Wakes every 10 minutes during nap

[mokey_cat]

Hi Alexa!!  Thanks for helping me out  .  I also think my LO is not tired enough to take a long nap but I have just been wary of increasing too much as she is already doing a lot more than is usual for her age.  But today she took a nice long nap after a long A following a short nap.  So today was:

Awake - 7.35
E - 7.50
A - until 9.55 (ended up being 2hr35 A time)
S - 10.05-10.45 (she was in cot at 9.55 but mantra cried on and off for 10 mins.  When she woke, me and DH tried for a while to get her back to sleep as she was rubbing her head on the mattress which she does to self soothe.  She got more and more upset so we got her up and she was in a great mood  )

E - 11.30
A - 11.45 (1hr45 after short nap, put her down when yawned and rubbed eyes)
S - 12.30-1.00  (I didn't swaddle for this one so probably why it was only 30 mins but today went wrong at the start so thought I would see if unswaddling helped - it didn't  .  I didn't try to extend as we had to go to get her weighed but she was really awake so don't think I would have been able to!)

A - 1.00-2.45
E - 2.45 (A time 2hr5 after another short nap)
S - 3.05-5.15 She didn't wake at all here so i KNOW she can get though the jolts  .  I left her just longer than 2hrs as she had so little sleep beforehand but we woke her up otherwise she would have slept longer.

A - until 6.00
E - 6.00 small feed to get her through bath
A - until 7.15
E - 7.15
Bed - 7.35

My LO is nearly 22 weeks so not far off the age when your LO was managing around 2hr45 so maybe she is needing an increase again in A time!!

I find her tired cues really difficult to read.  She will rub her eyes when tired but sometimes this can be 40 mins after she has woken in the morning so I tend to go more by the clock unless its obvious she is tired.  No milestones yet (but am dreading them!).

The only other thing is that I had still been stirring her at 25 mins but I stopped this the other day.  I dont think this could be the cause as I didn't do it today and she slept a long nap or could it??.  So I am pretty sure its the A times.

I am going out tomorrow morning so the day is going to be a mess anyway, but I will try the 2hr30 A times and let you know how I get on.

Laura
X

[~Alexa~]

Hi Laura!! I'm happy you had a long nap today!!

The only other thing is that I had still been stirring her at 25 mins but I stopped this the other day.

Well, I'm afraid this could be part of the problem, but this will be something your lo will get to do by herself when she gets the right As too!! So don't worry, just try to extend those As by 10-15 min and see what happens.  If this doesn't work, we can always go back to the previous As.

About the tired signs, rubbing eyes can be very tricky at this age.  My rubs his eyes after 1 hr of A (he is doing 3.5 hr now)  So now, I have learned that I have to wait for the their eye rubbing.  So, before you put your lo down for a nap, try to change the scenery, if this doesn't help, then put her down.  80% of the times bubs get fussy at this age is because they are bored.  So try a change of activity before putting her down.

Good luck tomorrow!
Keep me posted
Alexa

[mokey_cat]

The only other thing is that I had still been stirring her at 25 mins but I stopped this the other day.

Well, I'm afraid this could be part of the problem, but this will be something your lo will get to do by herself when she gets the right As too!! So don't worry, just try to extend those As by 10-15 min and see what happens.

Oh do you think that could be it?  Should I keep stirring her then or just see in the I can find the right A's.  I will post todays routine tonight as we were out all day yesterday so no naps were in the house  (but we had a great day!!).

I put her down after 2hr30 this morning but she woke after 10 mins crying.  I tried shhpat and she fell asleep only to wake a few mins later even when I was still shpatting  .  I tried EVERYTHING to get her to sleep but she was absolutely screaming so I got her up after about 45 mins and she was all smiling.  I fed her as she was due a feed in 30 mins, tried to put her back to sleep but she started screaming the minute I put her in her cot.  DH is now trying to get her to sleep and she is screaming again!!  She has been awake a total of 4.5hours this morning with no nap  .  I have tried pain meds but she is fine when we take her out of her cot and cries when in it!!  She slept great in it last night.  Ive no clue what is going on!!!!  She has never done anything like this before.

Oh dear, I better go and help DH out.

X

[mokey_cat]

Ok - I am back. 

I have no clue what that was all about but I eventually got her to sleep after an a time of 4.5 hours.  She woke crying after 30mins which I was expecting and I rocked her back to sleep and she slept another 55 mins.  Wierd!!  She is very happy now though and was happy each time we got her up even though she was screaming when we were trying to get her to sleep.  I will see how she goes down for her next nap and if its the same again, I think I will panic. 

