BabyWhispererForums.com
SLEEP => Night Wakings => Topic started by: Jenn+Ethan+Emily on February 08, 2010, 14:35:05 pm
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We are back to our 5-6 NW's every night. I am not really sure what is going on. No signs of teething other then the same thing he has been doing for the past 4 months. He just appears to be wide awake all through the night. Happily chatting to himself for half an hour before getting cranky and crying. He is also waking earlier and earlier each morning. We are now waking at 5:50 which isn't terrible jut a far cry from the 7:15 he used to do. This is making our nights earlier and earlier and then he seems to wake earlier and earlier. This is our day:
Wake 5:50
S: 9:10-10am
S: 1-2:30
Bedtime: 6:15 (I don't think I can possibly make this any earlier)
All these times are give or take ten minutes. Sometimes he only naps 40 min in the morning and other times he naps a little bit longer in the afternoon. We are getting early NW's and then middle of the night waking also.
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Thanks Wendy!
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Hi guys! Sorry been MIA lately. Not sure with Ethan's sleep - have you tried the route of stretching his morning A and letting him sleep as long as he can (up to 2-2.5 hours even) and then just shooting for a late catnap? So like nap from 10-12 or so, catnap from say 4-4:30 and 7pm bedtime? Unusual but used to work well for my DD.
Hopefully others have some good ideas too!
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Maybe I will try that, Karen. I mean, it can't hurt! He seems to wanting more A time in the morning so maybe letting him have that longer sleep will leave him more rested if his morning A time is longer.
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Jenn it can't hurt to try. Maybe he will do well with the long AM/short PM route. It's only a PITA when they refuse the PM CN. Then you are left with a super long A to bedtime and putting them to bed early and it can perpetuate the EW.
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Agreeing with Wendy. It all depends on whether Ethan will agree to take the short afternoon nap. My DD usually would (even if it had to be in stroller or car) but some won't! Remains yet to be seen with DS - though he does seem to have better nights after a long morning nap (or at least a medium one) and shorter PM one.
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Thats true...I don't think he will have a problem doing a PM CN. I will give it a try for the next few days and see how it goes.
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I'm sure you have been through all this - but just in case something pops out ;).
How do you get him to sleep? What do you do when he wakes? 5-6 NWings a night *usually* mean discomfort or a prop issue rather than just a routine tweak.
The only routine issue which might do that is really OT at bedtime - and I guess 3h 75 after a 1.5hr nap is pretty long for some babies at this age really. Jacob is pretty low in sleep needs and I would have had him do 3-3.5hrs only at this age.
Have you purposefully cut that am nap or is it happening naturally?
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Liz- to get him to sleep, I just put him in his crib and then say I love you, good night and leave. He goes to sleep by himself. Then at the NW's I am just walking in and saying Its okay honey, its just time to sleep, I love you and walk out. Occasionally it takes a little bit more like a pat on the back or something and thats it. I did purposely cut him AM nap because he was doing a short PM nap and being OT at night time. Now he just wakes by himself at the 40-50min mark. This was working for a few weeks and then it went down hill again.
This morning I put him down for a nap at about 3hr 45 min of A time. He seemed quite tired at this point but he only napped for 1hr exactly. So I cannot really just do a CN for this afternoon or he will definitely be OT. Maybe I will have better luck with a long AM nap tomorrow!
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How did the rest of yesterday and last night go?
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Okay, I have the weirdest baby in the world. Yesterday am nap was exactly 1 hr. Yesterday pm nap was exactly 45 min. He went to bed at 6:45pm, he woke at 7:30 pm and then he slept until 6:45am this morning (well he woke a few times in there for a few seconds of fussing and then went back to sleep himself)?!?!?! Obviously fantastic but I am scared to only that much daytime sleep again. That was only 1hr 45 min of daytime sleep...that seems like what a 2 year old should have?
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Hi there Jenn, hmm a couple of thoughts that popped into my head:
1) He needs less day sleep than we think.
2) He is starting to make up some sleep at night even though he had an early evening waking. What happened at 7:30 - did you have to go in?
3) He might do better with long AM/short PM nap.
Or it could just be a total random occurrence, you know how much they love to do that to us lol.
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Or it could just be a total random occurrence, you know how much they love to do that to us lol.
LoL! This is what I am scared of!
He might need less day time sleep then we think. The only thing about that is, sometimes he naps just like he did yesterday and has an OT night with 10 awakenings. He is totally random!
At 7:30 -I was out but my hubby said he just went in and patted his back a a sec. and then left when Ethan was still awake.
If he is starting to make up some of his daytime sleep at night, I am thrilled!
