Suddenly shorter naps at 5 months

[Olivia's Mommy]

I posted this on the Night Wakings forum, but wanted input here as well:

DD will be 5 months next week and is on 4-hr EASY. She was doing great for the longest time...taking 2 long (2-2 1/2 hr) or 1 long/2 short (45 min) naps a day and waking only once at night (usually between 2:30-4:30, then right back to sleep after feed and would sleep till 7:30-8:00). I was still BF during the nighttime feeding, but was doing formula the rest of the feedings.

Last week her naps started getting shorter (now only 2-3 naps of 30-45 min each). Now she sleeps until 4:30-5:00 before waking, but instead of settling right back to sleep after feed, she stays awake for up to 1-1/2 hours! She's not fussing, just talking, squirming, kicking (right out of her swaddle!), and rolling around. Sometimes, when she does fall back to sleep, she'll stir again in 45 min, but can usually put herself back to sleep.

Here are a few things that have happened in the last week that I think could be a factor: 1) we switched the last feeding to formula, so she is completely weaned now, and 2) she's started rolling over. I'm guessing one, or both, of these things are contributing to the shorter naps and night wakings. My question is this: Should I do something to try to "fix" this problem now, or is this just a phase and I just need to "ride it out"?

[albertasweetpea]

Hi Nancy - noticed your post as I am in the same boat. Also noticed our DD's are only 1 day apart so I'm thinking it's a "stage" thing and will soon pass! Oh gosh I hope so!
Molly has been waking every hour at night for the past couple of weeks, with a final waking at about 5 am. Nothing will get her back to sleep so I had just been getting her up because she was making so much noise it was waking my son up and he has to go to school.
Last night my son was at his Dad's house and my DF was out for the night so I thought I would just let her work it out herself. She woke before 5 as usual and I just left her. She did just what your little Olivia does, fusses, talks, grunts etc. She was up for about an hour and fell back asleep. When she woke at 6:30 I went in to get her and she was out of her swaddle and halfway up the crib!
My DD is bottle fed and on the 4 hour EASY as well, with her last feed as a DF at about 10 pm. I have tried feeding her in the night but she doesn't take it so I know she isn't hungry. I think it must just be developmental because she is rolling over as well.
The nap problem is one we are experiencing again as well. She was doing 2 hour naps about a month ago, then all of a sudden back to 45 minutes, with the occasional 1.5 hour (with my help).
Yikes! Well, you are not alone and hopefully this will all pass soon - guess we can take comfort in "riding it out" together.  :lol:

[Olivia's Mommy]

Good to know I'm not a lone. And since they're so close in age, it must be a phase. Are you doing anything to actively try to extend her naps or sleep time? Or are you just letting it work itself out on its own? I just don't want short naps to become a habit.

[Aarismom]

Hey guys,

Our lo's are 3 days apart

Mine just went through that stage of short naps. This is completely normal around this age. They are working out their daytime sleep and their rhythms are a little messed up right now. It will pass, I promise Until then it will be frustrating, no doubt. I can vouch for that.

Meanwhile, if they are just fussing when they wake, let them go. Unless they start crying out for you, they're ok, they're just talking to their crib friends or practicing their new tricks, maybe working themselves back to sleep They may not get all the sleep they need during the day, and you might have a semi-fussy child for a week or 2, but they'll get back to longer naps.

If you need to vent, feel free! I know it helped me.

*HUGS*
Sonya =P

[albertasweetpea]

Hi Nancy and Sonya!
It does feel good to know we aren't alone in our struggles that's for sure!
Nancy, sometimes I do go up and try to extend Molly's naps...sometimes with success, sometimes not. It toyally depends on what nap we are on, what we are doing that day or evening etc...
Is Olivia still waking at 4:30-5 am?? Have you tried wake-to-sleep?
Sonya, did your DD do the same thing??
I don't know if I should intervene now with wake to sleep or just let her work it out??

[Olivia's Mommy]

Yes, Olivia is still waking up, but I've not tried wake to sleep, because it's not at the same time (anywhere from 3:30 to 5:00--last night she was awake from 3:30-5:00!) and she eats pretty good when she wakes up. So I figure she's hungry. I don't think she wakes from hunger, but once she's awake she realizes she's hungry.

Have you tried wake to sleep? Has it worked for you?

[albertasweetpea]

Nope, haven't tried it yet either. Molly wakes somewhere between 4:30 and 5 am. I fed her last night at 1 am so I knew she wasn't hungry this morning at 4:30. She too was awake until 5:30!!  :shock:
I think these wee ones are trying to do us in!
It's a conspiracy!  LOL
I'll keep you posted on early wakings and let you know if I decide to try wake to sleep.

[Olivia's Mommy]

Great! I think it's just that she's discovering so much she doesn't want to go back to sleep once she wakes up. That's what it seems like anyway. It's like she just wants to play ALL the time! She's wearing me out! LOL

Well, I hope you get some rest. Keep me posted on your progress

[Aarismom]

Actually, we had some issues with our lo waking at around 4 am, but she usually just put herself back to sleep after 10 minutes or so. Occasionally she would start to cry out, my DH would get up quick and settle her, which took maybe 5 minutes at the most, and she would fall back to sleep. I don't think he ever took more than 15 minutes to settle her.

