Short day naps or literally no day naps at all!! HELP!

[JBS]

Hi there

I am reading this with great interest as my wee man has the same issues with very short naps leading to OT by mid afternoon. I am at the end of my tether and have been in major tears today.  Cry

I just don't know what to do! My EASY routine is out the window- because I end up not knowing what to do after his short nap as it is not E time again- but was encouraged to see that perhaps at this stage it might look more like EASA E.

Sam will be 10 weeks on Monday. He does the typical waking after 20 mins or 45 mins. I try to resettle but he gets more wound up and by the afternoon is hysterical unless I hold him. If he only does 20 mins then I try to resettle but often he gets really wound up when I put him back down or stop patting him. If he manages 45 mins (which isn't often) then I am happier to just let him get up.

He is great at nights though. Down by 6.30pm (would prefer 7 but with the awful days it usually ends up that he is ready for bed by 6.30!) DF at 10.45pm, wakes for feed at 3.30 and then usually back to sleep til 7 though can be 6 with whimpering til 7 when I go to him. I start every day thinking that it will work out but it goes pear shaped very quickly.

I am wondering how long to give him for A - I usually give him just over an hour. Maybe he needs longer. I put him down and am happy to let him grizzle as I know that he uses that to self settle. Have tried shh/pat but to be honest it took as long if not longer for him to sleep as when I just leave him to self settle, and he still woke up at the same stage.

So today being a typical day, I reckon he got a grand total of an hour and half of sleep! Great - not!

I feel so sad that my days are spent obsessing about his lack of sleep. I get so wound up and upset.
 Sad Cry

What can I do to help him sleep through his naps? I am confused about when to use wake to sleep versus HTTJ's. I tried HTTJ today he totally woke up and then got all upset.

HELP me please!!

My EASY routine - today's example

7am E and A
8.15 S - took half an hour to settle
8.45 slept
9.15 woke and was unsettled
10.15 E and A
11.15 S (at a friends house)
11.45 woke up
1.15 E and A
2.20 S (took 20 mins to get to sleep)
2.40 slept
3.15 woke and very unsettled and cranky
4.00 E and A (incl bath etc)
6.30 S
10.45 Dreamfeed (if it goes to plan as it normally does)

[*Jo*]

HI Jen!

ok, so when your routine starts at 7 is that the wake up time as well??
Here are the general A times for each age:

Awake time for babies (remembering that A time is "eyes open to eyes shut")
Newborn 50-60 mins
1 month 60 mins-hour and 15
2 months 1 hour and 15 - 20 mins
3 months 1 hour and 20 - 30 mins
4 months 1 hour and 45 - 2 hours
5 months 2 hours - 2.25 hours

im thinking that by taking so long to settle for the first nap that perhaps he isnt ready for bed just yet?? do you have a long wind down time? it could be that he is in between the 2 month and 3 month A time so creeping up to 1 hour 20mins? what type is your little guy? angel, Spirited etc?

also:

Do you swaddle him? does he take a paci? is his room darkened?

[Pens Fan]

hi ya- this is a phase and you will work thru it. Big hugs to you I know how disheartening short naps can be - it will get better.

It sounds like your LO is a mixture of undertired for his first nap then overtired for his later naps.  your EASY looks like you are having between 1 hour A time earlier in the day and then 3.15 hours A later in the day.  ( a rule of thumb is 45 mins of sleep is undertired and 30 mins is overtired)  I think by getting the A time right -(it will take a few days maybe weeks to get it right) you will have longer naps.

I would recommend trying to move to a 3.5 hour easy in prep for 4 hours around 4 months.   I will have a hunt for sample routines for you as I know they are on the site.

When we were working on Routine I cleared all commitments for a week and just stayed home and worked on naps and that was a real asset as you can then just focus on it and give time to helping them get used to it.

Do you use a swaddle?  This may help with the fussing and may be worth a try.

Let me search for EASY samples for you

[Pens Fan]

Sample routines for you - aim to get to 4 hours around 4 months.

3-hour EASY:

E: 7.00 wake up and feed
A: 7.30 or 7.45 (depending on how long feed takes)
S: 8.30 (1.5hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 10.00
A: 10.30 or 10.45
S: 11.30 (1.5hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 1.00
A: 1.30 or 1.45
S: 2.30 (1.5hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 4.00 feed
S: 5.00 or 6.00 or somewhere in between – catnap (approx. 40mins) to get baby through the next feed and bath
E: 7.00 (cluster feed at 7 and 9 if going through a growth spurt)
A: bath
S: 7.30 bedtime
Y: the evening is yours
E: 10 or 11pm dreamfeed



3.5-hour EASY:

E: 7.00 wake up and feed
A: 7.30 or 7.45 (depending on how long feed takes)
S: 8.30 (1.5hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 10.30
A: 11.00 or 11.15
S: 12.30 (1.5hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 2.00
A: 2.30 or 2.45
S: 3.30 (1.5hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 5.30 feed
A: inc. bath time
E: 7.00/7.30 (cluster feed)
S: 7.30/8pm bedtime
Y: the evening is yours
E: 10 or 11pm dreamfeed



4-hr EASY

E: 7.00 wake up and feed
A: 7.30
S: 9.00 (for 1.5-2hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 11.00
A: 11.30
S: 1.00 (1.5-2hr nap)
Y: your choice
E: 3.00
A: 3.30
S: 5.00 or 6.00 or somewhere in between – catnap
Y: your choice
E: 7.00 (cluster feed at 7 and 9 during a growth spurt)
A: bath
S: 7.30 bedtime
Y: the evening is yours
E: 10 or 11pm dreamfeed (until 7 or 8mths or whenever solid food is firmly established).