My guess is that she is maybe teething and was sore until we gave her the calpol but then didnt want to go back into the cot  because that was where it was sore???  I am totally guessing though.  Or maybe she was not tired enough for sleep when I put her down the 1st time but then got OT??  I suppose I will just need to see how her next nap goes!!.

X

[~Alexa~]

(((HUGS hun)))) It definitely sounds like pain or discomfort.  My lo has been doiing the same and I suspect he is teething.  So, try to give her some pain meds 30 min before the nap and see what happens. 

Good luck!! I hope she doesn't fight the nap this time!

Alexa

[mokey_cat]

I think she must have been in pain  .  Her next nap was short too but I extended twice by AP but she would have been OT for bed otherwise but at least she didn't fight it (we gave her pain meds 1st).

So should I go back to stirring at 25 mins?  I tried it for her morning nap this morning but she woke at 30mins  . 

X

[mokey_cat]

Todays routine has been:

Awake: 7.20 (but she had been making noise on and off from about 6ish so not sure when she actually woke)
E: 7.30
A: until 9.40 (A time - 2hr25 but was very grumpy at end!!)
S: 9.45-11.20 (she woke crying after 35mins so I went in to shhpat but she calmed as soon as I went into the room and was just looking about.  Shhpat never works when she is like that so I left the room to see if she would settle but she got upset again.  I was then able to shhpat her back to sleep.  She was awake 10.20-10.30)

E: 11.30
A: until 1.45 (A time - 2hr30) she was acting tired when we were out at the shops after an A time of only 1hr30! but was ok when we got home
S: 1.50-3.50 (she woke crying after 40mins.  Left her for a few minutes as she sounded like she might fall asleep again but cry escalated.  Shhpat back to sleep and she fell asleep easily.  She then slept another 1hr!!)

E: 3.55
A: until 7.20 (bath etc)
E: 7.20
Bed: 7.50

Do you have any ideas if these naps were UT or OT?  I had been having success with 2h15 four weeks ago, which I increased to 2hr25 which gave us long am naps.  I have hardly ever had a long pm nap without me intervening.  But now it seems like she is tired sooner and because I am able to get her back to sleep, it seems like its OT???  I think its usually really hard to extend an UT nap except when using APOP which makes me think OT.  But why would she now be OT when she wasn't before?  Am I misreading again?

She is crying when I start to swaddle which she never used to do and I really do think that is because she is tired and she falls asleep really quickly.  She is back to normal today after all that yesterday.  I suspect its teething but it hasn't seemed to bother her today!!

Any ideas to what I should do?

Thanks 

Laura
X

[~Alexa~]

Hi Laura!!

It does sound a bit OT to me.  Your may have woken up earlier in the morning, but we don't know it for sure...I think that 2.5 hrs A may be too much for your lo right now.  I would go back to 2 hr 20 min and see what happens.  Also, your lo woke up from the last nap at 3.55 pm , and she went to bed at 7.55 pm That is 3 hrs A That is way too much!! This may cause NWs or EWs, so if your lo wakes up at 4 pm from a nap, try to fit a short catnap and have a later bedtime, or go for an early bedtime (6.20 pm may be?)
Broken naps are better than short naps, but they are not as restorative as long and complete long naps,so that may be why your lo is not able to handle 2.5 hr A after them. 

xxx
Alexa

[mokey_cat]

Oooops - she did have a catnap!!  I took her in the car to try and get her to sleep so she has a short nap 5.20-5.50.  I have to use APOP every night pretty much for this as she just is not tired enough for it but no way would she last until bedtime otherwise  .

We pushed her bedtime back a bit as we were having EW's so last night she slept from 7.50 right through until we got her up at 7.40am!!!  She never made a sound all night!!  So I have a good place to start today.  I will try the 2hr20 A time this morning and if she wakes UT, at least I will know that she needs more  .

X

[~Alexa~]

Good luck Laura!! Don't worry about AP for the catnap.  This will happen until your lo is able to handle more A and she doesn't need it anymore. 
If she slept so well during the night, then she may be able to handle 2.5 hr A after that great night!

[mokey_cat]

I tried 2hr20 A time today and now I am a bit confused  .  She woke from both naps after 30 mins!!  I managed to extend the morning one though but the day ended up with an OT LO.

