45 minute naps

[mamababa]

DS is 15 weeks old. Sleeps well at night and goes to sleep himself in the day. But whatever I do, however tired he is, still wakes afetr 45 mins. I know thats the sleep cycle but its driving me bonkers, it means he wants 5 naps a day which also plays havoc with feeding. Any ideas or do they just grow out of it?

DS was the same - he occasionally went back to sleep if I left him be when waking up, as long as he wasn't crying, but this was rare. And then suddenly at 6 months he has started going for longer - sometimes 2 hours. I can now do stuff!!

I think I heard they 'sleep consolidate' when they get a bit older, so it isn't unusual, and they generally grow out of it.

DD always did this, we essentially settled into the eat/activity/sleep cycle. She slept between every feed until about 9 months! Now (aged 2) naps once a day for up to two hours, it's bliss...

ds used to do this too, i used to go in, a couple of minutes before he stirred and just gently shush him back off to sleep before he'd even opened his eyes. it didn't work all the time, but when it did, he slept for at least another hour

DD (now 22mths) used to do this. MW specializing in baby sleep told me to use LK's technique of going in just before they wake and shush them back to sleep. This sometimes worked for DD - other times I'd run in when I heard her stir and give her a BF, and she'd often then drop off again for another cycle.

She started to grow out of it at about 11mths, but still has a tendency to go for only 45mins if (like today) she decides she doesn't fancy a nap - tho exhausted- and has a massive tantrum before sleeping!

My DS sleeps in 40-minute chunks too ever since he got addicted to his dummy and started waking then if it had fallen out. Now he is off the dummy but still habitually wakes at that point. BUT when he wakes I find most times he will have a little cry (not a proper full-on scream but more of a complain with gaps in between where he sucks his fingers to soothe himself) and will then settle himself back to sleep for another 40 mins (sometimes he does this twice too, so he gets about 2 hours altogether!). I find I just have to listen hard when he starts crying and try to tell whether it is an "I need you" cry or just his resettling cry - if it's the latter I don't go in (unless he keeps it up unusually long) and he goes back to sleep, but if he seems actually upset or is very awake and doesn't seem to need more sleep, then I go in. It can be hard to tell which it is sometimes though! I also look at how much he has slept already that day to help me decide, e.g. if he has already had a big nap earlier he is more likely to have had enough sleep and want me to get him, but if not he is likely to want more sleep. Only if he gets very overtired it is difficult because then he screams when he wakes even though he does need more sleep, and I have to try to help him back to sleep (he's doing that today unfortunately!).
Perhaps you could try listening in on your LO for a short while before getting her up when she wakes, and see if she might actually be trying to settle herself back for more sleep? I also sometimes peep round the door or through the crack, if I can see his face it helps me decide whether he is really crying for me or just going back to sleep, but I try not to let him see me (unless I decide he actually needs me to go in) as it interrupts his resettling if he does.

I'm another one who had a 40 min napper- in fact at the worst point she would sleep for 20 mins at a time
I wasted so much of my maternity leave getting stressed by this, hovering outside her room until the stirring time, trying to shush her etc etc.
One day she just started going longer. Now at 9 months she will regularly sleep for 1 hour 30 in the morning and sometimes the same in the afternoon- often settling herself during this time after 40 mins. Hurrah!
SHame that the nighttime sleep has deteriorated with a recent cold, but heh, can't have everything!