30 min nap, followed by 30 min of wriggling in bed

[joannep]

hi,

my baby is 12 weeks now and she has been a good night sleeper. however, i struggled with her nap since her second month - she would sleep 45 mins most times. her night time sleep is from 8pm to 7pm (with three short whimpers during the night). starting last week she starting sleeping only for 30 mins during the day. my husband said not to stress out since she sleeps so much at night. but, she gets so wound up by the evening she cries a lot before bedtime. so i know i really need to do something with her daytime naps.

my question is: after i put her down for her nap, she would sleep peacefully for 30 mins. Exactly 30 mins after she goes to sleep, she would give a big sigh and start to move. she would wriggle, clear her throat, lift both legs up (like when i change her diaper), then resettles, as though she has fallen back asleep. for 2 minutes. then, she would start again, wriggling and sighing and lifting legs, all the while with her eyes closed. she would do this for 30 mins. sometimes she goes back to sleep, sometimes, she ends up crying.

i am so confused about this sleep wriggling - is she asleep or trying to get back to sleep?

my other question is: when should her last nap be? her bedtime routine starts at  7pm and she is usually in bed sleeping by 745pm.

she is on a 3hr EASY routine (well i try to fit it in with her 30 min naps). A time is about 1-1.5hr.
 
thanks for your advice!

[brenda2]

great she's having such wonderful nights!!  but i know cranky days acan be just as frustrating.  30 min naps mean she's likely OT and you should try to reduce her A time and fit in more naps...not sure if you are already doing this from your post. 

have you read this:

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=128419.0

[joannep]

thanks for the link - i have read it and have been trying too reduce her A time to 1 hr but it doesn't seem to be working either. and since she sleeps only 30mins, i try to get 4 to 6 naps in a day. almost everytime i put her down to sleep, she screams until she turns red, so i pick her up and she would fall asleep in my arms. then when i try to put her on her daytime nap mat, she starts  crying again. this normally last 30 min. gosh, six times of screaming into my ear for 30 mins - for 30 mins of sleep. whimper. 

[brenda2]

hi
at 12 weeks she should be having 3 x1.5 hour naps and 1 short catnap for a total of about 5 to 5.5 hours sleep.  so trying for 6 x 30 min naps is still less sleep than this, i think she is most likely OT.

does she always fall asleep in your arms or can she go to sleep independently?  if she needs a prop (you) to go to sleep this may be another reason she is having short naps. 

swaddling may help the wriggling.  we started swaddling at 3 mo and it was wonderful to help calm my DD and settle her for independent sleep.

the best thing for now may be to get her to catch up on sleep whatever way you can to get her over the OT and then work on independent sleep once she is caught up.  OT is really hard to overcome...