Honestly, if they're not crying out for you, the best thing you can do for them is leave them be, unless you know they need a feeding. They need to learn how to self-soothe, and the more you're there to help them, the more dependent on you they become, even if they were soothing themselves to sleep prior to this phase. They pick up new habits soo fast, it's amazing!

Still with ya on this ladies, mine's really starting to take longer naps now, so hopefully the phase has passed!!

*HUGS*
Sonya =P

[micah'smom]

hi ladies,

just wanted to post that my lo is doing the same thing. he is a little over 5mo. he USED to sleep from 8-7 with one feeding at 4am. but these days he rolls around and wakes almost every hour to get flipped back. he also stays awake for 1.5hrs too. !!

it's been about a month since the rolling has woken him up. it's getting a little tiring. have your lo's passed this stage? i'm thinking it's a hunger thing b.c he's getting more active. i've also intro'd solids so all the changes must be waking him.

he does cry though, and not just fuss. sometimes it's immediate hard crying. don't know what to do?

oh well just wanted to see how you're all doing!

[Olivia's Mommy]

Yesterday was a good day...I had to wake DD after 2 hours in the morning and afternoon naps! The only thing I did different was a 5-10 minute wind down. (I used to do this when she was a couple of months old, but then she didn't need it any more.) Last night was good, too. She woke once to eat (she was so tired, didn't eat much at DF). She ate and went right back to sleep.

This morning I didn't do the wind down because she was SO tired, I just put her down. And she only slept 45 minutes again. I'll have to try the wind down this afternoon.

Here's my theory: I think her increased activity and awareness gets her so excited she can't wind down to sleep. And when she does sleep, she can't get past the first cycle. The more short naps she takes, the more tired she gets and the cycle repeats itself. My goal is to help her take longer naps. Right now the wind down seems to be working, so I'll keep trying that. If it stops working, I may have to try the wake to sleep, or going in at the 30 minute mark, etc.

Selena, I think  my LO too is hitting a growth spurt. We just started cereal, and she seems to be MORE hungry now!

Hang in there girls, and if anyone finds a short cut, let me know! 

[Claire Marie's mommy]

Me too!  What is going on!  My daughter was born on April 19.  The past week or so she has begun waking early and her naps have shortened to 45 min - 1 hour. :shock:   We worked so hard to get longer naps and I'm feeling like its all going down the drain.  I do hope this all passes, but what to do in the meantime?  I  let her fuss, but it goes on for so long and then when I do go in, she cries even harder     so I usually just get her up.  I'm trying to take this all in stride and its really nice to know I'm not alone. :?

Jessica

[Olivia's Mommy]

Jessica, I feel your pain...I think it does pass, though. Today Olivia did better...2 2-hour naps! I'm not saying we're out of the woods yet, but I think we're on our way!

I would leave my DD in her crib once she woke up. I would try to leave her in the whole nap time, but it didn't always work out. If she started fussing, I would go in and settle her. Sometimes she wouldn't settle back down, but sometimes she would. And eventually she would start falling back to sleep on her own.

Hang in there! This too shall pass!

[micah'smom]

just wanted to report that micah is back to "normal" - taking a 2hr morning nap, 1.5 afternoon, and evening catnap. i've done a long wind-down to help him calm and wake to sleep to help him get past the 45 min mark.

are you guys on 3 naps or 2? i think micah's trying to transition to 2, maybe that's why things are so weird...

[Richelle]

Hi Ladies,

My dd was born April 24, 2005, wow there are alot of us!!  My lo has also been cutting a few naps short, not consistenetly but once in awhile so I thought I should join in!

We finally got to independent sleep about 8 weeks ago, at night i literally feed her then plunk her in bed - she takes upwards to 10 minutes to fall asleep but she does around 7:30 and sleeps stright through until 6:30AM!!  I will share details if you like, just send a reply!

But her 45 min naps!  I think I have nipped them in the bud.  Some things I believe help her sleep at night and for naps:

    I use a sleep wedge(i got at Babierus) and put her down to sleep on her side.  I live in the Cayman Islands and unlike the US they put babies to sleep on their side.  This way she is rolling onto her back and back to her side but as I trained her through independent sleep to fall asleep on her side I really do think that this has helped her with rolling over disrupting her sleep

   ~I got her to fall asleep on her own by patting her butt and holding her hand.  I still do this for most naps as part of wind down so when she does stir at 45 min. mark this has worked a charm getting her back to sleep.

    ~I keep a very consistent schedule, which I only vary from for her first nap if she has woken up early.  This includes waking her up from naps and/or sleep at specific times.  Please PM me or reply if you would like a copy of her schedule that I have posted on our fridge for the nanny and DH! 

    ~She started on Cereal twice a day at 4 Months, I felt she was ready and she loves it!

She still this morning stirred at the 45min. mark and I had to pat her butt for 20 min, but I find that my patience will be paid for when she sleeps straight for her 2nd nap (that one the nanny gets :wink: )

This has turned out really long!!  Hope that helps and it will pass, it will be something completely different soon!

Richelle

Mom to Sophie