (almost 10 months) has NEVER been a long napper and I was actually thrilled when he went from 20 min. naps to 40-50min.  I just thought that was his way until I read about the sleep cycles.  Since starting on EASY just over a week ago he is now napping in his crib as opposed to our arms and usually goes down with very little fuss but I am wondering if a bit more sleep during the day might help his night sleep (he is waking 5 or more times).   I have had NO success in getting him back to sleep once he wakes.  I have tried to get him back to sleep for 40 minutes or so after waking but he just gets more and more angry.  IF he does settle and I think he is about asleep he startles and starts screaming all over again.  It is as if he is fighting it and won't let himself fall asleep. 

Here is our approximate schedule:

6:30 -7  Wakes and lets out a cry, if we don't go in it escalates very quickly
7 BF
7:30 - 8 breakfast
A
b/w 9:00-9:30 Quiet time of 10 minutes and nap (40-50 min)  * Usually showing definate sleep cues around 9
A
12:00 BF followed by lunch   (sometimes lunch and then BF)
A
2-2:30  Quiet time and then nap (another 40 minutes)
A
4:00  BF
5:30-6  dinner
6:30 - 7   Bedtime routine (bath, book,  nurse)
7:20-7:30  Quiet time in bedroom for books and cuddles
7:30  In crib       

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.  Thanks.

[LaurenJadeMom]

I'll let the mods chime in since they are so knowledgeable, but from looking at your schedule it seems like your LO should be having longer A times for a 10-month old.    I know my LO sometimes shows tired signs at least 30 minutes or so before she is really ready to be put down for a nap.  At almost 6 months she is now having 2-2.25 hours of A time, and has gone from 45 minute naps to naps of 75-100 minutes most days.  I think that really darkening the room (tinfoil on the windows) also really helped her get past that first 45 minute cycle.  While we sometimes still hear her wake up between sleep cycles, it is so dark in there that she doesn't get distracted by being able to see everything and most times can get herself back to sleep.   

[LaurenJadeMom]

Just reread my post and wanted to clarify that it looks like the first A time might be too short.   

[Layla]

Hi there, I am deffinately not a mod but from memory dd1 was taking 2 naps at 9am and around 12.30pm. If she went down for the pm nap any later than 12.30, she would not be able to fall asleep . That was just all her body could handle and we pretty much stuck to naps at 9am and 12.30pm until it was time to transition to 1 nap. Her A times in the am was always shorter than the other times of the day (her wake up was around 6). Night wakings usually occured with us from overtiredness (when a nap was missed or was too short) so maybe your lo is overtired and thats why he is not able to relax enough to take a longer nap. Also I found that putting my lo to bed earlier helped with night waking and hence the extention of a nap. That was just the case with my lo though.

HTH
Layla

[bmcp]

Thanks for the responses!  LO is showing signs of sleepy usually by 8:30 (more often than not he is getting up closer to 6:30 than to 7:00) and goes down shortly after 9 with little problem.  I thought I would try pushing it back to 9:30 but had no luck with getting him to nap any longer. 

Trying to get him back to sleep after waking has been completely unsuccessful so I think I am going to try to go into his room and keep my hand on him after the 30 minute mark to see if that will help him transition through to the next cycle.  It is worth a try!