Short or missed nap problem

[suzie767]

Hi all, i have a 10 week old text book little boy.

he has been on easy from the beginning and has done well on it. he has always slept well. from 4/5 weeks he slept through the night only waking for a 3/4/5 oclock feed which i am hopeing he will drop soon. over the last couple of weeks his naps have become much shorter and he wakes up crying. 

at first he couldnt get hime self to sleep and couldnt stay asleep and there were many missed naps. in the last couple of days i have started pu/pd and i have seen some improvement. he can now get himself to sleep however wakes up after half an hour screaming. i do pu/pd for the next hour every 10 mins or so then he sleeps for the last half hour. i know he can get himself to sleep as he does it on a night and i have really tried to avoid using any props.

as well as doing pu/pd i also put a blind up in his room to make it darker. i have tried to keep all activity downstairs and his room as tranquil and calm as possible and have also made more of a wind down ritual before his naps, swaddling and sitting calmly etc.

his activities consist of a nappy change, then 5 or 10 mins play until i see his sleep cues ( yawning, getting hyper etc) his play is usually letting him kick his legs an the bed or his play mat and laughing at his toys or a shadow or a picture on the wall while i steralise his bottle. should i stay with him throughout this activity period or is his playing on his own ok? also is 5 or 10 minutes too much or not enough for a 10 week old?

any input or advise would be greatly appreciated.

has any one else had this problem and am i missing anything that might help the problem?

my friend advised to let him cry it out and only go in if his crys become desperate but i just cant do this to him i dont want him to feel abandoned

[AnnaBenwell]

I'm no expert, But think BW Would recomment sh/pat and not pu/pd for a baie at 10wweks old. Sorry not much help Just an idea

[suzie767]

thanks for this,i tried shush/pat for weeks but had to do it for hours and everytime i stopped he started screaming, towards the end it didnt even stop him from crying. bw advises to start pu/pd a little later and i put off doing it thinking it wouldnt work. in the end i tried adapting it for my younger baby. rather than picking him up all the way i lift the upper half of his body from the mattress and cuddle him until he stops crying then gently lower him down. i find this is much less stimulating for him and feel as though this is teaching him to sooth himself where as i think shush pat was just distracting him from crying

your comments and suggestions are very welcolme

[dtrias]

Do you have your lo on a 3 or 4 hour EASY.  Maybe you should think about making the switch since your teaking sleep routines anyway.  Also Shh pat never did work for my lo.  A spirited baby, she only gets angry when you shh her.  I also tried PU/PD at ten weeks but in retro that was too young. She really didnt get it.  I found some good advice in the book No cry sleep solution.  Its the only book I have like besides Tracy's.

[suzie767]

thanks dtrias, so you think i should change to a 4 hour easy? do you think this will help? i dont think theres any way i coould keep him up for the 2 hours after a feed so is there any way around this?

The book is called no cry sleep solution? do you know the author?

thanks again

[*Natasha*]

How long is your DS awake before you put him down for his naps? Perhaps his awake time needs to extended a little. PU/PD can be over stimulating for a baby under 6months.

[suzie767]

His feeds take roughly 15 mins and he has a nappy change and a little play, 5 or 10 minutes or so. i try to watch his sleep cues, if he starts getting hyper and yawning and getting fussy i swaddle him and do the 4 s wind down.

Do you think i am putting him down too early just i dread him becoming overtired/stimulated. Might i be making it worse?

ive tried everything to settle him but none of it worked and becuase he was barely sleeping during the day he was very overtired and it was even harder to sooth him-its a viscous cycle. my mini version of pu/pd is the only thing that seems to get him any sleep. in the last day it has been a lot easier to sooth him without doing pu/pd as he is not so over tired

if you have any suggestions on how to sooth him i would love to hear as i really would prefer not to have to do pu/pd at all

[CharLie979]

Have you checked to make sure that there is nothing irritating him like a tag on a sleeper, a string pinching him, is he too hot or too cold? Also try bicycling his legs to relieve gas and elevating the crib matress, could be gas/reflux we've used gripe water with our LO in the past if she's especially gassy. I know that this has often been the cause for my DD waking.

[suzie767]

ive tried giving him gripewater after each of his day feeds as he does seem to lift his legs when he cries however i do this only as a precaution as he never cries after bedtime it is only during his naps so i think it is more of a sleep problem. i have a room thermometre next to his cot and try to keep the room between 18-21 degrees and regularly check his temp. i dont think its a tag as its the same pattern every day and would be too much of a coincidence to be something like irritation. i thought it may be noise and light so i have darkened his room more and made it a more quiet and tranquil environment

ill keep you posted if i uncover any clues...thanks for your input

 

[CharLie979]

At 10 weeks maybe he's hitting his 3 month growth spurt early? Maybe you need to increase his feed times. When my LO is a very efficient eater and is easily distracted. I had to use super switching to get my supply up and to lengthen her feeds, also to make sure she was getting enough hind milk ( or milk in general). Basically after you finish the second breast you go back to the first and let him suckle again, and then to the second again.

Also we used "the happiest baby on the block" techniques to soothe our daughter from the beginning up until about 4 months. It really worked and is very similar to Tracy's methods. I recomend the DVD as you can SEE what he's doing and how to do it.

[suzie767]

thanks i will look out for this...my lo has been bottle fed for the last few weeks so t is a little easier for me to tell when he has had enough but he is a little fussy when he eats so it may be that im taking his fussiness for signs for being full. i will give him a little longer and see if this helps

i'll keep you posted