Shhh/pat to extend naps becoming a prop?

[jem470]

I started the 3hr EASY with my LO 10 days ago. He's 3.5 months now. He's done well with the feeding, but he only take 45 minute naps for every nap. Left to his own devices he will take 5 or 6 35-45 minute naps a day. I'm doing shhh/pat with the occasional PUPD to extend his naps to 1.5hrs. I can often get him back to sleep like this, but he startles easily and wakes up when my hand is not on his chest. He's swaddled with one arm out because he's learning to roll over and I want to wean him from the swaddle by the time he can roll. It makes me wonder whether shh/pat is becoming it's own prop, where he wants me to continue to do that during the second half of his nap. Has anyone else had this issue? Any advice?

Also, I think feeding-wise he is ready for a 4hr EASY. But since he doesn't nap long enough, he can't sustain that amount of activity. Any thoughts?

[jem470]

My 4 month old LO used to sleep through the night. About 10 days ago he started waking up around 4:30. At first he woke up once, I fed him and he would sleep until 7. Gradually he's been waking up more and more. I started doing a dream feed at 10 so that I knew he wasn't waking from hunger (he was able to go 10 hours before), then stopped feeding him when he woke and just used shh/pat to get him back to sleep. Things have been getting progressively worse and worse. He doesn't cry, but he is now waking up every 15-45 minutes between 3:30 and 7.  I'm trying to be diligent and use shh/pat, not feed him (he's not hungry, he would cry if he was), and not bring him into my bed. But I'm exhausted and DH won't be able to help at night now that the holidays are over.

I know this is probably the 4 month sleep regression, but I've heard that the key is getting babies to learn to fall asleep on their own. Over the last 10 days I've been getting him down with less and less shhh/pat, so that half the time he truly falls asleep on his own. Meanwhile nights have been getting worse.

Any suggestions?

[Ima shel Alon]

Hi there,

It sounds like he might be UT. Could you post his day in an EASY format?
At around 3-4m babies go through the transition to a 4h EASY. It's not rigid 4h, but more that there is a jump in A times and that stretches the cycles longer. Some babies will have 3.15, 3:25, 3:45h cycles, every baby is different.
Many parents notice that baby can be awake for longer times but can't space the feeds just yet. If that's the case with you then you can either feed in the middle of A times, so your EASY looks more like AEAS, or you can feed normal and give a small top up before the nap (just make sure that there is a short A time in between feeding and sleeping so he doesn't associate the two).
There is some more info about the transition here: FAQ's - Frequently Asked Questions & Related Information

It sounds to me like you have things pretty much figured out WRT teaching him ind. sleep, but if the A times are not right and enough and if naps are too short then it could effect the night and cause NW, which is what's happening to you, right?
IIWY I would work on extending A times to age appropriate A (Average A times- BOOKMARK ME! ) and would try and get longer naps out of him, using Shush-pat. PU/PD is meant only as a last resort and is better for older babies. Many parents say, including myself, that at such young age PU/PD is OS the baby.
And I think this link can answer your question re Shush-pat being a prop: Why are Shush Pat and PU/PD not props?

HTH