Author Topic: 10 week old - constant 40 min naps and extreme OT...  (Read 1078 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Marika84

  • New & Learning The Ropes!
  • *
  • Showing Appreciation 0
  • Posts: 2
  • Location:
10 week old - constant 40 min naps and extreme OT...
« on: July 08, 2014, 11:36:32 am »
My 10 week old girl's daytime sleep and activity got completely chaotic around 1 week ago and I have no idea what I am doing wrong...

She is now napping mostly for 40 mins maximum and she is so unhappy... She wont settle back to sleep, and after such a short nap she, not unexpectedly, gets tired after 20 minutes. After one such short nap, the next activity she goes straight to overtired, so putting her down on another nap is often hell (today it lasted 1.5hr).

One of her 4 naps (usually third around 1pm or 4th around 4pm ) is often nearly 2 hours. All in all she does therefore get those 15 hours she should per day, but she is sooo cranky during the day when she takes those catnaps...

It's a weird thing BTW, since before she turned 9 weeks, she NEVER showed overtired signs, even if she was up for 2-3 hours. And now, she barely manages 1 hour even after a good nap (which she gets rarely, but still...)

Oh and I am not sure whether this is connected, but at the same time she started getting more sleep at night, as I recently pushed back her bedtime from 10 to 8 pm (with a dreamfeed at 10:30), since I was concerned she was not sleeping enough... I don't think I made a mistake putting her to bed earlier, I guess? Or have I?

For the catnaps I tried white noise, darkening the room, shh-patting, PU-PD, a pacifier... Nothing works with lengthening those naps.  (Btw - swaddling is right now impossible due to an ubearably hot weather.)

Can you ladies tell me what am I doing wrong?:-(

Offline weaver

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 210
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 10146
  • May your choices reflect your hopes not your fears
  • Location:
Re: 10 week old - constant 40 min naps and extreme OT...
« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2014, 15:31:19 pm »
Hello and welcome to BW!

How long is your A time?  40 minute naps are classic signs of undertiredness, and yes it is usually impossible to get an undertired baby to sleep!  Average A time at her age is around 1 hr 20 mins.  If you want to post your usual routine, people might be able to offer comments.

It's good that she is catching up with a long nap at one point during the day, it shows she can do it, and catches her up on earlier lost sleep during the day.  :)
*Anne*, loving mama to a honeybee (2010) and a sweetpea (2012).  BF for 4 proud years.


Offline Marika84

  • New & Learning The Ropes!
  • *
  • Showing Appreciation 0
  • Posts: 2
  • Location:
Re: 10 week old - constant 40 min naps and extreme OT...
« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2014, 18:10:20 pm »
Hi!

I am pretty sure it cannot be undertiredness. I always start winding her down when I see she starts yawning, rubbing her eyes etc and is generally disinterested in playing. Today, this has happened 40 mins after she started the day, and for other naps - around 20 mins after she woke (ie I fed her, barely started any activity and she already yawned, rubbed her eyes etc). This has never happened before.

You see, she used to have 3 1.5hr naps and one 1hr one. Over the course of past week she started replacing those long naps with 35-45min ones. Today she has not had ANY normal nap. I would not mind if she was happy and active otherwise, but sheis obviously tired beyond imagination. The past days have been total regression. She even fighted our bedtime routine, which she always enjoyed.

Needless to say, our routine today was all over the place...

8:30 am E then A - start of day
9:20 signs of tiredness
9:40 S - she falls sleep
10:15 wake up, she is alert and playful -  E (she feeds 5-8 mins, she is super efficient) then a bit of A
10:35 - signs of tiredness, intense eye rubbing etc. I start calming her down for a nap, which she fights by crying and fussing. This drives her immediately to OT
12:00 - S - she finally falls asleep... For 40 minutes.

And the cycle continues till 5pm, after which she fights napping and is awake till 8:30pm (i started her bed time routine as always at 7:15)

I honestly am at my wits end. Yesterday and before yesterday were bad, but today is only fussing and crying. She wont settle unless I hold her upright and walk around the house... I am a zombie.

It really got hot during the past 3-4 days, so I am unsure whether that is a factor. Also, we have moved to our summer house 4 days ago, so maybe this changed of place added to the crankiness (even before we moved she wasn't "herself" though...)

Ehh, I will really appreciate any advice you might have, as I am completely exhausted and out of ideas...

Offline weaver

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 210
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 10146
  • May your choices reflect your hopes not your fears
  • Location:
Re: 10 week old - constant 40 min naps and extreme OT...
« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2014, 19:48:00 pm »
That sounds tough :(

I'm sticking by my undertiredness theory ;)  at least at the beginning of the day. She needs enough A to get a decent first nap, and then because she is short-napping she is then overtired.  A classic UT/OT loop! 

I would try a change of scene, or gentle distraction, maybe take her outside to look at a tree or something, when she gives some signs at 40 mins, see if you can persuade her to stay awake a bit longer at the start of the day and try to get a longer nap out of her.  Of course, there have been a lot of changes for her recently, so she might be feeling rather over stimulated and need just some gentle cuddling time to help her stay awake.  She may well adjust given time in her new setting.
*Anne*, loving mama to a honeybee (2010) and a sweetpea (2012).  BF for 4 proud years.