45 min wake ups and car seats

[KitchenerMom]

I don't get why my 3 month Textbook DD sleeps so well in her car seat... and I don't mean while we are driving.   There are occasions where I put DD in her car seat to fall asleep because we are visiting and there is no appropriate place to put her other than there. There are also times when she does fall asleep in her car as we are coming home for nap time, and instead of distrubing her sleep, I leave her in it to finish her nap.  These occasions, DD always has solid 1.5-2 hr naps.

At home, when I put her in her crib to nap, she has little difficulty falling asleep, but almost always wakes up at the 45 min mark.  If I catch her early, I can put in her sucki, give her her teddy again, and ssshh her for a minute so she falls back asleep.  I'm thinking at this point I should do WTS to help her get through that point, but again, she doesn't need it when in her car seat.

My one thought is that it could be "medical".  DD has been congested almost since the day she was born, and is on her second antibiotic to help clear her up.  the congestion does at time make her cough and uncomfortable, so could it just be that sleeping upright is easier?  Thought she really doesn't have any trouble sleeping at night which I assume she would if it were this problem.

Any thoughts?

[marensmama]

Hi there.  It's possible that your LO has reflux, as sleeping better upright, short naps, and nasal congestion are all signs of reflux (or possibly of other things, but my DD2 has reflux so I'm always on the lookout for that!).  It's worth a look at the colic, reflux, and crying board https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=654.0 for other symptoms to see if it matches up.  If sleeping upright is better for her, you could elevate the head of her crib by 30-45 degrees and see if that helps.

[KitchenerMom]

I did wonder about that, but as she was sleeping okay at night thought it must not be the case.  I will check the other board too though, and see if anything else seems to fit.

[marensmama]

Sometimes reflux babes sleep better at night out of sheer exhaustion, so I wouldn't rule it out on the basis of that.

[clairemk88]

KitchenerMom... I'd be really interested to find out if you find an answer to your question as I've been "fighting" the 45m nap monster for a few weeks now and then just yesterday we meet friends for a good old english sunday pub lunch and my lo was in her car seat. I had to do a few rounds of the pub car park to get her off to sleep but once off she stayed asleep for well over an hour and I had to wake her in the end so she didn't go too far past her next feed!! The pub is extremely popular and so was pretty busy, even with all the noise she slept soundly yet at home sometimes the slightest of noises seems to disturb her. So strange!??!!

[em_here]

Sometimes reflux babes sleep better at night out of sheer exhaustion, so I wouldn't rule it out on the basis of that.

Agree with this, my Abbi slept well at night through sheer exhaustion.  So agree sleeping more well upright could be a symptom of reflux. xx

[KitchenerMom]

clairemk88... get this, my LO has slept through an entire professional hockey game as well as a wedding reception.  Put her in her crib for a nap and she ends up waking up at 45 mins, rubs her eyes/face, sucki falls out and she wakes up.  Sometimes it can take another 20mins for her to go back under.

another few clues is making me look closer at reflux.  There are times where she gets very cranky and upright is generally better than in her car seat or lying down.  I thought it just colic, but perhpas there is more to this.  I will speak with my doc and see what she thinks.  The congestion has almost cleared up, but she is still quite "snorty".

[marensmama]

I'd definitely see your doctor with a list of symptoms in hand.  It might not be, but it did raise a few red flags for me.  Let us know how it goes.