Nap frustrations with 6 week old...

[Ima shel Alon]

Yes, wait for the big yawns, there is definitely different kinds of them
If it takes her 40min to settle herself for a nap, you need to consider this as A time, and with the A time you give her plus the settling that might make it a very long A time for such a little one.

[cbsmommy]

The yawns I have been acting on haven't been the big ones for sure.  Is it possible, then, that I am putting her in the crib too soon?  That's what I'm starting to wonder.  For instance, I have her awake for about 50 minutes, then start w/d.  She goes into the crib after an A time of 1 hour but she's not quite ready.  So she occupies herself in the crib, looking around.  Then starts to get really sleepy but since she's been in there for 15-20 min already (I think this is where I start to see her give the big yawns), she has a harder time settling.  Then she goes quickly from being UT to OT.  Does this sound like it could be the case?
Because if I have to automatically figure in 40 min of settling, then she would have no A time outside of eating, w/d, and lying in the crib.  What I'm thinking is maybe I need to slightly increase her A time with quiet activities so as to not OS??? 

[clazzat]

I have found (having had 2 whole successful naps! ) that for my little guy I should put him to bed at 1h05 A time to get him to sleep at 1h10ish, and I normally see 2 yawns - if I'm watching! - and he starts grizzling at about 1h.  If you are putting her down at 50 mins you might well find that she is going into bed UT and then getting OT from hanging about waiting to go to sleep.

If she yawns, try taking her to a different room or giving her something else to look at - they often yawn from boredom, so if you don't get another yawn for a little while after changing the scenery then that could be the issue.

Are you staying in the room with her when you put her down?  It's possible that having you there means that she is not sure that she is supposed to go to sleep - for dd2 she was too interested if there was someone in the room with her and she would never go to sleep.  It might be worth trying leaving her by herself a couple of times to see what happens.

[clazzat]

Oh, and just doing a little bit of A time maths - if you are putting her down at 50 mins and you are getting big yawns after 15-20 mins that puts her A time at a very similar amount to my ds.

[cbsmommy]

I will say that I think I may be confusing her since sometimes I stay in the room and sometimes I don't.  I think if she's not crying, then I just need to let her learn to figure it out herself.  It's just been really hard for me to let go because I panic that if it takes her a long time to fall asleep 1) our EASY gets thrown off and 2) she'll be overtired. 
Also, what's the consensus on pacis?  I haven't been using one because she's not good at keeping it in her mouth and I don't want to keep running in and out to put it back in.

[Ima shel Alon]

clazzat said exactly what I was going to say - UT becoming OT and change of scenery.
You can go out of the room whenever you put her down and come back only if she is calling you iykwim.
The paci is really your decision. For us it helped for a while, till he gained control over his hands but not fully, so he plugged himself out and then cry that we put him in so we weaned him. It was actually helping us with naps and BT in the early days.

[cbsmommy]

We are so off track now....  our naps have gone down the toilet.  DD will be 7 weeks tomorrow.  We started EASY about 3 weeks ago and I had been using pat/shush to get her to sleep with success.  I've tried to get away from doing that and leaving her to herself.  That's how I know it takes her so long to settle on her own.  Today she only took 1 good nap and even that was a struggle to start.  I am convinced it has to do with timing but I can't figure out when to put her in.  I'm either doing it too soon so she's UT going in and comes out OT.  Or she's going in past the window to start.

What should I do?  Start with short A times (40 min), then go to w/d, and then in crib?  Half the time she looks wide-awake.  I think she has some Spirited in her too.  How to cope???

[Ima shel Alon]

I know this is a real tough situation to be in. I was there myself not long ago and I am familiar with the huge frustration one feels watching the LO not sleeping well. Sleeping is so important for them, it's in a way watching them not eat.
What I did when I was in your situation is to wait till tired and then put straight away in the crib, hardly any WD - but every baby is different and we can give you many advice, it all comes down to who you DD is.
You need to remember, for your sanity, that she is very very small and is trying to do something she doesn't know how.
Her naps will get better, they will. This will not be your life forever and probably not for an awful lot longer. Naps usually settle when they are older and you will see the change slowly as she grows. I wish I had listened when other mommies told me this three-four months ago when I was in the same situation, because if I wouldn't have worried so much, I could enjoy DS much more.

[bessie26]

Sorry I can't be any help, I'm struggling to spot DD2s sleepy cues and she is 12wks old!

Hopefully someone else will be along to help soon