BabyWhispererForums.com
SLEEP => Night Wakings => Topic started by: LizPNI on January 09, 2014, 22:38:29 pm
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Please help...need sleep.... I took the two weeks I had off from work over the holidays to get my 5 month old son on the 4-hour LEAP. Prior to that he was not on any schedule and could only sleep if he fell asleep nursing. Prior to being on the LEAP he never really napped At 3.5 month he had a sleep regression and started waking 4 or more times a night to eat. Before that he would sleep from 9-2 eat and then sleep till about 5..
Getting him on the 4-hour LEAP was hard. In addition to getting him off the eat sleep association we also go rid of the swaddle. When I returned to work the babysitter said his naps got longer and that he was even waking up talking to himself and going back to sleep. At nights our schedule was bottle/nurse (I have supply issues) and then diaper change, books and songs and then white noise and sleep. By the time I finished getting him on the LEAP I could just put him in the crib and he would go to sleep with no help from me.
Each night since I've been back at work it's gotten worse. Now after signing he talks to himself starts to cry and if I don't come and pat his back it turns to screaming. Last night (thursday night) I had to do PU/PD to get him to sleep. He also started waking up every hour. He is asleep by 7-7-30.. wakes up at 9, 10 and then 11 gets dream feed. Then wakes up at 2, 3, 4, and 5. At 5 he is up for the day. The first few nights he started waking I could put my hand on his stomach and give him a pacifier and he would settle. Now it is turning into screaming and it can take 30mins to a hour to settle him. The only thing that gets him to calm down is some PU/PD and then pacifier and patting.
After talking to my babysitter I learned that she has not really been following the E part of the LEAP. He is getting small bottles every 2 hours and if he gets sleepy while eating she puts him to sleep. Could this be cause the night wakings? I don't understand why he lost his self soothe skills so quickly and is now screaming at night. He has started to roll-over and move around like crazy in his crib. Also when he wakes up at 5am I bring him into the bed to nurse. I know that this is often considered a big no no, but since I work full time I really enjoy this time together with him. He sleeps and eats in the bed till 6am.
Please help.
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Hi hun what is a LEAP? do you mean EASY? What is his current EASY? Also I would certainly have a talk with the sitter and make it very clear that she is to stick with whatever routine you give her.
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Sorry yes I mean EASY. Not getting a lot of sleep here
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What is his current EASY?
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This was his EASY yesterday with the baby sitter
EW: 5am nurse and back to sleep till 6:30 I leave for work at 7
E 8:00
A 8:15-9
S 9-10:15 (told he cries during this sleep)
E 10:32
A 10:45-12:23
E 12:23
S1-2:30 (wakes but able to put self back)
E 2:30
S: 4-4:45
E4-45
A 5-6:30
E 6:30
S 7:30 (puts self to sleep)
DF 11
nw 2
NW 3
NW 4
EW 5 nurse and sleep from 5-6:30
During the NW sometimes use pacifier to soothe
Wow, writing this out. It looks like a mess
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Hi hun I meant more what you are trying to accomplish and what you normally do at home?
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I Want to get him to stop NW every hour starting at 2am. We just started the To get him on the EASY while I was off work for the holidays. He never really napped before so by the time I went back to work he was just starting to really follow the EASY, but naps were still bad. Over the past week that I've been back at work he started the NWs. I am home today so this will be the first day I can make sure we are sticking to the EAsY. I work 5 days a week so a normal day is with the baby sitter not me unfortunately.
So far today he ate at 7 and went down for Nap at 8:45. But he hasn't slept for longer then 10mins. I keep having to go back and shush pat him and use a pacifier. I think he is used to the baby sitter putting him down for naps. I am going to focus today on having him eat ever 4 hours instead of 2
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Ok sorry I'm not making myself clear. What I'm asking is what EASY are you trying to accomplish, what routine do you normally do when the little one is home with you. It's not uncommon at this age for lo's going through a routine change to also have some separation anxiety with the mom/dad going back to work.
But you really will need to get the babysitter on board. My suggestion is to sit down with her if you haven't already and go over the baby whisperer principles with her and explain what you are trying to accomplish. She's going to need to be on board with try to help you teach independent sleep etc.
There are a lot of things going on that you may want to start focusing on just one or two and go from there. So if I"m correct you want to try and move him to a 4hr easy and teach him independant sleep. So let's focus on that for now. You can worry about the pacifier later unless you see it as a prop and then we may need to work on that at the same time but we'll see.
