Help - 45 minute naps

[Bobcat]

Hi

 I've posted in another thread but thought maybe someone here could help!

My little boy is nearly 6 months and I am struggling hugely with his sleep. He is a wonderfully happy little fellow but can't get through that 45 minute sleep cycle.

Until recently he was waking up happy enough so I wasn't too bothered but now he is clearly exhausted. for the past week I have spent every morning trying to work on extending his nap. First with 5 days of holding through the jolts and the last two wake 2 sleep. However, he always wakes fully at 45 minutes and I spend 20-30 minutes of his nap doing PUPD which usually gets him back to sleep. He settles to sleep independently. He is also now waking multiple times at night - after 2:30. He is not hungry and I think it's just that once he's in REM sleep he can't settle fully.

His last two days look a bit like this

E Wake and BF 6:30
A Solid food and play time
S 9:30 - shows tired signs and settles easily
   At 45 minutes and least 20 mins of PUPD (usually more)
E BF 11:30
A Solid food and play
S 2pm - 45 minutes
E BF 3pm
A Playtime
   Bath 5:30
   BF and bed 6pm
10pm dream feed - this used to be easy but is getting increasingly difficult - he now almost always wakes for it and can be very hard to settle after it.

Wakes around 2:30 am and will continue to wake multiple times between then and morning - not hungry, not teething. I usually do PU/PD.

I have recently emigrated so have no family around. I have a 3 and 5 year old as well and am at the end of my tether.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[sam c]

I dunno if I can offer much help... but our 6mo is going through a similar stage at the moment, I think.

She's usually been a low sleeper during the day - only 45 mins a lot of the time, but usually at least one 2-cycle sleep (eg. 1.5hrs). We haven't tried to change her habits here - we let her sleep 2 cycles if she wants, but she usually wakes up after 45 mins bright and chirpy. So we haven't worried about trying to force her to sleep longer.

However in the last week or so her nights have gone a bit bonkers. She used to be pretty much sleeping through from 12-7, with maybe one wake up, but right now she's waking every 2-3 hrs and settles again after a small comfort feed.

She's also a bit more clingy and whiny during the day at the moment.

There are a few developmental milestones at 6months, so our hope at the moment is that this is just another stage which will pass as she adjusts!

[deb]

6 months is both a growth spurt and a huge developmental leap. For both my kids, their sleep was all over the place when either/both of those happened.

The only thing that worked (and only worked with one of my kids ) was to get in there just before the 45-minute mark and try to get her back to sleep before she woke fully. In our case she was spitting out a pacifier at 45 minute and that woke her, so it was a matter of re-plugging before she noticed it was out. After a few days of that, she extended on her own. I don't know if something like that would work for you with 2 other kids but might be worth a try.

In the end with my DD2, though, I ended up wearing her for a lot of naps just so I could have a life. She slept better on me, and DD1 needed time with me too, so some days we just worked it like that as best we could.

[lily_layne]

We had a blip with increased NWs at that age even though day sleep was generally good. It could be developmental.

I think he may be OT for the second nap. That's a long A time from a short nap. Do you know how much sleep he needs on average? that can help us figure out what to adjust for timing.

At 6 months, I went to a set nap routine from a book and it worked great. It was:
WU:6/7
S: 930-11
S:130-3
S:630/7
The reasoning is that long last A teaches them to take a longer pm nap. Some moms on here did something similar with a 45-1 h am nap at 930 and a 1/130 pm nap. I think bringing the second nap earlier will help him take a longer nap as most lo's bodies are set for a nap around then. With DD, I tried a 2 pm nap for ages and never got a good one because it didn't work with her body clock.

[Bobcat]

Thanks for the replies.

I think he probably needs 2.5 - 3 hrs sleep during the day. Hopefully it is all developmental and he will outgrow his NW soon.

I will try to settle him at the 45 minute mark for the morning nap and can definitely try for a shorter A time after that and see how he gets on. It can't get much worse!

I'll let you know how it goes.

[lily_layne]

Good luck. We're always here if you need support.