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SLEEP => Night Wakings => Topic started by: katemommy on April 04, 2015, 22:39:18 pm

Title: going on month 3 of no sleep
Post by: katemommy on April 04, 2015, 22:39:18 pm
Ever since 3.5 months, my LO has become a horrible night sleeper. Our nights look like this:

5:30ish Bedtime routine: eat, bath, story, sleep
6:15 Asleep
7 -Waking 1: Usually up 45 min later, put him back down
9 Waking 2: Nurse, put back down
11 Waking 3: Nurse or pat and put back down, sometimes ends up in our bed because sooo tired
1:30 Waking 4
2:30 Waking 5
3:30-4 Waking 6
5/6 Up for day

It is insane. My husband and I do not know what to do to get him to stay asleep. Doesnt seem in pain although a lot of times very gassy. Also, he is a horrible napper during day, and cannot sleep more than 30 min at a time. Recently started solids thinking that might help but no luck.

Someone please help.
Title: Re: going on month 3 of no sleep
Post by: ele on April 05, 2015, 00:01:28 am
I will just post questions to see if by answering them/trying them out you may find solutions.
Have you tried putting him down for the day later?
Have you tried increasing his awake times during the day? or on the contrary if you tried to shorten them to age appropriate or even less?
Is he waking hungry at night? Might be unusual to empty his tummy so quickly....
I am just wondering if it's a good idea to have him in your bed at all, may be you incentivized him to wake up because of this?
Good luck!
Title: Re: going on month 3 of no sleep
Post by: newkidontheblock on April 05, 2015, 07:49:59 am
Honey, could you post your daily routine in EASY format? While I do think that at least 2 of those wakings might be hunger related, the rest definitely spells out over tiredness to me, especially since you say he is not napping well during the day. As Tracy says, sleep begets sleep. It is good that you are keeping your day to 12-12.5 hours but at 3.5 months, he would need at least 2-3 long naps + a catnap to be rested enough for bed. Is he an independent sleeper usually? Once you get his naps in order, I'm sure your good night sleeper will be back.

Also, hun, I would urge you to discontinue the solids. It is too early at the moment. Their digestive systems are not matured enough to handle anything other than milk. It may lead to even more issues if you continue. http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/delay-solids/
Title: Re: going on month 3 of no sleep
Post by: newkidontheblock on April 05, 2015, 09:20:58 am
Just to clarify- how old is your baby right now?
Title: Re: going on month 3 of no sleep
Post by: katemommy on April 06, 2015, 10:52:18 am
Oops so sorry, he is a little over 6 months!
Title: Re: going on month 3 of no sleep
Post by: newkidontheblock on April 06, 2015, 11:29:37 am
Lol, whoops! My bad.. I didn't read the tittle closely enough. Could you post your routine, hun?
Title: Re: going on month 3 of no sleep
Post by: katemommy on April 06, 2015, 18:16:18 pm
My apologies... I should have clarified his age :)

I haven't been the best at a stern schedule. I always flew by the seat of my pants with my first baby (also a terrible sleeper as an infant) but have been trying to be a little better at following the EASY schedule with this one.

Here is what a typical day looks like for us though.....give or take 30min/hour. Also, just this week I have been attempting to lengthen his activity time because he is really really fighting naps. I am thinking a later bed time might be good for us? I dont know. Any help is appreciated. It just seems like he CANNOT stay asleep. Thirty minute naps just arent cutting it and waking 8 times thru the night is just crazy.

