45 minute nap phenomenon?

[shimzy]

Ok Im really puzzled. My dd was an excellent napper! We are on the 3 hour EASY. I could put her down wide awake (swaddled with a soothie) and she would fall asleep for her nap (2 hours).

Why all of a sudden is she waking at the 45 min - 1hr mark? Its then a complete struggle to get her back to sleep for the rest of the time. I keep having to give back her soothie. Otherwise she will crank and cry until I do. She is obviously still tired because as soon as I give it back her eyes close and she cranes her head to the side and "sleeps" for another few minutes until I have to head back in to give her the paci back. She's also stopped waking only once at night. Last night she woke up at 2:30 (was hunger cry, so I offered and she refused!!) then she woke between 3-6am about every half hour to hour looking for her paci...

E 6AM
A
S 7-9AM

E 9AM
A
S 10-12PM

E 12PM
A
S 1-3PM

E 3PM
A
S 4-5:30ish (sometimes a bit longer, sometimes a bit shorter)

E 6PM
A bath, massage, jammies
S 7PM

#1 - she is 10 wks old this wk.
#2 - she weighs 11lbs 5oz
#3 - she never eats her alloted formula for the day. should be having 27oz, at most she will eat about 22oz.
#4 - we were on the fast flow nipple, she started refusing to eat so switched to the medium flow which seemed to help for a short time
#5 - suspected dysphagia - pending pediatriac appointment
#6 - nothing new has been introduced, she's not on a growth spurt and no new milestones that I know of.

Whats the problem?? 

Edited to Add: I just had to go in at 1:30 to "pop paci back in" ... she had spit out her soother and houdini'd her left hand out of the swaddle (I leave her right hand out) and was feriously sucking on her fingers. I know she's not hungry because she ate at 11:30 today (because she refused her 9am feed). Does that mean she is now preferring her fingers and Im leaving the wrong hand out of the swaddle?

[LaurenJadeMom]

Hi there!  I'm sure the mods will pop in with their words of wisdom, but this is a developmental issue that strikes many babies around this time.  In fact, there's a whole thread in this forum devoted to the 45-minute nap issue!  Tracy's books address this problem and some suggested remedies.

My DD had 45 minute naps for all naps starting at 9 weeks and they lasted until she was 4.5 months.  We occasionally had luck extending them when she was still swaddled by holding her down through the jolts.  She is now just turning 6 months and still may have 1 45-minute nap per day, although thankfully many are now 60-90 minutes.  Many babies grow out of the short naps, although they tend to rear their head again with teething, growth spurts, rolling, etc! 

I used to get extremely frustrated (sometimes to the point of tears!) with the short naps because I felt like I would never be able to extend them and my DD would be tired all the time and robbed of her precious sleep.  Making the room pitch black really seemed to help us so there would be no distraction when seh woke up in between 45-minute sleep cycles. 

Hang in there and know you are not alone and will get through this!!!  You've definitely come to the right place for support and advice.     

[shimzy]

Thanks for the info! I'll try to extend her wake times by 10-15mins tomorrow and see what happens with naps.

Are you saying if I extend her wake times the naps she should transition through? So 1.75 hour naps? And if her naps dont correct themselves by extending the wake time, it would be the soother problem?

Her night wakings last night were just off the wall.. Ive had her on 3 hour EASY since about 5-6wks.. I suppose transitioning through a longer EASY program will eventually lead her to a 4 hour easy about 4 months old?

[shimzy]

Just one more quick question... Do you suggest that I get rid of the soother at the same time? I mean if it is a combination of both.. I wont be able to correct her nap times if the soother is the problem..I ask this because if extending awake times can sometimes take a month or more... by that time she should be weaning off of the soother anyway. (?) Or would I be doing more damage if I take the soother away at the same time as extending her awake times?

[shimzy]

Ok I'll give it a go. One more question. (sorry  )

When I increase the awake time to look like this
eat 6am
activity until 7:15
sleep 7:15 to 9am? or to 9:15?

[shimzy]

Thank you so much! I'll give that a go tomorrow.. (well through out the week    )

We had a really off day today because she started this nap thing yesterday (so started the day and night way overtired). She was even so tired she refused her 9am bottle.. We are so off with eating today that she is lacking (on the average from other days) about 4ounces.. And Im basing that on the hope that she will eat 4oz at her dream feed  If she doesnt take her dream feed we are out by about 8 or 9 ounces for the day...

*sigh* nothing spells stress like a baby! 

[shimzy]

Hi Stacy! Just wanted to update. I did a couple of things today. I a) increased her wake time to 1.25
SHe does really well but is definitely ready for a nap at that 1.25 mark.. AND b) i put her back into a full swaddle. This did two things 1) she isnt smacking herself anymore  and 2) when her paci falls out she doesnt wake up!

I watched her through one sleep cycle. She had her soother for about a half hour. It fell out and she continued to sleep for her 1.5 hour nap!

It was suggested on another board that since my dd is not readily hungry at the 3 hour mark I should hold off until the 3.5 hour mark. So putting her on a 3.5 hour easy...

I was thinking to maybe establish whats going on with her now (increased wake time to 1.25) and then put her onto a 3.5 hour eating schedule. I cant find a link for that. Can you direct me? 

[shimzy]

I see what your saying.. about having the feeds where she takes them.. have the awake time etc. This is what today looked like:


E 6am 4.5oz(ate straight away)
A
S 7:15-8:30(woke twice for soother in this time)

E 10am-3.5oz(would not eat at 9am-not hungry)
A Changed Diaper
S 10:15am(put back into full swaddle)

E 12pm 3oz(ate straight away)
A
S 1:15-2:45pm

E 3pm 2oz
A
S

[shimzy]

I noticed on this thread about transitioning that the 3 Hour Easy has awake times of 1.5 hours.
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=63161.0

Is this incorrect or is this the type of "schedule" I should be following. I realize its very flexible.. But just wondering if thats more of what I should be aiming for?