so done with the 30-45 min naps!! 3mo

[creations]

From what you've said about your suspicion of reflux I think it would be worth seeing a paediatrician to check over LO and discuss the symptoms.
Also (and I'm sorry I don't have much time tonight to read back), if you are shush/patting, you might want to stop patting as this can agrivate reflux.  Rubbing on the back/tummy/hip can also be very soothing and replaces the pat in an adapted shush/pat method.

My DS had what I thought was a mild reflux and I didn't think much of it for quite some time.  Eventually it worsened but my health visitor disregarded my suspicion which made me back off from taking it further...until it got to the point where I had to get meds immediately he was in so much discomfort (I think this was around 4  or 4.5 months).  I bought over the counter meds after speaking with a pharmacist, not great meds actually but they eased it a bit until a proper paediatrician appointment. Looking back I think he should have been on meds from a much much earlier age and we could have saved him the pain and saved ourselves the stress of all the crying etc.

BT was always fine for us, it can be that LO is so relaxed at BT that they take a good feed and don't get so much acid.  BT and DF are often the easiest feeds for them (and NW feeds) due to being sleepy and relaxed, it is during the day and naps that are hardest.

Hey - v good to hear you got some Y time and got your hair done.  Good for you. xx

[stevesmum]

Good to hear your DH is so supportive of you! I understand what you mean about not being a baby mama - there are days when I think 'oh if you were only out of this stage already' - but regardless I do love my bubbas! I understand about getting wrapped up in the whole routine thing... somedays i just go STUFF IT! We'll just get by until the next feed and pretend this never happened!!! Just thought that I would post and let you know that I'm thinking of ya, and hoping its good at your house today - you're doing a super job!

[Ima shel Alon]

^^^
This.
I have only now, when Alon is 9 months old, started to truly enjoy him.
It really does sound like you are in the right direction with meds and therapy, good for you. But yes, I second Creations again about the Reflux

[lady5280]

My guy is also struggling with what my LC and I think is mild reflux, so I now have the changing table and his crib slightly elevated, and I never lay him flat on his back unless he has just woken up or has digested his food long enough. I also elevate when I nurse so that his head is just above his tummy. It has helped tremendously with the spitting up. He only does it now if he's overindulged a bit.

I am in the same boat as you were with the short naps. They start out good in the morning (except for today of course), then get progressively worse as the day goes on until he is down to 20 minutes on his last nap and fussy as all h***. I've tried drastically reducing his stimulation during A time and shortening/lengthening A time but it's the same old story. He doesn't respond to ssh patting and if he does it's for about 10 seconds. It's as if he remembers, "Hey, I was crying a minute ago for some reason so I think I'm going to do that again!" The pacifier seems to help but he has been sort of self-weaning from that too lately. My only saving grace is that his nights are pretty decent, with usually only 2 wakings a night for food and he goes almost right back to sleep after a diaper change. It's like he's a different baby in the daytime though.

These past few days have been particularly tough for some reason. I'm chalking it up to a growth spurt or wonder week or whatever. Touchy babies are sooooo hard!

[heidiruthie]

okay, i'm back! i've actually had success lately in extending her 30 minute naps to 1.5 hour naps by rocking her back to sleep instead of wearing her in the baby carrier. this is much nicer for me and i think is getting her used to being in her crib for her whole nap. i can only do this when ds2 is taking his nap, though since it takes a bit of time.