I am trying the long am nap and short pm nap thing again today. He just went down for his am nap so we will see how long it lasts!
I am almost totally convinced he is just messing with my mind! I swear he thinks this is hysterical! Kids!
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Our AM nap only lasted 45min. That was after an 3hr 45 min A time. He was getting tired so I don't think I could have stretched it out any farther. He woke up really happy so I guess we will hope for a longer PM nap this afternoon.
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TBH, Jenn - he might not need that much sleep today after 12 hours last night!
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after 12 hours last night!
I just love reading this over and over again! So fantastic! :D
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Seriously - my kids NEVER do 12 hours! DS did 11 last night (with a brief cry out at 9:30 pm at 5:10 am) and that alone was cause for celebration!
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Awesome! Glad to hear about your DS's 11 hr night!!! It is great news when they sleep!
Our PM nap was 1hr. So again, a total of 1hr 45 min daytime sleep today. I hope our night goes like last night!!!!
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Fingers crossed that you have a good night!
DS slept 45 minutes for his AM nap (woke up happy himself) and a restless 1.25 hours for PM nap (darn car nap due to picking up DD at school) and was asleep right about 7:10 again. We'll see what the night brings - hopefully everyone sleeps well - dreading being snowed in tomorrow...
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Good night here again. He went to sleep at 6:45 and woke screaming at 10:30. I went into his room and he screamed for about 5 minutes for no apparent reason and then went back to sleep. He then woke up at 6:30am for the day. So do you think I should just continue with these short naps or do you think eventually this is going to catch up with him? I guess at this point I don't really have an option as he is just waking when he wakes from the nap and won't go back to sleep whether I want him to or not.
How did your night go?
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Glad to hear another good night! I'd probably go with it for now - you can always change/adjust if needed.
Not so good here. Cried out at 10:15 but didn't have to go in but then woke at 4:48 and was off/on fussing until about 5:30 until upset. I fed him but he only took half the bottle and was still upset. I didn't want to start the day and didn't want him to wake DD so I put him in his swing (which I NEVER do anymore) and he fell back asleep from like 6-7:15 or so. Still super fussy now and we are snowed in so NOT a fun day!
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Oh hugs Karen! That doesn't sound fun at all! I hope things improve dramatically for you!
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Can't see too much improving with the blizzard out there... We aren't good at being stuck home all day! DD is bored, DS is fussy and I'm pulling my hair out. Not sure if DH will make it home either or if he will have to stay overnight in the city due to weather. Trying early nap now but he's not going for it. Might have to try Motrin and try nap again in 20... Then have some cleaning to do and promised DD would read to/play with her - plus her stomach hurts.
Must make more coffee...
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Yes lots more coffee with all that going on....maybe just skip right to espresso! Hugs! That sounds like a rough day. Definitely don't like being stuck inside!
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Yea - DD has a 101 (forehead) temp and DS's is 100.2 (also forehead and his is with Motrin). Definitely must be some sort of virus. And both want me constantly!
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Yea - DD has a 101 (forehead) temp and DS's is 100.2 (also forehead and his is with Motrin). Definitely must be some sort of virus. And both want me constantly!
Oh no, Karen! :-* ((Hugs)) Dare I ask how your night went?
Yesterday Ethan had a 1hr 10 min AM nap and then a 45 min PM nap. He was asleep by 6:50 pm and woke this morning at 6:10am.........without a single time of needing me!!!!!!!! ;D ;D This is the first time he has done that since he was 3 months old!
I have sort of just been letting him do his own thing during the day sleep wise. I don't really have a specific A time that I am following. Maybe he just is low on sleep needs.
Another thing...I know he is sleeping better now but I am not 100% convinced it is from the medication...I don't know why I am not convinced. Do you think it would be really stupid to take him off of it and see what happens? I just don't want to be giving him medication for no reason if it has nothing to do with his sleeping... :-\
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Yup - Ethan sounds like my DS - also low on sleep needs. Brenda2 on this site has a DD around same age with low sleep needs too. Yesterday was a mess - DS only took two naps totaling 1 hour 5 minutes (!) and fought bedtime until 7:30. But then he did sleep straight until 6:30 without a peep - probably would have gone longer but DD woke him. Meanwhile - worried she has strep - sore throat, upset stomach, headache - fever up to 101.4 overnight (she was up at 11:30 and 2:45). Going to try to get her into doc this morning and have DS checked while there too since he's had an off/on low grade fever and congestion for like a month now.
As for the meds - not sure. What other reflux symptoms did/does he have in addition to the sleeping?