E- 7am Breast milk
A- 7.15
S - Between 9/9:30 (usually sleeps for 30 min...occasionally 45 min)

E- 10ish (breast milk)
A -10:15 (including solids for lunch about 11)
S - 12:30ish (usually sleeps for 30 min, occasionally 45 min)

E- between 1/1:30 (breast milk)
A- 1:30ish
S-2:30 or 3 (30 min)

E - 3:30/4 (depending on time of waking from last nap) Breast milk
A - bath, breast milk, story, song
S - 6 -6.30

Title: Re: going on month 3 of no sleep
Post by: Jess_C on April 07, 2015, 05:35:05 am
Hi. How does he normally fall asleep? Can he self settle on his own?
Title: Re: going on month 3 of no sleep
Post by: newkidontheblock on April 07, 2015, 05:54:17 am
I found that between months 5 & 6, A times jump quite a bit. DD was doing 2.30 at 5 months, which stretched to 3.20 by 6 months. I definitely think he needs more A time, especially as he is fighting naps and is only catnapping. I think A time for a 6 mo is somewhere around 2.45- 3.5. Keep adding 10-15 minutes every couple of days and holding for a bit. It needs to be done gradually to avoid OT. Hopefully, once his A times are figured out, his naps will also lengthen out. I'm pretty sure these these night wakings are due to over tiredness, hun. Basically, he is not tired enough for his first nap and so does a short nap but gets progressively over tired as the day progresses.

Another thing is, for these babies, half an hour makes a big difference. Even 10 minutes can. So once you figure out his A, it is best to put down within 5-10 minutes of that time. Half an hour earlier and he won't be tired enough and will fight going to sleep and get OT or just do a short nap. Half an hour later and he will be so OT, leading to a 20-30 minute nap. The sleep window is usually quite a small one and it makes things easier to put them down on time.

Hope that helps
Title: Re: going on month 3 of no sleep
Post by: katemommy on April 08, 2015, 17:14:40 pm
This helps a ton actually. I will try to extend activity. It has been so frustrating because he has really improved self-soothing at bed time, and I had always heard that once that can do this, they usually sleep a lot longer stretched through the night. But in his case, the longest stretch (the 1st stretch) is only 3 hours. Hopefully once we get a hang of his naps we will notice a difference. He is probably only sleeping 1.5 hours total during the day right now.

Thanks so much!
Title: Re: going on month 3 of no sleep
Post by: katemommy on April 08, 2015, 17:15:51 pm
Hi. How does he normally fall asleep? Can he self settle on his own?

He can self-settle most of the time. Once I put him down, I may have to go in, pat him or give him his paci though. We are working on eliminating this.
Title: Re: going on month 3 of no sleep
Post by: katemommy on April 10, 2015, 00:13:53 am
I found that between months 5 & 6, A times jump quite a bit. DD was doing 2.30 at 5 months, which stretched to 3.20 by 6 months. I definitely think he needs more A time, especially as he is fighting naps and is only catnapping. I think A time for a 6 mo is somewhere around 2.45- 3.5. Keep adding 10-15 minutes every couple of days and holding for a bit. It needs to be done gradually to avoid OT. Hopefully, once his A times are figured out, his naps will also lengthen out. I'm pretty sure these these night wakings are due to over tiredness, hun. Basically, he is not tired enough for his first nap and so does a short nap but gets progressively over tired as the day progresses.

Another thing is, for these babies, half an hour makes a big difference. Even 10 minutes can. So once you figure out his A, it is best to put down within 5-10 minutes of that time. Half an hour earlier and he won't be tired enough and will fight going to sleep and get OT or just do a short nap. Half an hour later and he will be so OT, leading to a 20-30 minute nap. The sleep window is usually quite a small one and it makes things easier to put them down on time.

Hope that helps

One more question: How important is consistency in bedtime at night? Some nights he is ready for bed at 6, particularly those nights when he doesn't get his cat nap. Other nights it may be 6:30 and some as late as 7. Is it OK to have vary by an hour?

Title: Re: going on month 3 of no sleep
Post by: newkidontheblock on April 10, 2015, 02:52:26 am
Yes, I think sometimes it's necessary to plan bedtime based on how the naps go. Till around 6 months, we were on a 7-7 routine but since then, I've stopped waking her in the morning and bedtime is based on the length and what time the last nap ended.