45 minute naps

[British Coaster]

Hi all,

on BW with DS2 - he's 11 weeks old and on EASY, napping with the help of a dummy (yes - prop!) as I didn't have much success with sshh-pat to help him self settle.  We have DS1 who is 20 months.

DS2 will drop off for a nap after an age appropriate A time easily with dummy in.  Not so much without! Dummy falls out once asleep and at the end of sleep cycle 1 he will wake up.  We replug and sometimes manage to extend the nap that way, but more and more this is not happening. I am reluctant to retry shh-pat as I'm having a hard time with DS1 learning how to be a toddler 

Life is pretty hectic with the two little ones and I'm really starting to wish these 45 minute naps would disappear on their own - they have been around for about 4 weeks now - is there any chance they could be developmental?  Or after 4 weeks would you say they're here to stay?

My take on it is that we have come to rely on the dummy, but replugging after 1 sleep cycle isn't effective as the first sleep cycle has taken the edge off the tiredness.  I think he just doesn't know how to make it passed 1 sleep cycle (although he used to be fine napping 1.5-2hrs at least once a day).  My plan is that at 3 months we could start sleep training and wean the dummy using Pu/PD and hoped that at that time the 45 minute naps will disappear.

Night time sleep is fine, only waking when hungry. 

Any advice / words of wisdom?

Thanks 

[British Coaster]

Bumpety bump

any chance these short naps may be developmental?

[Emami]

It could totally be developmental, but do you want to post your day in EAS format and see if anything jumps out?  Sorry your post was missed!

[British Coaster]

I read somewhere that LOs organise their night sleep first then day sleep - could it be just that he's not developmentally ready to take longer naps because of that?

Will def post my EASY - thanks - will do tomorrows as we have a day in the house and it should be more settled (in theory!)

Thanks Emma

[Emami]

I read somewhere that LOs organise their night sleep first then day sleep - could it be just that he's not developmentally ready to take longer naps because of that?

This is true and it might just be a case of waiting until he is ready.  But it never hurts to try tweaking things a bit!  Just worth remembering that it's not always something you can 'fix' and not to get too frustrated.  Short naps are a PITA!

[British Coaster]

 so, sorry for the big delay in posting - things went really wierd with DS2's sleep for a couple of days, long unbroken naps for a couple of days and I thought the problem had gone away, but now he's settled into the previous pattern - if you can call it that! so here's today's EASY

1 night waking for feed at 3.30am

E: 6.00
S: 7.25 (extended into long nap with only 1 replug at 45 minutes - yay!)
E: 8.55
S: 10.15 (woke after 45 minutes, replugged several times to extend nap)
A: 11.30
E: 12.00
A: (short A time as he was really tired)
S: 12.40 (Woke after 45 minutes, loads of replugging to extend nap)
A: 14.00
E: 14.30
A: (again could only manage a short A)
S: 15.10 (woke after 45 minutes, then replugged a couple of times)
A: 16.15
S: 16.45 (put back to bed before any E at all as was inconsolable crying and wouldn't take a BF- really tired)
E: 17.30
S: 18.30
E: 19.25
S: 19.45

notes:
- He's just turned 12weeks
- We're aiming for a 3hr EASY but this can drop to 2.5 hrs in the afternoons due to short naps
- Day naps, after 45 minutes he doesn't tend to wake happy
- I can tell his tired crys and only replug if he's tired and eyes close quickly once dummy is in
- Today's EASY includes a cluster feed in the evening but I only do this if he wakes himself at that time
- I dreamfeed every night at 10pm
- He usually has 1 x NW for food then is up at 6pm

many thanks

[Sarah - Enfys' Mum]

So your day starts at 6 and finishes at 6.30? Or at 7.45? 

I think you're stuck in the usual trap where he's not tired enough to take a decent nap early in the day, then he gets more and more tired as the day goes on cos he's not taking proper naps. I think he might need a bit more a time.

[British Coaster]

Hi Sarah,

sorry if my EASY was confusing - no, his day starts at 6am when he wakes, that's his first 'eat'.  The times posted next to S: are the times his sleep started and the notes in brackets describe how that sleep went and if he needed intervention to extend nap or not.

His first A time is usually 1hr 25 minutes which I thought was pretty age appropriate?

For the rest of the day he really struggles to get to 1 hr 20/25 in his A time, crying really hard

Will try harder to extend the A time and see how we go.

Many thanks