6.5 mo old boycotting naps....now on 2nd attempt at EASY

[scotpiper]

My 6.5 month old DD is currently on her 2nd trip through sleep training with a 4 hr EASY. The first time worked well for the first 3 days and then......CRASH.....no naps and waking every hour at night again. We're not sure why. DH and I have noticed a direct relationship between her napping and night time sleep: bad naps=guaranteed frequent waking at night. So, we are concentrating on fixing her napping as the night time sleep falls in line when the days are good. We are having a problem with consistency. One day the naps are great (2, 2 hr naps and 1 cat nap) and the next, they are terrible (20 minute naps or no naps). DD was sleep deprived for about 3 months prior to EASY due to reflux that now seems under control (or as controlled as it can be until she grows out of it). I just had to go get her from another 20something minute nap. She slept 11 hours straight 2 nights ago, followed by a 2 hour nap yesterday morning(I finally woke her up for lunch or she would have slept longer) and then a 20 minute nap and refused to attempt any more naps the rest of the day. She was clearly tired at that 20 minute nap and was overtired and miserable the rest of the day, followed by waking up repeatedly last night. She has a habit of wanting her naps a bit early sometimes so we don't always catch her first sleep cue and get her right to bed, but we're close. We know better than to miss her one and only sleep cue before she melts down, but when she wants to sleep early, sometimes we get caught. We think she's having problems with her deep/light sleep transitions every 20 minutes during some of her naps, but not all of them. We had been camping out in her room during naps for the past week and a half and laying our hands on her when she started to wake, but the last few days, she didn't seem to need it anymore. We also had to resort to putting a rolled up towel in front of her(she sleeps on her side) so she couldn't roll onto her belly as easy in her sleep as that seems to wake her. It helped a lot. She's still able to roll to her back and belly freely when she's wide awake, but it slows her down when she's only half awake and gives her time to fall back to sleep...usually. What do we do when she wakes from a nap after only 20-40 minutes, is clearly tired, but either won't go back to sleep or wants to play? We've been getting her up and reading to her or something low key as repeatedly trying to force her back to sleep only makes her start yelling. She does use a binky when she sleeps. She either spits it out within a minute of laying down and closing her eyes or wraps her arm around the binky and her face and holds it in throughout the nap/night. The binky doesn't seem to be the issue as she has slept 12 hours/taken great naps with it in or out(sometimes we pull it out when she's asleep and it's hanging out of her mouth). She has also taken bad naps and woken every hour at night with it in or out. The binky is also the only thing that calms her when she really gets crying. We're on a 4 hour EASY, but her awake times are sometimes shorter than 2 hours, especially in the morning. She wakes by 6:30, eats and wants to go back to bed by 8:00. That is usually her best nap of the day. Will she always be so sensitive to needing to be asleep immediately after her first sleep cue? Even on EASY, we can't really plan to leave the house because sometimes she shortens her awake times considerably. She is extremely crabby/angry when she doesn't get all of those naps. She also still fights going to sleep at night, but at least it's only for 30 minutes and not 4 hours now. We're confused. Any suggestions?

[Zoey]

Hi there your LO is adorable.   I am sorry things are rough at the moment - a few questions for you.

Do you think the reflux is making her uncomfortable and unable to get to sleep or stay asleep?  Is she on medication for the reflux?  Was she full term?

Do you think any of her wakings are related to the paci?  Is her room very dark?  Are you using white noise?

Can you please post her Easy, exactly as it is?  Please indicate when you begin her wind down, and how many night wakings she has on a typical night. 

Are you using a version of pat/shh to help her settle? 

Zoey

[scotpiper]

 Thanks...she is a cutie. The reflux could still be making her a bit uncomfortable, but it's 100% better than it was. She is on her 3rd, and last, reflux med as it is the last one made for infants. We now just wait until she grows out of it. The frustrating thing is that sometimes she sleeps well and sometimes she doesn't (reflux bothering her or not) and we can never figure out why. There is no pattern. She was born 2.5 weeks early, but weighed 6 lbs 15 oz and wasn't considered a preemie. DH and I have hashed out the paci issue multiple times and don't think it's the problem. Sometimes she sleeps 12 hour stretches and naps great with it in and sometimes she doesn't...again no clear pattern. We have poster board covering her windows and run a humidifier (with no water in it)while she sleeps for white noise.

