Short naps AGAIN !!!

[Little Mo]

Hi Everybody.

I'm back here with my DS's short naps. Short story: he  is 7 months old, never a good napper. We started struggling with short naps when he was about 1 month. He did have a few moments when I thought it was all solved but then, BANG, it hit us again. Right now he reverted to taking 30 minute naps (and I thought a 45 min one was soooo short. I guess I was wrong  ). What I do think is it always happens for different reasons (paci addiction, overtiredness etc)

We got rid of the paci 1.5 months ago and everything was perfect: he took 2 1.5 hours naps and one catnap in the stroller. Well, it all changed 2 weeks ago. I think it started because I missed his tired signs and he was overtired. At this point I think he is chronically overtired so no matter how much I watch him getting asleep and staying asleep is very difficult. The interesting thing is that he is not very cranky or fussy, although he does not get enough sleep and he surely needs more.

I can not give you a routine since I simply can not chart his A times correctly, so one day is not the same as the one before. He can stay awake between 1.5 and 3 hours. I can also tell you he gets up at 7 a.m and bedtime is 7.30-8. Has a light feed (veeery diluted formula) anytime between 4 and 5.30 am, but until that he sleeps like a log (that is between 9 and 10 hours of solid sleep before that feed). In the rare occasions when he wakes up during the night he gets himself back  to sleep in about 3 minutes. I guess I am lucky he is such a great night sleeper.

He has no props. Has a blankie as lovey which he hugs and sucks on and he knows what else until he is relaxed enough to fall asleep. I sit by the crib until he is drowsy but I never make eye contact - I basically sit there but look somewhere else. The last few days I lengthened the wind down and it was only then that he started yawning.

I know it's a long post and it may be that I was not very coherent, but, please, does anyone have any idea about what I have to do?

Thanks,
Monica

[*Natasha*]

Sounds like he may be ready to drop the cat nap and extend his awake time. These are the same signs we had when my DD dropped her cat nap. Sounds like he may not be tired enough for a long nap so only takes a short nap then the rest of the day he is trying to play catch up due to being overtired. If it helps this was my DD's routine at this age:
7am – Wake
7.30am – Bottle 200mls
8.30am – Yoghurt/Cereal
9.30am – Sleep 1.5-2hours
12pm – Fruit/Custard
1pm – Bottle 150-200mls
2pm – Sleep 1.5hrs
5/5.15pm – Vegetables/Meat/Pasta then Jelly
6pm – Bath
6.30pm – Bottle 200mls
7pm – Bed

[Little Mo]

Good Morning Natasha,

I will aim for that routine and hope things will sort out on their own. The strange thing is that yesterday and the day before his am naps were 1 hour and 15 mins but this did not help with the next one. But, on the other hand, I think 2 days is not enough to do the trick.

is it possible that he can go more than 2.5 hours before his 1st nap, like 3 hours, maybe 3.25? or is that too much? As I said on my first post, he does not show ANY signs of being tired, no yawns, no rubbing eyes, no looking glazed or decreased activity, nothing. Could it be that he is too wired up? I am asking this because when we wind down, that's when he starts yawning.

Thanks anyway,

Monica



   

[*Natasha*]

My DD was the same she hardly showed tired signs either. Yes my DD was able to handle 3hrs awake time in the afternoon.

[Little Mo]

Hi, Natasha.

I have a short question: how did you decide when to put your DD to bed for her nap if she did not show any sleepy sign? With DS I am always either too soon or too late. For example, right now he is in his crib rolling, laughing etc and it's already been 3 hours since his last nap (which was a 30 mins one again).

Should I do something special for wind down? I really do not know what to do. Getting him down is really difficult and it never was before (his problem was usually staying asleep, not getting asleep).

Thanks,

Monica

[*Natasha*]

Once we worked a routine that suited her we would put her down for her nap the same time everyday. She always woke around the same time in the morning which made it easier to work out nap times. You said he only had 30min nap in the AM perhaps he is overtired?

[Little Mo]

Well, that's my problem: I never know if he's over or under tired. What confuses me more is that once he is in the crib he starts rolling and he does not stop that even if he becomes clearly tired. I do not know wether he starts that because I put him down too early and he just wants to play more or is it something else. Could it be that he just wants to practice at it, I mean like a developmental thing? I do give him plenty of time to roll and move and sit up during his A time.

I soooo wish I could find the routine that works for him and just put him to bed when he is supposed to be tired and stop this guessing game.

[Little Mo]

Oh, one more thing: I decided to stop sitting by his crib until he falls asleep. I will put him there, leave the room and return only if he cries a ''real'' cry. I did that just now for his 1st nap and he fell asleep with no problems (well, he did move to an 180 degrees angle and has his head burried in his blanket and the feet and legs are out of it, but I also move a lot in the bed so I know where he gets that from...)

[*Natasha*]

The best indication i found that i found a good awake time is if DD fell asleep within 5mins. I think you need to play around with your awake time until you find a happy medium.

[Little Mo]

Hi, Natasha.

Just an update on how we are: yesterday and today were much better. He napped for about 1.25 hours at a time. I think he needs more than that, but  it's far better than the 30 minutes we had before anyway.

Unfortunately yesterday I was not able to get him down for his catnap. he usually has it outside in the stroller, which was impossible to do because the weather is soooooo bad here. Therefore I put him down for the night earlier than usual so this morning he got up early as well...

Yesterday looked like this:

7 wake
7.30 eat
9.30 wind down
9.45 asleep
11 wake
11.30 eat
12.45 wind down (he was rubbing his eyes and was fussy)
13.00 asleep
14.15 wake
15.30 eat
Unable to get him to cat nap
17.45 start bedtime routine (bath, massage)
18.15 final bottle
18.30 asleep

We'll see how today goes, although I have  a feeling today's cat nap will be impossible as well.

Monica