need help with A time for naps

[Nauvoo]

Do you think it's possible that my DD's 30 min naps are because of not enough A time?  Currently she is 12 weeks and I got a great 2 hour nap off of 1hr A time about a week ago but my attempts to reproduce it are not working.  She will be 3 months old in a week and I'm reading that her A time might need to be longer?

[ZacsMumme]

30 min naps are hard, usually they mean OT but sometimes UT and sometimes they are just developmental.

Have you snuck into her room before 30 mins to see how she wakes? Ie jolts? Crying? Wide eyes and looks around? Restless looking for paci? Sometimes this can help identify the problems. If she is jolting then HTTJ can help transition her.

1 hr is a very short S time for a 3 mth old, but that said some LOs first A times are short.
Have you tried to increase her A time yet?
How are her nights?

[B J]

I'm following along as I'm having the same problem with DS2, who is 11.5 weeks.  He will wake at 30 min and usually his eyes just pop open and he looks around.  I can't figure out what the right A time is either and whether he's OT or UT.   I've been aiming for 1h20, sometimes a touch longer, since he is almost 12 weeks and A times should be increasing.  But his naps are all over the place, and when he has a short nap, I don't know what his A time should be either!  I can't seem to find his "sweet spot' for A times!

[ZacsMumme]

BJ have you tried W2S for the 30 min naps
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=649.0
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=213387.0

[Nauvoo]

She does give some very nice 20 min naps on occasion so sometimes I'm glad to have 30 When she wakes after 30 min she usually just starts moving around and slowly wakes up completely. And trying to extend her naps or hold her feet down only works very rarely. Her nights are decent in that she wakes once for a feed and then sleeps till morning.  She does wake rather early which I'm hoping to change in the future when I can get some other things worked out.  I just spent a good 30 min helping her fall asleep and I got 10 min nap from her which makes me think she wasn't really asleep.  This morning she had about 1.5hrs A time and then slept for 2.5hrs in the car seat.  Can I assume she needs 1.5 hours  A time seeing how the nap wasn't in her crib and in the car seat?

[ZacsMumme]

I would certainly try 1.5 hrs and see how she goes. How is her room for naps? Sme LOs need dark and quiet to nap well, white noise can help some, as can a swaddle. she may ave napped well in the car because of the movement and noise for the period she got into deep sleep. The first 20 mins of sleep is light sleep, followed by deep sleep. You may find for a wee while you need to help her or hold red for 20 mins before PD into the cot. Not ideal I know, but if you feel she needs 1 good nap a day you could try this to beat the OT for a week or two.

[Nauvoo]

thanks.  will try 1.5 hrs today.  Usually she goes down with a little patting for her first nap really easy, puts her self to sleep for the most part.  but for the rest of the day, forget it.  I do hold her for 20 min or so to help her through the jolts so she can sleep.  I will look into white noise thought because her nap in the car seat was at an event that was pretty super super loud!!!!

[Nauvoo]

Well I tried 1.5 hrs yesterday for 1st A time and got a 45 in nap so I cut back and tired for 1hr 15min today but it ended up being 1hr 20 min and I got a 30 min nap.  Can I assume this is OT?

[ZacsMumme]

Your LO may prefer a short first A time, you me tinned that lovely long nap after 1 hr first A but was that a 1 off? If so I would try different As. But no more than 1.5 hrs. if you consistently get 30 mins I would try W2S and see if it helps. ( or HTTJ if your LOis jolting.)

[B J]

I don't want to hijack your post Nauvoo, but I just wanted to let you know that I tried Sara's suggestion of W2S.  I tried it at 25 min first (didn't) work and then 28 min & also did httj at the same time.  I think it's httj that has helped.  I've noticed that I need to httj from the 25 - 40 min mark and he will keep sleeping!  This has been a big improvement for us, as the only way I could get him to take a decent nap was in the swing.   I've been aiming for 1.5h A time the last few days.  Not sure if it's the right amount of A time, as he hasn't been showing his tired signs now so he fights it when I put him in his crib and I do shush/pat for about 10 min and then he falls asleep. 

[ZacsMumme]

Thanks for your help and advice BJ HTTJ helped us too back in the day how old is your LO?

[B J]

DS2 is 12 weeks tomorrow.

[ZacsMumme]

1.5hrs is a pretty decent A time for a 12 week old. You could find the fighting is either OT or UT though (gross aye!) you could try 10mins earlier to see if he settles easier and if that doesn't work try an extra 5 or so

Great the HTTJ is helping

[Nauvoo]

will try to httj for tomorrows morning nap.  So how do you do W2S?
Also, DD is taking at least 1 20min nap a day!  Why 20 min?  I don't get it.  But I know that I like 30 lots better than 20   It seems that the 20 min nap is most common after about 1pm no matter if she has just had a short nap or a long nap.  And the only way we get long naps B J is in the swing or the car seat, so thanks for the advice about W2S, will give it a try tomorrow.

[B J]

For W2S, the goal is to get LO to stir and start a new sleep cycle.  I tickle DS behind the ear or if that doesn't work, I scratch his ear.  You just want them to stir a bit but not wake up! 

For the 20 min naps, could it be that DD is having trouble transitioning from light sleep to deep sleep?  I believe it takes 20 min for them to get into deep sleep.  Maybe even try httj at 20 min?

With my DS, he will stir a few times during the first 20 min, and sometimes his eyes even pop open.  DS doesn't fall asleep independently yet, so I have to hold him to sleep for 20 min before I put him in the swing.  If I want him to sleep in the crib, I try to put him down when his eyelids get heavy and I start shush/pat.  After a few min of his eyes being closed, I just pat, up to 10 min, and then I hold my hand on his back for the next 10 min.  I don't let go until just after 20 min, as he sometimes will stir/eyes pop open after 5 or 10 or 15 min and then I start shush/pat again.

HTTJ isn't working perfectly for us.  I tried a nap yesterday with just httj starting at 25 min, but he still woke up at 32 min.  I didn't do W2S, so I will go back to doing both.