EASY(the one we TRY to have):                   EASY(the real one):

E 6:30 wake up and breast feed                    E 6:30 wake up and breast feed (sometimes earlier)
A 7:00-8:15                                                A 7:00-7:30 or 8:00
E 8:15 reflux med with solids                         E 8:15 reflux med with solids
S 8:30-10:30                                              S 8:30-8:50 or 9:10

E 10:30 solids, then breast feed                    E 10:30 solids, then breast feed
A 11:00-12:30                                            A 11:00-12:30 or 12:00
S 12:30-2:30                                              S 12:30-1:00 or 1:10

E 2:30 solids, then breast feed                      E 2:30 solids, then breast feed
A 3:00-4:30                                                A 3:00-4:00
S 4:30-5:00                                                S 4:00-4:20, 4:30 or 4:45

E 6:30 solids, then breast feed                      E 6:30 solids, then breast feed(sometimes 6:00, TIRED)
A 7:00-7:15                                                A 7:00-7:15(sometimes 6:30, TIRED)
S 7:15 bedtime                                           S 7:15 bedtime(sometimes 6:45, TIRED)

Wind down for naps consists of turning on her monitor, rearranging crib, closing shades, turning on humidifier, changing diaper and sitting in rocker for 2 minutes to relax and starts about 10 minutes before nap. We have tried more involved wind downs, but they only wind her up and annoy her. She's a VERY easily annoyed touchy/spirited baby. Bedtime includes a sponge bath (hates getting bathed, so we only sponge before bed and tub bath earlier in the day), and change into pj's.
On bad nights, she wakes up 3-4 times or every hour.
Our version of pat/shhh is just laying our hands on her shoulder and shhing only when necessary. That annoys her too.

[Zoey]

Have you tried not shhing?  You can experiment with this to find what works.  Humming, shhing, gentle words, no sound.  Patting back/butt, rubbing back/butt/head/tummy, just a hand on her, or nothing.  Shhing annoyed ALOT.  I would sing or speak softly to him.

If her reflux is bothering her - nothing is going to help her sleep better until the pain/discomfort is dealt with.  I found these two websites very helpful to us: (my son has terrible reflux and we have been battling with meds)  http://www.marci-kids.com/, http://www.infantreflux.org/.  If she is havign discomfort, she doesn't have to just out grow it. 

Do you think she could be hungry?  It is suggested that we BF then offer solids so baby doesn't fill up on Solids and not take as much BM.  BM should be the main form of nurishment until she is 12m.  Here are some links with info regarding this:  http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/firstfoods.html - LLL
http://www.who.int/child-adolescent-health/publications/NUTRITION/WHO_FCH_CAH_00.6.htm - WHO

Also when you sit in the rocker, are you rocking?

Love,
Zoey

[scotpiper]

Yes, we've tried not shushing. I said in my post that we mostly just touch her as shushing tends to annoy her. We don't rock in the rocker, just sit. According to our 2nd gastro specialist, we are on the last reflux med available for infants and she will eventually outgrow the reflux. Until then, she says there is nothing she can do for her. We have been running in circles for the past 6.5 months with doctors and meds, so we have desperately been trying to fix the reflux problem. I just looked back at our logs. We have now been trying EASY for over a month and a half. DD has only napped well and slept more than a 4 hour stretch on 4 of those days. I'm starting to think EASY only works when you start as a newborn and the baby has no health problems.

[Zoey]

Hi.

Well, we started EASY at 4 months and Owen has severe reflux, we have been on it ever since.  I am sorry you're frustrated.   If your EASY inn't right she won't nap.  I would think at almost 7m she needs more then 2h of A time.  I would extend by 15m to all - you can do this slowly adding 5 mins to each A time every few days til you reach 15m.  A times at this age are different for different babies, but the routine below may be a good place to start.  For more help with Easy, perhaps try the Easy board if you don't find this helpful.

If your GI told you to do solids prior to feeding her, I am not telling you to go againt that. I am offering that it is reccomended to give BM then solids and that it is a possiblity that she isn't getting enough BM leaving her hungry.  Hungry babies don't sleep, and sleepy babies have a hard time staying on an Easy.  If the paci is a prop it too could be causing napping issues. 

I propose this as an end result for now:

630 wake BF
815 Med with solids
835 Begin wind down
845 Sleep 1.5h

1030 BF
11-1130 Solids
1235 wind down
1245 Sleep 1.5h

230 BF
3-330 Solids
435 wind down
445 Catnap for 30mins

6pm BF
630 bath, wind down etc
645-7pm bedtime.

I am sorry you're having a hard time with her reflux, I can say I too have been there.  We found a fabulous GI at a childrens hospital that put him on Prilosec, after trying Zantac and Prevacid.  After his reflux being so bad he refused to eat and he cried ALL day - he is now himself on this medication.  So, I am not sure what she is on, but if you still aren't happy - you can always find a third and fourth opinion.  If it isn't bothering her, so be it.  I just wanted to share my experience.

I hope this helps.  Big hugs to you and baby.
Zoey