5mo catnaps during the day and an awful sleep regression at night

[londonsquirrel]

Hi! I am new here and I feel like rather stupid starting this yet another sleep thread... But I so much need some real-time replies and mumsnet wisdom!

My DS is currently 24 weeks old and he has been a wonderful night-sleeper since birth (my midwife told me to feed him every 2.5 hrs and it was a real struggle to wake him up and I am so happy I gave up on that). When he was about 3mo he started doing wonderful 7-8-9 hour stretches and I absolutely loved it. But I feel like c. 6 weeks ago he started waking up after 6-7 hrs gradually reducing it to 2.5 hrs (that's what we are having for the last week) and I feel like a zombie now. Plus, he decided that the day now starts at unbearable 6 am (probably due to the small tiny dots of light going through our blackout blinds?)

He has never slept properly during the day. First colics, then reflux, he has been doing 45 mins naps ONLY for a really long time now. It has probably been 10 weeks since he last napped for 2 hours on his own. I have recently read Elizabeth Pantley's "No cry sleep solution" and try to blend the sleep cycles, but I only had a success a couple of times and now he naps for 30 mins instead of 40-45?! To avoid an overtired baby I have to put him down for a nap every 1.5-2 hrs.
So, today started at 6 am and he had 5 naps during the day (okay, it is not usual, he is more like 3-4 naps a day), then I put him for the night and he woke up after 40 mins and I spent some half an hour putting him down again. All in all, I put my DS to sleep 7 times today. He is 5mo, not 5 weeks old (and he was probably better at 5wo).

The problem is even more complicated by the fact that the only way to get him to sleep at home in 99% cases is breastfeeding. There were even a couple of times this week when he refused to go to sleep in a pram/car without a feed. I know it is not a good habit, trying to deal with it, but he is refluxy and that's the way he can get some tummy time during the day without spitting up. And as he is refluxy sometimes he just cannot take any more milk.

I have heard about sleep regressions and that there is some pattern, does it look like one?.. And when does it ever stop? I am trying to be an optimist and believe that if this is a regression there should be a really good progression later on? How do you deal with it? I know that "this all shall pass", but I am so tired now...
I am really not sure what to do with the catnaps and early wakings. I was okay with 3-4 naps a day with 2hrs in between -- super, predictable baby, love it! But the books say that 45 mins is just a powernap and it is not a full cycle therefore not enough. I should probably stop reading books now, right?..

IN terms of your daytime sleep pattern, it is perfectly normal.

My DD is nearly 5 months and she sleeps for anywhere between 40-90 minutes at about 9am, 11am, 1pm, 4pm, 6pm - then bed at 8pm ish, fed 11pm is and wakes 7am ish

Frequent , shorter naps is perfectly normal and good for the first 12 months. Only once baby is older will you start getting fewer, longer naps.

Very long naps at this age would cause more problems, since young babies cannot spend long periods of time awake and need regular naps.

Good sleep promotes better sleep.

Only breastfeeding to sleep - I'd recommend trying to change that though. How about a dummy?

I'm a little confused by that response? When I sleep trained my 5 month old- those short naps you describe are the very first thing she had us change as she said that he had not learned to go through cycles on his own - each cycle being 45 min! She had us train him to sleep from 9.30-10.30, 12.30- 3:30, 4/4.30 and in cot at 6.30. Each one at first he would wake after 45, and we would have to get him through it an back to sleep. Once he did that (which took about 4 days) he slept from 6.30-7am sometimes 8 or 9. It's always been my impression, from reading journal articles (rather than books that feed on our desperation) that it is deep sleep that breeds sleep and not cat naps. This could perhaps explain the night waking. As for the feeding- I think it has to be cold turkey I'm afraid

That should be 12.30-2.30**

Cooper - Most babies are not the same as your first, I know you struggled with him. I also struggled significantly with my first so definitely empathise. In addition I also went completely the other way with my second, constantly worried I would make the same mistakes again - something else I've read from your posts. So please know that I do understand what you are going through.

My DC4 (and DC3) has had no problems sleeping through sleep cycles since birth.

There is a distinct difference between a child that cannot sleep through sleep cycles (and so would also be waking every 45 minute through the night as well) and a child having normal, frequent naps.

Sometimes frequent naps are longer - My DD often has a longer nap in the morning (I swaddled her, dummy in and upstairs in cot at 9.00am this morning, she is still asleep). But it will even out with shorter naps this afternoon.

Frequent naps in themselves are not a problem. They are normal until about 12 months old, when babies need frequent naps to stop getting over tired. By definition of being frequent, they are going to be shorter. From 6 month through to 12 months the naps generally merge and gradually get longer and less frequent until you get to one lunchtime nap by 12-14 months old and keep that until about 3 years old.

There is also a case for needing to learn to self settle more effectively, which I think is a significant issue for the OP who is breastfeeding to sleep. Hence recommending a dummy. When OP replied we might go on to talk about other self settling techniques.

The original post says 45mins exactly, it would be very coincidental that it wasn't trouble passing through a cycle considering that is how long a sleep cycle lasts- but that is just my opinion.

I think that if there wasn't a problem at night then frequent short naps may not be a problem- which is the case for you Fate. But there obviously is a problem as her dd is waking frequently and this is case for many posters who are seeking help for "short nappers"- it does impact the evening otherwise it wouldn't be such a frequent topic. My advice would be to try and lengthen the naps.