Moderators, Stacy, Anyone Help! Which BW Approach to Use?

[Emmetts Mom]

My spirited/touchy almost 4 month old lo started with 30m naps around three months.  He has been on 3hr easy since month 2 following closely the BW recommended schedule.  Never a great napper but good nighttime sleeper he had seemingly been doing better with naps on his own.  Not exactly the 1.5hr reccommended but ok.  This all changed around the 3m mark.  Short nap followed by crying till next feed along with lots of crying in evenings.  Nighttime wake ups and early morning rising also new.  First attributed it to growth spurt, increasing food volume helped with hunger but not naps or disposition.  Next began BW nap extension techniques, SP and pressure.  For the last week and a half (except two days) I've been staying in room with lo.  At 30 - 40m mark wakes use SP or pressure techniques usually for next 30-40m and sometimes achieve deep sleep for the remaining 20m.  Other days SP without success (crying) till next feed.  Fatigue is setting in!  To further confuse things have realized LO is also teething.  Getting desperate began rereading BW, lurking boards adding room darkening, sound machine any suggestions I can find.  Beginning today I decided to try to trans to 4 hour EASY after BW and posts suggested failure to do so can cause these sleep issues.  Realized this will be difficult as LO gets so tired and cranky near end of A time on his 3 hour easy schedule.  Please help getting more and more confused!  Can't seem to figure out how to help him overcome chronic overtiredness.
Should I move forward with the 3.5 hour EASY or just focus on nap extension alone?
How long do you do SP or other techniques before moving on to something else?  Don't want to resort to props but getting desperate for my happy baby again. 
Is it really appropriate to continue on with sleep extension technique until end of nap period if lo responds with crying and no sleep?
Considering switching to WTS.  Any thoughts?
Should I hold off on it all and deal with crying until teething ends as suggested in some posts.  This is not my preference as they seem slow going!

Any suggestions are appreciated.  Thanks to all.

[Zoey]

Hiya, I am not a Nap Mod, or Stacy but I am anyone - so I'll try to help you!

Does Emmett have reflux?  I ask this because my son was diagnosed around 4 months.  Before that he was ok, just farted alot.  Here is a post about s/s of reflux:  https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=654.0  Reflux gets alot worse when teething happens - perhaps this is why you are seeing it now? 

I think it would help us help you if you could post your exact routine - the one you follow, not the one you would like.  Also, are you doing a wind down?  Are there any props: paci, rocking, bouncing, feeding to sleep, swing - anything?  Can you tell us exactly how you are doing p/s please?

At 4 months old, the 4 hour easy is ideal.  Yes you can have sleep problems with naps and night wakings, and early wakings on the wrong easy as the A times are most often too short.  I think perhaps moving to a 3.5 easy, and then to the 4 may be helpful, doing it slowly.

When napping is an issue, its best to not go by a usual A time.  If baby only sleep for 20 mins out of a 1.5h nap - he isn't going to be able to handle a full A time next - your best bet is to feed, read a book, cuddle, change his diaper - then start winding down again - and try again to get him to sleep.  Repeat this for each short nap/A time until you get to the catnap - then steal that nap anyway you can - Catnaps are freebies and you are 'allowed' to make them happen anyway that you can - car, swing, stroller, whatever.

If you want to still try wake to sleep - if the pressure method isn't working try the stirring - go in 10 mins before he usually wakes for a nap (this means he would have to be napping for the same length for a few days) stir him gently - until he moves slightly, and then I - duck to the floor for a few mins THEN leave.  I found often times when I stirred and left - my leaving actually woke him up - maybe I am an OX - but waiting for a few after I stirred him helped it work better for me.

I hope this helps some.  Perhaps a call to the doctor to rule out reflux or something else (ears?) my be in order?  Are you medicating for the teeth pain?  We love Hylands Teething Tabs is my house (ask your babys pedi before trying any new meds) and Tylenol.  Motrin works best I feel - but Emmett is too young for that yet so stick with Tylenol.
Love and Hugs!
Zoey

[Zoey]

if you are reading this - I edited it to add a few things, so you may wanna read it again.  Its late, and I am forgetful.

