10.5 mo 30 min naps

[pdx_mommy]

Our DD is now 10.5 months and has never been a great napper.  But we've taken a turn for the worse and now have all 30 min naps! 

This started after a mild cold and she had trouble napping in her crib because she couldn't breathe, so we would hold her in the chair for naps.  But that was a few months ago and we still aren't back to normal! 

When she wakes from a nap early we (myself, DH and nanny) had been cuddling her in the chair and she would sometimes fall back asleep but then wakes up when we lay her down in the crib.  Now we are just getting her up after her 30 min nap so as to not encourage the AP with cuddling in the chair. 

Any help you could give would be great.  Here is our routine:

6:30/7:00 wake and eat 8 oz
8:00/8:30 breakfast
10:00-10:30 sleep
11:30/noon lunch
1:30 8 oz
2:00/3:00 sleep (varies depending on sleep cues)
5:00 dinner
6:45 bedtime routine (8 oz, bath, pj's, book)
7:15 sleep
NW usually 0-3, goes back down quickly with paci

[deckchariot]

Have you checked out this FAQ?  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=95670.0

hth
michelle

[pdx_mommy]

yes, but she didn't seem to fit into one of the 3 categories...  ??  Did I miss something?

[deckchariot]

not necessarily - I just generally start with looking at the 2 to 1 switch first when I notice nap issues with bubs around 10-11 mos old.  Often napping problems at that age are related to the switch.  If you don't think that's what's going on with your bub, you know her best, so that may not be it.

It's possible that you've taught her to wake at the 30 min mark for the cuddles, and now she needs to be "re-trained" how to fall asleep on her own when she transitions between sleep cycles.  Unfortunately, getting her up at the 30 min mark will just reinforce to her that she doesn't need to sleep longer than 30 min.  Have you tried to do wi/wo with her?  I suspect that you have inadvertantly become a prop, and the best way to break that association is wi/wo.  Just to warn you though, there will be much crying, but you will continue to be there (in and out of the room) reassuring her.  Here's a link that explains it a bit more:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=80750.0

My guess is that if it's not the 2 to 1 switch, then it's the prop issue - she's "forgotten" how to transition herself from one sleep cycle to the next.  Does that seem to fit better in terms of what you're seeing?

hth
michelle

[pdx_mommy]

Thanks for the reply.  I think it is a combination of both.  I reread the 2-1 switch articles and I wonder if she is needing less sleep now and is starting the transition.  Thanks for the reassurance.  We'll continue with 2 naps as long as possible, even if they are short, and stop the cuddling prop at 30 minutes!

Regarding wi/wo and naps (bedtime is not an issue) - how long do you continue to wi/wo before getting her up?  If a nap is generally supposed to be about an hour and she sleeps for the first 30 then wakes, should I do wi/wo for 30  minutes and if she isn't asleep then get her up?

[lilflav]

I think this is a big part of my problem too!  I have tried leaving her for an hour in the past, but she doesn't settle back to sleep, and am actually revisiting that now.  The only way she will is if rocked- something I don't do often, only when she is way ot.  Even then she has a hard time settling, she will have jolts & stir at the littlest thing.  I don't see how she can settle with wi/wo, sh/pat, pu/pd since she has such a hard time resettling. 

My problems started when she was 4 months & got worse & worse.  Of course by the time I started doing something about it, then got it right I think she just got so used to the 30 min naps!  She is almost 10 months (8.5 adjusted).  Right now I am extending A times, which I also tried a couple of months ago.  Luckily I have night wakings under control some of the time.  On her good nights she will go 9-10 hrs straight, and when she actually has a good nap day she will go 11-12 hrs straight!!

Any advice??  PDX please keep us posted, I am interested to know how & if you corrected this, thanks!

[deckchariot]

With wi/wo with naps, I would only do it until the time she would "normally" wake up.  If you think it may be a combination of the prop and the switch, that actually (believe it or not) could make your life easier.  On the switch, one nap is short anyway, so you could only do wi/wo with one nap and let the other one just be short.  Which nap you choose depends on you and your bub.  If she likes a long A time before bed, the best option is to go with a short am nap and a long pm nap.  In that case, when she wakes at 30 min from her am nap, you'd just get her up.  But then you'd do wi/wo with the pm nap.  If she doesn't need a long A time before bed, you could extend her am A time, do wi/wo if she wakes early from her am nap, and then just go with a short pm nap (so you wouldn't need to do wi/wo).  Does that make sense?

lilflav - if she's just a restless sleeper, I wouldn't do wi/wo, I'd just leave her.  Is she a spirited bub?  She may need black out curtains or a white noise machine or something to drown out other noises that might wake her.

We've had great success with wi/wo - but it was not easy.  We used it at nighttime, and have done it for 4 hrs at one stretch...but it quickly got shorter   It does work, but consistency is key.

hth
michelle