refusing afternoon sleep

[aimee238]

Hi, this is the first time i've posted on here but i could do with some advice. My little girl is 16 weeks old, she was 6 weeks premature but is dong fantastically well. we have been following EASY since she came home from hospital at 2 weeks old and at the moment her routine is -

6.30 wake up, eat
7.30 nap (she cannot stay awake any longer than an hour at this point)
9.30 wake
10.30 eat
11.30 nap (battling with 45 minute naps here)
1.30 wake
2.30 eat
3.30 nap
5.00 wake
6.30 eat, bath
7.30 bedtime
10.00 dream feed

my problem is that for the last few days she has been refusing to sleep after her 2.30 feed. i had been out a couple of days and she slept in the car but when i transferred her to the cot when we got home she woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep. Yesterday we didn't go anywhere and she still refused to sleep. she is obviously tired as she yawns, rubs her eyes etc and gets very whingey but just won't sleep. i have ended up feeding her early and putting her to bed by about 6.30 when she just collapses and still sleeps until the next morning.

when i saw the health visitor last week she suggested i continue giving her just milk for the time being as she seems satisifed with it, she has about 6.5 oz, but could it be that she is hungry at this time of day.

any suggestions are welcome as she has been textbook until now and we have no problems at other nap times, she goes down awake and gets herself to sleep. i wouldn't mind her being awake in the afternoon but she is obvously tired.

we also took her dummy away last week as it was starting to be a problem and it hasn't bothered her but it's so tempting to give it back when she is crying all afternoon.

aimee

[Meg's Mom]

Hi and welcome to the boards :-)

If she is doing good for that am nap eg: not waking early then i wouldn't change those short A times.

I couldn't tell from your post if she was sleeping 2 hrs for the first 2 naps, but if she is sleeping 4hr total for nap 1 & 2 then I was thinking that maybe she is getting all the day sleep she needs and therefore isn't tired enough to sleep for the last nap.  If so, then maybe shaving 15-20 off the am and pm nap may help bring that nap back. 

I know Marisa Mom had this exact same problem at 4mos, i have emailed her for you.

HTH!

[Mom to M&M]

Thanks for the heads up, Michelle!

Hi there Aimee. Yes, we did go through something very similar at about that age and this board was a lifesaver for me. Couple of thoughts:

I think the main issues are:

1. You are letting her go back to sleep too quickly in the AM - so she thinks it's really just an extension of night sleep and not her first nap. If she wakes at 6:30 I'd try not to let her nap before 8. She may get tired at 7:30 but just keep it low key after that - take a walk around the house, read stories, look out the window, etc.

2. Along the same lines, the first nap is too long. IMHO you'd be better off cutting that at no longer than 1.5 (unless sick of course) and trying for a longer afternoon nap. Like Meg said, otherwise she may be tired in the afternoon but unable to sleep as she's already gotten her sleep allotment for the day.

3. I think your LO is a bit young for 4-hour routine. Can you do 3.5 hours instead?

4. Your A time before second nap looks a bit long. I think 1.75 hours might work better between 1st and 2nd nap and then full 2 hours A time before catnap

So I think it would help to adjust your routine to:

6:30 wake/eat
8 am -9:30 nap
10:00 am Eat
11:30-1 Nap
1:30 Eat
3-4 Nap
5pm Cluster Feed (2-3 ounces)
6:30 Eat/Bath
7 Bedtime (7:30 is a bit late at this age unless catnap goes later)

It does get better. DD is now almost 7 months and MOST days takes 2 naps of 1-1.5 hours and one catnap of 30-40 minutes.

HTH - happy to offer more information as well.