Cannot Break the 45min Nap Cycle

[dkjokisch]

About a month ago we went to the ILs for a week.  We tried to keep to our routine as much as possible, but naps were horrible, if at all, and of course that led to night waking problems and eating issues.

Prior to the trip (about two weeks or so) we had just dropped the catnap, and were down to two 1hr, 45min naps per day.  Since returning we have been able to address the night waking issues, and she is back to sleeping through the night.  She still wakes occasionally (once every 4-5 nights), but we don't have to go in and resettle her.  However, I cannot seem to break the 45min nap cycle.

She wakes after 45min, but for the most part she is calm.  I have always taken it that if she wakes up happy, she has had enough sleep.  However, now that we are down to two naps, 45min of sleep is not enough to get her to the 2nd nap/bedtime, and I am left with a perpetually cranky baby.

She has never fallen asleep with us in the room, so if I go in and try to help resettle her, she just thinks it is time to get up.  I tried the nap version of wake-to-sleep for several days, but it is all over once she opens her eyes and sees me.  I have also tried stirring her at the 30-35min mark and sneaking back out.  That worked for 2-3 days, but only for the morning nap.  Since she's not upset, PU/PD doesn't really seem appropriate.

For the last few days, I have just left her to play quietly in the crib for what should have been the rest of her naptime, hoping she'll fall asleep, but with no luck.

The lack of sleep is affecting her eating, which is a problem as we found out at her 9mos checkup last week that she has not gained or grown in height since her 6mos checkup.  At 9mos and only 15lbs, she is about to fall off the weight charts.

What else can I try?  I can't make her sleep, but it is obvious that 1.5 hours of daytime sleep is not enough.  Help.

[Meg's Mom]

Have you tried increasing her A time?  What are you at currently?

[dkjokisch]

There's what we strive for, and then there's what we do to adjust when the naps are bad.  Here's our rough routine...

She wakes between 6-7am (used to be closer to 7am, but we've been all screwed up).  Ideally, her first nap is 2.5 hours from wake-up time, but no earlier than 9am and no later than 10am.  With the early wake-ups and short naps, we've gone as long as 3 hours here.

The second nap ideally is 3 hours after she wakes from the first, but no earlier than 1:30pm and no later than 2:30pm, but again, due to the short nap problem, we have gone as long as 4 hours.

We try to make bedtime about 4-4.5 hours after she wakes from her second nap.  We usually start her routine about 7pm and have her in bed by 7:30pm.  We have started the routine as early as 6pm on extremely bad nap days, but it will backfire on us if we do it several days in a row as she starts to wake earlier in the morning like she is now.

She does sleep through the night, 12 hours is her ideal time (which is why she starts to wake earlier if we put her to bed early several days in a row).

Like I said before, 45min naps would be fine if she woke happy and was reasonably content until her next nap, but right now she's been getting cranky and agitated halfway through her A time.  It makes the last hour or two before a nap quite miserable.

[Meg's Mom]

Hummmmm, A times sound appropriate for her age (if anything on the long side).

What does your nap wind down look like?

[dkjokisch]

Her winddown routine has always been pretty minimalist.  She used to get really wound up when I went back to her room for a song or a story.  I guess she knew what was coming.

So now, we have a quiet cuddle activity in the living room, reading a book or singing a song, then I walk her down the hall, pull the shades, turn on her music, and put her in the crib.  She sometimes fusses a bit as I draw the shades, but usually she settles down (with a pacifier) when I put her in the crib.  I stand there and talk to her for a few mintues and rub her belly, then leave the room. 

She does take a pacifier, the use of which has increased greatly due to our trip, but it is still limited to crib only.  She used to only get it when she was really fussy at nap/bedtime, but that went downhill when we were travelling.  At this point, though, due to other medical reasons, I'd rather her use a pacifier than her thumb.  I figure we'll deal with weaning her off once I get her naps back on track.

We kind of have a new plan, and I'm interested to know what you think.  Since she's obviously not napping well now, it's not like I have alot to lose.  I'm going to decrease her A time back to where it was when we were dropping the catnap (2hrs for first nap, 2.5hrs for second).  Yesterday, she was really fussy around 2.5hrs after her first nap, so we gave up and just put her down for another nap.  She slept 45min, woke and talked for 20min, then slept for another 45min.  At what would have been the catnap time, we just put her in her crib for some downtime.  She was quite tired by bedtime, but that second nap was the first halfway decent nap we've had in over a week.

It may make for a couple rough afternoons at first until we can transition her back to her regular schedule, but it's worth it if I can get her back to longer naps.

[dkjokisch]

Well, It's one hour into her first nap on the new plan, and she's still asleep!  WOOHOO!

[Meg's Mom]

Yippie!  I was thinking A times were long and it looks like you were too  :wink: .

I would keep the downtime in there for a while. 

I was just posting for someone else that at 6.5mos we dropped the catnap and then a month later went back to it until 8/9mos as she more active and needed more rest.  So don't be afraid to go to a 2+catnap schedule if needed.

Glad you were listening to your own BWerer   

[dkjokisch]

Ok, so we still need some help (or perhaps just some moral support).  We're on day 5 of the new plan, and so far, I have gotten 2 or 3 naps longer than 45min.  I have left her for quiet time whenever she wasn't upset when she woke up, hoping she'll fall back asleep, but without much luck, even when she's making her sleepy groans that used to mean she was about to fall back asleep.

I have reduced her A times to 2hrs, 2.5hrs, and 2-2.5hrs (adjusting so she'll wake from her catnap before 5pm).  However, the 45min naps are wrecking havoc on the rest of our routine as it is not time to eat when she gets up.  She's gone down for her 2nd nap as early as 11/11:30am making it very difficult to get lunch in before her nap.

I am going to keep at it and be as consistent as possible (which will be difficult as we have to go out of town for a doctor's appt for her), but can anybody think of anything else we should be trying?

THANKS!