baby who doesn,t sleep for long.....ever!!!!!

[rawlucy]

Hi, my daughter Daisy just does not sleep much. When I look at averages for  babies her age (21 weeks) I think "i wish" because it's probably only about 8 or 9 hours in total over 24 hours. Her usual pattern is awake by 8am at the latest then a 20 minute nap mid morning and a further half hour at around 1pm. she will nap with me for an hour at 4pm if I hold her (and by htis time I am so exhausted that I will do anything for an hours rest) then around an hour after her rice at 6pm. She will eventually drop off for the night at 10.30pm but has began waking at 3am for a 20 minute feed then again at 6am for more milk. The whole routine starts again at 8am. I am desperate to know what is going on, and just to add further detail Daisy was born at 37 weeks following pre-eclampsia and is small which makes me anxious to withhold anf night feeds (9th centile or thereabouts). Oh yes, she is sleeping in her own moses basket and has learnt to sleep alone. Thanks for any comments,

Lucy x

[corrina01]

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}}}}} to you.

Could you post her routine for us, if you have one.

[Elizabeth]

If you could get her to nap just a little longer in the afternoon and then extend her activity time in the early evening, then you may be able to skip the 6pm nap and go for a 7-7:30pm bedtime, that way getting her to bed earlier than 10:30.  Then I would try a dreamfeed at 10:00 or so.  We always found that good naps during the day, made for a better sleep at night. You could try pu/pd for longer naps.  Just a thought.

[rawlucy]

gosh, it's not true EASY I must say but here goes....

6am breastfeed then doze until 8a
m.  8am watch dvd whilst i tidy up etc.
9am further breast feed then play 11am very short doze
12 noon rice and more milk
1pm sleep 30 minutes
2pm play
4pm sleep for an hour(if taken to bed with me)
5pm bath
5.30 baby rice
6pm sleep for 30 minutes
7-9pm sit with dad
9pm may doze for 30 minutes. put in gro bag
10pm formula feed until asleep then put straight in cot
3am awake feeds for 20 mins then back in cot
6am awake again but will doze if with me for further hour or so.

I know there are several contradictory behaviours here, but I get soooo tired I can't function without the 4pm nap. The sleeping alone for naps has recently been started as has beginning with weaning.

Thanks
Lucy x

[Kimberly®]

reading over your routine the first thing I think of is that your LO is overtired and thats why she only has short naps.

When you start your day at 8am, I'd suggest that you start with a feed. Granted she just ate at 6 but if you can start her  in the habbit of starting her day at 8 then she'll strat to drop the 6am feed.
At 8am rather then putting on the DVD try doing quiet time activities with her, laying her under a play mat, reading, or even singing. To much stimulation is gotten from TV at such a young age. If you can get her to learn to play on her own then you can still get work done but have a calmer less overstimulated baby.
At 9am put her back down for her first nap. This will give her a chance to get a good start to her day, use pat/shush or PU/PD to help her extend that nap to be 1.5 hours rather then 20minutes. when she wakes do a little more quiet activity.
I would also suggest you try cutting out the solids for a couple more weeks till her new routine is settled. At 11:30-12 feed her and then do more activity more mat time or do some sitting activities, or excersauser if you have one. 12:30-1 put her back down for her second nap, do pat/shush or PU/PD to once again extend that nap to 1.5 hours again when she wakes more quiet activity, at 3:30-4 feed her again, the a little more activity time, then a 5 put her down for a cat nap (about 45 minutes) at 6pm start her bedtime routine, I recomend a bath, then storied/song and then her final feed and in bed by 7. At 10:30-11 dream feed. the at night try PU/PD or Pat/shush before feeding to try and settle.

Eventually your LO will start to sleep better and be a lot less overtired. The better her daytime naps the better her night time sleep.

Keep in mind that this is a guideline, ajust it to fit your LO, if one day your LO doesn't want to nap, but instead just lays in her cot quietly thats ok, its still restfull for your LO, she wont always have 1.5 hour naps, but you want to try and encourage her to start having them.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.
 

[rawlucy]

Thankyou, that sounds a bit daunting but will give it a whirl !
Wish me luck and thanks again

Lucy x