30 min naps

[jaebird]

My first post - please be gentle!

My DS is 7 weeks old and for the past couple of weeks now he will only sleep by himself during the day for 30 minutes before his eyes ping open. You can almost set your watch by it. He's clearly still tired because he's yawning again 10 minutes later and if I hold him or go out with the buggy he will happily sleep another hour or more. The second I put him down again or the wheels stop turning however he wakes up again.

So, while I can happily sit on the couch and watch a dvd or go for a walk to get him the extra sleep, I was previously using some of his downtime during the day to catch up on the sleep I was missing at night. It all reached a head yesterday - the cashier in Sainsburys told me I looked tired, and my DP and I had our first proper row in about 3 years.

Is this just one of those things that will change with time or is there anything practical I can be doing to try and extend the 30 minute blocks so I can sneak in some extra sleep?

Welcome to Mumsnet, Jaebird

This is really common and my 6.5mo DS did it from about 8wks to about 5 months, when he started to take long naps occasionally, and now they are nearly always at least 1.5hrs.

Babies sleep cycles are 30-45min so after this long they go through a period of light sleep. If they are good at self-settling (or if you're there to jiggle them) then they'll go for another chunk of sleep.

There's lots of advice out there (blackout blinds, noise-makers etc) but most just grow out of it. Some find that if you get them used to sleeping longer SOMEWHERE (the buggy) then they might transfer the skill to the cot. Or you can try jiggling them in the cot a bit before they are due to wake, to try and get him over the 'hump' and into the next 30min chunk.

Try this site

Good luck!