We have an unwelcome guest: the "45 Minute Intruder". Its basically an issue pretty common around Ryan's age, in which a baby constantly wakes about 45 minutes into sleep. It appears that the real reason (or solution, at least) is unknown, but that this waking occurs in between sleep cycles / sleep stages. There is a light sleep period followed by a deeper sleep period, and babies often have a hard time transitioning between the two. There are tons of possible reasons: the inability to self-soothe, a growth spurt, hunger, a developmental milestone, etc. There are also a ton of possible solutions, but it appears that nobody knows the real answer.
I remember this phase with Brooke and yet dont really remember (or see in this blog) what I did about it. I do remember that this phase just passed after a few weeks. She started sleeping longer all on her own. I am confused if I should just try to wait it out with Ryan, or if I need to try and intervene. Scheduling is a lot harder with two, and having unreliable naps makes it near impossible.
I read somewhere that you can try to beat out the intruder. Essentially, you enter the baby's room and wait for them to stir and try to soothe them back down before they are totally awake. This morning I ran up and down two flights of stairs three times, hoping to do this. Finally I was there when it happened. 38 minutes into his nap Ryan jumped. I tried to shush and soothe, but it was useless. A 38 nap is all he was getting. Brooke tried to be understanding each time her Mommy ran away from her at top speed but after the third departure she got tired of being left to color alone. She sat and screamed "Mommy!" until I returned (with Ryan in tow) and she could show me her newest work of art.
I'll give it a weak attempt and try to get this intruder out of Ryan's crib, but I just cant sit there and watch him during all of his naps. Hopefully it will pass soon and we can go about our merry & restful lives once again.
