Sudden need of pacifier and shortened naps

[ac333]

Hi. Dd is almost 3 Mos old and has had some changes.
Has been on easy since 8 weeks.
This is what we aim for
E 7:30
A 8:15
S 8:40-9

E 10:30
A 11-11:15
S  11:40-12

E 1:30
A 2-2:15
S 2:40-3

E 4:30
A 5
S 5:30-6 (hardest nap ever)

E 7
Light activity/wind down 7:30
8:15 bt.

Df; 11:30
E 4-5am and bak to sleep

Lately she's had many 45min naps. I figured she is overtired. Bc she was up for 1.5 hrs before falling asleep. I have been putting her down after 1 hr of wake time and she will sleep but she will wake after 10mins. Sometimes she cries and sometimes she goes back down.

We very rarely give her the paci during put down. We have at put it in during the 2nd cycle. I'd say about once per day.   For the most part, shush/pat seems to work.

She has reflux. It was bad in first 2mos. Now it's gotten a bit better.

Also, the past 2 nights she has been smacking her lips during the night sleep which she had never done before. She would be in consolable. She was looking to suck on something so I gave her the paci and she fell asleep within 2 mins.

Has this happen to anyone before with this sudden need to sooth?
She sort of just found her thumb, bit not entirely.  Does it have to do with that?  Or is she about to growth spurt?  (She hasn't been waking in middle of the night more than once)
This morning she struggled with her nap. She fell asleep at 8:40 and woke up 5mins later w the same sucking motion. I unswaddled her left arm and she has been fussing on and off and its already 9:15.  So I gave her the pacifier for 5 mins and she slept.
She had been relatively easy to be put down. I would say 70% of the time she drifted on her own.
Any suggestions would b appreciated.

[creations]

It sounds to me like the reflux flaring up.
If she is not on medication for the reflux I would see a doctor about trying some to see if it helps.  If she is on medication I'd have the dose checked, maybe she is heavier now and needs an increase.
Sucking is something LOs do to try to decrease the pain of reflux, it helps them to swallow as they try to keep the acid down.  You could of course choose to give the paci if it is helping, but it sounds like the paci is not enough really.

Suddenly taking short naps can also be a sign of a reflux flare up, although they can get to sleep they either come awake quickly (5 - 10mins) with the acid coming up or are in discomfort in the light sleep phase so instead of transitioning to the next sleep cycle they fully wake to cry at 45 mins.

You can guess at all sorts of reasons and drive yourself crazy trying different routines hoping that different A times will fix something, but if it is reflux pain no amount of routine tweaking is going to help.

[ac333]

I don't know if it's reflux. She's not crying like she use to.  Usually she'll just chatter in her bed for a while and then drift to sleep. Today she has been chattering for a long time, then drift to sleep, then wake up and chatter, and then gets frustrated. Tonight it too her about 40mins to fall asleep luckily w only chatter/babbling.

She has been gaining weight and is a happy baby.  And since we have elevated her bed and addressed her reflux she had been sleeping 1.5 hrs to 2 hrs at 8 weeks.

It's just this week it's been changing.

Any more thoughts? 

[becj86]

She may need a touch more A time given the amount of time she spends chattering before sleep but I agree with creations that it sounds like reflux is maybe not as well controlled as it had been previously.
FWW, my son who did not have reflux (or at least, was ok without meds), did the sucking thing too - still does now at 6yo as a self-soothing to sleep thing. Just if he had spat out his dummy, he would just suck and he still does it now.