why are my 11 week old's naps exactly 30 minutes all day??

[hattie]

 :)good for you and well done callum!! I am having no luck whatsoever!!! trying my best to stick to 3 hr easy, (reread sleepy advice in bwsayp) getting up at 7 and going to bed at 7, shhpatting when he wakes up early from naps but with no success, and now his short naps have grown into short naps and nightwakings!! 

He now won't go to sleep easily for any naps or night sleep like before.  I used to just plonk him in bed, pat for 10 seconds and walk out. I think there must be a growth spurt involved (I have upped his oz intake today).

 Last night was our worst night ever, he woke before his df, so I fed at 10.15 , then he was awake at 1.30 (drank 6oz) then at 4.30 but I gave paci until 5.30 (drank 6oz) then 7.30am drank 3oz.......from 7.30pm to 10.15 when I gave DF he had woken every 20 mins for the first hour and a half then after an hour he was awake again.  All of his naps were under 45 minutes yesterday.

Basically our sleeping is up the spout.  His and mine!!!

I don't know if all of this is due to our going away for 3 weeks over new year but somehow I am convinced it is, now I never want to leave the house again!!

[emz1907]

I'll send my mam around, he was being a nightmare until she looked after him on Thursday to give me a break. Rang to see how he was and he was in the middle of a 2hr nap! I have concluded my mother has magic baby powers as he is always perfectly behaved for her, so I'll parcel her up and sne dher on if you like? She only asks for a cup of tea

[sherry lynn]

Thank you so much for posting this. I have been crying for two days. Every time my little one starts crying during nap time I start crying with him because I know this could go on for 2 hours while I try to put him down. He is also 11 weeks old.

[sherry lynn]

When I posted that last my lo was asleep, he only slept twenty minutes and then was up again. He has only slept 4 hours in the last 17 hours. The weird thing is is that yesterday he took good naps, before 2:30 for the first time ever, then last night at 2:30 I couldn't get him back to sleep, and today has been a nightmare. Wish me luck on him being asleep. Thanks again for this post, at least I can see that week 11 is a devil of a week.

[deckchariot]

Emma - soooo glad you've had at least one good day!  Sometimes that's all you need to keep at it.  And your mom sounds wonderful!!

Hattie - yep, going away for 3 weeks can definitely mess things up, but the good news is that as your lo gets older, it will mess him up less and less and he'll recover more quickly, so you will be able to go out and not miss a beat!!  And a growth spurt will screw up everything!  If he's really hungry, maybe do a 2.5 hr EASY for a day or two - or add in an extra cluster feed before bed. 

Sherrylnn - the whole 3 - 4 mos period I found to be really challenging.  If you want us to have a look at your routine, we'd be happy too.  And if you just want some support, these ladies are great!  Hang in there, I promise that it really does get better!!!

[emz1907]

Well I spoke too soon The little monkey has had a right off day today, so much so we considered calling a dr! He has hardly taken any feed, only 1.5oz at one feed when he usually takes 4-5oz. He sort of made up his intake with an extra bottle but he has definetly not been interested in his milk and has been pushing the teat out of his mouth. He took a 1hr nap first thing then 2 more 40 min naps from 5.45am until 4.40pm. He has crashed out now (hopefully) after I gave him a very quick bath although I can hear mumurs on the monitor so hope he's not waking   We've had several all out screaming fits, he gets in such a tizzy and is bright red and clammy. Ive taken his temp incase he was feverish but it is normal. He's due to have his 2nd lot of injections tomorrow and if he's anything like last time I might as well write tomorrow off too Ive been in tears again, I need a shower and Ive had 2 bits of bread all day - who decided it was a good idea to have babies again?

[hattie]

I am sure this is just a blip.  honestly, callum will be back on form if you keep plugging away at the routine....as to not eating, I can be really guilty of that too but I have got a new tactic.  Now I put dante in a chair watching me as I prepare myself something (even if he is screaming blue murder) and I talk him through what I am doing and then I come and eat with him so he can sort of not be left out...mind you, I am a few weeks ahead of you and he is really attentive now to what I am doing. Here a few days of not leaving the house and following the routine have finally started to work for me!!! yay!! and I didn't even have to fly your mum out to italy, though I hope the offer still stands for when number 2 arrives in september??

[emz1907]

of course, just get that kettle on and she'll be there in a jiffy

[MommyToAbby]

OK - Barb here again.  I started this thread originally and it looks like there are others in my same boat with 11 week old short nappers.  I am hoping to still get some help with things on my end.  It has taken me several days to get back on here because of DD's short naps.  30 minutes is barely a break to really get anything done.  By the time I walk away and get started on something, she is up again.  Anyway, I have been trying to use W2S - specifically putting my hands on her chest and legs to help tranisition her from one sleep cycle to the next.  It has worked a few times but the other times it has not.  The first time I tried it she took an over two hour nap.  We actually woke her because it was late afternoon and we didn't want it to hurt her night sleep.  Plus she needed to eat.  It doesn't work every time but it has helped some. 

