Back again.....things are not getting any better!

[yellow rose]

Well, he went to bed at 6:40 and he was definitely sleepy, but not too cranky.  Hopefully, he will get a good night's sleep and the better day of napping that he had will help.  I'll let you know how he does.  I think I will try W2S also since he has been waking early for 3 days.  I don't want that to become too much of a habit.

Praying for a good day tomorrow....

[~Alexa~]

Fingers and toes crossed!!!

[yellow rose]

Hey, Alexa!  Just wanted to give you the daily report.  It was a really good day!     My lo woke at 5:15 and I thought, "oh no, here we go," but after talking to himself for a few minutes and just fussing off and on, he went back to sleep until 6:30.  Phew!  The other days, he has woken crying, so today was much better.  He took a 1 hr. 15 min. nap this morning and 1 hr. 30 min. nap this afternoon.  Woo hoo!!!!  And he was able to go to bed at his "normal" time because his PM nap wasn't over until 3:30 which made for a much nicer afternoon/evening.  Hoping for the same tomorrow!     Have a great weekend!  I'm sure we'll be chatting next week.

[~Alexa~]

Those are great great news!! Well done mama!! The chatting in the early morning may be a sign of needing more A time during the day....But, well, we'll have time for doing that later, right??  And your lo was able to go back to sleep by himself which is great!!!

I hope you have a great day tomorrow too!!! Enjoy your weekend and get some rest!!

Hugs,
Alexa

[yellow rose]

And you thought I was going to leave you alone this weekend!      No such luck!  Actually, I'm writing with a question I never thought I'd ask.  What do I do with the timing of my lo's first nap when he sleeps in??     I heard him talking around 6:00 this morning, but we both went back to sleep and the next time I looked at the clock it was 7 a.m!!!!!! 

If I don't put him down for his nap until 10:15, that will mess with his feedings and his 2nd nap will be too late, moving bedtime too late.  Hmmmm.....any suggestions?  I realize you may not get this message this morning, but just thought I'd give it a try.

[~Alexa~]

Well, it can mess things up, but it is totally worth it!! Didn't you enjoy that extra hour of sleep??  heehee

When this happens to me, I do push back the day, so bedtime can be a bit later...Or you can try waking him up from the last nap so that he goes to bed at the same time.  So instead of letting him nap for 2 hr, wake him up at 1.5 hr so that you keep bedtime at the same time!!

HTH
And I hope it is not too late yet!!
Hugs
Alexa

[yellow rose]

Well, for some strange, but wonderful reason my lo has decided that he loves to sleep the last two days!     Growth spurt, maybe?
He was fussy after 3 hrs. of A time yesterday morning and I put him down against my better judgement, but he actually slept for 1.5 hours!  Then, after another 2.5 hours of A time, he was REALLY fussy and again, I thought for sure he wouldn't sleep well, but 2 hours later, he was just waking from his nap!  He slept late again this morning and took a 1 hr. 45 min. morning nap after his usual 3 hrs. 15 mins. A time.  I am not questioning any of it...just really enjoying my weekend!   

[~Alexa~]

Those are great news!! WOOOOOOOHOOOOO So just keep following his cues.  It seems you are doing a great job!! He is getting long naps after 3 hr A time, so keep it up!! You may have found is new A time!! These babies like to keep us on our toes all the time!!

My lo slept in today, I woke up at 9 am, and he was still asleep!!  OMG!! Our day was so funny and weird!! So lucky you!! You had a great day!!

Please keep me posted on how your lo gets on!!
Hugs,
Alexa

[purlycurly]

Hope you guys don't mind me interjecting here...I've been reading this thread with great interest.  For some reason, it never occured to me increase my lo's activity time.  I've tried just about everything else, but never thought to keep him awake longer (duh!).  So after reading your thread, I thought well, let's try.  He's almost 6 months, I used to keep him up for about 2 hours before naps.  Then he'd only sleep 30 minutes.  I don't think he was ever tired enough to sleep longer - especially in the morning because he sleeps about 11-12 hours at night.  Now he's up for 3 hours - I too carry him around in his carrier and vacuum and do chores for the last hour.  Now he consistently sleeps at least an hour in the morning, and in the afternoon I can get him to sleep for 1 hour 30 minutes with just minimal help.  A lot better than 30 minutes.  Thanks for the thread!

