45 minute naps after dummy weaned

[janapana]

My son's naps have gone all wrong, wakes after 45 min and i just don't know what to do to get him to go back to sleep. we've never really used sshhh pat or pupd cos he goes to sleep no problem, and it's only since we took his dummy away that his naps have gone pear shaped. when i do try and get him back to sleep he gets really really upset so i abandon it and then our routine goes out of the window and i find myself wishing it was bed time already cos he's doing my head in by being so whingey. but i don't want to wish  his life away like this i just want him to SLEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
x

[marensmama]

Hi Janapana.  I split your post from where you originally put it because it seemed to be a different issue and you'll get better responses more tailored to your specific situation this way.  If you post your routine we can see if there's a reason for those short naps.  Usually 45 minute naps indicate the need for more A time, but they can also mean that he's OT.  The paci weaning might have something to do with it also, but we'll start with the routine.

[janapana]

ok thanks for that. We're on pretty much a 3 hour routine, but it doesn't always start at the same time, usually somewhere from 6.45 to 8.30. but here is what happened yesterday!

E 7am
S 8.00 - 9.30

E 10am
S 11.00 - 11.45 I tried to get him to go back to sleep here, but wasn't happening so we went out in the car about 12 as i had some jobs to do, and i thought he might go back off but he didn't

E 1.00
S 2.00 - 2.45

E 4.00
S 4.45 - 5.20

E 6.15
bath at 6.45
S 7.00

DF 11.30 then sleeps straight through til the next morning

So obviously he didn't get much sleep through the day. we were out of the house for about 4 hours, which i'm sure didn't help, but i've tried staying in for the whole day and he doesn't nap any better either. (plus i have to go to work, and i take him with me.... he used to nap fine in his carry cot cos i just used to plug his dummy back in if he woke early)

I'm absolutely useless at reading his cues. I don't know when he's bored or tired. And he yawns from the minute he gets up, even after 12 hours sleep at night, so basically i haven't got a clue!!!!!! (I also did the quiz and i have no idea what "kind" of baby he is as there were almost the same number of answers for each type, plus i don't know if some of his grumpiness is cos he's tired. but he seems like a different baby every hour!)

He goes to sleep fine, does his mantra cry and is asleep usually within a couple of minutes, so i don't really have any skills at putting him to sleep myself, and when i go into his room after a short nap it just seems to make him more awake and then extemely angry.

What should his A time be for  a 15 week old?  And if he then only has  a 45 minute nap, what should his A time be then? Can we go EASASE.

A couple of weeks ago i tried to extend his routine to 3.5 hours and i'm not sure if that threw his naps out a bit too, anyway as you can see we're back on 3 hrs, kind of.

Some advice would be great please because i'm so frustrated and i'm not really enjoying him at the moment, when i want to be cherishing every minute!

thanks

[janapana]

ok i've thought of some more things!

so far today jacob woke up at7,30 and i fed him straight away. by 8.30 he was really grotty so i put him down and he went off  no problem. however he woke up at 9.45 and then cried and cried while i tried to get him to go back to sleep. i abandoned that at about 10.15, got him up and then fed him at 10.30. So by this time he's been awake 45min already, most of which was spent crying. after his feed he's tired again, cos he only had 45 min sleep!!!!! so do i give him a short A time? if so how short?
how long should i spend trying to get him to extend his nap? right up until his next feed?

it's really getting me down, i feel so mean, most of his awake time now seems to be him screaming while i'm trying to get him back to sleep.