40 min nap 2 mos old -how to fix?

[crazymama2]

DD is 10 wks old and has been a great napper or so i thought. As our nights improved - 3rd night in a row she's benn sleeping 12 hrs with 1 feed, her naps are only 40-45 min long. Today is 2nd day i am trying wake to sleep where i come in and get her to stir @30 min mark, yet she still wakes up 10 min later. Her A time is 1h to 1h20 min. She wakes up crying and screaming and wanting to sleep and tries to fall asleep in my arms. Shh shh pat pat does not work.

[crazymama2]

still doing the wake to sleep and still 10 min later DD wakes up crying . I also limit her stimulation during the A time

[*Kara*]

Sounds as though she is a touch UT when she goes down for her nap.  Have you tried keeping her A time consistently at 1 hr 20 mins (1hr is too little for her age)?

[crazymama2]

hmmm no i haven't been consistent. I didn't realize that babies can actually be UT and that can affect their sleep.

[*Kara*]

Absolutely will cause short naps.  Baby will sleep one cycle of 45 mins, wake up and not be tired enough to transition to the next sleep cycle, this will then cause baby to be OT for next nap and create a whole new set of challenges.

I would first keep A time at 1 hr 15/20 mins for a few days and see if that helps

[crazymama2]

Thank you! Should I have this long of A for first nap as well? Or keep that one shorter?

[*Kara*]

I would try 1 hr 15 first

[crazymama2]

Okay, that's what I will be doing starting tomorrow! Thank you!

[crazymama2]

DD is still only doing 40-45 min naps. Ive experimented with longer WT - 1.5 hrs and shorter 1h15 min and still no result. I try not to overstimulate her. 10 min before I start the wind down routine, I bring her to the bedroom, \]=
darken the room and just let her "cool off" for a bit. We've got the swaddle, the sound machine and she goes into the crib drowsy and asleep in just a few minutes (i wish I could fall asleep that fast). When she starts crying when she wakes up, i come in, shush pat and give her a paci. She falls asleep and wakes up 5-7 min later.

[crazymama2]

I could tell she wants to sleep - she keeps moving her head side to side but spits out her paci. She sleeps well at night 11-12 hrs, last night she didnt even wake up for a feed. But these naps are killing me! Plus I have a 21 month old toddler, so i cant seat there for 40 min trying to get her back to sleep. And now she is up - 1.5 hrs before her next feed, what the heck do i do? Please help!

[sheaton]

I have a similar problem... Lo wakes after 45 mins and wont go back down.. Then up too early for his next EA cycle!! Occassionally bringing him out of the room for ten mins and shooshing b4 trying again for his nap works... But not always! Hugs. Its so hard sometimes - especially with two x

[*Kara*]

Have you tried an A time for a good week before altering your plan?  Consistency is key.

As for extending, I never tried more than 10 mins even with just one baby... it just makes everyone involved more upset...

I could tell she wants to sleep - she keeps moving her head side to side but spits out her paci

This sounds OT to me.

[crazymama2]

Yes, have been consistent with 1h20m A time. Now her naps are down to 30 min. Losing my mind a little. Only wait to extend them is to hold her tummy to tummy, then she sleeps on me.

[*Kara*]

Oh hun... So sorry that things are spiralling!

30 min naps and she is waking very unhappy, I assume?

This is certainly OT.  Are you reducing the following A time after the 30 min nap to keep OT under control?

Overall, I would cut her way down to a 1 hr A time and see if she can get caught up.

What do you think?

[crazymama2]

Yes she wakes up very unhappy . I try to extend as much as possible to prevent further OT and then start the A time when I can no longer extend and go from there. 1 hour sounds very good! I will give this a try. My DS always required less A time than an avg so I am thinking maybe same with DD? Thanks!!!