30 min naps for my almost 3.5 month old, any advice?

[BeeGuiles]

Hello, I recently posted in the general sleep section on my LO terrible night sleep but that seems to be clearing up I hope. Was waking 4-6 times a night, now only waking 2 times the past couple nights but when it comes to naps he has only taken 30 min naps for weeks now. He wakes at exactly 30 mins which I am assuming is cycle transition that he can't seem to get through without waking up fully. When he wakes he cries, he does not self soothe. He only will stay asleep in the swing with white noise. Giving him the pacifier does not help him back to sleep. I have tried to pick him up as soon as he stirs to pat his back and rock him back to sleep. It worked with the first nap today, he took an hour ad a half nap for the first one but not successful for the second nap. He is tired almost instantly after waking, yawning and rubbing eyes and gets crabby very quickly. If I let him catnap all day without hep to extend the naps by the time bedtime comes around he is OT and has a meltdown before bedtime. Idk what to do. I know good naps maks for good night sleep and vice versa. Our routine in the day is kind of all over bc of these naps but his A time is about 1.5 hours or until he shows sleepy signs which is sometimes sooner than 1.5 hours bc of short nap before, usually takes him between 5-20 mins to fall asleep unless OT then it takes longer. He eats every 2.5 to 3 hours. wakes up around 6:30 or 7am and we aim to go to bed around 7 but depends on naps. Any advice is appreciated.

[lauradj]

Hi there!  What I would suggest is that you choose an A time and stick to it for a few days to see if that helps iron things out.  I'm not sure how much his A time varies if he's had a short nap but babies do often yawn if they're bored.  Do you think if you changed his activity, even to a quiet book, you could keep him up for a consistent 1.5hrs? Instead of picking him up when you know he's about to wake, could you place a firm hand on his back or tummy and shhhhh him?
There is a period of time where babies will only short nap, usually around this age, and there's not a whole lot you can do about it.  Tweaking the routine and trying some new strategies will help you determine whether that's what is happening for you LO.  Hugs for you, short naps are brutal!  If you can attempt to cobble to together an EASY, that would be helpful. 

[BeeGuiles]

The firm had doesn't work for him bc when he starts to wake he wipes at his face and moves all over the place and wakes himself up more so that's why I picked him up and patted his back until he settled back to sleep. I did go in at around 25 mins, brushed his cheek and he stirred and went back to sleep for another stretch of time so I can try that again today. Should I keep him awake even if he is crabby and rubbing his eyes a lot to keep the A time at 1.5 hours? If I try to put him down before the 1.5 hours bc he is rubbing etc he still doesn't settle until after the hour and half mark anyways...

[lauradj]

Ok, so you're already doing W2S which is great!  Keep that up if it's working.  If you know that he's not going to fall asleep before an 1.5hr, regardless of whether you lay him down early, I would suggest you try to keep him up but look at changing what you do during that time.  Could you take him for a walk for a bit?  That would let him relax in the stroller but see lots of new things.

[BeeGuiles]

Yea I could take him for a walk in the stroller, sometimes he likes it and sometimes not. Yes I did the W2S again today and again it added 1 hour into the nap, it doesn't work every time but it's better than nothing

[lauradj]

Definitely it is!  Keep at the good work and after the 4 month immunizations, you can add swimming to the things you can do with your LO!  That helps the time pass in the snap