12 weeks old inconsistent sleep ... Help!!

[L mom]

Hi,

My LO is 12 weeks old and I have been trying to get him on a good routine since he was 6w old but it doesn't seem to be working. He had a little of reflux so I guess that kept everything out of place.
Not 2 days have been the same, our days are very unpredictable.
He is eating every 4 hrs but naps/bedtime are all over the place.
Last week I tried to do the 4 hrs easy with 2h A time, first day he jolted at 45mins, I gave him pacifier and he kept sleeping until next feeding(moving a lot though) , did the same for second nap, took a catnap and went to bed nicely, that night he slept from 7:30 to 6 am. The second day was not so great and by the 3rd day he was only sleeping 35mins , difficult to put down for bedtime and woke up twice in the middle of the night( fed the first time,not the second)so I assumed he was overtired?/ growth spurt?

Today we did 1.45 A time but he still woke up after 45 mins, I gave him the paci and he calmed down but did not fell back asleep until I held him.

I don't know how to fix the 45 mins naps.Should I stick to the 1.45 A time for a few days? Is it possible that he is going through a growth spurt?

I really need help, I'm really tired and depressed and also have an almost 3 yrs old to tend to

Thanks for your help!!!

[Lindsay27]

Hi and welcome!!  The 45min naps are the worst aren't they!? I think 2 things are happening, one is that your A times might be slightly in the high side, at 12 weeks we would expect about 1.5hrs with 1.45 being on the the higher end.  You know your LO best and what he can handle though.  The other thing is, 45min naps are often largely developmental and many LOs don't learn to transition through sleep cycles until around 6 months.

One this you can do is try sneaking in around the 35min mark just when he is starting to come out of a deep sleep and gently patting him or placing a firm hand on his chest to catch him during the transition and help him through it.

[L mom]

Thanks for your reply They are the worst !!

I'll try to go in at the 35 mins mark tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

[L mom]

Hi ! So for the morning nap I went in at around 30 mins and stroke his cheek he woke up at the 55 mins mark and took about 20 mins to resettle( gave Paci and patted a little) and continued sleeping for 1.5 hr more 😊

For the second nap I put him a little later than usual (just happened unintentionally) and he slept for 2:20 hr without interruptions!

So that is progress, still have to see how the next days are going to be