getting over the 45 min nap hump

mrs.mastro

DS started off sleeping non-stop for a couple of months.  Then he started being more wakeful and got onto a schedule of 1-1.5 hours awake & 2 hours nap.  But lately he has been waking from his naps after 45 minutes.  He will occasionally get himself back to sleep, but if it seems he won't, I go in and try to calm him by rubbing his back or even picking him up to rock or nurse, but he very rarely goes back to sleep.  He is tired again about an hour later though.  Any tricks for getting them to sleep through their sleep cycle change?  He is great at night, btw.  He sleeps 7p-6:30a with only one MOTN waking to nurse.

mhchaela

I would kill for a 45 minute nap some days!

pinkpinot

My baby does this too.  I just roll with it, I can't make him sleep...although I wish I could!

pinottoparenthood

Nicb13 said:

I really think this is just what babies do and eventually outgrow it. From my own experience and what tons of other moms on here post...it's a very common thing. 

The short naps drove me crazy but there was literally nothing I could do except put him down at the "right" time, have white noise and keep his room dark. The rest was out of my control.

This. 45 minutes isn't too bad. Also, they go through phases. You WILL get long naps again, it's just a question of when.

watermellens

Older DS took 45 minute naps for a long time - I think they got longer around 5 months?? not sure. Younger DS is almost 5 months as well. He took mostly 45 min naps with the occasional 1 - 1 1/2 hour naps (usually when I had someplace I needed to be lol). Then we unswaddled and his sleep went to crap. We were lucky to get 45 minutes. 

We started sleep training last week (CIO) and his naps are much better. He gets about 1 1/2 hours in the am, 1 1/2 hours in the pm and a shorter 20-30 minute nap in the evening

MeraniLenei

I've been dealing with this for about 2 months now. It's been driving me NUTS! I've since started swaddling him for his naps, but that only lengthened them for about 5-10 extra minutes... well worth it to me though! Once a day, I've been "forcing" him to nap longer. I usually do this midway through the day. When I start to see him fussing on the monitor, I go in, and get him back to sleep. Then he usually completes at least another sleep cycle. Today for the first time, he took a 2 hour nap without any help from me! I know it's really frustrating, but be patient and hopefully it'll get better soon.

BabyShelnutt

I think this post was written by me.

I am going through this exact thing!

sgerrity23

My 4 month old was doing the same thing before I went back to work. My mom watches her now during the day and put her on her belly to nap. She slept 3 hours! I'm not recommending belly sleeping because I know back is nest, but if she is on her belly i make sure im checking her often. I never put her on her back at night when im not awake to check her.

lana22

my oldest son took 45 min naps until he consolidated to 1 nap at 13.5 months. i tried everything with him and could never figure out the problem. my younger son is now 4.5 months and i can't remember the last time he took a nap under an hour. 

if they don't lengthen don't tear your hair out, all kids are different.

stephrodgers07

Wish mine would sleep for 45 minutes. I'm good to get 20 minutes a few times a day...