Short Naps on the EASY routine

[JDUB]

I am new to the baby whisperer methods, but am hopeful that they will work for us.

Jude is my first baby and he is 15 weeks. About one month ago he started taking 45 minute naps. We have been on a routine since the beginning, but the short naps make it difficult. He isn't hungry when we wakes up. I don't rush in to get him in hopes that he will fall back to sleep.

For the last three days we have been using the Four "S" to get Jude to sleep. We had to take away his pacifier because it had become a prop (accidental parenting, for sure). He had a few longer naps ranging from 1 hour to 1.5 hours, but nothing consistent. His consistent naps are 45 minutes. Our typical routine would be wake up - eat (only takes about 10 - 15 minutes due to his efficiency) - activity until around 1 hour - begin winding down/soothing - asleep about 1:15 to 1:20 (if all goes well) - sleeps (45 minutes) and then it would be "time" to eat again according to the EASY routine, but he isn't hungry yet. How do I reconcile the EASY routine and short naps/short active times (according to his cues - yawn, cuddling into neck, etc)? He should not be eating every two hours at his age.

Before the 45 minute naps started he was doing a 2:45 to 3 hour routine. There have even been times when he goes 3.5 hours happily.

The other issue we are dealing with is swaddling. He seems to hate it. He's calm during "setting the scene", but at the swaddle time he starts screaming. I would categorize him as a Spirited baby. I have read that Spirited babies can dislike the swaddle due to its constraints, but I'm not seeing any suggestion on how to deal with it. I am going to try the Aussie Swaddle and then the sleep sack with his arms inside to see if it gets better. Thoughts?

[Mjaz]

Hello and welcome.

Firstly, 45 minute naps are completely and totally normal at this age (as I found out the hard way!) - it's developmental and you're going to have to put in some work to help him figure it out.  My LO started the 45 min, naps at about 16 weeks.  He is now 21 weeks and has just begun to make it through the 45 min. mark.  Basically, their sleep cycle is 45 minutes, so your LO is waking because he enters a light sleep and is having trouble transitioning to the next cycle.  I would encourage you to read the Sleep FAQs here on the boards as well as search for "45 min nap" - you will have tons of reading material

There are several ways to extend his nap - take a read and let me know what questions you have! 

Personally I would *start* the swaddle at this point.  Has he been swaddled or are you trying to introduce it?  My LO stopped wanting it as soon as he found his fingers...and I figured that his ability to self-soothe by sucking on his fingers was a great thing.  We dropped the swaddle with no issues.  So...if he hasn't been swaddled I'm not surprised he doesn't want to start!

HTH,
Melinda

[becky1969]

Your A time may now be too short.  If he's 15 weeks, a more typical A time would be about 1h45 or so.  I'd increase As and see if LO's naps get longer!