At my wit's end - please help my little one nap!

[JLMom]

If you can replug and she'll go back to sleep, she's not UT.  We need to help her learn to get over the 30 min hump.  I'm beginning to think we need to HTTJ with her -- I'm wondering if eh's just stuck at the developmental short nap that happens at 3 months and needs a little sleep training?  What do you think? What's your instinct?

Honestly.. we've tried HTTJ and it really took it's toll on me.  It was almost like she would anticipate me being in there and wakeup before i came in.  It's not something i can do.  She would never go back to sleep and we'd have to take her out and rock her.  I think we're just going to ahve to stick through this.  It's so wierd because yesterday she wouldn't go back to sleep well which should be UT but today she did with slightly less A time which would indicate OT.  Tomorrow i'm putting her down at 1 hr 45 and we'll go from there.

[becky1969]

you've got a funny little monkey! I'm not sure what's up with her either (if that makes you feel any better -- or worse?).  She's on SUCH a low A time I think it's worth a try to push her out a bit.

[JLMom]

Okay!  We pushed her today.. she went down at the 1 hr 50 mark.  She peeped at 30 but then went silent until the 50 mins mark.  She woke and had troubles getting through.  I had to go in and plug her in a few times.. she back to sleep now.  She was cranky when she woke and was having trouble getting back to sleep.  So.. would this be OT in this case? With the other 30 mins wake ups she was wide awake and happy. Maybe i should have done 1 hr 45 mins of A time?  I think we're getting somewhere!

[becky1969]

It's so hard to say with your LO because even on a shorter A time you were able to re-plug and get her to go back to sleep! And yet here we are on a longer A time and same behavior!  I'd probably stay at 1h50 for another day just to see what happens.  They really need to stay at same A time 2-3 days to allow body to adjust.  Then reassess after you have a good 2-3 days worth of data.

[JLMom]

We decided today to pull the soother..
She cried a bit for 15 minutes, fell asleep for 30, woke for 10 back down for 20, up for 5 and then back down for 30.  Whilte it's not quality sleep, we didn't have to run in there to plug her in and she was able to put herself back to sleep.  I'm hoping this will help lengthen her naps.  I just put her in her crib and she rolled onto her side and started sucking her thumb.

[becky1969]

I think you're doing the right thing!  In 3 days I'll betcha you see BIG improvement! 

[JLMom]

Me too... we're still getting 30 minute catnaps.. i hope once she gets used to the soother being gone, things will improve.  She didn't cry at all going down tonight!!  Lets hope she doesn't get up looking for it during the night!

[JLMom]

Hi!

I just wanted to give an update!  Things are a lot better since we took the pacifer away!  She can put herself to sleep.  She's taken to sucking her thumb and often goes down in her crib by rolling on her side and putting her thumb in.  She's at a min. of 1 hr 45 - 1 hr 50 mins of A time.  She still wakes up part way through her nap, but she can put herself to sleep, although there are still days she wakes every 15 mins.  I keep her there though for a min of 1.5 hours.  She doesn't cry, so i'm fine with that.

My questions, the last 2 days, i put her down at around 1 hr 50 mins for her first nap.  Yesterday she got to 1 hr 20 mins until she woke up.  She put herself back to sleep but kept waking every 15 mins or so.  Today she woke after 1 hr and took her over 15 mins to settle.  Is this a sign that I should stretch her A time in the morning?  She was kind of cranky before i put her down.. gah.. i think i'll always struggle with this concept of right A time!!!

Thanks again!

[becky1969]

Congratulations!!!! So glad ditching the paci helped! And wonderful that she puts herself back to sleep.

Well, your LO has been throwing us fits with her A time! She was SO sleepy there for awhile, I think due to a growth spurt.  And I think now she's really pushing the envelope and stretching quickly.  YOu may find in another week or two she really stabilizes and then you can start counting on having the same routine for a month or so!  At least that's what I hope's going to happen for you guys!

I actually don't know what that waking every 15 min is.  I don't think it's UT because usually once they've got an hour or so under their belt, they're done.  Not tired enough to continue.  Going back to sleep tells me she is genuinely tired.  but 15 minutes is a strange increment to be waking.  Again, I have to wonder teeth?  If teeth are bugging her and kind of rousing her so that she's not able to get into a deep sleep. Any sign of teeth?

[JLMom]

Thanks Becky.. no teeth yet..  i'm going to try and boost her to 1 hr 55 and see how that goes..  i'm hoping she will stabilize soon.. this unpredictability is so hard!!!