25 minute naps, its new

[Miagirl]

My LO for the last week naps only for 25 minutes to the minute. surprisingly she wakes up pretty happy. She's a happy baby. Yes, I use props such as pacifier, rocking and sometimes nursing to sleep. She's been a pretty good napper in general and sleeps well at night meaning wakes once and goes right back down. So I haven't stressed about her sleep too much but now these short naps make it impossible to wean her to 2 naps which I have been waiting for. She is almost 7 months.

So today I blamed this on the pacifier and thought it was time to get rid of it. I used PU/PD method to get her to sleep with out the pacifier. After 30 minutes of crying she was asleep. yay! but then she woke again at the 25 minute mark. My thinking is that she is just really learning to put herself to sleep on her own, and at that 25 minutes mark she goes into active sleep and wakes up a little bit and doesn't know how to get herself through it. Im hoping with continuing pu/pd to teach herself better to sleep, she will get through that 25 minute mark and sleep longer?? Any thoughts?

Thank you

[Miagirl]

So today after reading a bunch Im very mindful of OT being an issue (which can be hard for me as she is my 3rd one so we are often on the go, which may make this not possible...sigh). She is just 7  months. Anyways, she got up at 630, I put her down at 915 without a pacifier with pu/pd and she appeared sound asleep in like 5 minutes. very easy. 20-30 minutes later she's awake and Im unable to get her back down.

Another question I have is how soon do I try to nap her again when she takes such a small nap? Wait for signs again? I imagine if I wait close to another 2.5-3 hrs (more typical awake time) she will be OT. advice? thanks in advance.

[Scottishmummy]

Hi!

Teaching IS sounds like a good plan to start with and it's really encouraging that PU/PD seems to be helping get her to sleep and it worked quicker today than yesterday :-)

With the short naps, could you post her typical routine in EASY format..it might be that she either needs an A time increase or decrease somewhere?

Also- are you doing a wind down for her? What do you do and how long before the nap?

[Miagirl]

Im sooooo frustrated. Here are some of my recent EASY days. The one time she slept for 2 hrs was when my babysitter put her down with the pacifier (after I told her not to do that). These 3 days are without her pacifier.

She's fluctuating between 2 and 3 naps depending on how long she naps. although the last 3 days its been 3 naps. Other issues are we are starting solids, only 1-2 x per day but not that into it. She is moving more, rolling more, today got to her knees, but nothing crazy knew for her. Still no teeth. chews a lot since 3 months.

WU: 7am
E: 715 BM, 9 solids
A 7-930
S 945-1045
E 1130
A 1045-215
S 215-245
E 300
A 245-515 decided to do a 3rd nap
S 545-6 (very hard to get her down, bad idea)
Down for night at 7pm

NW 2am
WU 630

next day

WU 630
E 7
A 630-9
S 915-1030
E 11
A 1030-130
S 130-2
E 230
A 2-530
S 545-615
E 630
A 615-8
S 8

NW 330
WU 7am

Today

WU 7
E 720
A 7-935
S 945-1010 couldn't get her back down
E 1145
A 1010-1 (put her down after 1 yawn and went right down easily)
S 1-130

[Scottishmummy]

Thanks for that.. It sounds like she's got a lot going on right now..all of which could contribute to short naps..The one thing that jumps out at me from your EASY routine is that her A times are a little on the short side for 7mo..average would be around 3hr-3hr15

Sounds like she is also in the 3-2 transition..so it might be worth trying to keep her awakes a bit longer before that first nap and see if you get a longer one? Maybe aim for asleep at 10 if you get a 7am wu? And then around same longer  A time (3hrs-ish) for 2nd nap & see how she goes? You might find you then need either a very short 3rd nap or early BT.

Have a read of these links and see how you get on:
Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!

All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months