45 minute naps

[FreddieEden]

Hi there,

Just after some advice about my son Daniel who is 9 weeks old.

He has been going from 7ish (don't wake him up if he goes 20 minutes or so longer) to 7 on pretty much an EASY routine since about 3 weeks old but has been doing the 45 minute nap thing for a couple of weeks now.  I think that maybe he doesn't do it for the first nap of the day (starting at about 8.30) as he seems to go for longer but also that might be because he is less tired and is always content to lie in his cot happy when he wakes up from that nap.  I am not particularly keen to observe that nap and find out as that is my shower time and my expressing time - both important for my sanity!

I think it is partly related to his finding his hands as I go in there and he is grunting and grizzling trying to put his hands in his mouth and rubbing his eyes.  At the moment the only way I have been able to extend his nap is by using his dummy (pacifier for US people) which is successful about 2 out of 3 times but it takes 20 to 30 minutes before I can leave him as he keeps knocking it out with his hands.  I have to sit there and avoid making eye contact as he will smile if he sees me (he is always keen to fight sleep, yawning one minute and cooing the next).   When his naps are extended he is a lot happier and settles a lot more quickly at night.

He goes down for all his naps and at nighttime without the dummy so I can't understand why he needs it to extend his nap - have tried leaving him to see if he settles himself after 45 minutes but he just seems to get more upset.  I am slightly worried about overusing the dummy as I don't want him to become addicted and hope he will move on to his fingers when he gets the co-ordination.  Yesterday, I took him to work to be admired and he slept for two hours in the sling which was very convenient as I could have lunch but not a long term solution!

I have also been thinking about allowing him to go for longer between feeds.  He is a big  boy (14 pounds) and he is not asking for food at the 3 hour mark and hasn't been showing that much interest during the later feeds of the day.  The last couple of days he has gone four hours in the morning just because I had to go out after his first nap and he slept in the sling and didn't wake up until 11.15 which was four hours after his first feed.  Those days he fed for longer and more enthusiastically in the afternoon and went for longer at night without a feed.  But getting him to go for four hours would be difficult to fit in with any kind of EASY routine whilst he is short napping - particularly because he can only stay awake for 1.5 hours maximum and usually only 1 before he starts yawning.  I guess if I was following his lead entirely he would have at least one period which was totally activity with no feed at all.

Any thoughts from anyone who has been in the same situation.

Thanks v much.
Freddie

[Jaime]

hi Freddie,

overall, i'd say your days sound pretty good.  my ds started the 45-minute nap thing around 10 weeks, and it drove me batty too!  :roll:

if he is indeed waking up cranky after 45 minutes, he does need to learn how to extend his naps.  some babies do wake up happy and their mommies just go with it for awhile.  they wake up at that point because they have finished their first sleep cycle and can't/won't transition into the next one.

pat/shh is probably the best thing to use at this age - soothing in the crib seems to keep them from being overstimulated & overstressed.

now, having said that, it did take until my ds was 16 weeks before i finally saw the fruits of my labor.  coincidentally (??) he also transitioned himself to a 4-hour schedule at that time.

all things aside, most babies seem to naturally extend their naps by the 6 month mark.

hope all this waffling gave you something useful!