Author Topic: Catnapping is back and seems here to stay  (Read 2663 times)

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Offline Julie Kenwell

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Re: Catnapping is back and seems here to stay
« Reply #15 on: May 03, 2016, 13:59:00 pm »
Ok, its not been a good day here, three 30 min naps. He fought the first two which as I say hasn't happened before.
For all the naps so far though he hasn't been grumpy. I imagine the next one he will though!
I will post the day in a wee while. I just feel so disheartened that he is a catnapper just like his brother. I feel like a bit of a failure. I hear of all these babies who are doing three great naps a day.... not mine!

Offline Julie Kenwell

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Re: Catnapping is back and seems here to stay
« Reply #16 on: May 03, 2016, 14:55:10 pm »
Hey so here is how the day has gone:

Wake Up 7.30 and eat
Yawning at 8.50 so pd.
Seemed to fight nap
Sleep at 9.20!!!

Woke up at 9.50 ( 30mins )
Eat
Yawned  11.05
Sleep 11.25
Also fought this one
Woke 1130
Slept again at 1140
Up 12.10
Eat
Activity
Sleep 1.30ish, no fighting this one
Up at 2
Eat
Activity
Yawned 3.20 didn't sleep til 3.50!!

Offline Scottishmummy

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Re: Catnapping is back and seems here to stay
« Reply #17 on: May 03, 2016, 18:52:49 pm »
Huge hugs.  Please do not think that you are a failure in any way because your little boy is taking short naps. It sounds like you are doing everything you can to observe and respond to him.
Please remember that short naps can be developmental, related to developmental leaps or the baby's personality I.e. Just the stage he's at or who he is rather than anything you are doiMy "right" or "wrong".  FWIW my DS was a chronic short napper until 6mo, I can understand your frustration & feeling disheartened.

Here's a few things to consider:

How many weeks old is he? Could he be going through a developmental leap?

Do you know what his BW personality is? This can help understand what he needs for naps:
The BW "Know Your Baby Quiz"
The Five Types - Everyday Moments
Touchy and spirited babies tend to need more careful balancing of stimulation and wind down than other types.

Might he need a longer or shorter wind down?
What does a good wind down consist of (Includes 4S ritual)

Fighting naps and getting into an UT/OT pattern could be linked to A time; activity vs wind down; personality or a developmental phase- the challenge is trying to work out which it is!
"Touchy/Spirited" DS


"Textbook" DD



Offline Julie Kenwell

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Re: Catnapping is back and seems here to stay
« Reply #18 on: May 03, 2016, 20:19:39 pm »
He is 11 weeks today.
Oddly enough he was in such good form despite all his naps being OT today. He didn't fall asleep for his lay nap until two hrs after he had previously woken. And he was genuinely happy and content both before the nap and after?!
From the quiz he is coming up as mostly textbook, which I suppose would make sense with the length of time it can take for him to go over to sleep for naps.
So I'm a bit stumped as to where to go from here.
Do you think the dummy is a bit of an issue?

Offline Scottishmummy

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Re: Catnapping is back and seems here to stay
« Reply #19 on: May 03, 2016, 20:52:06 pm »
Do you think he's waking because dummy has fallen out? Does he go back to sleep if you replace his dummy?
"Touchy/Spirited" DS


"Textbook" DD



Offline Julie Kenwell

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Re: Catnapping is back and seems here to stay
« Reply #20 on: May 03, 2016, 21:09:35 pm »
A lot of the time the dummy is still in when he wakes and then it falls out! And no 9/10 he has no interest in going over to sleep again when I reinsert!
I was sure he would want to go over again for at least one nap today given that they were all OT but no, he just looked up at me and smiled or started talking!
That is what hes been like, he will wake and just be v quiet in his Moses basket for a while and then decide he wants out or fed.
Even when he took his bottle today, unlike yesterday, he wasnt dozing off as he fed either.
Hes a funny one!
« Last Edit: May 03, 2016, 21:17:14 pm by Julie Kenwell »

Offline Scottishmummy

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Re: Catnapping is back and seems here to stay
« Reply #21 on: May 04, 2016, 06:25:35 am »
Ok- slept on this & have a couple of suggestions:

I don't think it's the dummy as he's not waking because of losing it.

I wonder if it is worth choosing an A time and just sticking with it for a day or 2, then going up or down if you feel it is too much or too little? I would go for something between 1hr20-30 but he's early 3mo so no more than that to start with. I'd also try a slightly longer WD, so 10-15min before you want him to be asleep, take him to a quiet place (where he's napping?) and do a quiet activity and some WD- see link I posted above.

It will be a bit of trial and error to see what A tone suits and how much WD he needs. BW advises to "watch your baby not the clock" but sometimes the click helps as a guide when baby's cues are unclear.

