3 Month Old Sleep Only 30-45 Minute Naps

My daughter was bottle fed and I had the hardest time get her into a nap schedule also. Baybies need to be trained on how to sleep...I know I thought that it was strange too. There could be a couple reasons for why this is happening. It very well could just be a phase...all babies go through sleep phases. I think my daughter had a new sleep schedule every other month. Just when I got the hang of it she would change again. Another reason could be that he is going through a growth spurt and just needs to eat more. Maybe talk to your Dr. able possibly adding a small amount of cereal to his diet. Or maybe he just is ready for more awake time which might mean longer tummy time and a little more vigurous play when awake. I went through the same thing and was ready to pull my hair out but I just kept to it and by the time she was about five months old she finally started taking regular naps. He will keep changing his nap schedule until he goes to one nap a day so don't loose hope.

My son was also on this schedule and went through what you're talking about at that same age. It followed his 3 month growth spurt and lasted about 3-4 weeks before he cut down to 4 naps a day and was much better about his schedule. He didn't always make it to eat/wake/sleep...sometimes it was sleep/eat/wake (for too long) eat/sleep again...and it was ok. Remember to be flexible with your schedule. My son was exclusively breast fed...so feeding him a little more often might help if he's still going through his 3 month growth spurt. This was a fairly short phase for me...so be patient his long naps will be back!

Is he happy the last bit before eating, or is he waking because he's hungry? If I recall right, my kids hit a growth spurt about that time and ate more often, and then as another mom said, cut a nap out and had a nice pattern. Otherwise, can he play in his crib, or next to you for a few minutes while you work? The eat-wake-sleep thing is great! I did it with all three of my kids, but there are bumps along the way, too. Is he sleeping well at night? I had a doctor tell me that a baby who's sleeping through the night and then suddenly stops needs food. Worked like a charm with all three of mine. GL!

Hum, maybe he is in a growth spurt and is hungry? Are you swaddling him? At this age with both of my kiddos they started to not sleep as well (naps and night time) because their little arms and legs were flailing all around. It took a few weeks for them to get used to not being swaddled anymore.

Do you have a swing? That was a life saver for us for the first several months. Good luck!

Hi--
At this age my son Joshua went through something similar. It got worse and worse and we realized it was being cause by digestive discomfort due to food allergies. Other symptoms of food allergies are any type of rash (both diaper and skin--like eczema), puffy or dark circles under the eyes, congestion of any type, and an infant that wants to suck all the time. If your son has any of these symptoms as well then you should get him tested for allergies. Typically when you are nursing the main culprit is dairy, then gluten. The top seven allergens round out with tree nuts, peanuts, soy, shell fish, and eggs.
Good luck!
J.

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My daughter is the same age and also on the eat-wake-sleep cycle. This weekend she was waking up after only about an hour of sleep, so was on a 2 hour cycle. Sometimes she seemed really hungry, I'm not sure what the other times were, but I think it was in part to us running errands while she was supposed to sleep and when we tried to transition back to the crib, she was AWAKE. The next nap, she woke after about 30 minutes. I went in and held her for her nap (not my usual thing, but she needed the sleep), then she seemed back to her full nap for the next one.

I usually go with the flow during these cycles and chalk it up to a growth spurt, but if they go on longer than a week or two, you may try to keep him awake for another 15 minutes and see if that makes any difference after a day or two. He may just be ready to extend his cycle.