Self-soothes but still short naps

[Jamom]

My 13-week old ds can self-soothe most of the time.  That is, I can place him in the crib and a majority of the time he can fall asleep on his own.  However, he still wakes up somewhere between 30-45 minutes (it varies).  I have read all the numerous posts on how to extend but it just doesn't work with him.  What I don't understand is why when he wakes up at this time, he cannot self-soothe back to sleep even though he can do it at the beginning of the nap? :? Is that normal?  In fact, it is nearly impossible to get him to extend the naps with pat/shh or pu/pd.   I have gone in there before the 30 minute mark to see what is happening.  When he wakes, his eyes just pop open and then, I think what is waking him up is the fact that his hands start to rub his eyes, and then he is awake and can't get back to sleep. I know that the obvious answer is to swaddle him so his hands can't do that, but he needs them to self-soothe back to sleep.   Any suggestions out there?  I know that many times they simply need to outgrow this, is this probably the case?  Any suggestions on the swaddling vs. self-soothing?

Thanks!

[Tammy: Ethan & Kaden's Mom]

My ds self-soothes by sucking his thumb.  So, I swaddle him, but leave his right arm out so he can suck that thumb.  The left arm I swaddle in.  I also have a 45 minute napper on my hands, and the pat shh gets him worked up, as does the pu / pd.  However, he is getting better and better at putting himself back to sleep when he wakes up during his naptime.  He actually slept for an hour and a half this afternoon, and he woke up twice during that time.  That's a big deal for us!   

I would suggest the one-armed swaddle, and see how that works for you.  HTH!

[sa]

sometimes short naps may means he is ready for more awake time.
can you post your routine?

[Jamom]

I have kinda' been playing around with his schedule because of eating and sleeping issues.  It is generally the 3-hour EASY schedule described in the most recent book.  We start our day at 7 am or 7:30.  Activity time varies depending on the sleepy cues he gives me.  He generally is yawning between 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours after waking.  I get him to bed and do the wind-down routine.  Sleep time is supposed to be 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours but mostly it is 45 minutes right now.  So, I try to put him back to bed or let him lay in the dark and play if that is the case until nap time is over (usually sitting there hoping he will fall back to sleep on his own!).

I have been playing around with the routine because he hasn't been hungry at 3 hours so I some times need to do activity after sleep so that he is hungry enough to eat.  I have tried to extend his awake time but I have one of those babies that gets overtired and overstimulated pretty easily.  He is mostly textbook but has a little touchiness, especially when it comes to nap time.

Let me know what you think.  I wasn't planning on transitioning to the 4-hour easy for a couple of more weeks yet, but it just might be the time to do so. 

Also, it seems that, on a good day, he will take a least one good nap.  Generally, that is the morning nap.  The other naps, he only does 45-minutes.

Thanks for any help.