New to EASY and need advise

[usfba97]

Hello to all!  I am new to this board and I have been reading for a few days.  My DD is now 9 weeks old and I have been doing 3 hour EASY for about 3 weeks now.  She typically goes to bed around 8 and sleeps til 3, eats, and then back down til around 7-8.  I have a few issues I need to ask about:
1.  She is starting to only take the famous 45 min naps.  I have tried the wake/sleep and only worked a few times.  I find myself having to take her out of the crib, have activity again and then lay back down.  She is doing great with putting herself to sleep.  I often have to go in and re-insert the paci 2-3 times though before she's out.  So she's getting 2 A and 2S per 3 hours.  Is this normal? 
2.  For the wake/sleep, when does the 40 min start to re-enter the room?  after she's in the deep sleep or from the moment she closes her eyes?  I'm confused on this.

We really don't have a consistent schedule yet.  Everyday, the times are different, which is making me crazy as I'm a control freak  :shock:
She seems happy for a little while after waking from the 45 min nap but is yawning after about 15-20 min and then it's time for S again.  Seems like she sleeps so much for short periods of time.  Need your advise.

[Taylor's Mommy]

HI there,

I was about to post a reply but dd is up for the day.  Will get back to you at her first nap though.  Sounds like you are doing great so far!

[usfba97]

Bumping...someone please help

[Taylor's Mommy]

Hi There,

1. the 45 minute naps are very much develomental.  meaning that your lo is adjusting to her day sleep and "learning" how to sleep past the 45 minute mark.  I say this first just so that if you try to keep that in mind you will not get too discouraged if they don't go away after a few days.  For many lo's they go away by 6 months of age (for my dd it was at 14 weeks,but they still come back now and again).  So while dd is learning, she will need your help getting past the jolt.  You can do this with swaddling, white noise, a dark room, maybe even a pacifier, pat/shush technique and wake to sleep.  Have you read the Sleep Interview yet and the post at the top of this forum "teaching young infants to sleep?"  Both are great.
Also, when you say 2A and 2S, do you mean 2 hours A or 2 sets of A?  Sorry, I just wasn't exactly clear on that one.

2. With a 9 week old, it takes apx. 20 minutes for them to enter deep sleep.  So you will lay dd down and notice she will start to drift off (this is when the "timer" starts.  You will notice a jolt at about 5, 10 and 15 minutes, and then finally a pretty large jolt at 20 minutes, at whihc point she should drift off into sleep.  Then, she will start to come out of deep sleep at about 30 minutes, so yes, that means a whole whopping 10 minutes later!  :roll: .  THis is when the best time to start wake to sleep is.  Go in when she starts to come out of deep sleep and apply gently pressure, and as she starts to wake up more, then you may want to do a gentle pat, some shushing, a little jiggle, etc.  A couple of things to keep in mind: you may have to tweak pat/shush a little as all babies are different.  For instance some may like a more gentle pat and a louder shush.  Some just like a little jiggle or firm pressure, YKWIM? 

So this then will involve a LOT of PATIENCE because you will kind of have to experiment to see what your dd will best respond to.  And yes, it will seem like you are in her room all day!  But I promise it does get better and at the end of the day you will find yourslef with a happier baby because she got a little more rest with the help of mom!  :wink:   

Oh and BTW, it is best to stay with her for another 20 minutes to make sure she gets into deep sleep again for sleep cycle #2.  I know this can be kind of confusing, so plesae feel free to let me know if you have any other questions.

HTH!