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Meanwhile - worried she has strep - sore throat, upset stomach, headache - fever up to 101.4 overnight (she was up at 11:30 and 2:45). Going to try to get her into doc this morning and have DS checked while there too since he's had an off/on low grade fever and congestion for like a month now.
Ugh! Sorry to hear this :( Hopefully they don't have anything serious. Glad that your DS slept okay during the night though given his short amount of daytime naps.
As for the meds - not sure. What other reflux symptoms did/does he have in addition to the sleeping?
For a while he was spitting up constantly. But that stopped at about mid-January. He still spits up just as much now as he did before the medication. Other then that, nothing I can think of. It was more just him waking at night and sometimes seeming like he was struggling or something. But he would always pull his knees up which typically means gas (?) and I think with reflux usually they arch their back? So I don't know if I should just try him a few nights without the medication and see what happens. He had lots of reflux symptoms when he was an infant but out grew most of them except spitting up all the time (until about a month ago) and his sleep.
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Just as I thought - strep for her. Fever was 102.4 in doc and she was sobbing about not feeling good and her throat hurting. She's doing a little better now after some soup and Motrin and the first dose of abx - luckily with strep usually 24 hours you feel MUCH better. She's trying to nap (which she never does anymore) now. As for DS - he literally dozed off for 2 mins in car this morning then was up until 11:30 - when he passed out drinking his bottle in CVS (waiting for her abx). Poor boy - he stayed asleep in car and half woke when got home and moved him into his stroller but still sleeping now at 12:45.
Does he seem uncomfortable when he spits up - does it bother him? Has the pulling his knees up stopped? That CAN be a sign of reflux - although also gas (and sometimes it's reflux mistaken for gas) in the lower esophageal area. The meds won't stop the spitting up - they would only stop the pain/help neutralize the acid.
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Aww....your poor DD. How is she feeling today? Did your DS get strep also or is he doing okay?
Ethan doesn't seem uncomfy when he spits up. Also the pulling up the legs only happened sometimes during the night. I think I will keep him on the meds until we run out of this bottle and then reconsider taking him off them.
Ethan is sleeping really well at night but his mornings seem to keep getting earlier and earlier. Any ideas how to stop that? He is napping so little during the day that it is hard to play with his routine at all. This morning he woke at 5:45am. Yesterday he woke at 6:10 and the day before that he woke at 6:30. So if this continues, tomorrow morning we will be up at 5:20am. This is what his day is looking like (he is creating this, I am sort of just following him)
Yesterday:
Wake 6:10am
S: 9:40-10:45
S: 2:25-3:10
Bed: 6:45pm
One NW at 10:50pm (he was all scrunched up at the top of the crib) I moved him down and left. He went right back to sleep. Slept until 5:45am. I am not waking him up from these naps. He is doing it on his own and he is very happy when he wakes up.
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Well it looks like he's still doing 11 hours at night - which is awesome - I wish I could consistently get that. You may just need to slowly move bedtime a bit later - not before 7 perhaps - so wake time will be at least 6am?
Sounds like a good plan with the meds too.
DD is MUCH better (the abx for strep tend to work very fast for everyone - apparently strep bacteria are super responsive to the meds) - kept her home from school anyway but no fever and says throat all better and ate decent breakfast. DS seems ok other than this neverending slight congestion and on/off again low grade fever (and lots of pooping) but he was up from 1:55-3:45 last night - ugh!
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Glad to hear DD is much better. Hmm...what is going on with your DS? Teething still? Did the doctor say anything about his never ending congestion?
I can try to extend DS's bedtime a bit. He is getting such a short amount of daytime sleep that I am really worried about making him OT. Already when I put him to bed, he is definitely ready. Maybe if I extend the A time a little bit in the morning then it will at least leave his PM nap closer to bed time?
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The doc thought just long winter cold/virus combined with teething. Who knows - it's annoying - some days totally fine other days not so much.
Yea maybe stretch out each A before nap even just 5-10 minutes so bedtime is still after same A time but a bit later?
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Hmm...well lets hope whatever your DS has, is gone soon! How was his night?
Yesterday I tried to stretch out his A times a little bit. The am A time did not go well. he was actually more went for his nap earlier then normally but he was so tired. He slept for 45 min. Then I was able to stretch out the A time before his PM nap and he took 1.5 hr pm nap which left our daytime sleep total at 2hr 15 min compared to the 1hr 45-55 min we have been having. Oh, and he ended up going to bed right at 7pm. He was awake at 2am for about 20 min but he slept until 6:30am this morning. So I am not really sure. Maybe he had too much daytime sleep. But I am happy that we didn't have such an EW. 6:30 I can handle!
