waking 30-45 minutes into a nap!

[sasholi]

Hello all..

Just wondering if anyone else out there has this problem or knows what to do about it...

My DS has just learnt how to fall asleep on his own - no crying, nothing. I usually would pat him and cuddle him to sleep and was happy doing that because he is only 7 weeks old...
One day I went to put him to bed, when there was a knock on the front door. It was one of those moments when everything happens at once, and you have no spare hands, so I popped him in his cot praying he would start screaming, ran and answered the door and dealt with that. And when I came back he was asleep. It was bizarre. Three days later, and he has fallen asleep for about 85% of his sleeps.

Anyway, what the issue is though, is that he is waking up consistently 30 - 45 minutes into his nap (every nap during the day) and won't settle back to sleep. Sometimes he is happy and I'm happy to let him babble to himself, but then there are times when he is really cranky and fussy (not hungry though and not in pain or windy) and won't resettle no matter what I do... and he is obviously tired. Then he gets overtired and is difficult to resettle for his next nap...

I have no idea how to deal with this...! He needs his sleep and has been doing this for a week now. I'm not too stressed just a bit frustrated...
Just wondering if this is something that he will "outgrow" in a couple of weeks or if we are developing a new habit here...

Hope everyone is having a good weekend..
Cheerio!

[jamb]

hi,

i also have a 7 weeks old little boy, Jack. At the moment he does very little sleeping during the day, I can put him down and can almost time him to the second, and he wakes after 20 minutes. I am pretty sure he is not hungry or uncomfortable as he is quite happy to look around/babble. Problem is that he gets more and more tired as day progresses and is very unsettled by 5pm. Sleeps well during the night, asleep by 6pm, feeds midnight, sleeps till 4/5am.

He will sleep during the day if Im out and he is in pram or sling- but there is only so much walking I can do

Like you I'm not too concerned but it can get frustrating!!

interested to hear from others as well. love to chat and keep posted on how your DS develops

cheers amy

[Tannie]

My little girl is 9 weeks and does this too during the day........at night she sleeps very well and can resettle, but day times are a bit of a nightmare with her only having 2-3 15 - 45 minutes naps during the day.
I know it's normal for baby's to sleep in cycles of 30-45 mins - but like you - I'd like her to do more then 1 cycle in daytimes!! Yep - she sleeps if I have her out or in the sling etc - but can't do that all day every day...........
I have just bought "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer" and am hoping to implement a bit more structure in her day in the hope that this will help.
I think many of us are in the "same boat" with this one :eek:
T

[xkwzit]

Hi All
My DD1 did the same thing as a baby, she would only ever sleep for 40 minutes at a time 2 or 3 times through the day (if I was lucky). This was her regular pattern until she started having longer naps (at about 6 - 8 months I think). She always slept v well during the night, so I tried not to be too bothered (even thought I was mildly jealous of Mum's with babies that would sleep for 2 hours at a stretch :( ).

DD2 also had short naps, but has always slept better than DD1. I wonder whether it was because she was sleeping in her cot from day 1. I tried to get DD1 to sleep in a rocker up until she was around 6 months and maybe that was my mistake (but I just couldn't leave her "on her own" - you know :o ?).

Cheers

[jarrahsmumma]

hi all,
your stories soundvery familer to me, my son is almost 4 months old now and he has never slept during the day for more than 30mins, the only 1hr sleep he has is after his 5-6am feed. The only bonus to this is he sleeps throught from 7pm ish to his first feed.

i have spoken to my CHN about this but she just says "get him to sleep for 1 to 2 hours" no suggestions on how to do this , i really dont like her at all, i am just happy to go with his flow and hope as he gets older and walking/crawling he may be able to wear himself out more and sleep longer.

also i should mention he has 5 to 6 naps a day rather than the "normal" 3-4

peace
natalie
(mumma to jarrah 6.1.05)

[vickster]

Hi Guys,

My little one use to the same thing too. Her longest day sleep use to be 40mins if I was lucky. Out of frustration, I started to go in to her as soon as I heard the slightest hint of a cry. Then I would pat her back to sleep before she really woke up. She would then sleep for an extra hour after that! (Sometimes I would lay her down on our bed and let her feed back to sleep).

The patting worked every time for us and I thought maybe it may help. Good Luck!

[sasholi]

I found two days ago I sat in Aleksander's room and just watched him a little bit around the 30 minute mark (15 minutes before he usually wakes). I waited and sure enough he started to stir around 40 minutes. So i sat there with my hand on his chest (he was lying on his tummy) and just sat there for another 10 minutes with my hand on his chest.

He did settle. Woohoo.

I didnt get a chance to do that yesterday, as we had a really disrupted day with guests over and then we had to go out in the afternoon so bub slept in sling (our foolproof sleep prop!! :) )

I will try and do that again to try and train little one into sleeping longer...

It is frustrating especially since even though he sleeps well overnight, he is waking once during the night and then again at 5/6 in the morning. So it's not an awfully long sleep for us... yawn. Particularly when all i want is a good night's sleep after a long and exhausting day of bub waking and crying too soon!

Anyway, good luck to all - glad to know i'm not the one out there with this issue...

Have a great day all...!

