HELP!! What to tackle first?

[dancingbear]

Hi, I'm new here so bear with me. My dd Millie is 17 weeks old today and I am only just trying to start her on any easy routine.

She has been vaguely following one anyway so it's not too different. After introducing a nightime routine i have been putting her down to bed at 7/7.30pm since she was 7 weeks old. She gradually started dropping her night feeds until 10 weeks when she started going through the night till 7am ish which was bliss! This carried on until 2 weeks ago when she started waking up in the night. She was waking anywhere between 3-5am and i would give her a dummy/paci (i'm british, we say dummy here !! but will call it paci so people know what i'm on about), i figured she wasn't hungry as she would take it and fall straight back to sleep.

Anyway, this has been getting worse and worse so that for the last week she has been lasting a couple of hours from bedtime then waking EVERY hour until 5 am then EVERY half hour til 7am when i finally give in and get up to start the day. I am sooooooo tired! Every time she wakes i give her the paci and off she goes to sleep only to wake again an hour later.

She also will not go down for naps without it, only naps for 40 mins without fail and can barely last 3 hours between feeds. Woo hooo!!

So from reading the Baby whisperer books and some posts on her i understand that she has a bad prop problem, needs to take longer naps and needs to feed more like every 4 hrs.

My question is, what do i try and tackle first???

Have posted on naps and props too as i don't know which to try and deal with first!

Thanks if you've read this far and any advice most appreciated before i keel over from lack of sleep!!

Emma & Millie
xxx

[* Paula *]

Hi Emma,

Welcome to the boards. 

Hugs, I am sorry to hear that you are having so many problems.

Do you think that your lo could be going through her 4 month growth spurt, hence the erratic wakings?

Please can you post a detailed routine of what your day looks like.  i.e. E - bottle / breast, how much / how long, A - how long, what it consists of, windown routine and S - how long - does she fall asleep independantly.

Sorry for the all the questions, but it is just so that we can have a look at a detailed routine.

Paula x

[Scrapbooker]

My first thought is hunger too.  If the dummy isn't doing it and she persists, maybe she's hungry.

[dancingbear]

Do you think that your lo could be going through her 4 month growth spurt, hence the erratic wakings?

Think she did this 2 weeks ago and i just started feeding her more often...

E - bottle / breast, how much / how long

She is breastfed through the day , is a bit faffy and nosy at the mo but feeds for about 20-25mins, taking both sides
At bedtime she has a bottle of formula and takes anything from 5-8oz

A - how long, what it consists of, windown routine
she was staying awake for 1.5-2.5 hours between naps,
playing, changing, sitting in her chair, wtching me tidy up!
windown routine for naps is not much really - this may be part of the problem - just take her downstairs, put her in a grobag, quick cuddle, in cot with dummy and she's asleep in minutes
at bedtime we give her a bath with dim lights and quiet music, massage, into sleepsiut and warm grobag. Then go into her room with lights off and feed her - sing songs for first half ofthe fed then silence for the rest. then put her in her cot and leave

S - how long - does she fall asleep independantly.
naps are 30-45 mins without fail!!, can't get her to do more and she can't fall asleep without her dummy.
nightime she falls asleep on ehr own without fail and used to sleep through like a wee trooper until the last few weeks. boooo!

hope this helps. will post the routine i followed yesterday and the results below.
sorry for the long post,
emma xx

[dancingbear]

I followed the EASY rotine properly for the first time yesterday and didn't give her the dummy at night time, eeek. this is what i did:

7.00 - wake up
7.30 - E: bf 20 mins
7.50 - A
8.45 - S: 30 mins with dummy, tried to get ehr to do more but failed!
9.45 - A: kept her occupied by changing etc till next feed
10:30 - E: bf 20 mins
10:50 - A
12:00 - S: nap without dummy!!! for 40 mins, tried for more, no luck
1.30 - E: bf 20 mins
1.50 - A
3.00 - S 45 mins with dummy
4:20 - E 20 mins bf
6:45 - A start bedtime routine
7.20 - E bottle 5oz

6.45
started bedtime routine and put her to bed as usual and she was asleep at 7.30. I went to bed then too to try and catch up on some sleep.
10.30 She woke and grizzled a bit but before breakinginto a proper cry she went back to sleep 
12:00 She woke and started crying, managed to get her back to sleep after 20 mins of me with my hand on her chest and shushing. no dummy!!!!
3.00 Same as above, no dummy!!!!
4.30 Woke and was having none of it, got her up and tried shushpat for a while, seemed like she was hungry so gave her a bfeed, she fed well for a good 10mins and then fell asleep, she woke as i put her down and tried to get herself back to sleep. Failed! I went in and did the hand on chest shushing thng and she dropped of after 10 mins. All in all she was up for an hour so was back asleep at 5.30
7.00 woke up to start the day!

So, not perfect but we made it through a whole night without the dummy and it was better than her waking every hour or 30 mins.

Naps are still super short and she can't do them without the dummy at the mo, but hey, no-ones' perfect!

Any more advice?? Should i try for 3.5 hrs between feeds??

emma xxxx

[* Paula *]

Hi Emma,

Thanks for all the info.  It gives a better idea of what your day looks like.

Congrats on the whole night without the dummy - you will have to tell me how you did it - my DS is 16 months and still wants his at night    Anyway back to your post

I would definitely try the 3.5 hour EASY if you think your lo could handle the extra A time - which by the look of it she can with the short naps etc.  The short naps are a sure sign that she is ready to transition.

This link may give you some more info:-

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=63161.msg466921#msg466921

I would also try the Pat / Shh to help her extend her nap times - if her naps are short.

Good luck - Let us know how you get on.

Paula x