3 month old on 4 x 30 minute naps each day

[ZOERAYNSFORD]

Hi
My 3 month old is stuck on the golden 30 minute day nap.
His routine is very roughly:
E 7.30am
A 1 hour 50 - 2 hours
S 9.30 for30 mins
A 10am
E 11am
S 12pm for 30 mins
A 12.30
E 2.15
S 2.45 for 30 mins
A 3.15
E 5pm
S 5.30 for 30 mins
Bath 6.30, bottle 7pm, bed by 7.30
DF 11pm
He is bottle fed roughly 7oz but won't always take all of that
I have an 18 month old as well so there is little time for sleep training.
After his 30 minute nap today at 12pmI started ssh pat for a back breaking 45 minutes, which was hideous but he did sleep in the end. For 10 minutes, the he woke, another 10 minutes of ssh pat & he went off again. Only to wake 5 minutes later...I tied to ssh pat for 5 more minutes but despite having his eyes closed he was so so upset. All the while my 18 month old was amusing himself downstairs, which I will not be able to do again in future.
As you can see, my EASY is out because more often than not milk and nap are due at the same time.
Because of my other son we are on the go a lot (car seat, buggy, bjorn) but the baby does get 2 or 3 cot naps a day wherever possible.
Would really appreciate some advice...ssh pat is not an option because it's not fair on my eldest to entertain himself for that long.
Shall I just rider out the dreaded 30 minute naps until the baby manages to extend them?
Thanks in advance xxx

[anna*]

I think you should try cutting down his A time to more like 1hr30mins. Especially after a short nap.

[Scottishmummy]

Short naps are very frustrating, aren't they? Even harder with a toddler around too.

I agree with Anna. 30 min naps usually mean overtired (OT)& those are high A times for a 3 month old. You might get longer naps with shorter A times.

On the other hand your baby could be low sleep needs (LSN) and therefore cope with high A times and short naps. My son took 4x 35min naps until he was 5 months old and nothing I did lengthened them until he was ready.

How is your baby on going to sleep & waking- calm or crying? If crying & taking time to settle and crying on waking, he is probably OT. If calm on going to sleep and content on waking, he might be LSN.

[ZOERAYNSFORD]

Thanks ladies ok I'll give shorter A times a go today.
Typically I would say he goes down without much fuss, 8 out of 10 I reckon with a couple of teary ones thrown in I guess when he is OT.
I'll try 1 hour 30/45 A times today a go and see what happens.
My other son did the 4 x 30 minute naps for 2 months so we have history!
Thanks again, will post the outcome x

[Scottishmummy]

Good luck!

[ZOERAYNSFORD]

Today is all out so it's difficult trying!
A 5.30am
E 5.30 am, didn't go back to sleep
S 7.20am
A 8am
E 8.15am
S 9.55, no fuss
A 11.05
E 11.45
S 12.50 but screamed until 1.10PM
A 1.40
So shortening his A hasn't been overly successful....
Currently his milk will be due when his next nap is due if I do a short A. Or do I just keep the A as 2 hours this time otherwise there will be no milk until after his next nap?!
I am so confused! This just seems to be getting messier, I'm ready to throw the routine out the window and just go with the flow! It's so hard!

[Scottishmummy]

It's hard when they throw you off, isn't it?

If milk & nap are going to clash, I've tried both feeding early before nap & delaying feed until after nap. It's what you think will be better for your baby, some won't settle with an almost empty tummy, others will.  Looking at your day today though, it looks like your baby is settling best at around the 2hrs A time. The 12.50 nap looks like it might have been UT/OT I.e. Baby not tired enough to sleep at 1hr45, especially after a long-ish nap, so didn't settle then got OT as not asleep until over 2hrs. And I think you got over an hr nap 9.55-11.05? This might suggest 2hrs is about right.

I notice your feeds are all over 3hrs too so maybe your baby is transitioning to more like a 4mo pattern early?

Looking at your day today, I would stick with 2hr A time I think & feed before that nap (but you might notice baby is tired a little early due to last short nap, in which case feed early then nap)

[ZOERAYNSFORD]

Hi yes I think you are right, he was showing zero signs of tiredness at 1h30 or 1h45.
He stopped taking all his bottle on the 3 hour feeds so I have pushed him to 3.5 so he's ready for the 4 hour feeds in a few weeks, I think that's right, my instinct is saying so.
Ok I'll keep an eye his A time and cross everything the 30 min naps push a bit 🙏🏼
Thanks so much for your advice & reassurance x

[Scottishmummy]

Yes, it does sound like he's ok with longer between feeds & naps. Always good to follow your instinct 

My 4 month old is going through a similar thing right now.  Only thing I've found that extends cot naps sometimes for her is going into her about 5-10 mins before she would wake from a short nap (her sleep cycles are 40 mins so I go in at 30mins). As soon as she starts to stir I place my hands on her and shhh and sometimes she doesn't wake and keeps sleeping.  Not easy to do with my toddler around though! Could be worth a try?  If my baby wakes fully I try to resettle for about 5mins but if she's not looking like she's going back to sleep, just get her up & hope that more sleep comes later.

Good luck X

[ireneasheard]

My boy is almost 4 months old. We too had catnapping issues which have been pushed through after 2 solid months of catnapping by increasing awake time. He is at 2 hours awake now and I persisted with resettling during the day. He's now only occasionally needing a resettle but the increase in activity time and persisting in resettling was well worth the effort. Good luck.

[ireneasheard]

Also we have already transitioned to 4 hours, it was needed. My son was not hungry enough at 3 hour mark to feed well.