2 hrs naps..are they too long?

[mscald]

My DD is 12 weeks and has been on 3 hr EASY for 4 weeks now. She is napping great during the day but still waking at night. She usually sleeps one hour , 2 hrs, 2 hrs and then 45-60 min catnap..All but the first nap, I have to wake her up and she seems like she could keep sleeping. She almost always wakes at the one hour mark but easily can be prodded back to sleep. She eats every 3 hrs and then takes 3 oz DF at 11:00. But at night she consistently wakes at 2:00/2:30 for a feed and then between 5:30/6:00 to be reswaddled/plugged, with her full wake up closer to 7am. She is now on 1.25-1.5 activity time and when i put her in her crib she crashes instantly with no help from me. Her nightitme pattern has been consistent even when she had 1 hr activity time, 2 weeks back. So, my question is this..is this nightwaking normal for a 3 month old and should I let it be? Or are the 2 hrs naps too much? What does that fact that I  almost always have to wake her up have to say about her fatigue level? She is extra fussy the last few days so my hunch is that she's overtired but i'm not sure where to adjust. I've got activity time at 1.25 today and she's doing the same so far, still  needs waked up and still fussy. Ultimately I would like to lose the 2:30 wakeup but when I try and soothe her and not feed her, she continues to wake up every 10-15 minutes until I eventually feed her an hour later and she then passes out.

this is our schedule: 7,10,1,4,6:45 feeds, bed at 7/7:15pm DF at 11:00.

Hopefully that's enough info for someone to offer some guidance on...otherwise let me know.

Thanks!

[Carter'sMama]

You mentioned that your lo is 12 weeks and that is a prime time for one of the biggest growth spurts that babies go through.  You also mentioned that she is fussier during the day ... could that be food related?  My lo (now 4 months) had 2 night wakings at roughly the same time as your lo's until just after the 3 month growth spurt.  I actually had to double side feed to get him through it and could never get back to single side feeding.  However, one the GS was done he started going to bed at 8:30 and not waking again until between 4-5:00am and we don't do a dream feed.  After the early mornign feed he goes back to sleep until 8:00am!

I am envious of your day sleep as we are being seriously invaded by the 45 min nap monster.  Good for you that your lo likes to sleep so much and goes down so well.  That's fantastic!     I woudln't think the 2hr naps are disrupting the night sleep if she is still eating every 3 hrs during the day.  If she was waking and playing because she didn't seem tired then maybe they might be related but it still sounds like a food issues if she won't settle until you feed her.  I am definitely not a sleep expert however 

Good luck and keep us posted! 

[harveysmummy]

hi, i dont know if this will help much but i remember a phrase tracy used in her book " you have to rob peter to pay paul".  Night sleeping isnt something that babies know how to do, it is something we teach.  My LO did the same as you untill he went on 3 hour easy at 8 weeks.  I found that by waking him after 1 hour or 1.5 hours helped him sleep at night (hence the above phrase!) and cat napped foe 30-45 mins max, i too dream feed at 11 and now goes till 7am.  when he would wake at 2.30 / 3am most of it was habbit. Providing they take in excess of 30oz during the day they do not really need the additional callories.  I used a dummy for the first few nites when he woke and he then, after about 4 days he stopped waking!

Does she take all her feed during her dream feed???

sending you big hugs, it will get better and i hope this helps.. xx

[mscald]

Thanks ladies. Last night was great. She only woke up once at 3:15 and then slept right through until 7:00 and so far has been in a great mood today. I do feel it is more of a food issue because she does take a full feed and only really settles back into sleep with eating (the pacifier only settles her for 10-15 minutes.) I breastfeed her and my husband gives her expressed milk in a bottle for the DF. During BF she only drinks from one side usually x 10 minutes and then I can rarely get her to continue and she seems totally content until 3 hours pass. I have been worried that she's not tkaing enough as I read that she should be drinking 5-6 oz by now. When I pump, I can only get 5 oz from my left breast, and 3 from my right so even though I know she is supposed to be more efficient than a pump, if she is only drinking from one side I can't imagine she is getting that much. I have tried pumping 30 mins after a feed and I can usually get 1-2 oz from each breast so I know she is not emptying them. Sometimes I try to get her to take the other side 45 minutes or so after the first side but then I worry about her becoming a snacker. And for the DF at night, she only takes 3 oz EVERY night, no exceptions.  At her 10 wk checkup she was 11.4 lbs in the 75% for weight so she must be getting enough, right?

carters mama, you may be envious about the naps but I am envious about the 8:00am wakeup..that sounds great! I can't complain with 7:00 though..it was 6:00 for the last few weeks and this is much better. I was actually wondering how to get it to where we could put her down at 8:00, thinking it would help her sleep through the night. Going down at 6:00 we had 2-3 wakeups, now down at 7:00 it seems 1-2. At least there is some progress right?

I was thinking GS as well yesterday because she really wasn't herself and was fussing during BF which she did at her 3 week GS as well. It usually lasts a week i thought and she is already going better after 2  days of fussiness so who knows. Maybe she grew real fast!


Here's hoping we're turning a corner for good....mama needs some sleep!

[Carter'sMama]

Growth spurts can generally last 2 days up to a week.  DS#1 had very definite growth spurts ... he started sleeping 10 hr stretches at night at 6 weeks of age so whenever he had a growth spurt he would wake in the night, 2 nights in a row and that would be it!

I am glad that last night was better.  Also if your lo feeds from one side and then is completely happy for 3 hours I would definitely assume she is getting enough!  Even if you are able to pump a few ounces 45 min after a feed she could still be emptying your breast.  Breasts work on demand and are constantly producing milk. 

As your lo gets older you may be able to stretch her bedtime back a bit to 8:00.  I have always had to work in the other direction.  DS#1 started off going to bed at 11:00pm!!  We finally got it to about 8:30 when he was 8months old or so.  Mason has always just gone to bed around 8:00 but I think it is because he has a later catnap most days.

Here's hoping you get some decent sleep tonight!  Sending sleep {{VIBES}} your way