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SLEEP => General Sleep Issues => Topic started by: MamaFoz2018 on July 10, 2018, 16:19:42 pm

Title: 5.5 month old bedtime meltdowns
Post by: MamaFoz2018 on July 10, 2018, 16:19:42 pm
Hi,

My baby is approaching 6months, and we have been using EASY and PUPD for the last two weeks. Previously he was always either fed to sleep by me, or rocked/bounced to sleep by my husband, and would only ever nap for 30 mins/sleep for 2hr stretches at night.

We have already had a lot of success with the method. He now goes down for naps in 5-10mins with only a little fussing, and we seem to have moved past the 5am habitual wake up. Bedtime though, is still really tough, and often ends up with 30 mins of screaming before he falls asleep exhausted. This is an improvement on the first few nights though, where he cried for 1hr40mins...

He's always faught sleep, and from birth has usually had 13hrs total sleep a day, instead of the usual 14-16. I don't know if this means he just has shorter sleep needs, or if he has been overtired his whole life  ???

The last few days have looked something like this. I EBF and have not started on solids yet. He will be 6months in two weeks:

Wake - 6.45
E - 7.00
A - 7.10 - 8.40
S - 8.50 - 10.20
E - 11.00
A - 11.10 - 12.50
S - 1.00 - 2.00
E - 3.00
A - 3.10 - 4.30
S - 4.45 - 5.30
E - 7.00 (sometimes I do a feed at 6.00 and then a top up at 7.00, depending on his mood)
A - bath 7.15
S - 8.00

(Usually another feed at 11pm, then a wake up for feed around 2.30/3)

I feel like his bedtime is too late but whenever we try to put him down earlier the screaming lasts longer and he ends up falling asleep around 8pm no matter what we do.

I'd love some advice. I have been so pleased with the improvement in his naps and nighttime sleep, but bedtime is so heartbreaking, I am struggling to persevere with the method because it still seems to upset him so much to be put down for bed.


Thanks in advance
Title: Re: 5.5 month old bedtime meltdowns
Post by: creations on July 11, 2018, 12:41:58 pm
Hello and welcome to BW forums :)

It sounds like you've made fabulous progress - Great!!

I would agree with you about BT being too late.
Take into account LO is only getting a 45 min CN (cat nap) prior to that last A time. This means LO is going to be more tired, not less, and likely to be able to do less A time or at the most a full A time (I see you are on around 2hr 5min - 2hr 40 for the other A times).
Some options:
- increase the length of nap 3 to a long nap. This means shorter A time before BT and BT stays at roughly 8pm which appears to give your LO a relatively good night of almost 11hrs.
- move the bath time routine MUCH earlier.  A CN is literally only intended to get LO through the bath routine, so it is feed (if needed) bath, feed, bed.
If for example you brought bath time to 5.30pm or 5.45pm he is likely to be calmer during his ideal sleep window rather than crying through it.
- move bath time to a different time of day. If my memory is correct at this age some LOs find bath time too stimulating and it doesn't relax them for night sleep but gets them going and can't calm down.  Trying bath time at a totally different time of day for a few days could help you see if this is the case. (you might have read the BW books more recently than me, it's been a while, I think Tracy said it's around 6 months this can happen but I can't be 100% sure).
- It's okay to feed as many times as LO needs prior to BT, you can cluster feed or LO can ask for cluster feeds.  If you were previously feeding to sleep and feel this is a prop you could actually try just going back to feeding to sleep at BT and see if it makes a difference. Some people find that even if LO feeds to sleep at BT or night feeds they are still able to learn to self sooth at other times.  If not then the prop can be gently removed, you can establish a clam BT routine with feeding and then tackle the F2S prop afterwards rather than the long period of crying and everyone getting frustrated.

A few ideas there, you may feel drawn to one more than the other. It's up to you what you try.
Let us know how you get on, we're here if you need help.