Author Topic: 4 mo & (very) FUSSY EVENINGS, is EASY for me?  (Read 875 times)

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Offline FrenchMom

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4 mo & (very) FUSSY EVENINGS, is EASY for me?
« on: August 05, 2016, 23:54:59 pm »
Hi all please help me :-)
 I am new here and not quite sure where to post. I am a french mom (32 yo) and DD is going to be 4 months next week. She is EBF.
It s been a while since it is really hard to put her to sleep in the evening. She was and is always a "good sleeper", and when she is asleep, is asleep for a long time (always had STTN from the start…12 hrs of sleep with barely conscious feeds)
Anyway, now getting her to the point where she falls asleep for the night is problematic since she is 2 mo. I wish i found this site before…sigh…
I've been logging these past weeks trying to find what s wrong. Around me, friends and family think I m lucky enough she sleeps at night and has 3-4 naps during the day happening naturally, and that if she cries like crazy to sleep every night thats just venting stress etc.
but I think it s strange that she has to go that far in crying, yes she does sleep as a result, but by exhaustion, from everybody…I feel so bad every evening. I noticed the EASY method fits really well with her natural schedule, but she is more on the "4 hour" one, judging by since I keep track ( since she is 3 mo…). At least for the day.
   .   Typically it goes
   .   9 am = wake up
   .   10.45 am to 12 = nap1
   .   1.45 pm to 3.35 pm = nap2
   .   5.15 pm to 6 pm/ or 6 pm to 7 pm = nap3
   .   7.45-.8.30 = "nap 4"
   .   THEN ITS WAR. UNTIL 11. Whatever happens she falls at 11pm. I try to have a routine for bed that fails so predictably that it became routine to fail if you see what I mean!
Recently I even tried to consider the "nap4" as the bedtime she should be having earlier. When she wakes from the catnap (at  6 or 7) she yawns like 5 minutes right after. SO I think "she s already tired!
 I have to begin bedtime routine asap" but I don t know where I miss the window, any attempt to put her down (or near the bedroom) fails, she either cries on top of her lungs or coos and smiles like she is at the greatest party. Hubby looks at me like "why do you want her to sleep you mean party popper! she wants to stay awake with us!" URGH…SO I let her with us, until she becomes suddenly red and wails. As a last resort, my DH takes her out for a walk in a babycarrier. When he comes back by 10.30-11 pm, she is asleep and we transfer her to the bed quite easily. Sometimes she wakes up 1hour after for a feed but goes right back to sleep. During the walk outside she cries a lot before passing out. Sometimes not, but most of the time. It feels like accidental CIO and I don t like it
Please tell me what would you do? I need some perspective on this…thank you so much!!

Offline creations

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Re: 4 mo & (very) FUSSY EVENINGS, is EASY for me?
« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2016, 09:51:38 am »
Hello and welcome to BW forums :)

It sounds like you have done brilliantly so far :)
I can understand your feeling about the crying in the evening, it is very hard and upsetting to see and hear LO cry so hard. I would agree you could look at her overall routine to see if you can alter the way this goes each evening.  Whilst it is unpleasant for all of you to experience this crying I would like to reassure you that being held by Daddy in a baby carrier is not CIO.  Yes it is horrible to think of our LOs crying so hard but in a carrier she knows she is with a parent and not abandoned, the crying might be loud but the cortisol (stress hormone) level is likely extremely low rather than a baby who is left to cry alone who is likely to have high stress due to not knowing if Mummy or Daddy are ever coming back, it is the high stress (rather than the crying itself) which is harmful.

Here are the guidance A times (activity, the time LO is awake) for ages:
Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!
You already have her on a pretty good A time but you might find that adding another 15 minutes or so to her A time could help to extend nap 3 so that she is better rested before that last A time before her BT (bed time).  For nap 4 or BT you might find she needs 2hrs or maybe even a bit more before she is ready for her night sleep.  Some LOs like to have an extra long last A time (some extra short!) so if you are seeing resistance at that time you could go a bit over the guidance A time.
The yawn you see 5 mins after her nap 3 CN (cat nap) could be that she is well rested rather than that she is tired - confusing I know!  you can increase the A time before nap 3 to see if nap 3 can become longer. Also try not to reduce the last A time before nap 4/BT but go for a full A time or a bit longer.  At this age she is starting to tell you what she wants and is ready for.  Sounds like she is not quite ready for bed but it is ever so easy to think she is already overtired.
Your routine in the evening might look like this:
5.30 - 7pm nap 3
A 2hr
BT 9pm (this gives a 12 hr night)

if she does not extend nap 3 yet you may still need another cat nap so it might look like:
A 1hr 50 to 2hr
S 5.30 - 6.15 nap 3
A 1hr 45
S 7.00 - 7.45 nap 4
A 2hr
BT 9.45 (this looks late but she still gets over 11hr night sleep, this BT will move earlier when her routine changes and a nap is dropped or 2 cat naps become one longer nap)

I think if you try for BT too early this may cause some crying.

If you look at the guidance A time you will see they increase quite a lot between now and 6 months going up from under 2hrs to 3hrs or even more.  This is a time when many of us alter the routine a bit too slowly and LOs are trying to tell us they are able to stay awake and enjoy spending time with you for a bit longer before they sleep.

I hope this helps.

By the way, your English is excellent :)


Offline FrenchMom

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Re: 4 mo & (very) FUSSY EVENINGS, is EASY for me?
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2016, 13:56:00 pm »
Thank you- thank you-thank you so much for your advice! I m glad you answered me so quickly and it makes perfect sense to me now...Damn that yawn ;-) I ll see today if I can extend some A time (that shouldn t be too hard!) before CN and if she extends the CN go from there and follow what you suggested, needless to say my DH will be happy if she has more AT in the evening for sure. Yesterday CN was 5.15 pm to 6, then infamous yawning led to BT routine, that resulted after some endless rocking to a 7.45 Sleep, but then she was awake to party at 8.30 until The Walk and the usual 11 pm passing out. But DH reported that she had very little crying.
With your perspective that 7.45 to 8.30 looks like an additonal nap instead of BT...
I was unsure about letting her have more A since she is not yet 4 mo but signs are that she is ready for it, especially since she rolls over...
I ll keep you posted how it goes and thanks again ;-)
Btw, my english is ok I guess, but that's because I wasn t taught by french teachers ! Ha ha they are the worst...actually teaching us "th" is pronounced "Zz" i really don t know why!

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Re: 4 mo & (very) FUSSY EVENINGS, is EASY for me?
« Reply #3 on: August 07, 2016, 06:55:57 am »
Glad you found it helpful :)
Don't expect things to suddenly be fixed over night, these things can take a little while.
let us know how it goes and of course if you have more questions :)

I wasn t taught by french teachers ! Ha ha they are the worst...actually teaching us "th" is pronounced "Zz" i really don t know why!
:) Even English teachers in England get things wrong. I was taught things incorrectly and discovered recently so was my DP and also some English teachers I know!