nighttime meltdown!

[sjrmommy]

every night from about 8-11, my dd has a meltdown. she's 7 weeks.   i end up comfort nursing her.  (she won't take a pacificer)  a bath helps until she gets out then it starts again.  she's this very happy baby until nighttime.  I can't get her to sleep until sometime between 11p and 12a.  then sleeps 4 hrs, nurses, then sleep 3 hrs.  if she does fall asleep before 11 its only for about 10-20 min then wakes up grumpy again.  is this normal?  just her cycling down from the day?  how can i get her to go to bed earlier?  i need to stop comfort nursing her because i'm going back to work in about 5 weeks and work nights.  i don't want her to look for comfort nursing if i can't be home.  any advice?
How old is your child?  7 weeks
What’s his/her daily routine?  up around 7, nurses, sleeps in swing about 2-3 hrs, nurses, go for walk, nurses, awake period of play/talking/stories around 1pm. sleeps2-4, nurses, 4-6 sleep, then from 6 onward begins the "meltdown"
What’s nap routine?
How long are naps?2-3hrs
What's bedtime routine? Time?  see above
Do you bottle or breastfed?? breast, but are trying the bottle so when i go back to work, i work mostly nights
How much? or how long? 15-20 min
If breastfed.. one side or both?? (at each feed)one side
How many wakes per night?if down by 11p-12a, then sleeps 4 hrs, nurses then goes right back to sleep for another 3 hrs
What’s your LO like when waking at night? How long is he/she up? just long enough to eat, then right back to sleep
When you go to him/her is she fussing or crying? Or is it a mantra cry?  crying
What have you tried to settle?? shushing, patting, white noise to sleep by lasts about 90 min, swaddling
What do you do for A time and how long is it? ???not sure what this is
Are there developmental issues such as teething or milestones? no
Have you introduced cereal? Why, how much, and how many times a day? (for LO’s under 6 months)no
Do they have a prop? If so what is it? no
Do they have a lovie? wont take pacificer

[lrbmum]

Hi sjrmommy,

Unfortunately I don't have a solution for you - I'm hoping someone does because my baby also has a nighttime meltdown.  She is now 17 weeks.  People told me it would stop at 3 months, but it hasn't - but it has become earlier, now about 6-8pm, after which she sleeps soundly.  On the whole she is very good except at meltdown time but I can count on one hand the number of nights she has not had a meltdown.  She started sleeping through the night at 10 weeks and if she wakes during a dream feed she just goes straight back to sleep.  I usually don't have any trouble getting her to sleep at her daytime nap times either and she has no props.  I have tried so many different approaches to avoid the meltdown (ie bathing before the feed, keeping her awake longer during the day, pacifier etc) but none of them have worked.

I sympathise and hope that someone has a solution...

[andibig]

sounds a bit like colic. (imo) because it seems to be the same time every night. DD was like this around this time and grew out of it by 3 months. if you are from the uk someone suggested to me colief which you can get from the chemist (over the counter) and lots of mums swear by it. unfortunately i didn't find out about this untill DDs colic passed

[*Nicola*]

Hiya

We had similar issues with Ciara around this age and the HV suggested colic.  In retrospect I think it was just taking time for us to figure each other out. I found Theo's mums post - how to survive the first 3 months really helpful.  It gives ideas of what to concentrate on during this time, and the things that you can leave til later. 

At this age we introduced a bedtime routine involving bath, pj's feed and earlier bed.  This helped us stay on track and get Ciara off to bed before she got really sleepy.  At this age your lo should only be awake for an hour - including feed and change - so it may be that she is way too tired by this time of night.  It sounds as thou she is sleeping well during the day - is she awake for longer than 1 hour?

The other thing that popped to mind ... you mentioned that she sleeps in the swing for her am nap - does she do this for all naps?  It may be that she is unable to go to sleep without this at bedtime.  This may be way off ... just a thought.

Post again to let us know how things are going ...

[sjrmommy]

yesterday we tried to use the easy method for her day.  i think she was getting too much sllep in the am and too much stimulation in the pm.  my dh gets home around 5, then dinner, then she would be up, so we would play with her.  last night we fed her, then bath, fed again, then she fell asleep on my chest for about an hour and a half.  i was too scared to try to put her down because it was the first quiet peaceful night.  she was up around 9, then finally went down around 11.  slept till 430a then up at 630.  we'll try the same today. 
about the swing, most of her napping was in the swing which is why i think she was sleeping 2-3hrs at a time.  too much for the daytime is what i've been reading.  she wakes up as soon as we turn it off.  we'll try more napping in her crib. 

[Grace's Mom]

My suggestion would be to wake her from those three hour naps.  I hate waking up my lo, but if I don't we won't be able to stay on track with our 3 hour EASY and she will end up sleep too much during the day.  Also, we were putting her to bed a bit later, but have decided to but her to bed sooner (7:30ish) and she actually sleeps better.  I am sorry that you lo is crying so much at night.  I am sure it will get better.  I have also heard that the swing doesn't give the baby the good quality of sleep that is needed (mine use to sleep in her swing, but we stopped that 3 weeks ago and it has made a huge difference....we are still nap training but it is worth it) and if that is the case maybe your lo is overtired. 

I hope this helps. 

Melissa