DS overcame his 45 minute naps!

[summerrose]

DS2 is almost 5 months (textbook/touchy) and has finally started taking longer naps on his own, horray!  He's been a catnapper practically since birth and it didn't take me long to figure out that longer naps were going to be developmental for him (DS1 was the same).

I may be a little different in that I didn't do much to try and change it.  I just tried not to stress about it and figured he'll get there when he gets there.  I would offer his paci or AP him to try and get him back to sleep, sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn't (and when it didn't, oh well!).  Around 3.5 months we started extending them easily with the paci, I realized it may become a prop and in fact it did seem like it may be, but again, oh well!  It got him back to sleep!  Now a week shy of 5 months, as long as he's not OT, he's taking 1.5 hours naps all on his own!

I'm going to be honest and say I'm SO happy that I didn't spend hours upon hours of ssh/pat, HTTJ, etc.  With a two year old to take care of as well, I think it would have only stressed me out.

So for those of you with catnappers, my advice would be to try not stress about it, just enjoy them while they're little.  For most of you I'm sure longer naps WILL happen eventually!  

Edited: I changed the title of my post because *I* didn't really do anything, DS did it all on his own!

[mamatolevi]

[LisaK1]

Good post, sometimes only time will help situations!

[mum2girls]

thanks for your post
I too have not stressed about the 45min naps as she is a happy baby and im just hoping she will grow out of it.  I have given up trying to extend them and im too just waiting for her to grow out of it.
Its nice to know you are having some luck now

[ninny70]

great news!! I'm in the same boat have a 30/40 min catnapper who is 11 weeks old & we are trying not to stress & I'm sitting here with her in a sling at the moment.  Her little sister was the same & I tried everything to "fix" it but in the end she did it by herself at 7 months!! Be nice if DD2 could get it together a bit earlier though! I think when it is developmental you got to just go with a bit.

[bluegreenorange]

When you didn't worry about trying to extend them did you just keep him awake for a while until feeding and then start your ideal EASY routine again... or did you feed when he woke up and start the EASY pattern then?  Or would you just get him to sleep however it worked?  For example a sling is mentioned, and I have been known to sit in the rocker in his room with him sleeping in my arms for the last half of the nap.  So just curious what worked for you specifically to round out the 3 hour routine.

I'm thinking this is going to be a developmental phase for my son too.  But I would love him to get the sleep he needs, and even better yet would be if that sleep came in his crib. 

[mokey_cat]

Excellent!!! 

[katiush]

How was your day structured around the short naps? My issue is that if the nap is short, DS falls asleep at the breast and doesn't take a good feed. Did you bring the feed up? Also, what was the Activity like after the feed after the short nap? ie - shortSleep-Activity(I assume?)-Eat-Activity(this is the one I'm curious about.
I've been totally stressing the 45 minute nap thing, and everyone keeps telling me to relax, but I can't. I feel like I don't know what's going to happen next if the EAS pattern doesn't happen. I guess I'm like the baby that likes routine
I am so black/white that I lose all perspective of how to deal with the situation lol

[aidenmc]

Curious too...

[alicia+3]

GLad he sorted himself out!
If your bubba is happy with short naps then I am all for leaving them to it! My DS was a NIGHTMARE if he had less than an hour and a half which is why I had to fix it. Short naps were also ruining our EASY
On the other hand Im not sure I would risk not fixing it, I have friends with one year olds that didn't sort their naps out and they are struggling with cranky 1 year olds now! IMO easier to fix when they younger.

[aidenmc]

DS also is much happier with 1.5 hr naps - even if I end up holding him for the last half with him waking every 10 minutes or so. Such a lot of time and work, but I've seen it get worse when I don't put the work in. I guess they are all different.

[summerrose]

When you didn't worry about trying to extend them did you just keep him awake for a while until feeding and then start your ideal EASY routine again... or did you feed when he woke up and start the EASY pattern then?  Or would you just get him to sleep however it worked?  For example a sling is mentioned, and I have been known to sit in the rocker in his room with him sleeping in my arms for the last half of the nap.  So just curious what worked for you specifically to round out the 3 hour routine.

I'm thinking this is going to be a developmental phase for my son too.  But I would love him to get the sleep he needs, and even better yet would be if that sleep came in his crib. 

I pretty much always tried to extend but only with the paci or sitting with him for a few minutes (until DS1 came looking for me) in the rocker.  If he didn't go back down then I would just get him up and watch for tired signs and then put him back down again.  I also just tried to the keep the feeds 3 hours apart by watching for his hunger cues and not necessarily feeding as soon as he woke, wherever they fell within EASY, we were pretty much all over the place.  DS didn't start going 3 hours between every feed until he was 3 months old.  I think because he was fairly small at birth 6lbs 11oz (10th percentile) and was playing catch up (70th percentile at 4 months).  DS1 was also a catnapper and I would put him down for the first 45 min and then hold him when he woke for the last half of the nap.  He too started taking longer naps on his own closer to 7 months (about 5.5 months adjusted age).  If you could use a sling or something similar to finish off the nap, you could at least not be tied to the rocker.  With DS2 I would sometimes put him in the carrier if he was having trouble falling asleep from being OT.

