40Min jolt help back to sleep

[erin122]

Help please
I'm trying to get by DD through her 4month growth spurt and right now she's doing the horrible 45min naps.  I go in for her jolts and can almost get her to close her eyes but then in an instant she's wide awake.  I don't know if I'm doing it wrong or what but then after she's awake she's rolling around and waving her arms.  This is what I've been trying to do.

So I'm there at about 30-35min so I dont miss the jolt.  As BW said she does it at the 38min mark.  I hold her arms down one with each of my hands as she`s not swaddled anymore and she sleeps with her arms out wide.  She has about 3 shakes and is almost back to sleep and then is just wide awake.  So now I`m not sure what is more effective just holding her by putting my hand on her chest waiting till she goes back to sleep.  Or patting her back to sleep.  One problem I`ve had is she`s wide awake and is always wanting to grab and hold my hand which distracts her even more.

Any success stories with LO`s like mine.

[Aishi]

Can I ask why she's not swaddled anymore? U could use a sleep sack- her arms would still be free but it may help with jolts a little. Every lo is diff so I guess I would use whatever method works with her. You could try to go in at 30min mark and gently pat till she goes through jolts and wait till she's in deep sleep (about 20min). Or try other methods in This link

How do I address habitual wakings? (wake-to-sleep and other methods)

[erin122]

THanks.  Maybe I wasn't waiting long enough.  She's been out of a swaddle for about a month and a bit now.  She grew out of her swaddle blanket that kept her in tight.  Without that she wouldn't stay in a swaddle and would break free everytime.  After we got rid of it and put her in a sleep sack she's happy.

[Aishi]

If extending naps doesn't work you could try increasing first a time of day by 5-10 mi. to see if she does a longer nap as 45min Naps are classic UT...hold new a time for few days to give lo time to adjust and once you're getting a restorative 1.5h nap u can work on increasing second a time and improving second nap...

Remember to keep next a short by 10-15 mins if u get a less than restorative first nap when extending a times. Hth

[erin122]

We're still having trouble but more of an improvement.  She's now on a 3.5h EASY with A time of 1.75h.  When I hold her at the jolts I can almost get her to go back to sleep it's so close but still won't fall into that deep sleep again.  Do you think this just needs time for her to help herself back to sleep.  Over time she will learn.  Or do you think she is still UT?
The most I could push her time is 5min more, by the time I'm putting her to bed now it takes little effort for her to go down so it seems her A time is perfect for her right now.  Plus she's quite fussy and ready to nap by that time too.

She has been napping up until about 3 weeks ago in her swing and still does the morning nap in there so I can get a nap in the morning.  No matter when during the day I can get her past that 40min jolt in her swing.  I dont even have to go in there to help her she just drifts back to sleep on her own.  But in the crib she has trouble.  I want her to get her decent amount of sleep during the day but I don't want to go one step back and put her in the swing when I'm so close to having her sleep in her crib.  (note:  I'm not sure if I said before but at night she sleeps in her crib and doesn't wake up at all, she can go right back to sleep on her own)

I'm going to keep at the jolts holding her through them, but any successful advice would sure help    It's getting tough especially because my DH can't help her back to sleep when she starts crying, its too hard for him

Thanks for your advice   I have faith our full naps are just around the corner...

[lily_layne]

We're also struggling with the 40 minute jolts at my house.  I've had success with patting but I found that I have to be persistent (20-40 minutes) and it helped to make sure the room was really dark.  After a few days of patting, DD was getting through the jolts on her own most days for a week or so but lately she's gone back to short naps.  Thanks to Aishi's advice, I'm working on extending A times but it's not going well right now because we've been all over the map lately because of doctor's appointments and immunizations!  One thing I've found is that when DD goes to sleep easily she almost always has a UT short nap.  When she cries a bit (a minute or 2)and needs a few pats we usually get a better nap.  I'm trying to figure out that magic A time where she goes to sleep easily and has a good nap!

[Aishi]

4mo is normal sleep regression and I'm afraid if its not routine related then its just something you have to ride out and just continue extending naps as you can...Erin can you post your current easy so we can see if a routine tweak will help...if it is then you may be able to het that first nap in the crib too...i would try to get first nap in crib too and apop the last nap in swing if u need to as that will be dropped eventually...also how old is you lo now??