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Night was bad again - asleep by 7:10 with no fight but awake from 2:25-4 am. Definitely seems like combination of teething and developmental - he's working on "regular" crawling (he currently army crawls) and lots of new babbling sounds.
Then woke for day 6:35. Napped from 9:20-10:45 and then surprisingly dozed in the car while we were running errands from like 12:15-12:30 - wasn't expecting that! Hopefully he still takes a short nap around 3 or so. But in a good mood so far so that's at least good.
Glad you had a good night and not an EW!
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Hmm...I hope you didn't have another long NW. Exciting that he is working on his crawling though!!!
We had a few NW's. I think he was OT. Yesterday he only had a total of 1.5hr sleep because he simply WOULD NOT sleep for more. Ugh! Anyways, a few short NW's and then a wake up time of 7:15am so good on that part!
Happy Valentines Day!
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Happy V Day to you too! Last night was weird. He wouldn't drink his bottle before bed, fell asleep then woke 3 hours later, drank 4 ounces and fell right back to sleep but woke early at like 5:07. Was too tired to deal, put him in his swing around 5:30/5:40 and he fell asleep at some point thereafter until like 7:10. Yea, he's crawling all over - not quite up on hands and knees yet but close and has the full coordination down.
Yea - maybe Ethan does best with around 1.75-2 hours total day sleep? Glad it wasn't too bad though.
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How is your DS feeling now? Have any teeth shown up? How are his night going?
We are still about the same with a few NW's still. I am not really sure why but I don't want to screw anything up switching stuff around. He was doing really well with the shorter nap times but now I am sort of wondering if he might have gotten a bit OT with it all. I will see how today goes because the weekend was sort of crazy and not really on routine...but not too badly off it either!
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No teeth still! Seems to be feeling better minus teething symptoms for now, knock wood. Sleep has been pretty good save for earlier wakenings. Things are just nuts here with packing and my back hurts!
So hard to say with Ethan but see how today goes!
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(((Hugs))) Moving is so much work! We are living in our first house still (we are only 22 so we have only been living in it for a year and a half :P ) but it has lots of bedrooms so I am hoping NOT to move for a long time as our last move is still too fresh in my mind! Good luck to you! Glad to hear DS is feeling better...definitely knock on wood! Ethan is sort of cranky and and seems to not drinking his bottles well and not wanting me to touch his upper gums so I am thinking teeth on the way. Okay, Yesterday Ethan had a 1 hr am nap and then a 45 min pm nap. After his pm nap he was a cranky, crabby, downright miserable baby. He seemed very tired and just generally fussy. So, teething or OT? I have no clue! He went to bed at 7:45pm and then woke at 3:30am and slept until 7:20am so a great night! I didn't even give him teething meds or his reflux meds? So I am completely confused what is going on!
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You guys are so young! Nothing wrong with that, I just feel old. How have things been going last couple days?
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Lol! I know we are young! We started dating when we were 16 and got married when we were 20. Ethan was a suprise but I have wanted to be a Mom since I was about 3 yrs old so it all worked out perfectly, suprise or not!
I started a new post with regards to our newest problem...If I had any idea how to make a link to it, I would! Basically what is happening is when Ethan naps for 1hr 45 min -1hr 50 min (daytime total), he is ridiculously cranky during his last A time but then has maybe 1 NW and a 11.5-12 hr night. If Ethan naps for any longer then that daytime total, he is totally fine during his last A time but then wakes at least 4-5 times during the night and tends to have a 10.5-11 hr night. So I am not sure what to do. Jo (Calebsmummy) responded on my other post and said that maybe he needs a little bit of time right after he wakes up like cuddling or something which is a great idea. Just keeping him in his room getting him used to his surroundings again before bringing him right back into the action of the home. I will definitely try that today.
Other then dealing with a incredibly cranky baby during that last A time, his nights are going really well. How are you guys doing?
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Will find your other post and try to help! Things OK here. DS having major growth spurt so waking hungry once a night again - but at least last night went right back to sleep (as opposed to 1.5 hours up the night before).
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Thanks, I see you found my other post!
I have never really noticed any growth spurts in Ethan since he was just a little guy. I think he eats sooo much food during the day that no matter how big the growth spurt is, he doesn't need any more food. Great to hear that Matthew went right back to sleep after eating in the night. It really makes a difference when you are up with them for hours or when they wake and go right back to sleep.
Ethan just wants to walk around now and is driving me nuts! During the night he is starting to stand up and sit down in his crib....over and over again. At 3am last night he was giggling away to himself and I can just imagine what he was doing...silly little guy!