Short Naps - 20 or 30 mins

[ej020575]

Hello

Our little boy is 3 and a half months old.

He goes down really well at nap times and is usually asleep in 5-10 mins. From the point at which he stops moving/breathing becomes deep he is asleep for 20 mins exactly before jolting. This jolt usually wakes him up and he opens his eyes instantly.

I have tried not rushing in and resettling him, I have tried resettling him by shush patting him but neither of these work. If he can survive the jolt, he will then only nap for a further ten minutes before his eyes popping open and him being awake. Again, he can't be resettled and won't settle himself.

Does this sound like a sleep cycle issue? Does anyone have any ideas/experience to get him to nap longer?

The strange thing is he doesn't do it at bedtime after 20 mins and sleeps through the night perfectly. That is the only thing that makes me think it isn't necessarily a sleep cycle issue as presumably he goes through the same sleep cycle at bedtime?!

Any thoughts and insights would be most welcome as he is really suffering from having such short naps.

Thanks

Emma

[KathrynK]

hi Emma
this is really common in babies and no I have no idea why it doesn't happen at bedtime either! (although I am sure someone wiser than I will know.....)
anyway my dd suffered from the jolts too. The good news is that many grow out of it eventually- dd was 5.5 months when she started napping longer on her own. The other good news is that you can take steps to help him in the meantime.
There are several different techniques you can try (including the shh/pat you are already doing). Shh/pat back to sleep never worked for us- I had to prevent dd from waking in the first place. If she woke then nothing on earth would get her back off. I used a technique where I would hold her through the jolts- kind of pin her arms and legs down so she couldn't fling them around and wake herself up. This would be worth a try for you & your lo. You'll find more info on it and other ways to beat the short naps in the FAQs section at the top of this board- here's the link for you:

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=85499.0
hope this helps
Kathryn

[Ronnette]

Hi,
I have been having the same problem with my DS, 12 weeks old.  Today I decided to swaddle him.  I used one of those swaddle-me bankets that velcros so he couldn't startle and breakout of it.  I went in around 20 min and put my hand on him as he went through REM sleep.  It took about ten minutes and I could tell he wanted to come out of sleep.  I help my breath and it worked!  We are not 1 hour and 40 minutes in to his nap and he's still going!  I don't know if this will be a permanent fix, but I am so excited I had to write you.  Have you tried to swaddle?
Ronnette

[ej020575]

Hi

We did used to swaddle him until about 3 weeks ago - which funnily enough ties in with a decline in his napping!

Unfortunately my maternity leave was near finishing and the nursery he is attending doesn't swaddle - which I can understand I suppose from a SIDS perspective. Anyway, he is now in a GroBag and likes it but it obviously doesn't help with the jolts as much.

Anyway yesterday I was working from home and did what Kathryn advised i.e. holding him down and I was so excited!! I got an hour, two hours and another hour nap from him! I was so proud/pleased that I cried!

Nursery are continuing with it today, then I am going to continue over the long Easter weekend and I have a day off next week to also carry this on so that hopefully he will be able to survive the jolts himself at the end of all this.

As a result of such great nap times yesterday he also slept through from dream feed (10pm) to 6.30 this morning!

A Happy Mum

[KathrynK]

hi Emma
that's such good news! 
hope you have a happy-napping Easter weekend x