Short napper? or not?

[Tecike]

Hi all!

DS2 is 3.5 mo and we started sleep training 2 weeks ago. His naps were never great, though he napped well until 8 wks. Since then he naps 30-45 mins 4-5 times a day. I wasn't really worried, because I read about short nappers- he wasn't cranky during A times and he sleeps well during night. Now, as we started sleep training, things seem to change. Since he is a refluxer (and he doesn't get meds in Serbia), I started sleep training to get him out of my arms... Wk 1 was OK, put him down, stayed for 20 mins, slept for 30-45 mins altogether. Then we had a few days off, DS1 got sick, so couldn't stay with him, which resulted in falling asleep in my arms again.  Now, we're back on track - put him down, mantra cry, fussing, asleep in 10 mins, I stay with him for 20 mins, asleep for 40ish mins. And here comes the change - when I pick him up after his morning nap, he falls back to sleep in my arms, I put him down, and goes for another 45 min-1hr!!! Then the rest of the naps are again 45ish...
So I'm confused.... is he a short napper, or should I work on extending his short naps?

[Tecike]

Well, I tried extending the naps with shh/pat, and it didn't work. He fussed for some time, squirming and moaning and then woke up happy. At the morning nap he went back to sleep in my arms again after the 45 mins, so he did a 1.5 hr nap, but during the day he didn't fall asleep in my arms...

Anyone out there? I could really use some suggestions...

[Ima shel Alon]

Hi there!
First of all, since he doesn't get any reflux meds I'd be extra careful with sleep training. You could get more support in the Reflux board: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=13.0

It sounds to me as he is still tired when you pick him up in the morning and you could work on extending naps. With pat/shh you really need to give it time. In the beginning I was there with DS for 45min-1h and it reduced slowly. I suggest you give it a few days and then see.
If you want you could post your routine in an EASY format and we'll have a look at it, maybe it needs some tweaking.
He is still young and babies sleep settles a bit later, around 6 months (for us it was around 7 months).

[Tecike]

Thanks a lot for your reply!

I've been to the reflux board, I'm doing everything I can to ease his reflux. Actually I started sleep training, because it is getting milder now and he seems not to be in pain from it. And when I see he's not comfortable, I still AP some of his naps...
As for pat/shh, now that I read some stories on the board, I see that I was a bit hasty with it, so I'm determined to give it a go for a few weeks and see what happens. Our routine goes like this, more or less...

E- 8 am
A- 8-9.45 am
S- 9.45-10.30 (he will actually go down anywhere between 9.30-10.00, so sometimes wakes at 11.00 if I can extend it
E-11.00 am
A-11 - 12.45ish (less, if he wakes 10.30ish, he goes down 12.30ish)
S- 12.45- 13.30ish
E- 14.00ish (if he's not hungry earlier)
A- until 15.30ish
S- 15.30- 16.15ish
E- 17.00
A- until 18.15ish
S- 18.15-18.45ish
E- 19.00
A- until 20.00 (includes bathtime and bedtime routine)
S- 20.00ish (DF at 23.00 and NF 5.00)

This is an ideal day, usually I strive for this, but sometimes it goes off if he sleeps longer in the morning. We just had a GS the last couple of days, where he ate more frequently...

[Ima shel Alon]

When they are small I really recommend pat/shh. It's not easy, but sleep training in general is not. I found a lot of support here, especially because the pat/shh as it's written in the book didn't work for us. Don't be afraid to modify it to suit your own baby as long as you feel like you are helping him become a bit more independent sleeper and not AP. I am saying a bit more independent sleeper because as I said before it does happen later and in the early months you would still expect them to wake up at night of course a their naps are not steady. By the way, your night looks great!

Many babies like their first A of the day to be shorter than the rest, you can try that.
I found the 45min nap the worst to deal with because I didn't know what to tweak, I didn't know if he is OT or UT. 30min - OT for sure, 50min - UT for sure. How is he waking up from his 45min naps? Is he cranky or ready to play? This often indicates if they are UT or OT.

[Tecike]

Yes, I realize sleep training is not easy, but I'm determined to try now and hope to be persistent in it.

And yes, nights have been like that since 2 wo, that's why I wasn't really worried about naps. But I think I will have to try extending naps, if I want to extend EASY from 3 hr to 3.5 hr.... Generally he wakes happy and ready to play, except for that first nap in the last couple of days. I'll try a shorter A time in the morning. Usually he goes down easier after a longer A time, but still sleeps 45 mins...

[Ima shel Alon]

Let me know how you're doing. Good luck.