Have I accidentally caused my baby's 45min naps?

[AliP]

Hi - sorry this is so long!

I have a 9 week old princess who until recently would have described as "textbook".  I was kind of following the Gina Ford Contented Baby routine until she was about 6 weeks which was:

E: 7.00
S: 8.30-10.00

E: 10.15
S: 11.30-2.00

E: 2.00
S: 3.30-5.00

E: 5.15
A: bath and play
E: 6.30 top up
S: 7.00-10.00

DF 10-11

In the night she would wake up between 4 and 6am for a quick feed then back to bed until 7 or 7.30am.

This was working well but decided not to continue with the Contented Baby routine as a couple of things happened:
1) She began sleeping from 11 or 11.30pm to us waking her at 7am, and reducing the number of feeds she needed
2) Clinic sister told me that she needed at least 6 feeds (even though she was putting on heaps of weight - she was born 3.7kg and is now well over 5kg)
3) Continuing with the Contented Baby routines required her to be awake longer than she was able and suggested morning and afternoon naps of 45 mins each which I was comfortable trying to wake her.

So I decided to switch to a 3 hour EASY (ans shortened the A time) but have found that it has become harder to put her to bed and she often has only a 45 min nap and she won't resettle.  She is also really cranky and overtired by the afternoon and sometimes doesn't feed properly unless I wrap her tightly.  The typical day is (but can vary enourmously):
E: 7.00
S: 8.30 - 9.15 (after putting her down at 8.10am)

E: 10.00
S: 11.15-12.00

E: 1.00
S: 2.30 -3.15 (after putting her down at 2.15)

E: 4.00
S: won't go back to sleep, so sometimes I take her for a walk in the pram
E: 6.30
A: bath, followed by a top up if I don't think she ate enough at 6.30 from being cranky.

E: 10.30pm dreamfeed

Recently she had the best day in 2 weeks when she was awake a little longer in the morning - I put her down at 8.30am and after 5 mins of fussing, she went to sleep for 2 hours!

So I'm wondering that if in implementing the 3 hour EASY, I may have confused her and should have gone for a 3.5 - 4 hour EASY instead (which is what she was used to).

We also started a consistent nap time wind down which I wonder if I have accidently messed up her bedtime cues - eg I used to wrap her on the lounge but now do it on the changetable in her room (which I only use for night time nappy changes).  When I put her onto the change table she starts screaming and it is very hard to calm her down.

I also sense (but I could be making it up) that she doesn't like being in her room. We never play in there - we are always in the family room and she also doesn't ever lie in her cot awake (I've been told not to put stimulating things like mobiles over the cot).

I wrap her for all sleeps.  From 11pm-7am I use a miracle blanket, and from 7am -11pm I use the Aussie Swaddle.  I don't think the type of swaddling makes a difference because she sleeps from 7.00-10.30pm with the Aussie Swaddle with no problems.

Also I don't use a dummy/pacifier.

So I'm wondering what I should do?  I'm concerned that if I change any of the naptime wind down that I may confuse her again.

Should I go back to the routine that I used previously?

Is there anything I can do to get her to "like" her room and cot any more??

Thanks!
Ali

[Colesmom]

Hi there,

I started BW with my DS at 4.5 months but I think there are a couple of things I can suggest.

In order to get her used to her room/cot have her lay in her cot while you put away clothes/tidy up etc.  You will indicate to her that this is playtime by singing/chatting to her while she is there and obviously the lights are on.  Put a soft toy or book in there for her to play with.  Maybe you could get a mobile that easily detaches for sleep time if you'd prefer that.

As for A time, many babies that age do best with under 1.5 hours of A time, but if your lo is thriving on a 3.5-4 hour easy, is gaining well and sleeping well we go with the old saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

As for sleeping from 11pm-7am-I send out a great big YAHOO!  There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.  Your little one is obviously taking in enough calories through the day to carry her through the night and that is our goal!

I know this must be confusing for you, to be getting so much conflicting advice.  Ask yourself-did she seem happy/content on the other routine?  If so, I'd say stick with it.

HTH

[AliP]

Thank you... I'm finding each day is variable.  One day she will be showing tired signs after 45 mins awake, other days it's 1hr 15 mins. 

I'm not having much luck extending the naps though so will try to go in on the 45 minute mark and catch the jolt for a few days and see if I can get her out of the short nap cycle.

Ali