How was your day structured around the short naps? My issue is that if the nap is short, DS falls asleep at the breast and doesn't take a good feed. Did you bring the feed up? Also, what was the Activity like after the feed after the short nap? ie - shortSleep-Activity(I assume?)-Eat-Activity(this is the one I'm curious about.
I've been totally stressing the 45 minute nap thing, and everyone keeps telling me to relax, but I can't. I feel like I don't know what's going to happen next if the EAS pattern doesn't happen. I guess I'm like the baby that likes routine
I am so black/white that I lose all perspective of how to deal with the situation lol

I would bring the feed up yes, but at the same time, my DS has never been a very sleepy baby.  He's also always NEEDED a burp after each feed so that helped with him not falling asleep at the breast.  So yes, it was more like SAEAS.  Also, I think if they fall asleep at the breast every once in awhile then it's not a big deal.  If it's happening all the time and becoms a prop then you would have to make a change.

GLad he sorted himself out!
If your bubba is happy with short naps then I am all for leaving them to it! My DS was a NIGHTMARE if he had less than an hour and a half which is why I had to fix it. Short naps were also ruining our EASY
On the other hand Im not sure I would risk not fixing it, I have friends with one year olds that didn't sort their naps out and they are struggling with cranky 1 year olds now! IMO easier to fix when they younger.

I agree that if you're able to fix it then you probably should, but I think that if it's truly developmental then there really is no "fixing" it.  Both of my boys have been big spitters and I've read on here that it can play a part in causing the catnaps.

DS also is much happier with 1.5 hr naps - even if I end up holding him for the last half with him waking every 10 minutes or so. Such a lot of time and work, but I've seen it get worse when I don't put the work in. I guess they are all different.

Yes!  Catnappers are a lot of work!  DS did okay off a 45 minute nap but by the end of the day was very difficult to get down and getting quite cranky.  That's when I would resort to a lot more AP and holding him until he was out cold or putting him in the carrier.

We still have really short A times over here.  They seem to get progressively longer throughout the day, but DS is still on 3.5 hour EASY at 5 months.  I realize it'll probably be another month or so until we really get things sorted but I look back and time has flown by, I can deal with it for awhile longer 

[mum2girls]

thanks so much for your wise words of wisdom

I generally try not to stress too much, i also, if a must, bring the feed forward but not really anymore than about 20mins.  I find if my DD has just woke from a nap and we still have over an hour before next feed i put her in the pram and go for a walk, 80% of the time she will have another nap but sometimes not. 
I also find DD goes down easily for her naps and will generally fall asleep within 10 mins, she also wont fall alseep feeding as she needs to be burped, im very thankful for this
But yes they are alot of hard work and i guess im lucky as i only have the one LO to deal with, could be a different story by the time the next one comes along.  I nearly always have to AP her for her catnap before the bedtime routine otherwise its just mad meltdown at bed time. 
i just cross my fingers she will one day grow out of them, at this stage i get a full 2hr nap about every 3 or 4 days in the am but never in the pm.

[summerrose]

thanks so much for your wise words of wisdom

I generally try not to stress too much, i also, if a must, bring the feed forward but not really anymore than about 20mins.  I find if my DD has just woke from a nap and we still have over an hour before next feed i put her in the pram and go for a walk, 80% of the time she will have another nap but sometimes not. 
I also find DD goes down easily for her naps and will generally fall asleep within 10 mins, she also wont fall alseep feeding as she needs to be burped, im very thankful for this But yes they are alot of hard work and i guess im lucky as i only have the one LO to deal with, could be a different story by the time the next one comes along.  I nearly always have to AP her for her catnap before the bedtime routine otherwise its just mad meltdown at bed time. 
i just cross my fingers she will one day grow out of them, at this stage i get a full 2hr nap about every 3 or 4 days in the am but never in the pm.

This is my DS *exactly*!  I still have to AP for the catnap, and generally because of the short A times he needs 2 catnaps.  He WILL NOT do a third 1.5 hour nap like there's supposed to be with 3.5 hour EASY.

[bluegreenorange]

Both of my boys have been big spitters and I've read on here that it can play a part in causing the catnaps.

Interesting.  My DS is a big spitter too.  Maybe that has something to do with it. 
Thanks for all the advice.  Sometimes it's pretty easy to extend my DS's naps, so I'm sure he will get sorted out soon.