Won’t nap for longer than 30 mins! Help!

[Morgie87]

So my son is approaching 13 weeks old and we are struggling to get him to nap for more than 30 minutes. We get the very rare 45-60 minutes and that feels like a dream come true! We’ve tried a few techniques and the latest is putting him in his next to me cot in our room in a dark room, but again begins to stir at the half hour mark. Have tried stroking his head after waking but seems wide awake. We are worried that the lack of naps will make him overtired in the evenings? Has anyone else got these issues or have any solutions? Thanks.

My DS is almost 13 weeks and exactly the same. Generally he wakes up dead on the 45 minute mark (30-45 mins is one sleep cycle) sometimes he chills out in his cot before I get him, other times he wakes crying - which is when I know he hasn't slept long enough!

I have him sleeping in a quiet, darkened room, with white noise. However, the only way I can ever get him to sleep more that one cycle is to go into the room after about 30 minutes (I'd guess 20 mins for you) just as he is about to start stirring and gently rock the crib or stroke his head for about 15 minutes until I can see his breathing soften again. It's very very tedious but it means that he'll sleep for 1.45-2hrs and wakes up happy! If I leave it too late and his already woken slightly then there's no chance I can get him back to sleep! I usually try and do this for one nap a day and the others he has out in him pram.

TBH most babies this age only sleep 30-45 mins so if your DC is waking up happy then I wouldn't worry too much, or you could just increase the amount of naps!

When my DD was a few months old she would often wake me up and DH crying. Often right as we were getting to bed. We tried darkening the room with black out curtains but nothing seemed to work. We looked into white noise and I found a lot of the sleep sound/ noise playlists on spotify quite unhelpful because they changed pretty quickly and they were very harsh sounding to my ears!! However this album below was good for her, I found that if i put the fan noise track on repeat she would sleep like a log. Some of the other stuff me and my friends would listen to when we would have our mindfulness meet ups. Would recommend!

open.spotify.com/album/19YGp1x9qTO3Z1gThoaZLW?si=4ZBooU9ZT4GrMo43eO8Gew

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions, we currently put him down with Ewan the sheep which he seems to like. Thanks for the link to the white noise. That has crossed my mind to go and rouse after about 20 minutes to start a new cycle so I think we may give that a go. He usually does wake up happy which seems to show he is content with what he’s needing. I think it may be for our minds that he needs more!

My DS will only nap for 30 minutes at a time. Its so frustrating so I feel your pain. Nothing i’ve done seems to work so far so I will be checking this thread for advice. I just wanted you to know that you are not alone.

My DS is 5 months now by the way but has been doing this from around the 3 month mark.

Short naps are totally normal at that age! You just need lots of them.

Yeah it’s extremely frustrating isn’t it. But hopefully as long as you see your DS healthy and happy I see that as a good thing!

He seems happy in the day. Do you ever feel like you dont have two minutes alone though 🤪. Hopefully it will pass. I try not to problem solve too much around it as I dont think that we have a lot of control with this. If I start thinking I do then I get frustrated with him for not complying. Do you ever feel the same? Much easier to just go with the flow and try to relax.

Or so I tell myself on a good day lol

Yeah I certainly know the feeling!! I will get better and easier....I’m sure of it!

My DD (now nearly one) was the same, I could literally set my watch by her waking up after exactly 30 minutes. I became a pro at getting chores done in half an hour flat! 🙈 A sliver of hope for you though is that around the 10-11 month mark she just randomly sorted herself out and her naps elongated. Now she regularly does over an hour of a morning and the same in the afternoon. Granted, that’s only in her crib so we have to be home for her naps but I’ll take that over the constant half an hour naps and grizzle-fest in between!
As someone else said, I think it’s pretty normal for young babies to have short naps and that it’s potentially a developmental thing. Once they get a bit older they just learn how to settle themselves between sleep cycles. (Now, if she’d only do it at night then I’d be sweet... 😂)