Way off track! Barely napping and not able to sothe self and early waking! Ahhh!

[mommymadden]

I'm in need of some major help! I was sick for 2 weeks and this has turned our almost 5 month olds routine and sleeping wayyyy off.  Prior to this she was on a 4 hour easy (exlusively breastfed) with 2 2hour naps and 1 45 min.  She was a dream to put down-literally a cuddle and then in her crib and she'd do the rest and sleep a solid 2 hours.  Nights were a dream too-in bed by 730 up once to breastfeed and then up for the day at 7am.  Well the dream is now a nightmare!  After 2 weeks of being sick and having family help out (thank god!) there was little to no consistency and the result is my little gal is wayyy off.  The new situation is she barely naps... maybe one 45 minutes if we are lucky...very hard to get down-either we rock her to sleep or she cries it out for 10-15 minutes totally unable to soothe herself and then falls asleep.  She wakes up at exactly 45 minutes in and I've had nooo luck extending that beyond that.  She wakes up and copes ok for a bit but then becomes a cranky lady-understandably. She fights each nap though and I'm trying to get her back on track doing shh pat and pick up put down with no luck after about a week.  I also have a energetic 3 year old so that makes things tricky too-I find I'm having to give up trying to put her down for a nap because my son needs me too and I can't spend an hour trying to get her to sleep.  Night times are still ok except she is now starting to get up earlier and earlier-6ish today    Any advice?!  I feel like I'm starting back at square one but not sure how to do that at the 5 month point.  PPPPlease help!

[Shiv52]

At 5 months things can become trickly as they start to move toward not needing the CN.

What A time is your LO able to cope with?  When you get a short nap are you reducing the following A time?

[mommymadden]

She is able to do 2 hours of A time but I reduce that significantly if she has a 45 minute nap.  However, trying to get her back to sleep is a huge struggle.  This is whats been happening:  She wakes at 7 and her first nap of the day is usually in her carseat when we take big bro to school-usually shes out by 830ish and I leave her in her seat if she is still asleep when we get home at 9.  She will sometimes sleep until 10-1030 then I will feed her or wait 20ish minutes to feed her again.  If she wakes up on route home she is super hard to get down again in her crib and she is up for a bit gets fed earlier and has a very short A time after the feed and she goes to sleep.  But then the 45 minute thing sneaks up on us and the day goes down hill from there.  I'm trying shh pat to get her down for her nap and she slept for  1.5 hrs so that was good.  Any suggestions on what to do beyond shh patt if she wakes up at the 45 minute mark?  I tried to do it for her second nap today when she woke at the 45 minute mark but it didn't work-after 30ish minutes of her calming down, very drowsy and me placing her in her crib she would scream again and we did this over and over until I just gave in and she got up.  Any help would be sooooo appreciated!

V.

[Shiv52]

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64158.msg476652

5 months 2 hours - 2.25 hours
Late 5 months/early 6 months 2.25-2.5 hours

I think she needs a bump in A time.

So you am is:

7am Wake up
8.30 Nap....I think if she wakes she is struggling to go back to sleep because she's just not tired enough as she's only has 1.5 A time.  Can you keep her awake on the journey (windows down, out at the school in the fresh air, sing on way home etc) and aim for a nap about 9-9.15?  I think that might set you up for a better day. 

Is she feeding 4 hourly? 

If the 45 minute naps are typical have you tried wake 2 sleep?

[mommymadden]

So today I did extend her A time this morning and she napped for 2 hours (in her car seat).  She doesn't have really any stand out "sleepy cues" so its tough to judge the A time.  Also when I am doing shh-pat she typically fights it, wiggles and stuff and then boom eyes shut and shes quiet.  I usually hold her for a few minutes after that to ensure she is really nodding off not just taking a break from fighting...when do you put them down in the crib?  Especially since she doesnt really do the eye fluttering thing or other easy sleep cues.  I dont want shh patt to be a prop to get her to sleep.  I'm going to try wake-to sleep today and see if that helps!  I will keep you posted!  Thanks for the advice greatly appreciated!  Nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of!

V.