Hi everyone!
Wow, thanks so much for all your replies, I really appreciate them
Last night went much better, so I'm feeling a little refreshed today...let's see how today goes now. He does have lots of developmental stuff going on too, so it could just be bad timing with the fact that we were just starting to establish healthy sleep/routine.
Important Questions: 1 - If he wakes early from a nap...do I keep him up til next nap time, or put him down after a set A time? This site seems to say different things in different places.
2 - Also, do I feed him right away, or wait til E time as per my schedule?
3 - If he wakes from nap early, do I try to put him back to sleep, or leave him be and see if he can do it on his own?
4 - In Tracy's instructions to get on a 4 hr EASY, she says to wake at wake time, even if they're still asleep or have had a short nap. Is this right? How do I make sure he doesn't get overtired? Do I then put him down at the next S time, or when he shows sleepy signs. I'm very confused about this as I thought the most important was for him not to get overtired.
I've been discouraged from the nights and early wakes since Monday, so my notes aren't as detailed as they were the two weeks prior...here's some examples of actual days...(starting Thursday and going backward) Please keep in mind that I've been sitting beside him with a hand on him til he falls asleep for all naps. Then I sit there for the entire nap to hold his legs and one arm (other one's swaddled) down during jolts.
This weekThursday (yesterday...not a good day)
5:10 - Wake, tried to put back to sleep
6:30 - BF
6:50 - back in crib
7:05 - asleep - I stayed til 8:10
8:30 - wake (1 hr 25 min - I consider this a continuation of night sleep since he woke at 5:10)
8:40 - BF
?? - Solids (didn't write down time)
9:30 - wind down
9:50 - in crib - I stayed - he cried til 10:50. I got him up, had a shower and got dressed (I litterally broke down...my hubby had to leave work and come take care of me...I'd just had enough...not a good day)
11:30 - BF (he didn't want to eat) - went for a car ride
12:00 - asleep
1:30 - wake (1 hr 30 min) - BF but too distracted (we were in a parking lot)
1:45 - solids in a restaurant
2:30 - bottle in car (about 3 oz)
4:15 - bottle in mall (about 3 oz)
5:00 - solids
5:45 - bath
6:00 - bottle (7 oz)
6:30 - asleep
6:55 - woke, fed another 1 oz
7:30 - woke, but put himself back to sleep - didn't hear from him til this morning at 7:15 which hasn't happened since Saturday morning.
Wed
7:20 - Wake (was up from 2:30 - 4:15 Tues night)
7:30 - BF
8:30 - Solids
9:30 - wind down
9:50 - in crib
10:00 - Asleep, I stayed and held him down during jolts
11:10 - Wake (1 hr 10 min nap)
11:30 - BF
12:30 - Solids
1:30 - wind down
1:50 - in crib, cried til 2:40
2:50 - wen for car ride
3:00 - asleep - woke once for 3-4 mins
4:05 - wake (1 hr 5 min nap)
4:10 - BF
5:00 - solids
5:50 - bath
6:10 - bottle (10 oz)
6:45 - asleep
7:30 - woke - on and off crying
7:46 - went in room to shh/pat
8:14 back asleep
Tuesday
5:45 - wake
6:25 - put himelf back to sleep
6:50 - wake
7:00 - BF
7:50 - solids
8:30 - wind down
8:50 - in crib
9:05 - asleep - stayed for jolts
9:50 - wake (45 min nap)
11:20 - BF (may have BF before this too, but don't know as I didn't write anything down)
12:00 - solids
1:10 - wind down
1:20 - in crib
1:30 - asleep
1:55 - wake (25 min nap)
Stopped taking notes for the day
Mon (only wrote down naps for Monday)
5:45 - wake - tried to put back to sleep
7:00 - BF
8:40 - asleep
9:15 - wake (35 min nap)
12:40 - asleep
1:55 - wake (1 hr 15 min nap)
6:00 - asleep
Didn't record on weekend as things were going well.
When things were better (last week)Friday
7:10 - wake and BF
8:00 - solids
9:40 - wind down
9:50 - in crib
10:05 - asleep
11:25 - wake (1 hr 20 min)
11:30 - BF
1:15 - solids (late as was out)
1:45 - wind down
1:55 - in crib
2:30 - asleep
3:00 - wake (30 min)
stopped recording for the day
Thur (I think this was our best day EVER!!! Totally textbook!)
6:15 - wake
6:20 - BF
7:15 - solids
9:00 - wind down (early b/c woke up early)
9:15 - asleep
10:40 - wake (1 hr 25 min)
11:00 - BF
12:20 - Solids
1:30 - wind down
1:45 - asleep
3:15 - wake (1 hr 30 min)
4:00 - BF
5:00 - solids
5:50 - bath
6:20 - bottle
6:50 - asleep
So those are some samples. Generally it seems from my notes that the morning nap is about 3 hrs from wake up, and tends to go well (but I am still holding him down and shh/pat sometimes if he wakes early). The afternoon naps haven't seemed to consistently work themselves out yet and are sometimes still as short as 25 - 35 mins. The odd time they've been longer.
We took away the cat nap as it was a struggle, and I wanted to focus on establishing a consistent routine, with longer naps. Thought it might confuse stuff if I threw in a cat nap here and there as it would be a process (he rarely just falls asleep if we're out, so I'd have to try to put him down for a nap...the fight would probably be longer than the nap).
Ok, well hope that helps. Thanks for all your help.
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