[erin122]

Because of the nap and the 4mo growth spurt her routine is all over but this is generally what its been following the past week as she's been waking most mornings early (this routine is with no success of getting her back to sleep:

630 or 700 am (wake) and E  (note because of her growth spurt she eats so often that she's hungry by 630, though normally she wakes at 700
700 A
800 wind down - 815 S (and this nap is the one in the swing)
1010 E
1030 A
1140 wind down - 1150 S
1230 awake, I try to shh/pat back to sleep usually I can't and then I pick her up to eat
130 E
150 A
230 wind down - 245 S
320 awake (repeat shh/pat)
about 430 E
500 A
catnap then at 530 - 600pm
600 E
615 A (bath time, jammies etc)
630 cluster feed then asleep by 7

Yesterday her last nap was so close, I thought she fell back asleep but she just cant get back into that deep sleep again.  After patting her for 10min and her eyes are closed she jolts herself up.  Its like right when she's hitting that deep sleep instead of melting into sleep she wakes herself.  I feel like we're slowly getting there, everyday sure feels likes an improvement.

Thanks lily_layne for the post, I'm in the process of putting up some dark curtains as her blinds were just not dark enough so in the mean time we just have a sheet pinned up which I dont think helps 100% so maybe these curtains will help her be less distracted and want to close her eyes.  I've tried shielding her eyes but that just aggravates her more
She's sleeping now so I just have to wait and see how this goes.

I think I'll go to bed early tonight so I can tackle that morning nap in her crib and then do the last one in her swing like you suggested Aishi.  And my LO is 4mo and a week on Saturday.  So she just turned 4mo. 

[Aishi]

Just some links that may help

Typical Amounts of Day and Night Sleep
Is my baby ready to increase his ‘A’ time? (incl. 'A' times for younger babies)

Average a times are 1h45-2hrs. Your second a is actually only 1h30 well below average...is your lo angel or textbook? If so you could increase that second a by 10-15 min. if not then increase by 5 min and hold new a time for 3-4 days to give lo time to adjust. Once you're gettin 1.5h restorative nap you can work on next a time and nap. Remember after a short nap to shorten next a too by 10-15 min to prevent OT naps. Hth!

[erin122]

Thanks.  I've been cutting down the last 2 A times as she wasnt getting decent naps why I get her to sleep 15min early.  I'll try all that
She just woke up and I git her to go back for 10m so slowly she's learning.  I'll try new times tomorrow, do you suggest to still go in and hold her through jolts or stand back and observe, and see if she'll fall back asleep on her own.

thanks!

[Aishi]

I would prob hold for first nap since you I ow that's usually a long one but cos she's in crib she may find difficult to adjust...and try to leave her for second nap...

[lily_layne]

After patting her for 10min and her eyes are closed she jolts herself up.  Its like right when she's hitting that deep sleep instead of melting into sleep she wakes herself.

My LO does that too and it's at that point that I used to give up patting because it seems like a lost cause, but I've learned that when she does the big jolt and lots of head movement she's actually very close to going back to sleep.  On days when I'm rested and have the patience to keep patting through that last big jolt, she usually goes back to sleep for at least another half hour.

[erin122]

Thanks for the advice... I stuck it out for the 2nd nap (no success after first nap).
- oh and I extended her A time in the morning by 10min extra, she did great! -
so far the nap I let her try to manage on her own, I let her fuss and stir a bit to see if she could do it, she popped her paci out so i went in to put back in and see if she'd go back down but then after trying for about 5min she started crying so then I went in to comfort her to pat her back to sleep.  I managed to get her past that falling back asleep jolt and patted for another 3-5min and she was good.  It's been about 35min, so I'm going to let her sleep until she wakes which should be the next sleep cycle jolt. (fingers crossed)
 What I did differently was I put her blankie against the side of her face as she likes that for comfort and patted her to sleep.  She loves it, but that just means I have to go in to check on her all the time to make sure she hasn't smothered her face.  I do that for her in her swing just have it lightly by her face and she loves it, usually she's to sleep in 5min.  It really comforts her.  So maybe when I put her down next I'll try that again and maybe it will help get herself through that transition.

Any luck with you lily_layne?  How long have you been at it?

I think it's just something

[lily_layne]

We've been at it for about a month - some days we're successful at extending, some days she has great naps on her own and some days there's nothing I can do to get her past the 40 min mark!

[erin122]

I guess I have at least another 3-4 weeks ahead of me to go.  Any luck with your little one lily_layne?

For me I had a break thru today, though I don't know if it's because she had a slight fever today from immunizations yesterday so I gave her some baby tylenol so maybe that's helping her sleep.  I tried one of the other W2S approaches as I tried holding the jolts for about 2 weeks now and want to see if something else worked.  And it did! We're on 1h 15min so far.  So I took your advice and to wait for that one jolt after she falls asleep and then pull away.  I had my watch with me and noticed it was around the 55min-1h mark of her nap.  So what I did was I went in and kinda held her still through the jolts but did the pat method as the shh/pat really calms her instead of holding her through the jolts.  I think i'll try this for the week and then see how she does on her own.  I'm so proud of myself for sticking it out even if the rest of the week is bad I can see a turn for the better. (and they are doing construction across the street and shaking our house! lol)

lets hope the next nap goes just as well.  I hope your seeing some progress too.