Naps are sooo short?

My lo's have started napping in their crib and they are doing pretty well going to sleep on their own, but are waking after 45 mins or so. I go up and try to rub their back and just hold my hand on them. Sometimes they can go back to sleep but other times they cannot. I am tired of these naps like this and then they take these 15 min. catnaps here and there. Any suggestions to keep them sleeping longer?

 

We all go through this. :hug: It will pass. I think if you can prevent them from taking the 15 min power naps that will definitely help. I can't take mine anywhere in the car or stroller if it's close to nap time or it will interrupt the nap.

 

My DS went through this (and still does)...I would usually check his diaper because that usually was the culprit, he did not like to be dirty. Once I changed him, I would restart the nap routine and try to get him back down. If he did not need a change, I still restarted the nap routine to get him back to sleep. If that did not work, I either did the next nap for him earlier or if it was the last nap before bed time, I'd put him to bed a little earlier. Those 45 minute napping days are tough :hug:

 

I agree with Aimee, try to prevent the catnaps when you can. Other than that, I think it's just a phase they all go through. I know mine would NOT go back to sleep if they woke after 45 minutes, but I would usually leave them in their crib until it had been 1 hour, hoping they would get the idea. Hopefully the naps will lengthen soon. :hug:

 

It's very common for babies to wake at the 45 minute mark! It has something to do with sleep cycles, and at that point, they enter a light phase, and wake up instead of drifting back off to a deeper sleep. I would either try to soothe them back to sleep(never worked for mine!), or let them cry a little if you are not opposed, and hopefully they will start sleeping through that lighter sleep cycle.

 

If they are waking up and fussy they may be staying up too long and are over stimulated. You might try shortening their wake time by 5 minute increments.

 

My DS is the king of 30-45 minute naps. He rarely naps any longer than that, and he's 9 months old. I hope someday he decides to nap longer. I've tried everything to see if he will nap longer. He does sleep pretty well at night. Ironically, DD is the better napper, but she tends to be fussier and sleeps worse than DS at night. I hope some of the PPs suggestions help you.