EASY Nap Questions - Please help!

[Bigbee]

We have been following EASY for a few weeks now, but very very loosely - basically just following the concept.

Four days ago we started to follow the 3-hour EASY Tracy describes in her book.

We are finding it a little difficult. I suspect the baby is going through a growth spurt, so only having very short naps.

He woke up at 6.30 am, and I left him in his bed, he fell back asleep at 6.10 am, but then I woke him up at 7 am to start the day.

Our routine today looked like:

E 7.00 am
A 7.05 - 8.25 am
S 8.25- 9.05 am (he then woke up, we reswaddled him, and shush/pat him back to sleep at 9.20)
S 9.20 - 10.00 am
E 10.00 am
A 10.00 - 11.05 am
S 11.05 - 11.50 am
E 11.50 am
A 11.55 - 12.10 pm
S 12.10 - 1.50 pm
E 1.50 pm
A 1.55 - 3.15 pm
S 3.15 - 3.55 pm
E 3.55 pm
A 4.00 - 5.30 pm
S 5.30 - 6.20 pm (this involved waking up a couple of times though!)
E 6.20 pm
A 6.25 - 7.10 pm (bath)
E 7.10 pm
E 7.30 pm
E 8.10 pm
S 8.15 pm (down for the night, fell asleep on the boob)
I will dream feed him at 11 pm.

He seems to be having very short naps. What am I doing wrong? He has been waking up at around 6.20 - 6.30 am the last couple of days, so I think this is his natural start of the day

Baby is 12 weeks old, and is breastfed. He has very fast feeds, 5 minutes! I hardly ever manage to put him on two breasts.

Can  anyone give me some tips, please? We are doing the shush-pat, and it works really well for the first nap of the day, however, as the day progresses, he gets fussier and fussier, and shush-pat is a struggle….

Thank you in advance! x

[Emami]

Hi hun, he is at a growth spurt age so if you suspect he's going through one then you're probably right. Growth spurts can definitely mess with sleep so that be a factor. Does he seem hungrier? You could try giving him a top up before naps to see if it makes a difference. 

Having said that, I actually think his naps are pretty decent for a young baby. I know the first two were interrupted but overall they were a good length. His A times look about right for his age, but maybe try adding  10mins or so to see if it gets him tired enough to sleep for the whole nap without the need for resettling.

[Bigbee]

Thank you very much for replying!

Are 45 minute naps OK? I thought the best thing to do was to aim for 1.5 hours naps? I increased activity time to 1 hour 30 minutes this morning, but he only slept for 35 minutes! Baby doesn't seem cranky when he wakes up from his naps actually, but I would love him to have at least one looooong nap in the day; he used to when I had him in the sling.

I feel like I am at the end of my tether at the moment. Took us three hours to settle him last night But I reckon that was our fault though, as we gave him a bath about 40 minutes after he woke up, so then he was awake and cranky. He was feeding quite frequently too. SHould've let him have a cat nap, but I was worried that it would then get too late for bedtime. Basically, he woke up from afternoon nap at 5.15 pm, and only fell asleep at 8.30 pm. Woke up at 7.10 am this morning, so we are basically having 13 hour days. [He wakes up at least twice in the night as well.]

He also seems quite unsettled after the bath when I take him into the bedroom. My husband thinks it's because it's dark in there and he knows it's bed time. I am not convinced as this is the bedroom where I change his nappy every day. Poor little thing.

[Emami]

You are right, 1.5hrs+ is a full restorative nap for most babies so yes, that's what you're aiming for. When I said the first two naps were good I was looking at the total time 8:25-10 and 11:05-1:50.  Those are nice long sleeps, and it's not at all unusual to be awake for a little in between and need resettling - he's still very young and learning how to do this So 45min naps are not ideal but they are very common, and in your case it's good news that at least sometimes he seems able to go back down and continue the nap.

As far as your evening goes, do you think he gets revved up by the bath? With my first baby we did the whole bath, bottle bed routine and it helped wind her down, but with my second I tend to bath her in the morning before she gets dressed. She loves the bath but she gets really excited and splashes all over the place and it's too overstimulating for her before bed. Maybe it's a bit much for your little boy too?

The feeding frequently in the evening is also quite normal as babies will often cluster feed and tank up before night. But if yours doesn't usually do this it could be another sign that there's a growth spurt going on and it'll calm down once he's through it.

[Bigbee]

He does like a bath… Cries for a little bit when I get him out. I might try the no-bath-in-the-evening thing then. I took 1 hour 20 minutes to get him to sleep tonight (from the time he woke from his nap to falling asleep for the night). Was also feeding loads. Daddy was trying to settle him, but baby was having none of it. Just wanted boob. Fed three times before falling asleep. I am dreading that he will get used to it, and just won't fall asleep without me feeding him.

Is the normal A time typical between the cat nap and sleep?

He also had a 2h20min sleep this afternoon. I let him sleep on me just to make sure he rests well, and kept shh/patting him every time he stirred. Not ideal, but worked a treat!

[Emami]

Fed three times before falling asleep. I am dreading that he will get used to it, and just won't fall asleep without me feeding him.

I wouldn't worry about it unless it becomes a problem and he needs it for all sleeps.  Fwiw I fed both of mine to sleep at BT and it never became a prop - they were fine for naps.  Eventually, around 6 months they stopped falling asleep by the end of the feed so I out them down awake and they were fine.  He might just want that extra bit of comfort and cuddling at BT, or it's the growth spurt.

Is the normal A time typical between the cat nap and sleep?

Depends on the baby I think.  My DD1 could do a normal A time after a 45min nap, but if the nap was less than that I would pull the A time back. My DD2 needs a shorter A time if she short naps in the morning, but she can tolerate it much better after a CN in the afternoon.

How have the last couple of days been?