DS was a great napper at first, not unusual for him to go 2 hours. But it's all just fallen apart over the last few weeks and we're settling into the dreaded 30 minute nap cycle. I did this with dd and was so happy when I thought I'd gotten a good sleeper this go-round.

So, does anyone have any tips that actually helped their babe stretch the naps? (I know it's often just something you have to deal with, but I thought I'd try ) So far I've tried swaddling (in the PNP, in the bouncy seat, in the infant carrier) and unswaddled in all those places, and putting him down on his belly (which dh flipped out about yesterday *sigh*).

Otherwise, can we talk about ways to survive/cope? I'm working 20 hours a week right now and I'm supposed to be drafting a paper, but it's so hard to get anything done when you spend all day putting a baby to sleep. And when school starts in the fall, I think I may really fail out of my program if I can't get him to take longer naps. By then he'll have hit 3 months, so hopefully it will stabilize on it's own, but if not I need to have a good arsenal of tricks. So far I sometimes nurse him on the boppy while at the keyboard and just leave him lying there. With dd, just being near me would help her nap longer, but it doesn't seem to work that way for him. I have a hot sling which he will sleep in, but it can be hard to work around the bump (in sling or on boppy) and I really don't want him to always have to sleep in the sling. Plus, he's around 12 pounds now and my back/shoulder already hurt when I wear him most of the day. I've been planning to switch to an ergo when the hot sling gets too uncomfortable. Can you sit at a desk and type with the ergo? Is there a better option I should consider instead?

And finally, does anyone have any stories of babies that started out with the 30 minute nap thing and went on to become good sleepers? DD has been a horrible sleeper her whole life and I really really need to believe there's a light at the end of this tunnel. I worry that with dd I may have made some of her sleeping issues worse by providing the extra support (sling, sleeping on the boppy, etc) and didn't let her learn how to settle herself. We still won't do CIO, but I wonder if there isn't a middle ground in there somewhere. And when (ie, what age) does the "do whatever it takes to get them some sleep" shift over to more of a focus on helping them learn to sleep? KWIM?

I've talked with our ped several times about reflux, but she feels confident that he doesn't need meds. I am not so sure.

Thanks for any tips or even just sympathy and commisseration.