Hi everyone,
FTM here who is slightly at her wits end with this so called "sleep regression"- I am SORRY in advance if this seems too long winded.
Our DS will be 4 months next week. Last Sunday he started waking erratically during the night. We haven't had to do a feeding at night in quite a while but knew as per Tracy's book, erratic waking was likely due to hunger in this instance and probably hitting a growth spurt. If he woke 2am or before, we use PUPD to get him back to sleep. He would usually have at least one waking anyways and this method he was back asleep fairly quickly. As of last Sunday though I noticed his cry changed and seemed more frantic. PUPD was not working (or at least after an hour we caved and fed him- first time only Sunday, since then we've upped the oz during the day). So over the last several days we have increased his bottle (FF) from 6 to 7 oz. Sometimes he'll drink the full 7 or at least 6.5. We've also successfully moved him from a 3 HOUR EASY to 3.5 HOUR EASY. We dream feed at 1030pm and he takes a full bottle. As of Wednesday, we have our nights back again- thank sweet baby jesus lol. BUT his naps have gone all to hell. He was sleeping a solid 1.5 to 2 hours each nap, sometimes taking a cat nap at 5, sometimes not. We've NEVER had an issue putting him to bed for 730pm. We may have gained our nights but he has gone from a cheerful little guy to one cranky dude during the day. It seems the 3.5 EASY just messed him completely!!! I've tried slowly increasing his A time and I've tried going by his cues- either way, my boy has not napped more than 30 or 40 minutes each nap since Sunday.
Yesterday our day looked like this:
E:0700 start day and eat 7oz
A: played until about 0820 and then started to wind down (he had a long night previously)
S: started wind down routine (close blinds, diaper check, swaddle, sit quietly with stuffed animal playing lullaby- when over I transfer to crib). He was asleep by 0845am.
-woke at 0920. used PUPD / shh pat (more like shh pressure- he doesn't like the patting) until 10 with absolutely ZERO luck
E:1020 6 oz
A:kept things low key since he was no thoroughly exhausted
S:1130
-woke at 1315
E:1330 6 oz
A: still seemed tired by not as grumpy. had some good tummy time etc.
S:1515 ish
-woke 1550. Tried to get him back asleep again with absolutely ZERO luck. I didn't get him up, just kept him in his room try and have hum understand that it just wasn't time to be awake. So tired, rubbing eyes, etc.
E: 1645 7oz
A: had some play time. seemed to catch a second wind, didn't fuss much. Had a bath around 1830
E: topped up but ate 7oz
S: BED at 1915
DF at 2230- 7 oz
--woke once at 0115 DH had him back asleep in 5 minutes. never heard a peep again until 0530 which he gabbed to himself and put himself back to sleep.
((( The day before was brutal and he was up for almost 3 hours between 2 of this naps! And not happy either but refused to nap. )))
TODAY SO FAR: ** I was HOPING since he had such a solid night that he'd be more geared up today for better naps, not so over tired. yah..not so much.
E: 0700 6oz
A: increased time without fuss
S: started wind down around 0840 (had some yawns starting)- he was asleep by 0900
-woke at 0935. got him settled again but only slept maybe 10 minutes and was back awake by 1000. Tried to get back to sleep with no luck.
E: 1030 7 oz
A: kept it low key since he was a grumpy butt
S: wind down took forever, he was over tired. Asleep by 1200.
(it is now 1300 and he has fussed twice in the last hour but I haven't had to intervene yet)
About DS:
- he has slept successfully in his own room since 2 months. And in his own crib since 2.5 months- without issue.
- he falls asleep on his own. We haven't rocked him, used a swing, etc for quite a while. Sometimes we'll lay him down drowsy or even still awake. Normally you would only hear his try and get comfy or nothing at all and he'd fall asleep. --- THIS TOO HAS GONE OUT THE WINDOW SINCE SUNDAY. We haven't caved to rocking or bottle, we PUPD or use shh/pressure and stay with him until calm and drowsy again. We say goodnight, love you and leave the room.
- he has no reflux or colic
- our home situation has not changed, no major trips or other routine upsets OTHER than daylight savings, what a mess that was for a day or so haha.
- we use a Halo Swaddle sleep sack. Recently he has taken a huge dislike to being swaddled (which we did from day one) so we've been weaning him with one arm in one arm out for about 3 weeks now. I still have to fully swaddle when he gets over tired or he'll rub his face off.
- he rarely likes or takes a soother, never has like it. we've changed brands 5 times and stayed with the last one since he seemed to like it the best. IF on the rare occasion he takes it, IF he does, he'll suck until too drowsy and spit it out.
- he likes to suck on his hands or a little comfort blanket with satin tags on it.
- he has shown some teething symptoms and has a white bump coming in on his bottom gum. he chews on anything. We give him the odd dose of tylenol and it helps
- he's a chunky monkey, weighing in and around the 15 Lb mark give or take
So my questions are:
- In regards to the 3.5 HOUR EASY-- it seems that if his first nap doesn't work out, it ruins the rest of the day for us both. I've tried putting him down a little later or a little earlier than his cues (Ignore the one at 8am) to see if it makes a difference (UT or OT on that 30 or 40 minute nap mark)- and it has made no difference. He can go easily 3.5 or 4 hours between feeds but how do I get him through his A time without becoming SO overtired or messing up the EASY routine??
-Am I over reacting to the lack of naps, since he seems to be sleeping fine again at night? As in, I should shush and count my blessings? Is this true regression or a phase that he'll get over and get back to napping like a champ again?
- Lastly, am I MISSING anything or should I be doing something different? The excessive crying and lack of ME TIME has us both in a mood.
Thanks in advance!
Brittany
