10 week old cries after wind down

[Kathystr]

My 10 week old has always slept fine at night but is a horrible napper.  When I can get her down, she only sleeps for the dreaded 45 minutes.  When it is her nap time, if I can't get her to actually sleep, I try to at least give her "quiet time."   The problem is, after the wind down (swaddling, white noise, sitting with her quietly), once I put her in her crib, she cries hysterically.  The Shh/Pat works sometimes, but not always. 

My question is, should I still be giving her this "quiet time" even though she is crying?  Of course, I stay with her while she cries, but I am not sure if I should just pick her up and get her out of the crib, or leave her in there while I rub her back etc. 

I feel like my whole day is wrapped around getting her to nap.  It has been weeks since she has napped more than 45 minutes and by the end of the day, she is very cranky. 

I am on the 7,10,1,4,7 EASY.  I do not do a DF (tried it a few times and she would not go back to sleep).  She is definately a mix between Spirited and Angel (more spirited when it comes to sleep).

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks
Kathy

[deckchariot]

Kathy - she's still pretty young to have naps all sorted out.  LO's figure out night sleep first (0-3 mos) and day sleep later (3-6 mos), it's actually a brain developmental thing.  That said, you don't just have to ride it out entirely...

With the wind down, do you start shh/pat on your shoulder and then put her in the crib when she's calm, drowsy, but still awake?  Then you would continue the shh/pat in her crib (even if she's crying) until she falls asleep.  With our dd, we'd keep going through the first 20 min sleep cycle.  Then we gradually weaned off that.  We'd try for 30-40 min, and if we couldn't get her to sleep, we'd get her up, do some low key A time (cuddling, etc) then feed, diaper change, wind down.  So yep, most of the day was spent trying to get her to sleep.  For her last nap of the day, we'd do whatever we could to get her to nap just so she wasn't so OT by bedtime, and then we could start new the next day.  It was really, really hard, but completely and totally worth it!!!

Also, keep in mind that her A time should be really short  - if she wakes at 7 and feeds, you want her to be sleeping by 8:15 (not much later), so that means you want to start your wind down no later than 8, and maybe even earlier.

HTH
michelle

[Kathystr]

Thanks for the response.

I think her A time may be too long.  I have been waiting 1 hour and 15 to start the wind down.  I will try to wind down 15 minutes early and see if that helps.  As soon as I start the routine, she starts crying! 

When does her awake time start to increase? 

[*Nicola*]

I think DD only moved to 1.5 hours at about 12 weeks. 

If she is crying as soon as you start the wind down she is possibly OT.  Until you figure out a good A time for her it might be a good idea to head to her room around 50 mins after wake up and spend some relaxing time in there doing low key activity.  Watch closely for tired signs and move into wind down right away when you see them.  We did this with DD1 when starting her on EASY at 8 weeks and it really helped us to identify her tired time, tired signs and A time and was great as the low key A meant in her room meant that we were in the right place for wind down and stimulation was low key.  Great scene setter for a nap.

HTH xx

[deckchariot]

Great advice Nicola!!!  Let us know how it goes Kathy.  Here's an average A time chart for lo's (from the Naps FAQs)


Newborn 50-60 mins
1 month 60 mins-hour and 15
2 months 1 hour and 15 - 20 mins
3 months 1 hour and 20 - 30 mins
4 months 1 hour and 45 - 2 hours
5 months 2 hours - 2.25 hours
Late 5 months/early 6 months 2.25-2.5 hours
6.5 - 7 months 2.75-3 hours. Some are getting more.
8 - 10 months 3 - 4 hours. Some are getting more.
11 - 12 months 3.5 -4.5 hours. Some are getting more if moved early to 1 nap

[Kathystr]

Thanks for the information, everyone!!  I appreciate all your help and will keep you posted on the progress!

Kathy

[*Nicola*]

You are welcome 

Good luck .. look forward to hearing your progress xx