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July 2013 Moms
JELM2004
member
40 minute naps driving me insane!
JELM2004
member
This is our third baby so I'm very familiar with the "45 minute intruder" but man, it's making me want to tear my hair out. I've tried all the old tricks that I remember from my other 2 boys but nothing is working. Today, we were lucky if we got 30 mins. He is waking up grumpy and wants to nurse for comfort but also wants to nurse to go to sleep so he is constantly nursing. This i getting exhausting and I feel like I'm neglecting my 3 year old while trying to get him to sleep and back to sleep.
DS is 8 weeks.... I know my other 2 grew out of this phase but I can't remember when. Is anyone else in the same boat? Have you found anything that works? I guess misery loves company
DS is 8 weeks.... I know my other 2 grew out of this phase but I can't remember when. Is anyone else in the same boat? Have you found anything that works? I guess misery loves company
This discussion has been closed.
Re: 40 minute naps driving me insane!
LFAF Summer 2016 Awards:
DD1 7/10/08 DD2 8/11/10 DS 7/2/13
I've tried the swing and swaddle. He NEEDS the swaddle to sleep for any length of time but it seriously pisses him off the second I put him in it unless I nurse him right away. The swing used to get us 2-3 hours naps but now it makes no difference. He just cannot transition onto that next sleep cycle. I finally laid down with him this evening when DH got home from work and could look after the other boys and let him nurse side lying for his whole nap. I got an hour and 10 mins out of him, until I had to move because my back was killing me. He constantly rooted for my nipple in his sleep then would spit it out after 5 mins then look for it again. Then looked absolutely disgusted when I tried to slip a paci in too lol. It was actually nice laying there with him but definitely not practical on a daily basis with the other kids.
I know this phase is relatively short but it's sometimes hard to remember when you're in the thick of it...thanks again for the advice and all those who can commiserate!
Have any of you guys read up on the "90-Minute Baby Sleep Program"?
My sister lent it to me and I've found it's been super helpful for understanding his sleep patterns and I've been better able to predict when to put him down for naps and it lets me predict better how long he'll stay down, and it's eerily accurate. It's based on understanding human sleep rhythms and our 90-minute sleeping cycles. I now can tell once I've missed the window of his readiness for a nap, that's when all hell breaks loose. Now I can get ahead of it and I've had many times where I literally just swaddle him, put him in the swing while he's still seemingly wide awake, and within 3-4 mins he's out. No crying, no fussing, no needing the pacifier, no boob. It's miraculous.
He's not quite at 90-minute reliable intervals yet because he's still only young (12 weeks...not quite at adult cycles yet), mostly in the morning he's still going by 45 minute intervals.
It makes me feel so much better in control of understanding his napping schedules. Often times I can time exactly when he'll rouse out of a 45 minute cycle and even if he fusses or seems awake I can usually get him back down for another 45. The book doesn't force a schedule per se, you still need to follow the lead of your baby etc.
It might help some of you guys...
Warning: it does recommend CIO later on around 6 months for night time sleeping...which I am not entirely on board with nor am I endorsing. I just happen to find the 90-minute interval/cycle thing quite interesting and has been helpful from a scientific point of view in managing LO's napping etc.
Kristina - 34
My health/fitness blog
This morning, he did the same, predictable thing. He woke at 40 mins completely grumpy. I was going to "boob" him back to sleep but found myself a but resentful about it (maybe that makes me a bad mommy but I'm just not one of those who loves nursing non stop) so I swaddled him, held him face out, kind of tummy down and jiggled and shushed him for 10 mins and he was back out but only for half an hour. Got him up, nursed him and then half an hour later he was tired again so I did the same thing and he went down and is still down. I don't know if its a fluke or what but I'll take it.
I just downloaded it yesterday and am still going through it, but one great thing she points out is that when they wake up from their 40 minute (or however long your LO's is) cycle, they need to exact same situation in place to which they first fell asleep. For example, if you were rocking and patting them, they need to be rocked and patted at that magical moment when they are trying to transition to the next cycle. Same with nursing. Thus, I'm trying to break the habit of nursing her down so that she can get back to sleep after those cycles. I've been relying on the swing (probably shouldn't, but she needs to take some quality naps and I'll do anything at this point) to put her down, and it seems to be working ok. At least we got one good nap yesterday and we seem to be in the middle of one now.
Anyways, sorry this is long. You're not alone, mama! I can't imagine trying to do this with other little ones running around...
L: 7/12/13
C: 5/11/15
E: 3/7/17
Due 11/10/18