anyhow, today was a complete mess and i'm so confused. dd slept until 9am!!! and i let her because we were up late at a thanksgiving function last night, so she didn't get to sleep till 8:30pm. she had 2 NW's, one at 3:00am and i nursed her, then again at 6:00am and i nursed her again because she's been going through this GIGANTIC growth spurt, its crazy. so she's up at 9 and her next nap started at 11, we were out on a playdate and i put her in the moby and she went straight to sleep on her own exactly after 2 hours A time. she woke up at 12:00 on the dot and we came home and i started to notice some tired cues at 1:30 already. i was sort of surprised, but thought i'd better go by her cues, so i started the bedtime routine and she was NOT having any of it!! like full out arching her back type of stuff. so i ended up rocking her to sleep and she was finally asleep by 2:00 and then up 30 minutes later at 2:30. ds2 had just woken from his nap, but i thought i'd try to quickly rock her back to sleep, but she was WIDE eyed and SMILING and GIGGLING at me!! it was nuts! she just was acting as if she'd had a 2 hour nap! so i took her out of her crib and watched her like a hawk for tired cues....and there were none. an hour went by, then 2 hours and still no tired cues AT ALL. she was just chilling with her fingers in her mouth, smiling whenever someone would look her way. by 4:45 (2 hrs 15 min A time) i thought well, she has GOT to be tired, so i did a quick bedtime routine and she was out like a light, so easy and peaceful...... and then awake at 5:15, 30 min. later. for the rest of the evening she was pretty chill and didn't seem OT at all. i ended up putting her to bed 1 hour 45 min later at 7pm, just because that's her normal bedtime and she went to sleep fairly easily.

so, my question is: 2 hours of daytime sleep......is this okay??!! i mean, i know that some babies are just low-sleep needs, but i feel like that is not even close to being enough at her age! (i think 5 hours a day is normal for her age). this really bothers me, but it doesn't seem to bother her. well, i don't know that for sure yet, she could have a bazillion NW's tonight and a great big EW tomorrow, i've no idea, but what if she doesn't? should i just take a cue from her and chill out and not fret so much? it just seems like SO little to me. and i know how important daytime sleep is, so this is hard for me to let go of.

[*Ali*]

Just see how he goes tonight and continent to watch sleepy cues tomorrow. bear in mind some los will make up for a bad day of sleep by sleeping well that night. It doesn't necessarily mean that's the right amount of day sleep for them on a regular basis.

[clazzat]

I have been struggling with the fact that x has so little sleep during the day, but I have come to the conclusion that there is only so much I can do - I offer him sleep but if he doesn't take it I can't force him. As he is generally pretty happy, I try not to stress about it too much.

It would seem to me from your day yesterday that she was ut for her naps - after a one hour nap, I don't think I would have expected x to sleep after 1h30. Also, if I tried to get x down at the wrong time then I would not be able to put it right - we would be stuffed for the day!

I hope she gave you a decent night despite the short naps.

[heidiruthie]

clazzat: so true about there being only so much we can do. i think that the 2 areas us moms stress about the most (how much they eat and how much they sleep) are due to the fact that we don't have as much control over those 2 areas as we'd like!! we can't force a baby to eat and we can't force a baby to sleep. darnit, i sometimes wish i could

after a few wakeups 45 min-1 hour after her BT, she slept great, waking at 12.30 for a feed and then 5.30. i was able to get her back down with a bit of work till 8:15. today she had 2 long naps!!! both after 2 hrs 15 min A time....her first nap was 1.5 hours and her second nap was 1.75 hours and i never even had to go in and resettle her! it was perfect cuz dh had the day off due to thanksgiving and it was just such a relaxing, lovely day, just what i needed.

so i've come to the conclusion that i need to thank my lucky stars that she can survive on 30 minute naps, though its not something to aim for. not only can she survive, but she seems quite happy, which is a huge blessing. thanks to you all for your advice.

[lady5280]

We are majorly off schedule since yesterday's craziness. We brought LO's bassinet and white noise machine and he took 6 naps in various family's houses/the car- but none of them were adequately long (20-45 minutes). So obviously he was incredibly OT and OS with all the family. He was chipper all day though, thank goodness. We got him to bed by 8:30 and he slept for 5 hours, then 2.75, then 1 hour.

I am starting to suspect LO is chronically tired again, as his daily totals aren't enough, and his nightly totals are really broken up. Do you guys think it's a growth spurt? I've been having a really hard time too- this sleep deprivation is starting to really get to me, and I haven't been myself. A little anxious, very stressed, and really clingy with DH. I guess I feel like I can't take care of myself very well, so I feel the need for DH to  take care of me a little. I really hope this is just sleep deprivation and not the beginnings of PPD. I don't think I'm prone to it but I can't seem to get out of my head.

DH thinks I should get off the internet bc he says it's making me stress more by obsessing over LO's every move.