Wake times when your baby only naps 30 minutes

[Heatwils]

I'm sorry if this is repetitive but I couldn't find a specific post on this. My soon to be 5 month old only takes 30 minute naps. He can put himself to sleep and usually sleeps 5 hours then 3 then 3 more in the night. How long should he be awake between naps if they are only 30 minutes? I've tried every time possibility and they are still only 30 mins. And should his first nap be a smaller awake time? I breastfeed so don't follow a 4 hour easy since he eats every 2-3 hours during the day (and I can't extend it as I feed on demand not by the clock). Any help with wake times would be greatly appreciated. I can't figure out if he's over tired, or under tired or what?!? And by the evening he seems so tired he can't fall asleep which is a vicious cycle at bedtime! Any help or insight?!!

[Tabyria]

Following with interest as I have a similar LO (she's 15weeks though). I've asked for help to tweak A time.

[becj86]

Generally speaking, average A time at 5 months is 2:15-2:30. 30min naps are usually OT but occasionally if a LO has a slightly shorter than normal sleep cycle, they can be UT.

Have you had any luck resettling?

After a good night like you've said he does, his first A time should be able to be the same length. There are babies who do better with a shorter first A time but often that's extending their night and their early night sleep is really poor. If you think about it, night sleep is most restorative, so he should be most able to stay away the 2:15-2:30 first thing in the morning.

[Heatwils]

So the A time is the same regardless of sleep length? That will save me a lot of headache!

I've had no luck resettling after 2 weeks but I'm inconsistent with the timing as I never know when to try. He sometimes yawns as soon as I get him from his nap and other times he doesn't show signs of sleepiness even after 2 hours. I will try putting him down after at least two hours depending on his mood and sleepy signs.

About the first nap after his morning wake up. If he's sleeping 1.5-2 hours is that not okay even if he went down after only 1.5 hours of A time? What's the difference between a first nap and continuing night sleep? Does that negatively affect his day?

Another question: how much night and day sleep is typical at this age? He goes down around 7 /730 and is up between 645 and 715.

Thanks for responding!

[Heatwils]

Sorry, I reread your post about the morning nap and you answered the question I asked about it in my second reply.

[becj86]

Another question: how much night and day sleep is typical at this age? He goes down around 7 /730 and is up between 645 and 715.

That's pretty normal. Somewhere between 11 and 12 hr night is ideal, closer to 12hr now, will probably be closer to 11 by 6 months.

[Heatwils]

so how much sleep during the day is normal?

One more question: my son was up last night after one hour of being put down and I did Pu pd for 1 hour and 20 minutes. My husband said that happened the night before too (I was away and he didn't tell me). Do you think this is because of the short wake time in the morning? Could it also be because of the poor sleeping all day? He tends to have a 15-20 min nap at 5 too.

[becj86]

When in the night was the long waking? It can be related to the short first A time.

[Heatwils]

An hour after being put down for the night (he went to sleep on his own).

[becj86]

An hour after being put down for the night (he went to sleep on his own).

This is more usually overtiredness at bedtime, which is fairly understandable given the short naps through the day. That should be helped by longer A times and the consequent longer naps.

[Heatwils]

Thank you so much for your responses and insight! Fingers crossed we figure this out!

[becj86]

Fingers crossed! Keep us posted

[Heatwils]

Update: baby no longer waking an hour after being put down at bedtime but all naps are now 30 minutes. I've done Pu pd for 3 weeks after naps and it doesn't make them longer and he just gets angrier and angrier.  I put him down awake and he falls asleep in seconds. Just can't get past these 30 min naps. Any suggestions?

[Heatwils]

I've increased wake times to between 2 and 2.5 hours (he can usually only handle 2 hours though).

[becj86]

Has he ever napped 45min or 1hr+? Just wondering if he has a shorter sleep cycle than average and 30min is UT rather than OT. 2hr is quite a short A time for a 5mo... Usually an OT 30min waking, LO is pretty happy to have a hand on their back and some shushing/singing to resettle and resettles pretty easily. UT though is a different story and LO will tend to fight if you try to get them to go back to sleep once they've had a short UT nap.

Had you been doing PUPD for 2 weeks before you posted here? It really critical to the success of PUPD that the routine is appropriate for the LO before you start. Perhaps don't do PUPD for a week or two and just try a more gentle method of soothing.

Can you post an EAS from today/yesterday please?