What do I try next? Please help.

[DJs mummy]

I'm really at a loss as to what to do.  Hannah just will not sleep properly during the day.  A couple of months ago she was taking 2 hour long naps and now she won't do more than 45 mins at most.  I don't know whether to shorten her A time or lengthen it.  After only a 30min nap how can I make her stay up longer than 2 hours? 

I can't work out what's waking her.  Yesterday I stayed in her room and watched her at the 30 min mark.  She still had her dummy in, but her eyes just sprang open and that was it - she was awake.  No amount of stroking her head was gonna make her close them again.  It took her 1.5 hours to finally fall back to sleep again and then she slept for an hour. 

When she wakes after 30 mins she doesn't cry, she just chatters to herself and whinges.  Is it that she needs more A time to properly tire her out or is it that she's overtired?

I just want to cry and run out of the house today. I'm so tired of fighting naps and getting nowhere.

[Mamalou]

hi ((hugs))I know where you're coming from! Had similar issues when my LO was that age.

I'm no expert, but could you post your routine?

Kristi

[DJs mummy]

here's what it was
7am - wake and feed
9 - sleep (45 mins)
11- feed
12 - sleep (usually needed resettling at 45 mins and would then sleep another 1.5 hours)
3 - feed
4 - sleep (45mins)
6.30 - feed
7 - slep
(dreamfeed at 10.30 and then sleep through til 7am)

Gradually however the first nap has slipped to being just 30 mins which seems to just throw the whole day off then.  Today I put her back down after only 1.5 hours to see if that helped at all, but she still woke up at 40 min mark.  Put her back down at 11.30 (2hours 10 mins A time) and she woke up after 30 mins.  Doesn't cry, just fusses.  After listening to this for an hour I went in and 'shoved' her dummy in and stormed back out.  Repeated this again a few times and now I think she is asleep again.  I hate feeling so cross with her.  It's not her fault.

Not yet started solids, but she doesn't seem particularly hungry.

Sleeps well through the night (sometimes wakes about 4am but easily goes back to sleep once dummy popped back in)

Any ideas?

[Jaime]

Hazel, could overstimulation be a possibility?  i was having a peek at the FAQs and wonder if the first 'problem' listed in this post might be helpful in your situation?

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=85499.0

will have a think.... the only other thing that popped into my head reading your posts was that if she is not actually crying, i would leave her be in her crib for as long as she should be napping.  don't go in & talk to her, & definitely don't give her a paci if she's not actively asking for it.  even if she is just lying there & chatting to herself, she is at least resting, which she will not be doing if you take her out of your crib (and perhaps then that would play into overstimulation)

(((HUGS)))  & HTH a little

[_newmom_]

Hi Hazel - my DD is 2 weeks younger than Hannah, and her routine is almost exactly the same as Hannah's.  The only thing I can think of is that she's ready for longer A time.  My DD just went from 2h to 2h15m this week.  I have read somewhere that 30mins means overtired, but seems unlikely given your routine and how well she sleeps...? 

If she was doing 2hrs a couple of months ago, that means she can go longer than 45 mins, so it's probably just a matter of tweaking her routine.  Don't worry, take a deep breath, the solution is just around the corner.  I've felt like you on several occasions, and I've learned to just give myself a break, stay optimistic and keep on adjusting until the routine is working again.

[thitz]

Hazel, since Hannah is getting close to 6 months I'm thinking time to drop the catnap.  I would aim for 9:30 nap 1 and 12:30 nap 2 and then keep her up till bedtime.  Another thought is teething.  Any signs of teeth coming up?

Tarri

[julieb]

Hazel, I was also thinking it was about time to drop the catnap.  Like others mentioned on our birth thread, I'd think about a super early morning nap.  Asher is a touchy sleeper and I remember doing that with him to get him more on track.  Once he was crawling, it tired him out big time so paying attention to his cues became very important until his body adjusted to the activity.  Shortening or lengthing the A time could be the key, but I don't think you'd notice a difference until you gave either a try for a good 4 days or more.  My first gut says start with lengthening the A time.

Lastly, like others have said, if she's not crying for you during the nap, just leave her to it.  She needs the rest, whether she's sleeping or not, and so do you!   

[DJs mummy]

Thanks everyone.  I'm feeling a little better.  She napped for about 1.5 hours after eventually resettling after her 30 mins at lunchtime.  Just put her down again for catnap.  I'm scared to start to drop the catnap as I can't see she would get from 2pm til 7pm without one.  Especially on the days she only naps for 30 mins at her other 2 naps 

I think tomorrow I'm going to really shorten her first A time and then lengthen the other 2 and see what that achieves.

Thanks again x

[hhuckabee]

Hang in there.  We are having the same problem.  My lo is doing the 30 minute nap stuff.  I actually lengthened her morning activity by 20 minutes and I got 1hr and 15 minutes our of her.  During that activity time I made sure we got out of the house which I think helped.  Best of luck to you.  Look on the brightside at least she is sleeping through the night!!

[Mamalou]

hiya
sorry I didn't get back to you yesterday, but it looks live you've got a lot of great advice!  I'd say the same, try to play with A times a bit- see if that helps.  Some have found (and it was generally true for Kubko) that waking after 30 means overtired, and that waking after 45 means not enough A time (but sometimes that means ot as well-depends on the LO)

good luck
Kristi