Am I missing something here?! Short nap woes!

[Jazzipants]

My 4 month old boy is the anti-napper extraordinaire! He’ll go off to sleep by himself in his cot no problem but only sleeps for 27 minutes! Then he’s tired again after about 30 mins. I’ve tried shortening wake windows..no difference, lengthening wake windows.. same story. He won’t even sleep for more than 30 mins when out in the pram, he wakes up evidently still tired but fights fights fights going back off! The only success I’ve had is in the car seat (but only when car in motion) or holding him. Even when I hold him he wakes either at 27 minutes or at 45 and it’s a battle of wills to rock him off to sleep again (him struggling and growling until he finally gives in!). It’s not the end of the world but it’s getting a bit tiresome the amount of time I spend trying to get him to sleep for so little success! Am I missing something? He’s not sleeping through the night either and I’m wondering if being overtired is the culprit. Feels like I’m fighting a losing battle. We’re moving house so could really do with more than 27 minutes a pop to get some stuff packed! Reassurance would be gratefully received 🤪😂

Just wanted to say you’re not alone! My DD is exactly the same and she’s 4.5 months. Very occasionally she’ll surprise us and nap for an hour or more, but more often than not she wakes after 30-40 mins and is grumpy cos she’s still tired!

We had a sleep consultant tell us with DD that if you crack the daytime naps, it improves night sleep. She got me to sit next to DD napping and as DD roused from the first sleep cycle (between 25 and 45 minutes) then I gently shushed and stroked her to go back to sleep. It was tough, I didn't get a break, but gradually worked and DD learnt to nap through several sleep-cycles.

My 11wk old pretty much won't nap unless on me, and usually less than 30 minutes. Sorry I'm no help, just placemarking to see any tips!

Good to know we aren’t the only ones battling it out. I’ve been told that things might naturally improve as he gets bigger. Here’s hoping that’s true for us and you too 👍

Thanks! Once we’re moved I may try this. Keep hoping he’ll improve by himself but if not then I want to help him get better sleep for his own sake as well as ours! He’s a happy chap and even happier with proper rest!

I feel your pain. Ours was never a good napper even as a new baby. “Rest when baby is napping” was a huge joke for us! He’s a darling, just not a naturally sleepy baby. Hope things improve for you. Apparently before 4/5 months a lot of babies are sporadic, short nappers so you may be ok 👍🤷‍♀️

By the way @PragmaticWench did the nights improve after the naps were sorted?

My daughter was the queen of the 30 minute nap, I could set my watch by her. Tried all the shushing, long walks, car, sling to extend naps, made no difference.

She improved as she could stay awake longer and eventually settled into 2 longer naps, then one long one after lunch.

That is just your life now I'm afraid. My 10mo has only JUST started sleeping longer than 30-40 minutes this last month or so, due to him crawling and tiring himself out. Just keep encouraging them and eventually it will stick!

Worth noting that you're in the 4 month sleep regression window as well, so take care about forming sleep habits!

Yes @Chatwin ! This is what I want to hear! Hoping our little man will be the same 😄

Yes, it did help a bit with the nights as she wasn't over tired and cranky. The real help was sorting the silent reflux, allergies and eczema though. A lot of the sleep stuff just wasn't possible until that was cracked.

I did the wake to sleep method with my DS for his naps for a few days and then he started sleeping for longer. Have a Google but essentially, he generally slept for 30 mins so I'd go in after 25 and gently disturb him enough so he'd have a little wiggle and then go back to sleep. He then did another sleep cycle. After a few days, he started doing it himself

Thanks @Sbena Do you mean where he goes down to sleep and how he settles etc? I’ve heard that consistency is important. I’m torn because when he’s in his cot he’s learning to settle himself and he’s in the best place for sleeping, but he never does more than 30 mins. On me he’ll sleep longer but is that forming a bad sleep habit? Feels like a toss up between a rested baby who hasn’t got the ideal sleep habits or an overtired one who knows that the cot is the place for naps 🤔

My son is 4.5 months and has only just started having longer naps. Its probably just something he grew into but it did coincide with us starting more of a nap routine and putting him upstairs in the next to me, rather than downstairs so probably feels a bit more like night time to him.

I would keep putting him in the cot for naps. Holding him would definitely be a habit you don't want to continue. It's amazing that he goes to sleep in his cot - mine wouldn't until I sleep trained him!

The how he falls asleep is important. Longer naps should come in time. Might be a lot of time though!

Mine was like this until I put up a proper black out blind and curtains, and got a white noise machine off Amazon. She started sleeping at least an hour within a few days, I can't believe I didn't do it earlier. The room needs to dark enough that you can't see your hand at arms length. Magic.