For now he is 5months old. He's is probably extremely over tired so lets start with the lower end A times and go from there. When your baby sitter puts him down for naps does he normally sleep for a full sleep cycle or does he wake after 10min? Are you sure there isn't something else going on? Discomfort in some way be it gas, temperature of room, light etc? What is different at your baby sitters than your own home?
Do you feed him during the night? At all the nw's or just some. Does he always put himself to sleep at Bedtime?
For his age here are some sample routines.
\\4 hour EASY
2 hr. 15 min. to 2 hr. 30 min. A time
two naps of 1.5 to 2 hrs.
Total daytime sleep: 3 hr. 30 min.
Total nighttime sleep: 12 hrs. 15 min.
E-8:00 Wake, Pears&Baby rice, 8oz bottle.
A-8:00-10:15 Awake Time
S-10:15 Naptime of either 1hr30mins or 2hrs
E-12:00 8oz bottle
A-11:30-2:00 or 12:00-2:30 Awake time depending on when he woke from his nap
S-2:00 or 2:30 Naptime This nap is also 1hr30 or 2hrs depending on how long his morning one was. He will have 1 - 2hr nap daily and 1 nap of 1hr30mins each day.
E-4:00 Some veggies with a little of barley cereal mixed in, 8oz bottle
A-6:45 Bathtime, Massage, and stories
E-7:20 8oz bottle
S-7:45 In Bed
Posted by: Rebekahb-January 25, 2004
2.
4 hour EASY
2 hr. A time
two 1.5 to 2 hr. naps and one catnap of approx. 40 min.
Total daytime sleep: 3 hr 40 min. to 4 hr. 10 min.
Total nighttime sleep: 11 hrs. 30 min. to 12 hrs.
At 5 months, we finally got on a routine. Most days it ends up like this:
Wake up: 6:30 am
Feed 7 oz milk
Nap 1 @ 8:30 am (usually 1.5 hours)
Wake: 10 am-10:30
Feed @ 10:30, 2 tblsp rice cereal and 7 oz milk
Nap 2 @ noon-12:30 (1.5-2 hrs)
Wake @ 2 pm
Feed 7 oz.
Cat nap - 4 PM (40 mins)
Bedtime routine at 5 (bath, jammies, quiet play, storytime, song, rocking until sleepy).
Put down between 6 and 6:30, usually asleep for the night by 6:30, sometimes 7.
Bedtime really varies based on when her last nap ended, but it always ends up between 6 and 7
Posted by: Aarismom-September 27, 2005
3.
4 hour EASY
2.5 hr A time
two naps of 1.5 hr and one catnap of 30-45 mins.
Total daytime sleep: 3 hr 30 min to 3 hr 45 min.
Total nighttime sleep: 12 hrs.
My ds, Carter is exactly 5.5 months. He just decided to have more A time and shorter S, so here is his routine (VERY textbook!):
Wake: 7am
E: 7
A: 7:15-9:30
S: 9:30-11
E: 11
A: 11:15-1:30
S: 1:30-3:00
E: 3
A: 3:15-5:00
S: 5
A: 5:30 or 5:45-6:30
E: 6:30-6:45
Bath: 6:45-7:00
Bed: 7:00 (sleeps all night until 7am)
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he was never on EASY, so we started with the 4 hour one but when I went back to work it seems the schedule fell apart. So yes I want to get him on 4 hour EASY and teach independent sleep. It seems like the pacifier is becoming a prop as the more tired we get we are using it more to get him to stop crying and go back to sleep. The baby sitter says he wakes during the morning nap but not the noon one. It is very hot where we live (avg temp high 80s) but we have no air conditioner. So yes it's hot but I have fans on him and that's about all I can do. I have dark curtains that block some light. I don't think he has a gas issue. The baby sitter comes to our house.
At night I feed him at 11 and then try not feed him again till 5 but sometimes he eats at4:30 or so. We started the EASY because of the food and sleep association so I am trying not to feed him. Most of the time he puts himself to sleep. There are a couple of nights where he has been over tired because I was late from work and I had to help him. Those nights he also woke at 9. On the nights he puts himself to sleep he makes it to 2 with a dream feed at 11.
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Hi hun, take a deep breath. I can feel your frustration and I'm sure you are exhausted. Like I said before, My suggestion is to get your baby sitter on board. Come up with a routine that works for you that you can aim for and start working on independent sleep. Take a look at the links I provided regarding IS and let me know if you have any questions.
