Couple of questions about naps

[Gina M]

Hi there. I have a 13 week old DD and a 3 yr old DD.
I have read through the nap FAQ's and what a GREAT resource! I have learned so much.
My 3 yr old was a cat napper til she was 6-7 mos old and it was maddening. But from researching this site it looks like most babies figure out day sleep by then. I wish I had not wasted so much time trying to get her to nap longer if she was going to figure it out on her own anyways! LOL.
Seems as if DD#2 is a cat napper too. Sigh...... I was hoping I would get lucky this time around.
 
I do have a couple of questions.

Can you work on extending naps with shushs patt alone? Or do you need to do it with httj? Reason being I am chasing a 3 yr old around too and it is hard to watch for the jolts!

Can you work on extending one nap only? Again because I am chasing around a 3 yr old I do not have time to be in there all day working on naps. Also, both girls are in day care in the mornings and they will not work on the morning nap like I would, so I've given up on that one.
So when they both come home, I can put DD#1 in front of the TV (bad I know, but only temporary!) with her lunch to work on DD#2's second nap.
Typically she wakes at 45 min, I feed her again, so shush-patt and she'll sleep for another 2 hrs.
She is a snacker due to reflux, so I think her short naps are also due to hunger, but she cannot eat too much at once, or the reflux will wake her! We have meds now that are finally working.

So let me know if working on one nap is ok, and just doing shush-patt and not httj.......

Lastly, I am doing naps at specific times rather than A time. This is because daycare and work screw everything up! LOL. So I have to work around that..... I am hoping her little biological clock will work with this.......

Thx
!

[Shiv52]

Working on one nap is grand I'd say but just be aware that if you are doing more set times than A times extending may be difficult in that UT/OT may be an issue.

I only ever used shh-pat for extending and it worked great.  What did help though was not waiting for her to wake at the 45 minute mark but going in at 35 minutes and stirring her a bit and then ssh=patting back to sleep. 

What A times are you doing?

May be worth mentioning that 45 minute wake ups can be a sign that reflux is bothering them as the pain wakes them as they come into the light cycle of sleep. 

She is a snacker due to reflux, so I think her short naps are also due to hunger, but she cannot eat too much at once, or the reflux will wake her! We have meds now that are finally working.

So are you wanting to extend naps without feeding or are you planning to stop that and just ssh-pat to extend?

HTH x

[Gina M]

OK, thanks for the info! 

I am finding that extending the naps is very stressful. I may just stick to several short naps a day and wait for her to take longer naps on her own. A lot of times extending her naps has interfered with my older ones nap time, and even though she is almost 3.5 she NEEDS her nap. I just can't seem to get it all scheduled right no matter what I do! So I guess I have to let it be.

Today my LO actually took two 1 hour naps, and then only a 20 min cat nap. I think I waited too long to put her down for that one. I was able to extend the last one by just letting her sleep on me. DH was home today so I had help with my 3 yr old!

I agree that the pain from the reflux often wakes her, because when I go in, there is milk in her mouth or nose. Poor thing. She sleeps in a pack and play next to us all night because of the reflux. It scares me!

Her night sleep is all over the place due to the reflux as well and because she is hungry. Since she is a snacker she does not eat enough during the day. The only thing I can do about her reflux, hunger and short naps I think is wait it out til she gets older. I believe at 6 months a lot of this goes away on its own.

Her A times are 90 min - 2 hours, and much of it depends on the drop off and pick up for her sister at preschool. I usually rush home to get my LO down for a nap. Granted at times she may be OT, but I can't control it. I can't leave her at home by herself when I go to pick up her sister! If I put her down earlier, I'd have to wake her 20 min into her nap to take her with me. She is not transferrable at all, so she would certainly wake when I picked her up and placed her in the car seat. I feel like I can't win.... 

[Shiv52]

I agree that the pain from the reflux often wakes her, because when I go in, there is milk in her mouth or nose. Poor thing. She sleeps in a pack and play next to us all night because of the reflux. It scares me!

This would scare me too.  is her crib/pack n play  elevated?  If she still in pain extending the naps will be really hard anyways so your plan to just let things be for a bit is probably a good one. 

Its so hard with two LOs to get it all running smoothly.  And its still early days for you.  My DD2 is 6 months now and we're finally in a good (ish) groove. 

Have you posted on the reflux boards for advice on her reflux as it sounds to me like she is still having bother? Poor wee mite xx

[Gina M]

We just started new meds so l am hoping they work! She had a very gassy/reflux day today and it took me an hour or so to calm her down, and then I just let her sleep on me. Yes, she is elevated when sleeping. I will check out the reflux boards now! TY!

[EloysH]

Hi 

Just wanted to drop in to offer support.

It's very hard to extend naps if they are waking due to reflux.  Especially if its quite a bit coming up and out their mouth as it sounds is the case sometimes.   Just a couple of thoughts to help.

Do you hold her upright after a feed - 20 mins or so?
How often are you feeding at night?
Try and elevate her crib 30 degrees or so, that should help her feel more comfortable.
Iif you burp very frequently during the feed that can sometimes help with the spitting up.  I used to find that if I forgt to burp, my refluxers would wake at the 45 mins mark with a huge wet burp.

How long has she been on the new meds.  Often it takes a good few weeks to kick in, so whilst you are waiting for the pain to come under control do what you can to help her get back to sleep, or else just get her up.  But don't break your neck trying to do so.

HTH

Eloise

[Gina M]

Thanks Eloise! That was great info.

Yep, she is elevated when she sleeps. She has only been on the meds a week or so now.

So far it seems to me, if she wakes before the 45 min mark it is due to reflux and she is cranky. At 45 min she cries and I go get her and she SMILES. So short naps it is for now. Maddening! But it is what it is.

I do keep her upright after she eats, but not always at night.

She sleeps from 7pm - 2:30 am, and then after that is up every hour to hour and a half to eat until 7:30 am when she wakes for the day.
Around 6am she is VERY cranky, and I need to use AP to keep her asleep til 7:30.
Sigh......

I am not sure if I burp her enough, so I will work on that as well.