how long wait after early wakings from nap?

[nilly]

my LO usually has one out of 3 naps (never the same one) that are only 45-1hour long, he wakes up crying, which i know to mean that he is still tired and needs to sleep more. he isn't full out crying, but that low cry, how long do i leave him, before i go and get him up? i don't go and help him fall back asleep as that just escalates things. sometimes it takes 25 min, and he is back asleep. but how long is too long?

thanks in advance for any advice:)

[Caroline-Charlies Mummy]

Hello, how old is your lo?

Can you please post your routine, and any other information which might help, eg winddown, etc?

Is that low cry you are describing the mantra cry, or do you feel he's upset and needs you? More info on the mantra cry:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64160.0

[nilly]

hello charlie's mummy, i guess i forgot that important piece of info, our LO is almost 4 months. our schedule is a bit scattered at the moment, he is waking up at 6:30 (what us to be 7:30), sleeping through the night, and goes to bed around 6:30.  i am trying to transition him to a 4 hour routine,  which is hard, because his awake time is only 1:45, and his sleeps are anywere from 45-2:20, and suggestions on that would also be appreciated. here was todays routine:
E 6:50
A 8:05
S 9:10

E 9:25
A 10:55
S 1:15

E 1:20
A 3:15
S 4:45

E 5:00
A 6:30, includes bath
S cews, usually asleep by 6:45

the times are to the minute, as i was charting today, not always this anal:)
what to do when he wakes up early in the morning, do i put him back in bed and wake at 7:30, till he can sleep that long without food? when he wakes this early in the morning, is isn't screaming for food.

suggestions for when he wakes early from his naps?

Also, when he wakes up from his naps, and he just happily sucks his thumb, do i leave him till he calls for me, or is it important to feed him right after he wakes up?

thanks for your help, nic

[Caroline-Charlies Mummy]

For the short naps - have you tried extending them? i.e. using wake-to-sleep, or trying to ssh/pat him back to sleep.

Does he go to sleep independently, any props?

Also, when he wakes up from his naps, and he just happily sucks his thumb, do i leave him till he calls for me, or is it important to feed him right after he wakes up?

I would be tempted to leave him until he calls - he's still resting, even though he's not asleep. It's not desperate to feed him the minute he wakes, unless he's very hungry - try to stick to the EASY plan you are working on.

[nilly]

hello caroline,

i have tried w2s, sh/pt, have not tried pu/pd, as he isn't really a snuggler, so i didn't think that would work. he just seems to get more and more worked up when i try to calm him. yesterday i left him alone after a 35 min nap and was doing the mantra cry on and off for 40 min, you could tell he was really trying to go back to sleep, and he did, but that is a long time, at what pint do i go in and get him. he did slepp for another 1:25 at wich point i woke him. the rest of the day was filled with 1hour naps he does have a bit of a head cold, so he may have been conjested.?

he does fall asleep on his own, no props, in his crib, sometimes it takes a while, but very little to no crying.

this morning he didn't even call for me (after sleeping through the night), so after 30 min of leaving him in his crib happily sucking his thumb i went in to feed him, same thing happened after morning nap (a 2 hour nap!) how long is too long? i don't want to leave him to long after a nap cause then it turns into EASA, but when he doesn't sleep for 2 hours the 4 hour EASY is off as he is awake only for 2 hours at a time. Does that make sense?

thanks for your help, it is greatly appreciated. this web site is a God sent!

[soji]

Hi Nilly -
I don't know if I can help at all, but my LO is 8 months old and she woudl do the same as your LO at times when she was younger.  What I did was jsut leave her alone until she did the mommy i need you cry.  Which she really hardly ever did.  Most of that time it was the really annoying mantra cry.  I remember wanting to pull my hair out trying to figure out whether which cry it was!!!

Then for some reason her naps got really consistent and she gave me those lovely 2 hour naps twice a day for a few months.  Then at 6.5 months she started waking early from her naps but remained really quiet.  I actually ahve a post about this issue right now.  She would suck her thumb, roll around, then go back to sleep.  But sometimes she would just play for up to 1 hour after sleeping for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Othertimes she would sleep the entire 2 hours for 1 nap and then do the sleep/play/sleep thing again for the other nap.  So, don't know what I can do to help as I need help myself.  Just wanted to let you know that we went through the same thing.  It got better during months 4 and 5 and until just about 6.5 months.  Then she started teething and crawling.  ugh, that's a new chapter...  Hugs to you. 

[nilly]

thanks for the encouragement soji. i think i am going to try to not going to worry about it, and hope like you said that with time these things will work themselves out. it isn't like all his naps are 45min, and he is a great night sleepers. i read on the FAQ post that between 3-6 months is were there daily nap pattern gets figured out.

good lucky to you and your LO. one thing i have been learning through being a mom is PATIENCE, and all they really need is love from us, the rest are just little bumps in the road...... hugs to you too!