Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Sleep

Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler. Need more advice on your childs development? Sign up to our Ages and Stages newsletter here.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

45 minute napper

40 replies

sleepymama · 14/03/2005 12:51

Hi there
need some help please! My 3 month old used to be a great napper until 3 weeks ago. Now he only naps for exactly 45 minutes and then wakes up bawling. He's obviously tired but can't get himself off to sleep. Even rocking him won't help!Has anyone had similar experiences? Any advice?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

futurity · 20/04/2005 12:18

45 minutes would be a joy at the moment..he has barely slept all morning due to nursery run

futurity · 20/04/2005 17:44

Here we are at tea time and he is still not sleeping and a miserable baby!

sasa15 · 20/04/2005 20:13

i TRIED MUM2MAX SUGGESTION.....pu/pd...and loud shooushhh...too...and it did work today for ds 9months old....

he slept 45 min...woke up for 20min...and back to sleep for another 45min...

in the afternoon....

left the room twice...for 1 minute...and back in to let him know I was around...

ds is a very easy boy...in general apart those nap...

sasa15 · 20/04/2005 20:14

what swaddling does mean....?
I'm not english...and I can't find in my small dictionary?

sooooooooexhausted · 20/04/2005 20:50

swaddling is wrapping the bab like the indians do/did, ie the baby is laid on the cloth and its folded up over the legs and then pulled in from the sides and wrapped, babies arms are hugged in close (comfortably) to his chest and it feels like the womb all over again

futurity · 21/04/2005 13:09

Horray! Success today at last! First nap was a disaster as far as length (about 20 minutes!) but second nap has actually lasted longer than 45 minutes! He woke after 40 minutes so i went in and placed my hand on him and went shhhh..did this for 15 minutes..he kept his eyes shut and twitched, smiled and fidgeted. I then left after 15 minutes which was a bit early as five minutes later he woke up (we have a camera monitor so I can watch him on the tv). I went back in and did 20 minutes of the shhh ing until his breathing went quieter and he stopped fidgeting and left again and he is still asleep!! So in total he has been asleep just under 2 hours!

So my question is will I have to do this for every nap forever?!! I was able to do it today as my DH is working from home and did the nursery run and lunch with DS1 but normally I won't be able to spend all this time without seriously annoying DS1!!

mum2max · 22/04/2005 20:07

you don't have to do pu/pd forever. Once the sleeping skills have been learnt they stay for a while. It's usually something like an illness that sets them back (Max, and me!, have just had a cold for 2 weeks and thank god Karvol was invented! But that really didn't help his naps. Back to 1/2 hr or so for a few days. Back on track now.

I know it sounds daft, but ds seems to remember the pu/pd technique and gets back into longer napping fairly quickly. I think you have to appear to know what you're doing and give a sense of "I'm in charge, you don't know what's best, you're a baby!"
I'm told any bad habit, inc short naps, can be fixed in about 3 days if you have the time etc to be consistent. Ds has been quite a touchy baby, but now he's a little bit older he's chilling out a bit and liking his sleep. I think they must all improve naps with age.
I should think babies have had short naps since the beginning of time but that doesn't give us time to get the washing done
As for routines, well you've gotta have one

mum2max · 22/04/2005 20:16

just thought.. futurity, noticed that you have to do a nursery run. I tweaked ds routine so that he's awake from 7 til 9am (gives me time to get him nursery before naptime) and then naps from 1 til 3 (dh finishes work at 3.30pm so picks him up after bottle). Fitting around the nursery hours really helped. (shame we have to do same routine at weekends - no lie-in for me! )

It took me 1 week of tweaking the routine. But by end of the week ds was quite happily having 2 naps instead of 3, and a 4hr routine instead of 3hr. I'm a scatty impatient space cadet!!!!! so anyone can do it....

futurity · 22/04/2005 20:42

Thanks for all your comments mum2max...its good to hear from someone who has been through and come out the other side of short naps!