[Emmetts Mom]

Our 3 hr EASY
E – 7:00 – 20 – 25m
A – 7:30 – 8:20
S – 8:30  - 10:00  (most naps only solid 30 – 40m sleep with remainder SP etc)

E – 10:00 (so on and so forth)

Dream Feed – 11:00
We continue on pretty much the same way give or take 15 – 20m throughout the day.  Usually at the hour mark following feed LO gives tired cues.  I try to extend knowing overtired is bad, but otherwise we would be on 2.5 EASY.  We head up usually at first signs of mild crankiness and wind down with full swaddle, rocking or quick story.  LO is asleep within 10m.

Naps:  He goes down very easy and sleeps soundly for the first 25 - 30 min.  At that point jolts begin and I apply pressure or let them go as they don't wake him too often.  He then stirs again at the 30/35m mark, sometimes falling back to sleep with pressure.  He wakes again around 40/45 and this time more fully.  I usually try SP on chest  or rub his head and apply some chest pressure,  if he does not mellow him I might PUPD.  I will watch and he often wakes up and we repeat once or twice more before deep sleep or continue through crying till near end of nap period.

Reflux: LO does have reflux since birth and is on two meds to control.  Wouldn’t nighttime sleeping be effected the same way and it is not always and not to the same extent?  He does sometimes grimace and look uncomfortable in his sleep during naps and when waking at night I do notice he sometimes passes gas.  I have put him on a wedge just in case.  Will talk to doc this week to check on dosage and other teething meds aside from the Tylenol we are already using.  Maybe reflux meds should be increased with growth.

WTS/Props: I tried WTS today with no success.  He was waking between 30-40m, so I WTS at the 20m mark.  Bought me only an additional 10m at each nap!  Tried waking him more aggressively second time with no change.  If LO normally wakes at 30m and again around 45m mark is there anything you can do?  I’m so burnt out that for the first time today,  I gave up after he woke and took him out of the room and for a car ride during first nap period.  I have not resorted to props until now.  He does use paci sometimes but is not a huge fan.  All naps have strictly been attempted in bedroom for full nap period until today.  30m nap occurs in cars now too, but it did keep him from crying hysterically.

EASY TRANSITION: The car ride also bought us time until 10:45, so EASY was extended almost until the 4 hour mark.  We moved forward at a 3hr 45m schedule for the remainder of the day.  With evening bottle at 6:15 due to crankiness instead of later.  Aside from chronic crying from being overtired it appeared he could handle the 4 hours without exhibiting hungry cues.  As I mentioned in my last post I have been experimenting a bit with transitioning to 3.5/4 hr EASY for the last two days but was hesitant because he can’t handle the A time.  The more I think about it, without naps how will he ever handle the A time, so maybe we should just move to a liberal 4 hr EASY quickly.  Moving between 3.5 and 4 with naps sprinkled in avoiding feed to sleep.  The current bottle at 3hrs is a relief for me, but without naps the reprieve from his crying is short lived anyway and with increased night waking  I am not sure how long I can continue nap extensions.  Any suggestions?  If I move to 4 hours, should I continue nap extensions now for the whole 2 hour window?  He is now bottle feed.  Do I spread the missing ounces over the remaining 5 bottles for 4 hour EASY?   

Thank you.  Sorry this is so long!           

[Emmetts Mom]

Today we did a modified EASY.  Anywhere from 3.5 to 3.45.  We ended up with more like EASY A EASY.  Filling time from nap to feed with some light activity as naps are not there yet.  I did let him sleep after A time when he got tired instead of stretching the whole 1.5 - 2 hours.  We managed an hour nap in the AM with my constant intervention.  Chest pressure and head rub with one PUPD.  While he did not fall to deep sleep on his own we did manage to spend an hour where he was mostly relaxed sleeping off and on with my help.  Big improvement from crying through nap period from previous days.  Second nap came much earlier than the 4 hour schedule would have it.  But we managed again to have a more relaxed nap period spending more than 2 hours in his room.  First half hour of sleep, intervention for next 40 minutes while he slept off and on but mostly in a relaxed state.  Followed by 40 or so minutes of deep sleep.  Unfortunately W2S did not really work for either one, but he did not completely wake so maybe it is helping some.  I will try to avoid overtiredness but it is a little challenging with extending feed times.  Today we will have eliminated one feed, reducing from 6 - 5 so hopefully this may help with naps too.  Overall disposition was better today and seemed to handle delays in E time well.  Hopefully "happy" extended A time will come around shortly.