Only other thing I wondered is whether he is waking from hunger?
How much does he take per feed & is he draining bottle? Any signs of discomfort? Could wind or reflux be disturbing him?

"Touchy/Spirited" DS


"Textbook" DD



Offline Julie Kenwell

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Re: Catnapping is back and seems here to stay
« Reply #22 on: May 04, 2016, 06:48:00 am »
He has definitely been spitting up a lot more recently, long after his feeds when he is on his playmat. Even sometimes when I put him down in the cot he will spit up a bit, not much though.
Her taking on average 4oz per feed, I suppose because his feeds are close together, and in most cases in the last week or so they have been drained.
Maybe I should put him down for his naps upstairs in his crib instead of in the living room where my 3yo is playing?
The short naps still happen on days my older boy isn't here anyway though.
So I start wd as soon as I see yawning or before I anticipate the yawning?
I'm really starting to believe he is lsn like his brother. Even when his naps were good, he had a really long a time before bedtime of around three hours - nothing I did would get him convinced it was bedtime! That was in the early weeks and I put it down to witching hour but he wasn't cranky or annoyed, he just stayed awake til 9.
I took it as him setting his own bedtime so that's why I stuck to it so rigidly.
He woke at 12 last night and refused to go back to sleep without a bottle. Then at 4 but I gave him his dummy. He stirred again at 6 which he seems to be doing quite often and then at 7 he took a bottle and went back over to sleep.
Maybe i should be feeding him twice at night and he wants to do a longer night?x

Offline Scottishmummy

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Re: Catnapping is back and seems here to stay
« Reply #23 on: May 04, 2016, 19:06:23 pm »
It is possible that he is LSN, especially as it sounds like he is happy and coping with short naps. If he is, then I think you might be looking for him falling asleep easily as a sign of having found his current A time, rather than length of nap.

Wow- he's napping in the room your 3yo is playing in too? I am impressed at his ability to drop off to sleep like that. MyDD is way too nosey to fall asleep when her 3yo brother is around and my DS was/still is "touchy" so needed a good long wind down and total darkness to sleep. That said p, I have a friend who could put her little girl down on a mat in the middle of a baby yoga class and she would go to sleep. Thinking about it though, the nap refusal yesterday might be because he is tired but wants to stay and keep watching his big brother! And he might not resettle because he wakes and wants to join in fun again!

It really is all trial and error- you could try taking him upstairs for a nap and following the 4s routine and see if it makes a difference. I do think as babies get older they do get to a point that they need to wind down and be in a sleep environment but only you know your baby and whether he might be at that point now or not.

For timing when to start the WD, that all depends on your baby and is trial and error again (sorry). My touchy DS needed to start WD before he yawned, if we waited for tired signs, it was too late.
You said yourDS is more like a textbook baby though. My DD is too and if I try a WD before she yawns or eye rubs, she'll be UT...so if he's a textbook baby, maybe try taking him upstairs for a short WD when he shows his tired signs?

I'll see if I can find another pair of eyes re feeds

Xxx



« Last Edit: May 04, 2016, 19:10:20 pm by Scottishmummy »
"Touchy/Spirited" DS


"Textbook" DD



Offline Julie Kenwell

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Re: Catnapping is back and seems here to stay
« Reply #24 on: May 04, 2016, 20:21:45 pm »
Well we actually had an ok-wish day today. His first nap was a fail, fought it like he had yesterday and it ended up being 35 mins long (is 35 min nap even a thing?!) but the next nap was 50/55mins long after an A time of 1 hr 30. The nap after that was 1 hr 50 after an A time of around 1 hr 45. But his last nap was really short as we had to go out and I just didn't get his A time right at all.
Its definitely a balance of getting the night time sleep right and the A time during the day right for him.
It looks like he wants a bit more A time than Av for his age.
Even when he was in my tummy I could feel he was an active baby, so this should come as no surprise to me!!
I just want to say thank you so much for your help and guidance up to this point.
No doubt I will be back on again soon! Xxx

Offline Lolly

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Re: Catnapping is back and seems here to stay
« Reply #25 on: May 04, 2016, 20:27:30 pm »
With regard to feeds, at 3 months 4oz is on the lower side of volume for a formula fed baby and if he is draining his bottles then you need to add more to them. If you can get him to take bigger feeds then he should be able to go 3 hours between feeds and you can work towards 4 hourly feeds over the next month.

With a bottle feed there should be a bit left in the bottle so that you know he has stopped because he is full and not just because the bottle is empty. If he has a nice full tummy it can help with settling and sleeping through a nap.

If you need some more thoughts on the feeds let me know, or post over on the bottle feeding board ;D

Laura


Offline Scottishmummy

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Re: Catnapping is back and seems here to stay
« Reply #26 on: May 04, 2016, 20:51:56 pm »
Hooray for longer naps today! Fingers crossed that pattern continues.  :)
"Touchy/Spirited" DS


"Textbook" DD