[vickster]

Hi Aleksander's Mum,

I'm so glad it worked for you. I hope little Aleksander gets the message quickly and starts to sleep through that sleep cycle by himself :rolleyes:

[maxyboy]

Hi Alexander's Mum,

I don't know if this helps but my boy Max was and occasionally still wakes evry 40-50 minutes during his daytime naps and he is now a little over 5 months. The reason they do this apparently is because they wake before going into a deep sleep, just after REM. We as adults can wake up to 9 times a night but often without realising it because our bodies know how to put ourselves back to sleep. Bubbas on the other hand, do not! It takes time for them to learn and some learn faster than others, unfortunately, I don't think there is a whole lot we can do other than just be there for them! I hope this has helped! Good luck.

[Lukeandmattsmum]

Hi guys

My little guy has just decided this week that he won't sleep unless he is being nursed and then when he is asleep and i put him down, sure enough 5mins later he'll be up again. This is getting very frustrating. Also at night time he keeps waking constantly. I think i got 2hrs sleep last night, i don't know how much longer i can do this for. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

kylie

Luke 1/2/05

[Jimmyjones]

I know where you are coming from Kylie!!!
My Abi is 8 weeks old and was always waking. I then went to Melb to see my mum and Abi slept from 8pm-7am straight through I was shocked. (mum thinks she has a magic cot). when I came home she became restless again, so I have a night time routine 7.30pm shower, bottle then wrapped and rocked to sleep we put her in the cot around 8.45pm. When she is wrapped we make sure her little hands can't get out and that the blankets are tight. I feel that a shower relaxs her and she knows she gets a bottle after.
The only draw back is she now only has cat naps during the day and I am not sure what to do, as she is a angel at night.

[sasholi]

Hi Luke's mum.

I am so sorry to hear about your lack of night time sleep.
I have found that what has helped my little boy (although he is still struggling with the length of his day time naps - we have decided they are a maturation thing and that eventually he'll grow out of them - some days he has good sleeps, others not...) is if we swaddle/wrap him pretty tight so his arms can't move and flail around and hit himself in the face. I know your little boy is a bit older than mine, but maybe this would help?

What I do is place a bunny rug or a flannellette cot sheet in a diamond shape on the bed. I then fold down the top (where his head will be) so that there is a flat side. I put his head just above the folded bit. Then I put his arms by his side and fold the right hand side over his body and tuck it in under his left side. I then pull the bit where the feet are over his body to his left side and tuck it in under him. Then I tuck the left side over his body towards the right hand side and tuck it under his body.

This keeps his arms really still and he seems to sleep better.

I also make his room quite dark during the day. But when he wakes up and it is time for a feed, i go in and open the curtains. Then when it is time for him to go to sleep, we go into his room, put on some quiet classical music and close the curtains. We have a cuddle for a couple of minutes, then i pop him in his cot and swaddle him. This all seems to calm him down so he knows now it's time to sleep.

Also, I have found "The Baby Whisperer" book quite helpful. It is very involved, but with perserverence, it has really helped.

Good luck - please let us know how you are going and what you are trying!!!

[Lukeandmattsmum]

thanks for the advice.

I've tried wrapping him up, but he is not to keen on it, i think maybe cause he was wrapped so tightly while he had to stay in the special care nursery for 3 wks. What makes it so frustrating is sometimes we can have the most perfect day and night and then the next can be an absolute shocker. I think i might have to buy that book that you guys are talking about and see what they suggest.

Kylie

Luke 1/2/05

[mummyE]

Hi all,

My little girl is 6mths now and sleeping very well during the day (if at home).I put her in bed awake(this is a different hurdle I overcame) with music on and she generally sleeps for 2-2 1/2 hours without waking. HOWEVER... she did wake after about 40mins every time she slept in the day up until about a month ago. The advice I got was to pat her back to sleep and this worked sometimes but if this failed I would rock her in my arms and put her back down once she was asleep. Eventually I got frustrated with having to do this so as she got a bit older (around 4mths??) I would just leave her if she seemed happy or let her cry for a little while. My CHN encouraged me to keep her in bed for at least an hour so she got used to it (obviously if she was distressed I would get her up).

The good news is that they grow out of it!!! :) :) :)
Just try to be patient and try different ideas and use what works best for you & bubs. My theory is that as she started to move around in her cot (ie. roll etc) she was able to make herself comfortable and this helped her be able to sleep longer.

Hope this helps!
Elissa

[AM]

My ds was a definite 45 minute napper, and I happened to read the book 'The NO Cry Sleep Solution - By Elizabeth Pantley, and she had a heap of good info about infant sleep cycles.
For trying to extend daytime sleeps, she suggested sneaking in around about 30 minutes or so after your child has gone to sleep, and be alert to signs of waking.
As others have said, try to gently soothe baby back to sleep.
Ds would sometimes settle, but a lot of the time I would end up nursing him again a little, and he would sleep for another 45 minutes.
I was quite consistent with this, and he began to sleep 1 and a half to 2 hours voluntarily, and now he sleeps 2 to 3 hours.
It really is one of those stages they go through, and every baby is different, yours may only need catnaps.
They definitely do grow through it!
HTH
Angie