Awake: 7.35
E: 7.40
A: until 10.50
S: 9.55-12.00 (She woke and cried for a few seconds at 30 mins, yawned and went back to sleep.  Then she woke fully after 45 mins but was not crying too much so I left her.  She started Mantra crying which escalated so I went through and shhpat her back to sleep.  I took about 10 mins as she was looking about a lot.  So she was awake 10.45-11.05)

E: 12.00
A: until 2.15
S: 2.20-3.00 (She woke crying after 30 mins but slept again for another 5 mins.  Then she was really crying.  Tried to shhpat but just looking about.  Fell asleep after 10 mins but woke again after 5 mins even though I was still shhpatting.  She still looked tired but I just couldnt get her to sleep!  Eventually gave up and got her out of cot at 3.20.  Quite grumpy when up until we went out a walk)

E: 3.20
A: until 4.55
S: 4.55-5.20
A: until 7.00
E: 7.00
Bed: 7.25

So whats going on  .  Was she UT for the am nap and OT for pm nap?  I think she didn't seem too upset when she woke from am nap so I think she could have done the 2hr30 so if she doesnt have an EW tomorrow, I will try that.  But what about the pm nap?  She was acting OT but I couldn't extend (I maybe could have but I got a bit angry at my LO  ).  I am getting a bit concerned as it now seems like we get 30 or 40 min naps rather than 45!!

Do I need to go back to holding through jolts?  Oh I hope not - I did it for 4 weeks and it killed my back lol.

Thanks for your help -any ideas welcome 
X

[mokey_cat]

Well today she was really grumpy, yawning and rubbing eyes at 1hr50ish A time.  I put her to bed after 2hr10 A time and went through at 25 mins and applied pressure.  She jolted a LOT between 33-55mins (so she has been waking at this 33 min one the last few days).  I am pretty sure she would have woken if I had not been there as she opened her eyes and was about to cry but I started patting and she went to sleep again .  She then slept great and I had to wake her at 2 hours!!!  So I am very happy about that but not too sure what to make of it  .

I still cant decide if she needs more or less A, or if she just needs help getting through the jolts again?

The rest of today will be a bit of a mess as I am going to visit my new nephew who was born 2 days ago - I am very excited!!  I think I may take the BW book 

X

[~Alexa~]

Hi Laura!! Sorry you had a tough day yesterday!

About those As, I would stick to 2.5 hr A first thing in the morning for two more days, and see how your lo naps.  If she takes a long nap, then keep the same A.  If she takes a short nap, then reduce the next A time to 2 - 2.25 hr.  When your lo took that short nap, you kept her awake for too long 2.5 hr, you need to reduce the A after a short nap.   

Congrats on your new nephew!! 

[mokey_cat]

Hi Alexa!!

I was aiming for the 2.5hrs today but DD was sooooo grumpy and tired after only 2 hours.  I tried to change the scenery to make sure it was not boredom but she was the same so I put her for a nap earlier - she slept 1.5 hours!  the second nap she was tired after around 2 hours again so put her for nap earlier.  I held her through jolts this time though so not sure if she would have woken or not!  She slept 1hr45.  So today has been:

Awake: 7.05 but I heard her awake at 6.50 so she may have been up since then
E: 7.20
A: until 9.05 (2hr5 or 2hr15)
S: 9.10-10.40 (I went through to watch her and maybe HTTJ but she tossed her head and jolted but didnt wake!!)

E: 11.20
A: until 12.50 (2hr15)
S: 12.55-2.40 (HTTJ and she stayed asleep)

E: 2.50
A: until 4.55
S: 4.55-5.35
A: until 7.05
Bed: 7.35

Can teething make them more tired than normal?  She had seemed happy with the longer A times before but she was waking and crying for a minute after 30 mins so maybe these were slightly OT naps even though she was sleeping through?  We were at 2hr15 a few weeks back but she started waking so I increased A time.  Should I try and stick with these shorter As or is she just trying to catch up on sleep from being OT from me increasing A's too soon? 

Anyway we had a good day today and she has seemed a bit happier so I am happier too  .

X

[~Alexa~]

Hi Laura!! I'm glad to know you had a good day!! I think you did a GREAT job by reading your lo's tired signs and putting her down earlier for her naps. 

Teething makes bubs super tired, so it is normal if they cannot handle their usual As. 

If these As worked today, then I would keep them as they are for a couple of days or until you get shorter naps again.  May be she is teething and getting tired earlier, or may be she needs these shorter As for now.  So if they worked today, keep them as they are until you get shorter naps again.

Hope this helps,
Alexa