Need help fixing 30 min naps

[Eoj]

My daughter is 4 months old and we had been sort of following EASY, but not at night, then everything fell apart so we are trying to follow more closely.  Naps have always been a struggle as it seems no matter how early I start she has to fuss.  I try to get her to sleep at 2-2.5 hours after she awakes.  She usually goes down ok, but wakes 30 mins in and will not resettle.  I tried picking her up to calm her with pat/shhh but the minute I set her down she's wide awake and won't take soother like at start of nap.  If I pick her up she screams, clearly tired.  Eventually she calms so I set her down.  Then it all repeats.  I end doing this until end of "naptime" and then it's time to feed her and she nurses to sleep.  Argh!  How do I get her to not wake up?  Or to resettle if she does wake?  Should she have shorter A time in the first place?  Feeling exhausted and frustrated.

A good day is something like this:
7am - eat
9:30 - sleep
11:00 - eat
1:00 -  sleep
2:00 - eat
4:30 - catnap
5:00 - eat
7:00  - eat
7:30 - bath
8:00 - bedtime
8:30 - asleep
10:30 - dreamfeed
3:15 - eat

But she hasn't had a decent daytime nap in ages.

[Eoj]

So her third nap today lasted 45 minutes (the first 2 were only 30) but again she seemed wide awake.  She would briefly settle with patting and shhhing on my shoulder and sucked her thumb but when I laid her down she'd kick her legs and be wide awake.  I only gave it 10 minutes before feeding her this time as I need to get in enough feedings and this 5pm one is only #4.  She will have another around 6:30 or 7, then a DF around 10:30.

I just feel like I must be doing the pat shh or pu/pd wrong.  I know I haven't been doing it long but I don't want to be investing all this energy for naught.  They're supposed to be between stage 2 and 3 when you set them down, right?  If we just set her down awake she doesn't fall asleep, just kicks wildly.  I then pick her up if she cries or seems too awake (kicking or plucking the soother out of her mouth with her hands or just looking all around alert) and pat and shush til she seems calmer and will settle when I lay her down.  I can't really pat once she's down since she sleeps on her back.  I tried stroking her head instead.  I try to slowly phase out the shushing and walk away while her eyes are still open.  I watch from the doorway and see she does fall asleep.

Am I on the right track?

[Erin M]

Have you had a read of this thread in the FAQs?
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=85499.0
It has some good advice. There are also stickies on doing pat/shh and pu/pd that give very specific advice.  Let me know if you need help finding them.
Your first A time may be a bit long or a bit too stimulating for her.  What happens if you cut your first A time down to 2 hours?
Hang in there, teaching sleep is a lot of work on the front end but IMO totally worth it!

[Eoj]

I tried an A time of 2 hours yesterday, and still ended up with four short naps: 30, 30, 45, 45 minutes.  Today I did 1.5 hours of A time for the first nap, and so far, she's been asleep nearly 2 hours!  So I think maybe it's just she's not ready for the longer A time yet, even though she's 4 months old.  We'll see how it plays out in the next few days I guess.

[Erin M]

Good work!  There are some sample EASY schedules for babies of different ages in the EASY forum, you'll find there's a great deal of variation at any age!

[tamimum]

since noone responded to my thread and idesperatly need help i decided to write here. my baby is 7 weeks old. we are having terrible sleeping problems. her naps hardly last 30 min. she seems OT. we are following the 3 hr EASY. how do i fix her overtireness? we re trying the shsh pat but it onlyworks as i said for 30 min maximum and then we have to start all over again. she can barelly take 40 min of activity and she starts to fuss. please help!!!

[snowbird]

Tamimum - sorry no one's been able to help you! Can you post your easy and will take a look and do my best.

[ZacsMumme]

(HUGS) hun.

4 months is a TOUGH time. First there is teething, developmental changes, increased mobility and along with all this comes a change i nthe ways babies sleep. They start to sleep more like we do and stir more in the night as they cycle in and out of sleep states. During this time they wake, and some can not put themselves back to sleep. It is something they are learning.

THis is the time that a lot of things such as dummies and the breast can become strong props.

All that aside, you are right, it looks like your LO is OT. We had a similar thing when DS was 4 months old and the 30min naps started. For us, W2S and HTTJ helped. Do you know what these methods are and how to use them? This could be a good way to get your LO caught up on lost sleep so that she can then get into a routine and if needed you can do some sleep training.

You also need to remember when they have short naps, their A times will decrease as they are not refreshed, the edge has just been taken off. I would reduce each A time after a short nap 20mins or even more (it all depends on the LO) but watch for those signs. It will mean you are putting her down more often, but she needs to catch up on that OT

[tamimum]

our EASY is:
6: E
6:30-7:00 : A
7:00-7:30: trying to put to sleep, swadeled, dark room, short rocking to calm her down and then shh pat
7:30 : looks asleep
8:00 awakes and i can' t put her back to sleep up until the next feeding at 9
9:00 E
and the all over again.
we're not doing the cluster feeding in the evening though

[ZacsMumme]

tamimum have you tried putting her down slightly earlier for that first Nap? If you do, do you get the same problem? Maybe she needs a short first A.

Also for your A time do you do anything stimulating? If so cut it out and see if she settles better. Some small babies cant cope wth too much stimulation. Keep the TV away from her, no noisy jiggly toys etc. Things like black and white pictures and your face is all she needs at this young age. Singing is also good, andwalks around the garden.

[tamimum]

thank you. i ll try cutting out the mobile, this is the obly overstimulating activity thAt she has

[ZacsMumme]

Or maybe even give her the mobile for 5 mins earlier in her A time if you can fit it in. (Not sure when you put it on but if just before bed it could OS)