[yellow rose]

I certainly don't mind you jumping in.  I'm glad to hear things are improving for you as well.

I have another question to ask.  For 3 days now, my lo has woken up late, as you and I have chatted about, Alexa.  With my oldest son needing to go to school 2 days a week, I need to be able to drop him off and pick him up at specific times.  With my lo's sudden late mornings, that is going to be a bit of an issue on the school days because he will be napping when my oldest needs to be picked up.  As much as I hate to disrupt this lovely sleep that he is now getting, is it okay to wake him at the same time each morning, if he is not already up, so we can keep a consistent routine?  I don't want to wake him from sleep that he needs and definitely don't want to disrupt a good thing, but I'm not sure how to make it all work.  I would either have to wake him at the time that he was getting up before (6:15) or disrupt his morning nap.  What's better?

[~Alexa~]

Hi there!! I'm glad you sorted our your lo's naps purlycurl!!

Ok, so about the wake up...I think you should wake your lo up at 6:15 am every morning if that's the wake up time you like him to have.  Supposedly that's what we have to do because by waking them up every day at the same time, their body gets used to sleeping around the same time of the day and they get into a consistent routine more easily.  I always wake my lo up at 7 am, but on weekends, I like to sleep in, so I let him sleep in too.  He sometimes does, but he sometimes wakes up at 7 am sharp.  I should be waking him up during the weekends too, but I'm just a lazy mama and like to sleep a bit more!! So, wake him up at 6:15 am.  It will be easier for him to get into a consistent routine.  Just remember to have him in bed by 6:30 pm, so that he has a 12 hr day - 12 hr night cycle.

xxx
Alexa

[yellow rose]

Hi, Alexa.  Just wanted to give you a quick update.  I'm sure as soon as I write this, it will all change   , but for the last week or so, this is how my lo's days have been:

wakes and eats 6:30
A
S 9:30 - 11:00
E 11:15
solids 12:00
A
S 2:00 - 3:30/4:00
E
A
solids 5:00
A
E 6:15
S 6:45

It's been great!!!!!!!!!!!    I am rather enjoying this new little routine and am so happy that he is getting the sleep that he needs.  His A time has gone back to 3 hours, which is strange, but it seems to be working, so that's fine with me.  I can't help but wonder if part of his problem was hunger related.  Ever since I stopped BFing completely, he has done better.  I know he wasn't getting enough, which is why I stopped, but I was supplementing and thought that was helping.  Possibly, it wasn't and with the change in A times plus formula all day, things are looking up.  Let's just hope it stays that way!     Tomorrow, we are getting some work done on our house and I know it is going to be VERY noisy, so I'm not expecting a great day, but he has surprised me before, so we'll see how he does.  Maybe hammering and drilling will lull him to sleep even more. 

Thanks again for all the great advice.  I'll be chatting with you soon.  Take care.

[~Alexa~]

Those are great news!! I'm so happy for you!! So it may have been hunger or the A times, who knows? What matters is that you sorted it out!! Well done, mama!!

For tomorrow, you can have some white noise in your lo's room while he naps.  This can work great so he doesn't wake up.  You can even download it from the internet and have it on in your ipod or in a pc.  I use a vaccum cleaner white noise for all of my lo's naps.  We live in a busy steet, so there is a lot of noise during the day, and with the white noise on, he doesn't wake up!! So you may try it!

Good luck
xxx
Alexa

[yellow rose]

He actually sleeps with a white noise machine in his room already.  We have used it from day one and I love it.  I'm not sure that it will actually drown out the hammering and such, but hopefully, he'll sleep through it anyhow.  I remember when my oldest was about his age and was going to daycare.  They were getting a new roof put on and I thought for sure that he wouldn't be getting any decent naps for a few days, but he actually slept great.  It's amazing what they can and can't sleep through.

[~Alexa~]

So good luck with the hammering!!
Let me know how things go!