Still waking early

[Skadiver13]

Ok, sorry I keep posting about this but I just can't seem to get it figured out and I'm utterly exhausted. My little one 18 weeks tomorrow (13lb 5oz)has reflux and has never STTN. It's not necessarily "under control" now but I think we've got it the best we're going to. He's on 1.3ml Zantac 3X a day and 2.5ml Zegerid 2X a day (spaced apart).  Here is is easy from yesterday.

Wake 5:30 (I was able to APOP him back to sleep on me till 7)
Wake: 7
Eat: 7
A
S:9
E:10:30
A:
S:12:30
Woke at 1:15 got him to sleep another 15min
E: 1:30
A:
S:3:30
Woke at 4:30 with gas pains. Got him back down for another 15 min
E: 4:45
A:
E: 6:30
S: 6:50
E:10:20 ate 5oz
W: 1:45 got him back down till 2:30
E: 2:30 only 2oz (this is new he used to eat more)
W:5:15 Sometimes i can APOP him back down but most times he's too hungry.

Now so he didn't sleep quite enough yesterday for naps but even when he does nap 1 2hr nap and 2 1.5 min naps he still wakes early. He could have 3hrs of naps or 4.5hrs of naps and he'll still wake up between 5-5:30 every morning. Even if he has an Early BT because of short naps. He still will need at least the one feeding at night because he doesn't take enough during the day I don't think to SSTN. But I really don't understand the EW? I am all on my own and really need the sleep. I can't sleep when he naps because I'm in Grad school and have so much school work to do.

[becj86]

Its not unusual at all for a LO this age to still have two NF's - could you not feed him and put him back down for more sleep?

[Skadiver13]

His 5am wake up would be 3 nf.. and no if I feed him he's awake and up wont go back down. 1/2 the time if i bring him to bed with me he'll eventually nod back off but otherwise there is no getting him back to sleep.

[Erin M]

Is there anything that happens at that time that might be interfering with his sleep?  Just thought I'd throw it out there though I'm sure you thought of that.

You might try stretching his A time a little bit, maybe 15 minutes for each A time and shortening that last nap.  We often got EWs here when my ds napped too close to bed time.

[Skadiver13]

It's just me and the dogs and we're all asleep when he wakes up. Garbage never picks up that early and I live in a quiet neighborhood. I had thought of that. This morning he slept till exactly 6:02 Which never happens but he had a rough night was restless all night due to reflux and refusing his meds. Today is a mess. He is refusing to eat pretty much at all. But that's a whole other issue. If I cap that last nap he'll only be sleeping sometimes 2.5-3hrs a day? That's not enough for a 4 month old I don't think? His bed time varies but it's usually 2hrs after he last woke up regardless when he woke. Today is a wierd day but he's so far had 2 1.5hr naps and he'll go down for his next one. But he'll probably get up at 4:30 so he wont go to sleep till 6:30. I could try extending his A time but he's already at 2hrs and he usually goes down really tired at nap time so I don't want to make him OT you know what I mean? But It's worth a shot. I don

[ZacsMumme]

Hugs, I know it is really really hard with an LO that is in discomfort. BTDT and it made me an absolute mess . The thing is, the reflux, the refusing to eat and the lack of sleep are all interrelated, unfortunately you can't just fix one until the others are under control. So really it is all part of the same issue, which is why it is so frustrating anda hard to fix.

You will have good days, and bad days...eventually the good start to outweigh the bad. You can definitely try to shh/pat, or a version of it when he is settled, but otherwise it's hard to sleep train effectively really.

I would definitely offer the age appropriate First A time after an ok nights sleep, maybe 2 hrs then if you get a short nap cut the next A a bit ie 10/15 mins, ... Once you get close to 1.5 hrs you just have to do short naps and A times till BT. Is all you can do if they won't settle, sleep or stay asleep

[Erin M]

I totally get what you mean about the lack of sleep.  I never could extend a nap with ds, he just wasn't easily extendable and with 2 other kids running around, I just didn't have the time.  Som extending the A time was the only way to get decent naps out of him -- but of course that's only if short naps are due to OT/UT issues  -- if they're due to discomfort then all the tweaking in the world of A times isn't going to make a difference.