Sleep regression with naps

[LouBlue12]

I wonder if anyone can offer some advice. My 4 and a half month old is struggling with short naps. She sleeps through the night most nights and I hear her wake and get herself back to sleep. However in the day she will often only sleep for 20minutes . She needs a lot of support to fall asleep - either rocking or the breast. And she wakes frequently looking for support to go back to sleep. It's such a light sleep that often I can't get her off the breast or move without her waking. We do get longer naps but it's very reliant on me responding immediately to help her back to sleep.

As she sleeps for such short periods of time she is often really grumpy in the day and so it's really hard to get out and do things. Especially because she struggles to sleep when out. She will sleep in the carrier but often we have to walk in silence.
We have a sleep routine - going upstairs, changing her, shutting the curtains, white noise, feed, book etc. Or I'll put her in the carrier when she looks tired and walk with her. I've tried putting her in her cot sleepy but awake - she either cries or plays around on her own but does not fall asleep.

It's been 6-7weeks of short naps and a grumpy baby and I'm starting to feel hopeless that this will improve. I'm so desperate for her to sleep at this point that I'll lie there in pain without moving for a nap more than 20minutes. I'm considering a dummy to reduce her reliance on being attached to my breast but I'm worried this might create more issues down the line than it will solve.

I do understand that she's still very little and needs me a lot, but seeing other mums in classes with their babies asleep in the pram with minimal effort or hearing of them being able to do housework or self-care whilst baby naps independently is so hard. I also worry about her development when she's so grumpy and clingy.

Any advice or similar stories would be appreciated. Any advice on things she can suck to support sleep that aren't dummies would also be helpful (worried about her teeth and speech development with a dummy).

Thanks.

P.s. please be kind, just a first time mum trying her best here.

It's hard and you're doing a great job by the sounds of it.

I wouldn't think twice about trying a dummy, plenty of babies use them and they can really help with soothing.

What about pram naps? Do they work? - you both get fresh air and you can get a coffee while baby sleeps.

Failing that, go for a drive with baby and put the radio on while they doze off (ideally!)

It's a real bonus that baby sleeps through the night which means you do too hopefully?

Thank you jk987 - I'm trying!

Yes, I'm very fortunate that she does mostly sleep through the night so I'm well rested and I don't really need the naps. People have said maybe she doesn't need long naps because she's sleeping through but you can see she's tired.

My partner and I were really keen not to use a dummy - no judgement to dummy use though, just wanted to avoid it. Concerned it might mess up night time sleep if she wants the dummy and then wakes up looking for it. But I'm getting closer and closer to trying it with the naps for sure.

Driving does work sometimes. Other times she's howling crying. There's definitely been a lot of days where I've drove aimlessly for an hour trying to get her, and keep her, to sleep. Pram has never worked for us - she cries and wants to be picked up. Settle her and she might stay asleep for 5minutes and be awake again! Probably the biggest pointless purchase we have ever made as she doesn't much like it when awake either. Maybe now she's older a more seated position might be better for her!

Thanks for your comments and suggestions