I go back to work tomorrow and we have had a rough weekend unfortunately.  We are having other issues besides short naps.  We have been having major breast feeding problems for weeks and now she is waking up earlier than her usual 6 or 7 a.m.  Saturday and Sunday it was 4 a.m. and today it was 5 a.m.  I had planned up getting her up at 6:30 a.m. on the days I go to work but I guess she has thrown a wrench into that plan!

Barb - If your dd is going to bed at 9:30/10:30 and waking between 5:30/7:30, I'd say you probably want to move that bedtime way earlier.  Generally, you want to aim for a 12 hour day.  That may help with the napping and the feeding routine - especially as you want to transition to a routine that will work better when you go back to work.  You may want to start by waking her at the time you want her to be up when you go back to work, and aiming for a 3 hr EASY from that starting point.  Do you feed her early because she's hungry or because she won't nap and you don't know what else to do?  Are you bfing?  Here's the sticky on w2s:
w2s

I'd love to but how on Earth can I get her to go to bed earlier?  She does the 30 minute cat naps ALL DAY LONG from the morning until she goes down for the night.  Yes we are breast feeding and I nurse her to sleep.  I don't put her down until I know she is really sleeping.  It may be accidental parenting but it is what I do.  If I tried putting her to sleep for the night at even say 8:00, I guarantee she'd be up at 8:30.  I guess I could just keep nursing her back to sleep until she stays asleep for good.  I have a friend who did that and she said eventually her DS stopped waking up several times before he would go for the long stretch of night sleep. 

Friday I decided to start waking her at 6:30 since that would be the time I need to get her up for day care.  It worked that day but like I said, the rest of the weekend she decided to wake up even earlier.     I have gotten no sleep. During the day, I feed her sooner than every three hours because first of all, if she wakes up from a nap after only 30 minutes there is usually no way of getting her back to sleep.  She would just end up getting upset and then might not nurse well.  Secondly, we have been having nursing problems for weeks.  She nurses for 5-10 minutes and then pulls off the breast crying.  When she does that she is not getting enough to eat.  So even if has been 2 hours since she last ate, if she wakes up from a short nap and won't go back to sleep I nurse her because I want her to eat as much as possible.

[emz1907]

Im by no means an expert as Im having the same troubles, but what if any A time do you do with her? I know I worry about A time as he is already over tired so I stress that any activity will just tire him out more. BUt Ive found if he just won't settle sometimes a quiet lie on the bed with me talking or showing him a book very low key stuff can just tip him over to feeling so sleepy he goes back down again. Ive never tried W2S but I do try and soothe him back off when he wakes after 30mins which works sometimes and not others. I think I can tell by his eyes if he is tired enough to go back off or not. Like this morning he woke after 30mins so I tried soothing im in the cot but he was just crying. I ended up picking him up still swaddled and sitting in the chair with him until he calmed down and he did eventually start to close his eyes again. I know that may be AP but at this stage anything to get him more sleep is a bonus to me. After I put him down he woke a few more times as his arms had come free and he was touching his face. I tucked them away again and had to sit one more time with him but this time he's continued his sleep for another 1.5hrs.

Ive stopped waking him from naps now as every time I have its resluted in ot behaviour. I just think he is the kind of baby who needs as much sleep as he can get, its been a tough lesson and goes against bw advice but its what works for us. He will rarely sleep beyond 2.5hrs anyway per nap (if he's not in an ot cycle anyway) so I don't worry anymore.

Is your lo screaming blue murder when she wakes or is she just winging?I know when my lo wakes it depends on how he is as to which method I use to tackle trying to get him back off. I find if he is not really in a screaming fit stroking his forhead and eyelids can calm him and make his eyes close. Once I can get those peepers to start closing its half the battle won in  trying to get him back off. I think its quite an effort for him to 'switch off' and physically closing his eyes for him helps him so much.

[deckchariot]

Erica, sorry you've had another rough day....hang in there, and maybe magic mom can spell you again soon    It probably is just a blip and for whatever reason he's not wanting to eat much.  If he's not running a fever, I"d just hang in there, but if he's not eating again the next day, you might want to call the dr - or just ask when you go in for the shots.  And yep, the not eating will mess up the sleeping for sure, as will the shots in all liklihood, just do the best you can.

Barb - If you have concerns about bfing, please do post on the bf board, I've gotten GREAT advice there in the past, so they can probably help out.  Are you doing single side feedings or double?  If she's doing 10 min on each side, she may indeed be getting enough to eat.  But I would still post over on that board.  The danger you can run in to with too frequent feeds is that it can lead to snacking, and that will definitely mess up naps. 

In terms of an earlier bedtime....you could try feeding at 6:30 (I think you said that's when you need to start Abby's day for work), 9:30, 12:30, 3, 5, 6:30 to bed with a df at 9:30/10.  The nursing her to sleep is something I would be careful about.  But that's your call, she will definitely get used to that and expect it.  I nurse my dd at bedtime, and even if she falls asleep while nursing, I still take her off, put her in her sleep sack, and go through her regular bedtime routine, rather than just slipping her into bed while still sleeping.  You may want to try that, up to you. 

Hang in there ladies!!