wake-to-sleep for naps - should I try it and how do I do it? getting desperate...

[emeraldgirl1]

DD (6.5m) is a cat-napper.

30 mins (to the minute usually) am, 40 mins pm, and a lunchtime nap that if I am lucky totals 2 hours but needs me to stay sitting next to her on the bed (put her in the middle and sit there with my laptop) so that I can be ready to soothe her back to sleep the EXACT moment she wakes after 30ish minutes - it takes about 20 mins to get her back to sleep properly and then she has another good hour or so.

So I am wondering, based on her lunchtime nap (when she wakes but, eventually, settles back to sleep again) if w-t-s would be worth a try?

I just can't take much more of the tiredness - her not me - she is exhausted five mins after waking from her morning nap and it affects the rest of the day.

If I do wake-to-sleep, what do I do exactly? I don't have time at the mo to read the Baby Whisperer book!!! Can't work out from Googling at what time I would stir her (if she wakes usually after 30 mins) and how to do it without waking her up. And then do I stay there for a bit?

Also, how long do I need to stick it out for to see if it will work? A few days? Weeks?

Please, please help if you can!!!

Well, I tried what I thought w-t-s was this afternoon and had a disaster... woke her after 25 mins by v gentle patting of cheek... she stirred very slightly... I stayed a couple more minutes... walked away congratulating myself... she woke up screaming thirty seconds later. So I turned a 45 min nap into a 25 min one and had a grump on my hands until bedtime...

I did it for a week and it worked but he was self soothing already.

5 minutes before the usual wake up time I got him and carried him into my bed. This extended naps to 90 minutes and broke the cat nap habit.

Hiya, how is your dd getting to sleep for naps and night sleeps? I think self soothibg is key but if you're already doing this then it shouldn't be too long before she naturally lengthens her sleep. Some advocate doing exactly as you are- assisting dd to go into the next cycle of sleep - as this should get her sleep cycles on track.

I did something- not sure if it was a fluke. On waling I let dd grumble for a few minutes and repeated each day. Gradually she would extend her sleep - weird!

Howe we got to a stage where she was napping too long in the morning and started early waking! Agh! Dd is now three and is a very good sleeper.