9 week old, short napper

[JHMom]

We are having trouble extending our nap past 45 minutes...My dd is 9 weeks old. Our schedule is as follows:
Wake and E: 6am
A: 6:30-7:30
S: 7:30-9 (sometimes this is a full nap, most times she sleeps until around 8:25)
E: 9am
A: 9:15-10:30
S: 10:30-12 (this is usually a little choppy b/c we are out with 2yr old, ds, doing some activity)
E: 12 pm
A: 12:15-1:30
S: 1:30-3 (usually lasts between 35/40 minutes and on occasion the full time)
E: 3pm
A: 3:15-4:30/45
S: catnap 30-minutes or so
E: 5pm
A: 5:15-7
E: 7pm
S: 7:15/30
Dream feed: 10/10:30
E: anywhere between 1:30 and 2:30
Wake up and eat at 6am

Her eating is a great. She sometimes uses a pacifier to go down, but more often just goes down after our bedtime routine and a couple minutes of cuddling. When she does wake up, I can sometimes get her to go back down by giving her a pacifier and putting my hand on her heart. However, she usually wakes up and this goes on for the remainder of the nap...  She is not cranky during A times, just sleepier than I think is right... She seems to like her crib and is happy when alone if she is rested or has her pacifier...

We have tried ssh/pat and it hasn't been very successful. Plus, most times I have a 2 yr old who can't be left for very long and is definitely not helpful when he comes with me:) I just want what is best for her and am willing to try anything. Please help!!! 

[marensmama]

Hi and welcome to the BW community!  The average A time for LOs this age is 75-80 minutes, although the first A time of the day is generally a bit shorter and you need to shorten A times following a short nap. 

Looking at your routine, it seems as though maybe the first A time could be stretched a little if she's sleeping at least 45 minutes.  (45 minutes generally indicates UT, although in some cases it's OT)  I think because it's over 45 minutes that she's sleeping, she's likely UT for that first cycle.  Then I think because her next nap is interrupted with your DS's activities, she's OT for the rest of the day and short naps as a result.  It's hard to find a happy medium, and when my DD 2 was this age, I struggled with finding the balance so that my DD1 could get what she needed too.  I made sure that the rest of the naps during the day were in her crib, uninterrupted.

She sounds like she's an angel baby, though, and is coping well with the short naps.  Pat/shh is a great tool for extending those short naps.  It worked well for us, but I modified it and just held my hand on her chest and shh'd, since she has reflux and didn't like the patting.  It sounds as if you're doing that but you could add the shh'ing and see if that helps.

As for your 2 yo, I know it's tough.  I told my DD that she could stand quietly at the door or read books in her room quietly while I helped the baby to sleep.  She always chose to stand at the door, but was generally pretty quiet... She puts her 'babies' to sleep by shhing them now, it's so cute!  Anyways, if that doesn't work for you, perhaps you could work on your DDs naps with pat/shh while your DS is napping?

HTH!  Let me know how you get on! 

[JHMom]

Thank you for so much information and great tips. Ironically, today she has slept well for both morning naps. She had a shorter A time between the first and second and on both accounts I had to wake her to feed her... I have no idea what she will do for her afternoon nap, but we'll see. CAn she take an hour and 45 min nap and still be ok for her night sleep?  I thought I was supposed to stick to one and a half hours/nap...

I have another question- She typically wakes up around 1:30 am. My husband has been working with her to go back to sleep until at least 2:30ish for her feeding. Some nights it's great, some others, not so successful. What should we do here? Feed her as soon as she wakes? I hadn't been b/c I don't think she's truly hungry... but, if she's not going back down for a while, maybe she is?? One NF seems to be working well for her, but I am willing to do more if it sounds as if I should. She's about 12lbs and a very efficient eater and only cries if she needs something and even that is something less than a true cry....

Thank you for your help! Much appreciated.

[JHMom]

I just put her down again, only after about 65 minutes of semi awake (nursing and then the after nursingsleepiness )  I just feel like she is constantly napping!  We'll see how this one goes!