Too Short Naps?

[T.O.Mum]

Hi - This is my first time posting and was looking for help with my 3.5 month old.  He won't generally nap for more then 1/2 an hour at a time and I'm wondering if he should be sleeping for longer and if so how to extend his naps.  I've tried letting him cry for a bit in his crib but he normally doesn't settle himself and I've also tried going in when he first stirs to see if I can get him back down but he's normally wide awake and won't go down again.  His routine is essentially as follows:

7:00 am - wake up, feed and play until about 8:30 then a little quite time about 5 - 10 min then put down for nap.  I usually rock him to sleep then put him in his crib but lately I've been trying to put him in his crib and stay in his room shhing and patting him until he falls asleep without me.  There has been some success with this.

Around 9:00/9:30ish he wakes up and I'll try to sshh him but he normally won't go back to sleep so I'll place him in his swing so he'll hopefully get a bit more sleep and let get some chores done.  He normally falls asleep again till his next feeding time.

10:00 repeat all of the above and he normally goes down around 11:30ish and then up again a half hour or so later so I repeat the above.

1:00 pm repeat above

4:00 repeat above

7:00 add in a bath every other night then a little quiet time then straight to bed with no activity time.  He generally goes down but about7:30/8:00ish

10:00 dream feed

3:30/4:00 am quick feed

7:00 am repeat all of the above.

Thanks in advance for any help, Michelle

[becky1969]

At this age most LOs can handle about 1h30 of A time.  That is from the moment their eyes open until the moment they close them in sleep. Your initial A time is too long by about 10-20 minutes it sounds like (at least).

when you're trying to accomplish an A time of 1h30 you start your wind down around 1h15 so that LO has time to go thru wind down ritual and also has 5-10 minutes to fall asleep.  I'm glad you're using shush/pat, and he'll get better and better at falling asleep that way.  You'll probably find that he falls asleep even faster once you get him in the right A time zone.

Try that for a couple of days, and then let me know how ti goes!  Be REALLY strict about the A time and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

[T.O.Mum]

Thank you for the advice!  I'll give it a try and will let you know how it goes in a few days!

[T.O.Mum]

Hi - I've been more strict with my A time and it still doesn't seem to be working in terms of extending his sleeps.  When he tries to wake up early I've been using shh pat to try to get him to go down but it seems to be working less and less I'm worried that he might start to get reliant on me always coming in.  My pediatrician says that some babies only need 1/2 hour naps ... could that be the case or do you know of anything else I should try.  At the end of February he'll be 4 months so it seems as though he should be going to the 3.5 hour or 4 hour schedule but I don't know if I can/should do that if he isn't getting the 1.5 naps.  Please let me know what you think!  Thank you in advance, Michelle

[becky1969]

Try 1h40 for 2-3 days and let me know how it goes.