8mo with horrible naps

[mamamoomoo]

I've been struggling with my LOs naps for as long as I can remember and still no luck. she only does 30 min no matter how long A time is. randomly she'll surprise me with a longer nap but I don't know how it happens. she is not a very independent sleeper so that prob has something to do it. at night she wakes up about once or twice.

if she only naps 30 min in the morning and again in the afternoon, what time should EBT be? i am just about to give up on trying to make her nap longer

[weaver]

That sounds seriously tiring

Can you post for us what a typical day and night looks like?  Can you explain what you mean by 'not a very independent sleeper'? Don't worry, no judgement, just need some more info to be able to comment usefully. 

[mamamoomoo]

a typical day looks like this, give or take 30min. sometimes better or worse depending if she's teething or sick or both

7am - wake and nurse, breakfast
10:30am - nap
11am - wake and nurse, lunch
2:30pm - nap
3:00pm - wake and nurse, dinner
6pm - bath and nurse
7pm - bed time

she's not a very independent sleeper meaning I tend to nurse or rock her to nap. sometimes she might fall back asleep but not always. at night she is better and can self soothe better. typically just wakes once or twice if she's not teething or sick.

we tried a 6:30pm EBT last night and she woke up at 5am this morniîng

i should mention that this is DD2. I have a DD1 that needs to be pick upc from school everyday at noon so more often than not DD2's morning nap gets interrupted. on a good day she'll do 30 min in the morning and an hr in the afternoon but that doesn't happen vey often.

[Martini~]

Hi Honey, Anne is ill so I will just pop and try to help.

It would be great to understand what is your main problem. I mean short naps are bad:) no YOU time! but on the other hand is she happy after those 30min naps? I am asking as some mums are happy this such a routine and to help you the best I would like to now on which we should concentrate first!

Firstly these naps seems short and your kid should be OT with this kind of routine. If she is not, I guess we have some cues saying she is either an angel baby or a LSN:). I can understand why first nap is short as her morning A is quite short, but I am surprised that her second nap is so short. What happens at nights when she wakes?

I would be tempted to push the routine a bit so try a later naps to see is she sleeps better. If morning one is set - I wouldn't change, but can you push the afternoon nap to 3pm? If you get 1h then it would mine she is just a LSN and need more A time - what means you going towards one nap sooner than later!

I would also start to work towards getting some more independent sleep skills and the olders she is the more difficult it will be to get rid of you as a prop.

[mamamoomoo]

thank you for your response. really do appreciate your help.

I guess the "problem" I have is the short naps. DD2 always cries when she wakes up but once she sees me she's usually happy. sometimes I can tell she's still tired but I just can't put her back to sleep. 3pm for 2nd nap seems really late if she's only napped for 30min? she's usually fussy by 1-2 already. also if possible I would like to have DD1 and DD2's naps overlap for at least a little bit. maybe I'm asking for too much.

at night when she wakes she just whines/cries. usually it's because she's in pain from teething, rolled on to her tummy and stuck, or rolled to her back and can't get comfortable again. she likes to sleep on her side.

on a good night she'll sleep for 8 hours straight which makes me wonder if she really has self soothing issues?

[Martini~]

Yes she still may have problems with self soothing even when sleeping 8h straight. I guess that first part of a night is a kind of a crush for her after very tiring day and that why she often can do a long stretch.
At NW you just medicate or roll her to side and she goes back to sleep within minutes?

Re naps, let's trust your judgment and maybe try to put her down earlier for a second nap if you think she is tired much earlier. 3pm is late after 30min - I agree but I was curious if we could get a crash nap which would help her catch up after being OT.

EBT doesn't work for everybody. And for some it really start to work much later - after 1yo when they are on one nap.

[mamamoomoo]

I guess the problem is with self soothing then. I thought she was ok if she could sleep long stretches at night. should I use PUPD to teach her?

usually at NW she needs to be picked up and rocked/bounced a bit and if that doesn't work then I nurse her. the past few nights she's barely had any NW. maybe just a few times when we first put her down but after that she's out till the morning. but then she also started to wake up at 5 something in the morning. OT? but I don't know what to do if I can't get her to nap longer and EBT doesn't work till she's older. yesterday she had a 20 min morning nap and 1 hr afternoon nap. that's already considered "good" naps (well the 2nd one at least) but she still woke up at 5 something

[Martini~]

Ok Honey - would you consider sleep training? It can be pupd - but remember to make specific adjustment for 8/9mo. No bouncing or rocking, short pick up at that age or even only pd, no pu. There is also gradual withdrawal method where you just assist her less and less but still being with her. The last method WIWO is considered good for already independent sleepers who seems to regress because of teething or illness/sleep regression.

I am on my phone so have problem with pasting link. If you cannot find them by yourself I will post later! In General they are all in SLEEP FAQ.