so tired!

[lepetitmatin]

Our 5mo is putting us through the ringer. She's never been a great sleeper. But we have definitely regressed. I've just returned to work so feel like there needs to be a change finally. For the past couple weeks she's been waking up around 5 or 530 am and not going back to sleep (she usually goes to bed around 730). And she's been waking anywhere from every 2-4 hours at night. We used to have one really long stretch at the first part of the night, and then one waking after that. I got into the bad habit I guess of feeding her almost every time thinking she was hungry, so now she expects that and will not go to sleep if we try to soothe her in other ways. We used to be able to soothe her to sleep in other ways, but not anymore. I really don't think she needs these feedings at night. I'm trying to give her more during the day but I don't see a change in her eating at night. I've also tried cutting back a couple minutes every few days on the night feeds, but not sure it's working. Her EASY generally looks like this (though it does vary).

530a wake
7a eat
730-9 sleep
10 eat
11-130 sleep
130 eat
330-415 sleep
415 eat
645 eat
715 bed
1030p wake/eat
2a wake/eat
5/530 up

Please help! Her naps aren't really smooth either; she often wakes up after 45 minutes and we will resettle her for another 45. I'm just not sure what to do about the night wakings and early wakings. I really try to have her only have about 2 hours of A time, and solid naps. Is she maybe getting too much sleep during the day?

[newkidontheblock]

I think you might right - that seems like a lot of day sleep on very short As. You are probably moving towards the 3-2 transition where A times need to be pushed in order to drop the CN and move to a 2 nap routine. I'm posting a link for you to take a look
All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months

And also
Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!
Early Waking

[lepetitmatin]

Thanks! I thought it was too early for the 3-2 transition, or longer than 2 hour A times, but maybe not! Will try extending!

[lepetitmatin]

So we tried extending A times the past couple days and naps have gotten better, though she's still waking up very early. And she has started waking an hour or two after going down for the night and not being able to settle for 1-2 hours! Could this all be related? Does she just need to adjust to the new extended A times?

[lepetitmatin]

Here is what happened yesterday:

wake: 5am
E: 730
S: 745-915 (no mid nap wakeups!)
E: 1045
S: 11:15-1:10 (one mid nap wakeup)
E: 230
S: 3:25-4 (woke her up)
E: 530
E: 630
S: 710pm (woke 745, 840-930, 1230, 3)
wake: 530am

During 840-930 stretch last night, she would fall asleep but would refuse to be put down in the crib.  So I finally nursed her to sleep and co-slept all night (which I really try not to do, but I couldn't deal anymore after an hour of crying!)

When she woke at 530, she didn't fuss, she was just hanging out. I didn't turn on the lights or interact with her at all until about 630 or so. Not sure how else to deal with this EW, but am hoping it works itself out with routine changes.

[newkidontheblock]

Just checking -- Any discomfort/teething going on? Are you'll in a wonder week by any chance?

We got NWs soon after bedtime and EWs during this transition too. I simply could not understand it, especially since naps seemed fine & I did not think OT could be the cause. but a wise lady here pointed out to me that it was probably OT - not of the day in question but residual OT that had accumulated over time. I checked my logs at this point and I observed that DD seemed to need a specific amount of day sleep - 2.5 hours at the very least for a 12 hour day. If she got this amount, no NWs. Any less, and we would get them and too much more than this and we would get a UT waking - in her case, she wouldn't go back to sleep for almost an hour after DF - just roll around chatting. This also helped me tweak our day accordingly - so less sleep and I would simply reduce the day. Maybe the same with your LO?

[lepetitmatin]

Don't think there's any discomfort, but really starting to think I can't ever tell what's going on with my own baby! I just can't figure her out. 

I think you're right that she's either UT or OT and is sensitive with how much sleep she needs, ie how much is too much and how much is just not enough. But I just can't figure it out - or once I do think I have it figured out, she goes and changes on me! And I think some (maybe all) of the night wakings and early morning wake are just habitual now, even if she does get enough sleep during the day. Gotta figure out how to break that because it's really wrecking me.

[newkidontheblock]

{{hugs}} honey. I completely understand. Just go through your logs and look for some pattern.FX