eyes wide open in the middle of the nap. What does it mean?

[eaf]

Hi! DDs is 6 wo, EBF, textbook/angel/spirited (is that possible?), loosely following EASY since week 4. About ten days ago we started putting her in the crib for almost all her naps with SSHH/pat, and I guess so far we're doing well! Al least she doesn't cry for the whole duration of the naps as DS used to do when we first started EASY with him!
After our wind down routine (go to her room, close door, turn white noise on, swaddle, close curtains, song, a little rocking if necessary), we put her in the crib and usually she fusses and cries for about 10 mins and then closes her eyes. That's when I understand her nap begins. But she usually remains unsettled for the next 20 mins, sometimes more agitated, sometimes less. About 50% of the times I have to continue SSHHing and pating until the 20th minute. During that period she fusses, whines, sometimes cries and a lot of the times she opens her eyes completely. There have been naps in which her eyes were completely open for more than 5 minutes! I continue with the SSHHH/pat, as if nothing odd was going on, just being careful to stay out of her sight, and 9 times out of 10 she closes her eyes eventually and continue napping. But sometimes when she reaches the 20 min mark she just start crying inconsolably and the nap ends. Normally after the rough beginning she transitions well and I have to wake her up from about half of her naps to feed her. But yesterday, she just carried on opening her eyes for the whole duration of her morning nap, and I had to SSHH/pat for 50 min! When I stopped (cause I needed to pee!), she woke up.
What do the open eyes mean? Is she awake when she does that? And is it a sign of OT? Our A is between 1h and 1h15.
Does that happen to your LOs too? Is it developmental? She is starting to pay more attention to everything now, so I thought that maybe it would go away when she is a bit older. Did you do something to prevent it from happening?
Thank you for any ideas, advice etc!

[eaf]

Ok, so it happened again this morning. 20 min of intermittent fussing, crying and opening of the eyes, then wide awake and crying loud. She ended up falling asleep again in my arms, I transferred her to the crib and she woke up at the 30 min mark (counted from when she fell asleep in my arms).
A time was exactly 1h08min (from eyes open in the morning, 7h, to eyes closed in the crib, 8h08min). At the moment I believe it's OT that is disturbing her sleep, so I fed her when he woke at 9h, we had a mini A of 30 min and back to her room for winddown. She fell asleep at 45 min of A. I had to SHH/pat for the first 25min but then she settled and has been sleeping for 40 min now.
Could it be that she need an A of 45min? Isn't it too short? Won't she end up having too much sleep during the day? Currently we usually have to wake her up from at least one of her naps either for a feed or to prevent going over 5,5 hours of sleep during the day. Our nights have been reasonably well, from 7 to 7, with 2 or 3 awakenings (no DF). She is in a good mood most of her awake time.
So what do you think, should I try radically reducing her A?

[creations]

Hi eaf.  I also started DS on a gentle EASY from about 4 wks.  Sounds like you're doing well with your nights even though the naps are a bit confusing at the moment.
I only have a minute now, just wanted you to know that I've read your post and been trying to reply but DS and I both have colds so between his extra cuddles and my coughing there hasn't been much time for getting on the computer.  I'll be back later.
x

[creations]

OK, back.
In answer to your main question re eyes open.  It sounds like the 'seven mile stare' which Tracy describes as one of the stages of a LO falling to sleep.  I remember my LO sometimes going the entire length of a nap seemingly with his eyes open (although he must have blinked occasionally!) just gazing, but content and relaxed.  I left him to it.  If he started to fuss I firstly reassured him I was there and if he continued then I did as you are and tried to settle in the cot with shush pat or a hand rubbing his tummy whilst he was still swaddled, the motion was soothing but it meant he remained in the cot more often.  At that young age I even rocked the cot a little (although Tracy didn't advise rocking, lots of people use a little AP at such a young age.  I don't think it does any harm so long as you're you still have your mind on independence).  If she is calm with her eyes open she is still getting some rest even if not sleep, so it's better than a highly stimulating A time.

