34 minute naps

[Mandy.kamal]

Does this mean OT/UT/developmental??

My DD is about 14 weeks

[jessmum46]

Could be any or all of the above really......can you post a routine for us? 

[Mandy.kamal]

I stopped writing her days down because I kept forgetting to! I set out a notebook and pen so I'll start charting again tomorrow and will post it once the day is over.

Hopefully that will help you, help me figure out where I'm going wrong!

[jessmum46]

It may be nowhere!  Could well just be one of those things at that age but will look out for your post x

[Mandy.kamal]

I recorded the last 2 days. Naps were actually better (in regards to being able to resettle mid way through and extend them). But now she's having crazy night wakings! Too much day sleep or not enough milk during the day? Too long of an A time before bed? I'm Not sure. Here are the last 2 days of sleep:

Up 6:50
Nap 8:20 (stirred at 8:57, resettled and was fully b2s at 9:15)
Awake 9:45 crying
Nap 11:25 (fed before nap bc she was fussy) stirred at 11:54 and fully b2s at 12:20
Awake 1:10
Nap 2:35 (stirred at 3:02- I think was UT) couldn't really settle her
Awake 3:30
Nap 5:00-5:40
Bed 7:25
Up at 9:00 and awake on and off constantly until fed at 11:00. Up again around 2:00 and on and off until fed at 3:15am
Up at 5:00am restless, held her until 7:00am

Up at 7:05 or 7:10 can't remember
Nap 8:35 (9:15 stirring but b2s by 9:40) seemed a little UT but was super easy to resettle
Awake 10:20
Nap 11:53 (stirred at 12:26 and again at 12:48) couldn't resettle and gave up
Awake 1:20
Nap 2:35 (resettled halfway)
Awake 4:30
Nap 5:45-6:15
Bed 7:45 but had to resettle a few times so asleep a little past 8:00.
Up 9:00-9:15
Up 9:50-10:01
Up 10:36-10:55
Fed at 11:00
Up at 2:30 off and on until 3:00 and fed
Up at 5:30, held until 7:15am wake up for today

A few things- I resettle by giving her the paci and doing gentle pressure on her legs to hold through jolts. She doesn't really jolt horribly unless she's OT it seems. Her room is blacked out with white noise. She is swaddled still. She yawns around an hour A time but I keep her up the 1hr 30mins A time- give or take. Our wind down is pretty short- lights dim, rock with paci, sit for a min, eyes get heavy and into crib.

Her naps are in crib but her nights are in a rock n play by me. However we just tried doing the crib for bed this week and it hasn't gone well so I think I'm going to go back to the rock n play.

Any advice please!! Naps are actually good now that I can resettle her most of the time. But nights have been horrible these past 2 especially...

[Mandy.kamal]

Also, is it normal to have to resettle every nap still? Or am I AP with the paci and firm hand on her?

[jessmum46]

At 14 weeks I would say you are in the thick of short nap territory so yes resettling a lot could well be pretty normal.  Is she going to sleep independently yet?  That can be a big factor.  She could well be a bit OT though, those early evening wakings are pretty typical.  Given she's showing tired signs earlier in her A time how about dialling back her awake times just a touch for a day or two and see if she is more settled/naps better?

[Mandy.kamal]

Okay, thank you! I was worried we weren't moving towards the 4 hour easy quickly enough since she will be 4 months next week. So that's good to hear you think her A times need to come back a tad.

I did 1hr 30m first A time today and she woke at 45 mins cooing. But I was able to resettle her very easily and she did another 45mins. So that was a 10 min improvement at least!

I hold her until she's almost asleep and put her down. If she is already asleep, I kiss her and wake her just a little bit. She always has the paci though

[Mandy.kamal]

What do you suggest for A time amount? Should I stick with same A across the day? And how much do I dial back if she takes a short nap?

Update- so she took an 1.5 hour first nap, only an hour second nap (I couldn't resettle her fully back to sleep) and still did 1hr 30m A time after the shorter, 1 hour nap and she woke for just one minute at 40 mins and I put a hand on her and she immediately fell back to sleep and is still napping. Maybe she does need a longer A?? So confused!

[Mandy.kamal]

It's been over 2 hours and 4:30pm now so I'm going to wake her so she can do her catnap.

Any suggestions? Keep longer A time since she did this huge nap on her own??

[jessmum46]

The suggestion to shorten A times temporarily was only to get her caught up a bit, but sounds like you had a good day which may well have done that she may need just a touch more than 1h30 then, that cooing WU after 45 mins sounds possibly a touch UT though could just have been her needing help to transition. You could try adding 5-10 mins and see how you go.  I think the last nap with the 40 min WU was probably just a touch OT but you got great nap after the resettle - well done!  I would err on the side of slightly longer A times and wouldn't reduce much after a short nap, perhaps pick an A time and stick with it consistently and then after a few days you may be able to see if there are times in the day she needs more or less x

[Mandy.kamal]

Thank you so much. Wonderful advice.

I just have a hard time reading her OT or UT behavior. My son was so obvious! She is a little more even tempered and it's hard to tell. I'll keep track of things for the next few days and see how things go

[Mandy.kamal]

The past 2 days have been awful. She's impossible to resettle. She wakes up talking and won't stop. Then by the end of the day she is a total overtired wreck.

How can I tell if she's waking because she's overtired or undertired? She woke after 34 mins this morning and won't stop cooing and go back to sleep. 34 mins is usually overtired isn't it?

I'm getting extremely tired of sitting in a blacked out room trying everything to get her to extend each nap. So discouraging.

[Scottishmummy]

34 mins could just be the length of her sleep cycle.  A times increase quite rapidly at this age.  As Katherine suggested above, I'd try increasing her A times and see if that helps get a longer nap or one that you can at least resettle more easily.

[jessmum46]

Also bear in mind there are big developmental leaps which can mess with sleep - have a search for 'the wonder weeks' if you've not heard of them before