Hi...I am rather new to this site but got some great advice for night waking a few weeks back. Now we are still battling short naps and I need some feedback. DS wakes after about 40 min for both AM & PM naps. He is in a great mood and wants to play but is still showing sleepy cues (rubbing eyes/yawning). In the beginning I tried PU/PD and W2S but he would be so upset I stopped forcing him to try to sleep. I usually let him do a quiet activity and after about an hour he starts to wind down again and goes back to sleep 10 min before he is due to eat! I have been waking him to eat but is this correct? I have him on a 4 hr EASY. Here is my routine:
6:30 - Wake for day
7:00 - Nurse
7:15 - Activity
8:45 - Wind down
9:00 - Nap (Generally, he is up at 9:45 and wants to play until 10:45, then goes back to sleep at about 10:50)
11:00 - Solids & nurse
11:30 - Activity
12:45 - Wind down
1:00 - Nap (Same nap routine, sleeps only 45 min)
3:00 - Nurse
4:30 - Wind down
4:45 - Catnap
5:30 - Activity
6:00 - Solids
6:30 - Bathtime/nurse/bedtime routine
7:00 - Sleep
10:45 - Dreamfeed + one additional nightime feed around 3am
I thought it may be his natural biorhythm to sleep only 40 min but this past weekend, DS napped for about 1.25 hrs when DH puts him down. He did nothing different but DS didn't even stir at the 40 min mark.
However, anytime I put him down he wakes after only 20-40 min.
I do not rush in when he first stirs. I wait for a real cry and he stops as soon as I pick him up. After that he's all smiles and will cry only if I put him back down to sleep. Does anyone have experience with this sort of strange napping pattern??