With regard your A and S times.  It sounds as though you are starting to time the S from eyes closing but your LO isn't yet asleep if she is fussing, crying or moaning with her eyes closed, therefore this still counts as A time.  Anything that is not sleeping is counted as A.
For example today
WU 7.00
A 7.00 (including 8.08 in the cot fussing for 20 mins) = 1 hr 30
S 8.30 (you say she slept for 30 mins in your arms waking at 9.00)
A 9.00 (30 mins plus 25 mins of shush pat) = 55 mins
S 9.55

Do I have this right?  It looks like her A times were 1 hr 30 (rather than 1 hr and 55 mins (rather than 45 min).
After her first short nap it would be right to have a shorter A time than usual.  So to answer your question about reducing A times, yes after a short nap, but not if she has had a good nap.  You wouldn't be reducing every A to 45 mins so unlikely to get too much sleep in the day.  I'm not totally sure how you're getting more than 5 hr 30 day sleep if the naps are usually short and with a lot of fussing and soothing prior to the nap, it could be that you're counting cot time as S rather than actual sleep time.  What do you think?

I think at this age, with short naps and with the possible OT I wouldn't wake from a nap.  If she was sleeping 5 hrs straight in the day then this would signal day and night confusion but it doesn't sound like that's the problem here.  It's ok to be flexible with your EASY, she would wake if she was hungry so it most likely prioritising sleep as biggest need at the time.  When she wakes, if it has gone past her E time, feed then start counting her next E time from then.  This way you'll avoid OT and she will also learn to transition between sleep cycles on her own.

When DS was that young I often held him until his eyes were nodding and he was just about to fall asleep, then I'd tell him I was putting him down so he could have a proper sleep.  If he began to fuss as I put him down I'd continue to leave my hands on him, shush/pat and see if his fussing reduced.  If it began to escalate I cuddled some more until he was again drowsy and repeat the process of telling him I was putting him down.
I felt it was important he knew he was being put down so he didn't get a surprise when he transitioned or woke and he was also learning to fall to sleep on the mattress instead of in my arms.  I need to stress this is not PUPD as there was no waiting for him to cry, it was a very gentle move to the cot with lots of cuddles and reassurance.

Let us know how you get on.

[eaf]

So sorry that you are not feeling well... Hope you and your LO get better from you cold soon!
Thank you for your answer! This forum is so amazing, and your feedback is so so important to us!! 
I thought about that, counting those first fussy minutes as awake time. But the thing is she is not with her eyes open all the time, neither is she crying or fussing all the time. She sighs every 5 mins, looks like she is sleeping most of the time and often calms down exactly at the 20 min mark and remains calm for the rest of the nap. I took those as signs that she was going though the first stages of her sleep cycle, but you could be right!
No success this morning either. First nap she fell asleep in my arms in the rocking chair, as she didn't settle in the crib again. I transferred her to the crib at 35min and she woke up at 45 min. The same as yesterday: I fed her, 30 min A, WD, she fell asleep in the crib at 50min of A time. remained a little restless for the first 30min (opened her eyes a fem times  cried just a little bit) and we're hitting the 45 min mark now.
What I'll do from now on is try and start WD at the 35 or 40 min max, 30 if the previous nap was short, and see what happens. The idea I guess is have her sleeping in the crib (whatever that is.....) between 45min and 50min.
About the total amount of sleep during the day, the thing is she alternates between short, restless naps and nice big ones. Yesterday and the day before she had a short nap and a big one in the morning, and then a short and a big one in the afternoon. A time before the long naps was 45min and 50min. Although the naps before had been short, i guess it won't hurt if I aim for that all the time, since A before long naps was 1h08 and 1h - well, that if I don't count those 20 min of fussiness and the 10 min to resettle as A....  confused!!
Thank you again, and hope you feel better soon!!

[lidiayy]

C, a quick question based on your pp. Is yawning to be considered awake time? I say so because sometimes I am not sure when to start counting the "20" mins we have to be close o LO. And sometimes she yawns when transitioning from one cycle o the other....
BTW, healthy vibes or you and your LO.

[creations]

Thanks for the vibes.
Yawning is A time.  Anything that's not asleep is awake and anything awake is Activity.
However, if your LO is already asleep and transitioning and succeeds in the transition then it's still sleep.  Sounds confusing when I type it like that but adults transition too and we turn over, have a scratch etc we don't remember this by morning because we just slightly came out of sleep and back in.
hth