Only thing I noticed t night I feed him at 11 and then try not feed him again till 5
If he wakes before 5am and you aren't feeding and he continuously wakes then he's hungry and that's why he's waking. At his age I wouldn't expect him to do more than 4hrs at this time given he's not on a 4hr easy and he may be snacking during the day and not getting full feeds so he's hungrier at night. So getting him on a 4hr EASY during the day will help. So if he gets a full feed at Bedtime and a DF at 11. He should be able to last until 3 but not much longer than that. But If he wakes before 3.5/4hrs I would try and resettle. But if he's waking at 3 then feed him. I think he's hungry and that's why he keeps waking up multiple times. That's one cause among the others that you can work on.
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Ok I'll will try feeding him at 3 tonight and see how that goes.
Thank you so much for your help. Both my husband and I work full time and we haven't slept well this whole week or really in 5 months. I am also traveling next week with my son which is starting to stress me out because of how that will mess with everything.
Again thanks so much for your help and understanding
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Hi hun hugs. If you are traveling next week then my suggestion is just work on getting him on a 4hr easy with some good first a times so you get at least a good first nap in and feed him when he wakes at night and then focus on having a good trip. You can figure the rest out when you we t back.
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Yesterday went ok. My husband and I both had trouble getting him down for his naps. He is has a lot of traits of a spirited baby, so when we miss his sleep cues and we are doing an activity that's very stimulating he gets excited and we miss the sleep window. As for the NW. He didn't make it to the DF he woke at 10:30 so we fed him. He woke at 1:30 but I was able to get him back to sleep quickly by patting his back. At 2:30 he woke and I gave him the bottle. He was sleepy when I put him in the crib, but then started talking to him self he talked for almost 30mins then he started crying so I came and settled him. He slept for about 10 mins and was up. It was off and on like this till almost 5. I think he stomach was bothering him because he pooped around 5 and then he seemed better. However after changing his diaper I tried to put him back in the crib, but he did his hungry cry. So I nursed and he slept till 7
Yesterday's EASY
E 7am
A 715-845
S 9 ( had sh/pat to sleep, woke at 925, 937 and945 slep till 10:30
E 11
A 11:30
S 12:30 took 30min to sleep and wide awake smiling after 30 mins)
A1:30
E 3
S 4:45-6 ( I woke him at 6)
E 6;30 (planned to not feed till 7 but really cranky)
6:45 bed routine
S 7:15 (put himself to sleep)
NW 10:30 bottle
NW 1:30 settle with shush pat
Nw 2:30 bottle
NW 3-5
Nurse at 5
Wake 7 am
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Just to add. It is hard getting him on the four hour EASY because he is not eating well right now. The world is far too exciting. Both nursing and from a bottle he is easily distracted, so that's why thr babysitter was feeding him more frequently. He is not finishing bottle and he is only nursing for a few minutes then he gets hungry again before the next feeding. During the night in dark room he eats no problem.
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Hi hun, can the babysitter feed him in a quiet darker room and keep distractions at bay? Most babies don't eat well if they are distracted at this age. Good job resettling him at night. It will take time for him to get used to it, and if his tummy was bothering him than I can understand the up and down. Do you think there is any other discomfort there like reflux etc?
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Thanks again
The naps went better today.
I think his tummy was bad because usually he gets a mix of breastmilk and formula between nursing and bottle but last night he had way more formula. Tonight I will make sure he gets more breastmilk and see if that helps.
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Back from our trip. The schedule kind of went out the window because I was traveling for work and my son attended the retreat with me. There was a travel crib in the meeting room I was able to put him down in though so he still got his naps (45mins only) in. His night wakings weren't better or worse while traveling although he started waking at 4am wide awake. Wanted to hang out for a little while and then was back to sleep by 5am He ate at 3 am, so I'm sure he wasnt hungry. What should I do when he wants to hang out at 4am.?
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Sorry my computer died. Just got it back. I'm sorry I can't remember. If he's an independent sleeper than I would just do wiwo until he goes back down. But I would not turn the light on or get him up in anyway. I know in a hotel you can't have a screaming baby so it is what it is. But now that you are back home I would just make him realize it's not time to get up and get him back to sleep using gradual withdrawl (if he's not an IS) or wiwo if he is. And work on figuring out what made him wake. That's a hard time because they've had enough sleep as to think they are ready to go for the day but in reality they are still tired but just don't know it enough to go back to sleep.