Trying to break 45-min nap cycle

One of my twins is a serial 45-minute napper. A few months ago she started waking up after only an hour then a month later it went to 45 minutes. Last week I finally had a clear week to start to try lengthening her naps, so for the past 7 days, I have been consistent in going in just before she wakes and patting/rubbing her back, back to sleep. Sometimes it can take me 5 minutes and she's through to her next sleep cycle, but mostly it takes me between 15-20 minutes, even after she wakes and is smiling ready to play! She obviously needs this sleep as she then sleeps for over an hour, plus she's a much happier baby for it. That's why I'm so determined for her to get that extra sleep and she will not do a third nap, not to mention that I really need a break longer than 40 minutes!.

I've committed myself to do this method for another week, but oh it's so time consuming not to mention exhausting. I've had to separate the twins while I work on it because otherwise she wakes the other one up (or keeps her awake) although occasionally the other twin herself will do the same cycle, sometimes going back to sleep unassisted and sometimes not.

I would love to hear from anybody who has managed to successfully break this cycle.

- How long did you work on it?
- How long did you spend re-settling?
- What methods did you use?
- When did you stop going in to see if she would resettle? How long did she take on her own if she did? (I've tried to leave her in the past but she will happily play in her cot for close to an hour without sleeping).

I should also add, that since she got over her cold a week ago, she now will only go to sleep with me rubbing or patting her. Prior to that, she didn't like that at all and I was able to just put her down. Now I can't do that because she will lie there playing with her feet and hands for the entire time without sleeping. That's on my next to-do list, after this is over.

And if anyone didn't work on it, and their baby just outgrew it (I've heard that some babies do), how old was your baby?

Thanking you in advance!

 

We had this issue a LOT. Separating them wasn't an option for us, so we didn't do the going in a patting route because that just woke the other one up. The only thing that worked for us to get the sleep they needed was to lay down with them, either on the sofa or on our bed. Yes, having the short breaks was not fun! But the extra sleep I got while laying down with them was also helpful since they did STTN until almost 10 months and I was exhausted.

The 45 minute nap thing really only got better for us when we dropped to 1 nap at 14 months. Once we got through the adjustment period, they were sleeping around 1.5-2 hours for their nap. (not that much now at 28 months, but I think we are close to dropping naps entirely....)

 

We used a modified CIO starting at 4mos for the broken naps. For about a week, I ended up in the bedroom with them for the entire naptime. I'd pat and shhh them but didn't pick them up unless they were hysterical. After that week, I'd leave, go in about 5 min after they started crying and pat/shh for a minute and leave again. If they were awake and playing I left them alone. It took a few weeks but they started being able to put themselves back to sleep without my help. At about 10 mos we went to just an hour nap in the mornings and a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoons. Continue to be consisent and it will fall into place.

 

Thank you Meredith, a couple of questions for you..
If they were awake and playing and they didn't make any noise until 30-40mins later, would you then go in just pat/shh for a minute then leave? Would you then do the go jn 5 mins later, a bit longer next time etc? How long did you do it for? I did a similar thing (only shushing tho) at the same age with them and they were then doing really well and Liara became my good sleeper but she seems to have regressed a little bit every month.. And it seems to be taking longer this time and harder! I am not opposed to CIO but Liara has the most piercing scream that I am not sure I could handle it.

I will try leaving her though some day this week although I'm dreading it.

 

Sorry, I had just woken up so wasn't too specific! I would go in at 5 min for the first week. Then it was 5 min the first time, then 10 once and then 15 min for however long it took. Once I was comfortable they "got it", I started waiting 15 min every time. By the time they were about 5 mos I could plop them in the crib and leave and know they'd fall asleep after little to no fussing. We'd go through phases of them fighting it but a day or two of the modified cio and they were back to sleeping well. HTH

 

yes it does, thank you! Just one more thing, when you went in at the 15min mark, do you mean you stayed till they fell back asleep or go back in every 15 min later? I think those times could work for us.

 

I would only stay less than a minute and go back at 15 min.