Waking up from nap due to bowel movement

[hilroy]

Hi all -
I am a mother of 2 and use Baby Whisperer for both kids.  My friend has a 6 month old and has run into the problem below and looking for suggestions.  Her methods are very similar to the baby whisperer so any suggestions would be helpful.  I have just never run into this problem so I'm not sure what to say.  I know he has two naps during the day 1.5-2 hour mark, plus the evening catnap (i think), but his morning nap is getting cut short b/c he's going poo.  Read below:


"My son has been waking up early from his morning nap because he's pooped (literally gone to the bathroom).  It must just come out because he's so relaxed because I don't hear any grunting on the monitor.  He just wakes up crying.  Anyway, he can't fall back to sleep and I've tried to put him back down after I change him but he won't fall asleep ... it's like he's been woken up and that's it.  So what usually ends up happening is I have to put him down early for his afternoon nap because he is so tired.  That's what happened today, he went down at 11:30 instead of 12:30 - 1:00.  And that throws off the whole afternoon because then he's extremely tired by the time we get to dinner because he's been up for so long"

I know she can put him down for a catnap if she's not already, but I'm really looking for suggestions on the morning nap. 

Thanks so much!

[anna*]

There's really not much to do in circumstances like this except to wait it out. You can't change the timing of the poops! Definitely an afternoon catnap to get him through to bedtime. When he's older and taking more and a wider variety of solids, if it's still a problem she can try giving some more laxative foods at breakfast to see if that helps. But chances are it won't still be an issue - either the poop or the nap will have moved!

[creations]

On the whole I agree that waiting it out will do the job, the poop will move in its own time and stop disturbing the nap, however I also think the poop could be encouraged to move.

6 months.  Have solids started?  If so, look at timing of breakfast solids and move it.  You didn't say how far into the nap the poop came, if it is early (lets say 20 - 30 min in) then make breakfast solids earlier (by 20 mins if poss) to try to get the poop before the nap.  If it is towards the end of the nap (say 1hr or 1.5hr) then try breakfast solids later (by 30 mins if poss) so the poop waits until the nap has finished.
This would probably need to be tried for several days before seeing a result.  As example my DS poops out 24 hrs after he has eaten, breakfast day 1 comes out at the time as breakfast day 2,  lunch day 1 comes out after lunch day 2 etc.  Not all LOs poop like that obviously, but suing as example to show the digestive system needs time to adjust to a different feeding time to make a difference.

Another thing that can be tried is gentle tummy massage, leg lifts and a backwards C shape on baby's left side, this is the same type of gentle massage used for wind (usually in younger LOs).  Not straight after food.  This can encourage a poop within the next half hour or so, it just gets things moving.

But otherwise, this poop thing won't go on for ever.

[hilroy]

That's great.  Very useful.  I will pass that along to my friend.  I'm not sure when the poop is actually happening, but I'm assuming that its near the beginning so cutting his nap really short.

Thanks again. Much appreciated.  I know these things never last forever... thank goodness for that :-)

[ZacsMumme]

If its close to the start of the nap she could try to encourage a slightly later nap, but that could cause OT if moved and he isn't ready. Hopefully soon he will last a bit longer and poop just before the nap

[MommySteezy]

I have had this problem with my LO also. I am always relieved when she goes potty before I put her down for a nap so I do not have to worry about it waking her up.

 I have had some success with changing her diaper in the crib rather than taking her out. I think when you take them out of the crib, most times, it signals to them that it is time to get up. Think about it, when you get them up from a nap what is usually the first thing you do? You take them out of their crib and change them. They do not know that they have been asleep 45 minutes or 2 hours. All they know is "Something woke me up and mommy took me out of the crib and is changing me like she does at the end of nap time. It must be time to get up!".
I get the goodies from her changing table and just change her right in her crib. When I am done I just roll her over and say "sleepy time" then soothe her back to sleep. I am not an expert nap extender by ANY means but It worked once for me and might be something that your friend would want to try out. It is not as easy fumbling around in a dark room and trying to change a diaper, but if you can extend the nap and not have to shift the rest of your day around it is worth it, IMO!

[oneplusone]

Ugh. I had that problem too. He'll fall asleep easily and then he'll wake up a while later. Not sure if it's a sleep transition or the BM that wakes him up. I'll hear him grumbling and think he's trying to put himself back to sleep and then a few seconds later I'll hear him having a BM. Then I have to change him and that just wakes him up more. I think he's growing out of it since it doesn't happen as often now. No real suggestions just been there done that. Good luck to your friend.