4 month old 45 minute nap nightmare

[Sabine]

Hello all,

I am a first time mom to my now 18lb son who was 10 lbs at birth.  He is EBF and doing well, however, we have always seemed to struggle with naps.  I am trying to follow 3hr EASY...have tried to stretch but with no avail.  I have also done the DF but he will sometimes give me a 4-5hr stretch and wake once at night.  Other times he is up every 3 hrs.  I am EXHAUSTED!!!

He is only taking 45 minute naps and will do maybe 3 a day.  He goes down to bed around 730 pm.  I don't know what to do.  He self soothes (thumb sucker) and refuses a paci.  I have watched his sleep times and it seems he will fall asleep on his own around the 2hr mark (from last feed) but will only stay asleep 45 minutes.  I have tried to catch him prior to wake up and sh pat, paci etc. but NOTHING IS WORKING.

I don't know what to do...I know he needs his sleep.  And it throws us off EASY if he wakes before his feed time...we end up doing EASAE which then leads to poor feeding for the rest of the day.

Any advice??

Sabine

[Matthew's Mommy]

First off, that's excellent that he is falling asleep independently and self soothing! That's the first step.

It's a matter of time and maturity. What he is doing is normal for his age. 

What happens at the 45 min. mark? Is it a scream like cry or does he just wake up happy? Does he appear sleepy shortly after the nap?

[Sabine]

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.

At the 45 min mark he will wake up...sometimes he is cranky and crying.  Other times happy and gooing and gahing.  I have tried to get him past the 45 min mark and have read your thread about doing so and it worked for me twice and then didn't work anymore.

So I guess I just have to be patient, right?

Sabine