12wo baby taking 20 minutes nap

[camwlove]

My 12wo baby lately just took 20-minutes nap. He used to take 1 hr, 1.5 hr or 2 hr naps, but from two weeks ago, he suddenly started to take only 30 minutes or 40/45/50 mins nap. From yesterday, his nap was reduced to only 20 minutes. I heard 30 minutes is overtired, 45 minutes is not enough A time, but what about 20 minutes (I know it is time when his sleep changes from deep one to REM), but what caused this 20 minutes nap?

I tried to use PU/PD, but he seemed happy after waking up. So I gave up this and did not want to give him dummy.

I am currently on a 3HR EASY, but since his nap time is so short, I found myself is actually on EASYA. I put him to bed between 20:00-20:30, he fell into sleep very fast. He woke up three times during the night. and I put him to bed during the day normally about 1.5 hours after waking.

Any idea about the 20-minutes nap?

[malialeanne]

Hi there. Welcome to the boards!

Normally when a baby is having good naps and then suddenly the naps shorten, it means they may be ready to increase A time. This often happens right around 3 months or so. But in your case I'm not sure--it looks like you're putting him down for the night around 10 or 10:30 p.m. Is that correct? That's quite late--BW and most other sleep books recommend a 12-hour day and a bedtime around 7 or so. He could be very overtired, causing him to have night wakings and sleep poorly during the day. At his age I would suggest a schedule something like this:

7 a.m. - Wake/eat

8:30 - 10 a.m. nap 1

10 a.m. wake/eat

11:30 - 1 p.m. nap 2

1 p.m. wake/eat

2:30 - 4 nap 3

4 p.m. wake/eat

5:30 - 6 p.m. catnap

7 p.m. bedtime routine

7:30 p.m. bed

10:30ish dreamfeed (if you do one)

I know it is tough to stick to the above schedule with short naps, but if you try an earlier bedtime and correct the overtiredness, the naps may improve.

HTH!

Malia

[camwlove]

Thanks, Malia.

I actually put him to bed at around 8:00-8:30 pm, and he woke up around 7:00 am. I tried to extend his night sleep time, but it was not successful.

I also thought maybe the A time is too short, but I did find him rubbing his eyes and keep yawning. At his age, he shouldn't be awake for around 1.5 hrs, right? And I did try more than 1.5 hr, but less than 2 hr, but I still can only get 20 minutes from him.

It seems that the duration of his naptime is getting shorter and shorter, but his nighttime has been the same, although he is older now and many others can sleep through, he still woke up around 23:30, then 2:30, then 5:00..

Feel very frustrated and not sure what is going on. He did not seem to have a growth spurt as he did not have much during the night feed.

[malialeanne]

Hi there. Yes, 1.5 hours A time is average for his age. That includes feed and winding back down. Like I said earlier, it really could be overtiredness creeping in. Don't make A times too short, but do whatever you can to get more sleep into him for a few days.

Night sleep of 8-7 is pretty good for his age, around 11 hours is average. However with the nws he's probably not getting good solids sleep for all of those hours. I would encourage you to try an earlier bedtime of 7 or perhaps earlier. It really can make a big difference. Those multiple nws are often due to overtiredness.

[camwlove]

Thanks, Malia.

I actually tried to put him to bed earlier last night at 7:30 pm since he did not nap much during the day, and looked crunky around 6:00 pm. But it seemed that he thought it was a nap so fighted so much (he normally fall into sleep very fast at bedtime). He ended up sleeping from 9:30pm, and woke up at 7:40 am this morning.

When I normally put him to bed at 8:30pm, he woke up at 11:30-12:00ish, then 2:30-3:00ish, and then 5:00ish. Yesterday, he woke up at 1:30am, then 5:00 am. I was also told by my friends about the early bedtime at 7:00ish, but my worry is, as you can see, he woke up at regular intervals (normally three times), if I put him to bed at 7:30 pm, he may wake up at 10:30ish, then 1:30ish, then 4:00ish, and then finish his night sleep. So does that early bedtime only suits those who can sleep through?

[malialeanne]

Hi there. If you put him down at 7:30 and he had only one waking (9:30 p.m.) and slept until 7:40 a.m.--that sounds like a great night! When you first try an earlier bedtime many los will wake a couple of hours later thinking "what a great nap!" You just treat it like a night waking a put them back down (feeding if it falls around a normal feed time).

If he looked cranky at 6 p.m., maybe he needed to go down to bed even earlier...

The earlier bedtime does not only work for those who sleep through. It's the babies who aren't sleeping through who need it. My own dd is not the greatest night sleeper and still has a night feed, but when she goes to bed early (before 7) she usually sleeps until 3:30, feeds, and goes back down until 7. If she stays up too late she will have multiple night wakings.

He may not have the extra wakings with an earlier bedtime. Even 30 to 60 mins of added sleep at the front end of the night can really help deal with overtiredness and help them to sleep more soundly all night. However, even if he does have a few wakings, he's still getting more night sleep total which will help correct the overtired cycle and hopefully help him to sleep better in the day and night.