We had success today as well..first nap a bit on and off in the car and at Tescos (correction..only in the car..he was wide awake round Tescos!) but second nap was from 11.30 to 2pm..and I had to wake him at 2! He cried after 40 mins so I went in and did the same as yesterday..I only had to stay for about 10 minutes though. I kept an eye on the tv monitor for the rest of the nap and when he came into light sleep he twitched and fidgeted but went back to sleep again..no screaming! I am still extrememly nervous that each nap will be back to square one especially when it comes to Monday and the nursery run for DS1 but I will cross that bridge when I come to it!!

mum2max · 22/04/2005 20:46

thinking of you

futurity · 24/04/2005 19:52

Yesterday was ok and didn'thave to go in much but today I needed to but I definetely feel I have made progress.

I was just wondering mum2max for future reference, how did you change from 3 hour to 4 routine and what age did you do it?

mum2max · 24/04/2005 20:33

gradually between 3 and 4 months. I had to do it then as he was starting nursery at 4 1/2 months, and he would have had to be fed in the car on the way home; not the greatest idea..
Routine before:- 6 feeds per day at 3 hr intervals (more or less) 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, 11pm. Then gradually moved 10am forward to 10.30am and then to 11am. Stayed like that for a couple weeks. Once happy with it moved 1pm forward to 1.30, then 2pm then eventually to 3pm. Found (obviously!) that ds didn't want anyhting at 4pm, so gave him a little snack at 5pm. Once happy with that, after about another 2 weeks, got rid of 5pm feed (as it was a habit/ comfort thing) by taking him out in the pram for 1/2 hour. Whole process took almost exactly a month. now ds is a happy little chappy...
Now the routine is 5 feeds per day:- at 7am, 11am, 3pm, 6.30pm (has to be slightly earlier as bathtime is at 6pm, and bedtime is at 7pm), 11pm. Give or take 1/2 hour or so... I've found this a brilliant routine and it's suited Max down to a tee.
Aahh, but he's 6 months in 3 weeks and I'll have to start thinking of lengthening his routine again and introducing a 2nd and 3rd meal! Then teeth.... Never ends

futurity · 25/04/2005 11:39

I see..so was the naps shifted as well..ie when the feed moved to 10.30 did he sleep to 10.30 or was he awake before hand? (brain not working today...DS stuck on waking at 5am at the moment and it is getting to me!)

mum2max · 25/04/2005 16:41

change it by a small amount each day. Think of it as moving the first nap of the day forward by 10/15 mins each day. Then as a consequence the next feed will also move forward. Before (3mth) naps were at about 8.30am, 11am, 2am and a short nap later on, about 5ish (with feeds in the middle). Ds stayed up a little bit longer each time, so then his morning nap was about 9am. His 10am feed moved forward slightly as a result ending up at 11am. There was a point at about 3.5mths when when it got a bit confusing . The 11am and 2pm naps then merged into 1 nap at 1pm. (also fits nicely around his new feed times). I did that as a complete change when I dropped one of his feeds and found it didn't bother him too much. And he still has a little catnap between 4.30 and 5pm ish when he's out in the pram. So now (from 4 mth) his naps are 9am, 1pm and 4.30pm

Ds tends to sleep until half hour or so before his next feed. Sometimes I WAKE HIM UP !!! to feed him. I say you've got too stick with the routine. I'm not a stickler for time keeping, I'm ok with going half hour or so either way.
I wrote everything down!!! After a couple of weeks of tweaking both naps and feeds dh had a week off work just in case it went as pear shaped as me () For that week when there was 2 of us we stuck to the new routine to the minute. After that we could be slightly flexible.
Hope that helps (followed baby whisperer to the letter on this!!) so I can't get credit

EKottler · 29/10/2008 16:58

This is my first time on this site, and I am looking for some advice for my 9 month old. He settles well for his sleeps, but only sleeps for max 1 hr, but 90% of the time, only 30 mins. He wakes up crying and although, is happy when up and about, gets tired again quite quickly. I have tried PUPD which didn't make any difference. This was when he was 4 months old, and my husband took two weeks to help!! What a waste of time. We were all tired, and it seemed easier to just get him up when he woke. More recently, have tried Controlled Crying but he will just continue to cry for ages, and eventually I give in and get him. He also wakes in the morning at half 5 and refuses to go back to sleep - waking our 2 year old, who after 9 months of being woken, is getting really grumpy with tiredness. Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!

Flip

1 2

Swipe left for the next trending thread