40 minute nap.... Don't know what to do?!?

[BobbysMummy]

Hi all,
This is my first post here, I'm really at my whits end.
My son has been having 40 minute naps for as long as I can remember now. He's nearly 15 weeks old. He wakes at roughly 7am every day, after waking for his night feed between 3-5am. He takes roughly 5oz for his night feed, but has then been taking as little as 1oz for his morning feed, which we give at about 7.30. He taking approx 26oz a day... Which I know isn't as much as he should be (he's nearly 13lbs). He is then ready for his first nap at about 8.30, he is quite easy to get to sleep. But you can set your watch to it.., he's awake 40 mins later. I've tried going in and ssshhing/patting (he has a paci so I give that too) and maybe once of twice he has fallen back to sleep, but the longest time was for 7 more minutes! He is usually wide awake and smiling when I go in when's he's awake, so I've just been getting him up. I then try and stick to another 1.30-2hrs until his next nap. He has a bottle every 3hours or there abouts. The reason I am going crazy now is because he is just getting so so cranky and OT, yesterday at about 5 he had such a bad melt down and was inconsolable crying for nearly half an hour (this isn't normal for him), he was just so so tired. Please can anyone give me any advice or tips? I've read the BW when pregnant and have always follows an EASY routine and have never fed him to sleep. Thank you in advance x

[lauradj]

Hugs!  40 min naps suck    Lots of babies go through a phase of them around 3-5 months, could this be the case with your LO?  It could also be that your LO has low sleep needs and with the good sleeping at night, he only needs little top up during the day.  Could you post your EASY like this:
E
A
S
Y
 
It makes it easier to read.  Hopefully we can take a look and figure something out to help you.

[BobbysMummy]

They certainly do suck! I think he's been having 40 min naps since he was about 2 months, so for a fair few weeks now. Thanks for replying, really appreciate you taking the time. Below is a something like what our EASY tends to look like, I've also included rough OZ per feed too, because I don't know if I should maybe try a light feed before naps to try and get more OZ down him?

WU (we've never woken him, he always wakes himself) - between 6.30-8.00
A - bouncer chair
E - 7.30 usually takes 1-3oz
A
S - 8.45-9.00
A - 9.30
E - 10.30 usually takes between 3-5oz
A
S - 11.30
A - 12.45
E - 1.30 usually takes between 4-6oz
A
S - 4ish (it's really hard to get him to sleep in the afternoon)
E - 5.00 usually takes between 4-6oz
A - inc bath
E - 7.00 usually takes between 5-8oz
WU - between 12-2am for paci
WU & E - between 3-5am usually takes between 4-6oz and back to sleep until morning WU

So what do you think? The above is quite a rough idea. But as you can see he isn't getting a lot of sleep. I do try and get him to go down in the afternoon, but in all honesty sometimes it is more of a fight then I have the energy for.., and I know this is probably because he is OT (I feel like a bad mum  )
Looking forward to hearing back and hopefully getting some tips / advice xx

[BobbysMummy]

Had a bad morning, I'm just so tired!! He's asleep in my arms now because I've just given up. below is our day so far:
WU & E - 4.00 (4oz)
WU - 6.45
A
E - 7.15 (2oz - these small morning amounts are becoming very regular)
A
S - 8.25 (started winding down at 8, into crib by 8.15)
WU - 8.35 gave paci to get back to sleep
WU - 9.05 tried shh and pat until 9.20 and gave up
A
E - 10 (3oz)
S - 10.20 he was having such a paddy and crying so hard I just rocked him asleep in my arms, he's still asleep now 30 mins later.

I feel like I've already let myself down with him asleep in my arms, but I didn't expect him to want a sleep so soon, but he was so tired and upset.

Another question is that as he sleeps on his back where do I pay? His chest?

Feel like I'm at breaking point with these short naps and cranky/upset baby

[lauradj]

Oh hon,  I'm so sorry you've had a rough morning.  I've just woken and today is a busy morning but I wanted to post a quick reply so you know I've seen your update.  I will respond in more detail in a few hours. Huge hugs for you!!!

[BobbysMummy]

Thank you so much! Looking forward to hearing from you. He's asleep in my arms again now.. I feel like I've let myself down but I just can't stand the fight he puts up today, I don't feel like I can cope with it today x

[lauradj]

Ok, I'm back!  First off, you ARE NOT failing.  You are not letting yourself down.  The first six months are undoubtedly the most difficult and you are doing the very best you can. 
The feeds don't actually look that bad.  It looks like he's getting somewhere between 22-30oz?  Some babies just can't take as much as others, I didn't learn that until my second who only takes 25oz on a really hungry day.  With the awake times, most babies around 15 weeks are getting between 1.5-2hrs of A time but that's usually the maximum they can take.  My DS2 is only two weeks older than your DS but I found, when I finally pushed him up to 2 consistent hours, he started going down for his naps well and staying down.  I have a feeling he may be low sleep needs as his brother wasn't ready for 2 hrs until he was almost 5 months.  That's just something to consider.
Shhh-Pat did not work for DS1, I had to do Shh-Rub and I had to hold him upright but it definitely soothed him and then I could lay him down.  DS2 WILL NOT tolerate such rubbish.  There is not Shhh-ing allowed.  For him, once he found his thumb, it got better.  Have you tried a soother?  Keep in mind that baby does not have to fall asleep while you're doing Shh-Pat, only become calm. 
What are you doing for A times?  Are you able to take him out for walks?  Is there a Mom and Baby group you could partake in once a week?  I find if I have something specific to do during the A times, DS2 is more stimulated and interested and then sleeps better.  I'm just throwing ideas at you.  Let me know what you think.

Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!

[BobbysMummy]

Thank you so much for getting back to me. I am trying my best and DS is not short of love or cuddles, it's just very hard during the day to have to hold him for all naps or just put up with his short naps but more often (which means all day at home sometimes). I can go for walks yes, but he doesn't sleep all that well in his pram... He has reflux so hates being laid on his back, I've just this weekend converted the bassinet to the pram and got a support which he seems to prefer... But he's too busy watching the world to sleep haha. He has a soother and that does help him to drift off and he spits it out as soon as he is asleep. I just don't know if I should persevere with trying to extend his naps, if so, for how long? Or if I should just go with his short naps and try and get him down for more of them... This can be hard because he is often too hungry to go down for a 2nd nap (if I do EASASE). What do you think? I think tomorrow I am going to try and do a 3.5hr EASY as days when he has gone longer between feeds (if we've been out etc) he seems to take more overall in 24hrs. It's so hard to know what the right thing to do is. I was saying to DH tonight (who is so sick of talking about naps, feeds etc) that maybe DS just needs short naps as he sleeps well at night... Who knows?! I would love someone to be able to give me an answer haha. Do you think pushing his A time to 2 hours could help? When did you do this for your DS? X

[deb]

We went thru this too. It eas that 5am feed wakng messing us up. There's a post about it in FAQs, with a link in the post about consults with Tracy (it was my first Mother's Day gift!). I'll try to link later (won't work on my tablet) unless someone else finds it first.

[lauradj]

Are you referring to your Josie post Deb?  Here it is, I saved the link!

How Tracy Helped Josie and her Family Get Past 45-Min. Naps!

[lauradj]

Ahhh, he has reflux.  Did you mention that in the first post? That's really REALLY important info.  My DS2 also has reflux.  Is his mattress elevated?  Do you have a towel roll under the sheet to help him stay on his side?  Is he on meds?  Reflux babies really struggle with sleep and basically the mantra is, "Do whatever you have to, to help them sleep". 

[deb]

Yes, Laura, that's the one - thanks!

[BobbysMummy]

Deb, I had already come across your post actually and thought the theory behind theight feed was really interesting as I know he could do with more feed. How much did you give before a nap?

Laura, thank you for replying again. No, I don't think I did mention that he has reflux. He is on meds yeah and they've totally stopped him being sick, he's went instantly from being sick about 6 times and hour to nothing at all. I could still try elevating his crib though? He sleeps on his back at the moment as I have no idea how to support him on his side... You mention something about a towel roll under the sheet? Can you explain this in more details.... Sorry for being so stupid! I've always wondered if one of the reason he sleeps better in my arms is because he is on his side facing my chest, so was this better for him with his reflux/more comfortable.

He's recently got into the 'habit' of waking between 1-2, at which I usually settle him back with his soother... Is that ok? I dont think he's quite at that hungry point.

I've taken a screen shot of the schedule you tried to stick to Deb. So I will try this tomorrow too. As well as the light feed (if you could let me know roughly how much you gave) and a good wind down... Do you think they are the most important attribute to what extended your naps?

Thank you ladies, you don't know how much I appreciate you taking the time to help me x

[lauradj]

You are so very welcome!  Reflux babies can be such a mystery, every set of eyes helps!  With the towel roll, I fold it length wise and roll each end until the rolls are about a foot apart, then I flip it over so they can't easily unroll and I put it under the fitted sheet in the space DS sleeps.  He ALWAYS wiggles onto his back in the middle of the night but I always lay him on his side for each nap and bedtime. You want him to lie on his left side as laying him on the right side makes the reflux worse (the burning sensation, not the vomiting).  If my LO wasn't already asleep I would take a photo and attach it.
I might recommend not using the soother in the middle of the night at this point, just because your DS doesn't take in as many calories as most babies.  My LO now sleeps through the night and he's 17 weeks but that's only really started in the last two weeks, and I always prepare a bottle just in case.  It was brutal for me because my DS1 slept through the night at 2 months, that extra almost two months seemed like an eternity but now I know he's sleeping through because he's getting enough calories. Just a thought.
 

[BobbysMummy]

Morning, so I DS woke at 4 for his feed and took 3/4oz then went back to sleep until 7.15. At 7.30 he took 1oz!!! Which is becoming a regular thing. I then took him up to his room at 8.45 to prep for nap time and gave him a bottle. I made 4oz as that's the least I can make up with his meds in it. And he took the whole 4oz. I'm going to give him his next feed at 11.30 as I'm trying a 3.5hr EASY, so will see if it has affected his next feed. Anyway, the fact I fed him before and did wind down didn't result I a longer nap, he actually did less... 30 mins :-( I will keep trying though. Do you think I should keep offering the feed before a nap to try and get more calories in him during the day.... In hopes he stops his night feed?! Thank you both x