"Hello my name is Max and I'm a catnapper."
My son is the master of the 30 minute nap. You can set a watch by him. I've tried everything apart from crying it out (not an option for us). Elizabeth Pantley's "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" was illuminating and informative regarding baby sleep cycles and helped me identify little man's problem-he has trouble getting through the transition from the first sleep cycle to a deeper one-but unfortunately, none of her suggestions worked. I will refrain from going into detail about my psychotic weeks of naptime rituals, frustrations, white noise, sheets over the windows, swaddling and unswaddling, bouncing, rocking, lullabying and sitting in a dark room waiting for a sleeping baby's eyes to flicker. Its too embarassing. Occasionally a car ride or holding him on my chest would work. And then there was that one time he actually napped for TWO HOURS on his back in his Pack N Play. What??!! Why??? How??? I was practically foaming at the mouth with excitement. We had turned a corner! Smooth sailing from here on out!
Yeah well, don't count your nap minutes until they've hatched. Or something. The now legendary 2 hour Pack N Play nap was a fluke. A freak. Never to be seen around these parts again.
I had pretty much given up. Resigned myself to Max's 30 minute nap schedule and proceeded with life around it. Each child is an individual after all. But I couldn't get the nagging thought out of my mind that Max NEEDED longer naps to get the restorative and developmental benefits they bring. Whether I got things done around the house or longer naps myself was immaterial. So I tried one more thing. The ultimate baby sleep taboo. I put Max on his stomach. On the couch, with a crocheted blanket over him (blocks out light but not air) and classical music on the stereo (because I'm highbrow like that). And patted and shush'd him to sleep. Then I sat next to him on the couch and watched his little back rise and fall with breaths. When the 25 minute mark came up I patted and shush'd him more. Got him through the transition and he slept for an hour and a half! I didn't get anything done because I was too busy watching him breathe. But it worked. Then I did it the next day. And it worked again! Next time between patting and shushing I went online, watched TV, did some dishes, all while keeping his little breathing back in my sight line. Now it doesn't work 100% of the time, but it works often enough for me to keep doing it. I know it goes against pediatrician's advice but at my wit's end, with a babe who has a short fuse by the end of a day of 30 minute naps...what's a mom to do? Do the benefits outweigh the risks? I think so. It helps he's 4 months old and can hold his head up pretty well and is rolling over(!) and more mobile. I wouldn't let him sleep on his tummy for nighttime or anytime he wasn't in my sight line. And I do think he'll get to the point where he can transition on his own without patting and shushing, but I'll help him get there in the meantime.
Just one more thing I've learned about my job as a mama-I'm here to watch my kid's back until he can do it on his own.
(And even then, I'll still be watching it.)
