Sorry, didn't get around to posting until now.
Have I asked -- do you have any reliable way to get him to take a decent nap -- car seat, stroller, etc? I'm thinking that if you can APOP a decent nap in the afternoon, it would get you to a reasonably bed time. I totally get what you mean about not wanting to put him to bed ridiculously early.
Well, it seems that my DH can get him down for his afternoon nap, no problem. Last Sunday - Thursday, I tried and failed at getting him to sleep. Then DH was home early Friday, and Sat and Sun he was home. He got him down for a nap without barely a peep. Then today comes and he screamed for an hour and now he is nursing and looking like he is falling asleep. DH and I are doing the exact same WD routine. I don't really understand why he won't let me put him down for his nap. As for APOP - he only sometimes naps in his stroller but hasn't napped longer than 20 minutes. And now the weather is hot and it can be unpleasant for both of us to be outside. (He was hot to the touch after our last walk and that was when he was completely in the shade!)
Yesterday he had pretty good naps after a bad EW because of a loud car outside. He fell asleep during his last feed of the day and was down for the night at 5:40. He was up at 10:30 - fed him and he went back down. He was up a bit like an hour later I believe, but I think I was too out of it and DH put him back to sleep. Then he was up at 1:15 - I didn't even check the clock and just fed him later realizing it was early for his feeding. He didn't go back to sleep and eventually started crying/screaming until 3:30 until we were at a loss and then I fed him again. He got up for the day at 6:30 but didn't seem well-rested at all.
(((Hugs))), I'm sorry this is still going on for you.
Thanks. I need lots of hugs and sleepy dust to give my LO.
Last couple days weren't typical because we were OOT. Here's I guess where we were last week:
WU 6-6:45
E 6:45, 8:30 (solids)
S 9:15-10:35
E 10:45, 12:30 (solids)
S try to PD for 1:30-1:40 but for the past 3 days he's been resisting so he falls asleep nursing
E/S 2:15-3?
E 4:30 (solids)
Bath 5:30, pajamas, stories, lullabies PD around 6-6:15
can fall asleep anywhere between 6:45-8
Today so far:
WU E 6:40
E 8 solids
S 9:10-10:25
E 10:30
E 12 solids
PD 1:25 nope.
E/S 2:30 he has fallen asleep on me nursing
What do you recommend to do for BT in a day like today (which was Sun-Thurs of last week too)? I'm going to aim for bath around 5:20/5:30, then nurse and bedtime routine after that.
Hmm, Bec's thoughts reminded me... I also wondered about reading 2 books and singing 3 songs before bed. We didn't add books to BT wind down until both kids were around 1yr, it was just too exciting for them (and neither are particularly touchy). I only ever sang the same lullaby, maybe twice or three times if needed, but didn't add other songs til they asked for it. . These obviously aren't issues for all babies, just some other thoughts on the OS side of things.
Thanks, I wondered this too...but I've cut them out some nights and it didn't seem to make a difference. They are pretty short too. Takes me about 2 minutes to get through both of them. He sometimes can act really upset while nursing (only only during the feed before bed) as though he is so OT that he can't take it anymore and needs to go to sleep NOW - but when I do put him down he is suddenly WIDE AWAKE jumping and crawling all over his crib (and that's usually with a WD in between).
Something else you may want to consider is increasing your A times just a touch - maybe 15 mins - and see if that helps. Babies don't tend to want to sleep when they're not tired enough and if put down when undertired, can become overtired as they don't yet recognise their own sleep window. That will come with time. DS knows what it feels like when he's tired enough to need a nap now and will tell us (so glad we put in the hard yards while he was little!).
Ah, this scares me! Then I'll be revamping his EAS to 3 hours, right? Because then his E time will be in the middle of his nap? But also today I put him down after 3 hrs and no go, I tried doing 2-3 more WDs after but he cries when I walk around the bedroom because he knows he has to nap so I can barely do a WD again...and that's after 3 hr 15 min, 3 hr 30, etc...
That's encouraging though that he will eventually recognize his sleep window one day. I mean, it makes sense, but right now it's just so confusing!
All this effort trying to get your LO to sleep paid off in the long run? That's all that's getting me through this and being so dedicated is the thought that it will pay off in a few months (years?) time.