EASY from birth now 4 weeks and going wrong!

[Adaias mom]

Last night was awful! I ended up giving her 2oz of formula to top her up as she woke at 7, and didn't settle again til 9.45! I probably wouldn't have given her formula if my hubby had been more supportive instead of getting frustrated after half and hour and telling me to just give her a bottle!

She then woke at 2.15, 5.30 and is stirring now. All this feeding is really starting to tire me out now! I try and sleep when she does but if i sleep everytime, i will never shower or eat myself!

Oh well, hopefully it will end soon. Will i know when it has ended? Will she naturally stop the feed frenzies and go longer between feeds or will i have to force it?

[Adaias mom]

Hi Paula,

Well the GS is still underway, and after spending all night last night feeding i was about ready to give up BF. Today has still been feeding every 2-2.30 hours, but seem to have had it slightly more under control. My only problem is that she gets so OT as her naps are so short from getting p to feed. I have tried limiting the A time as much as possible, so she basically feeds and gets nappy changed and goes back down and this works fine for the first couple of naps but by afternoon, she gets so OT soon, which lead to even shorter naps and it all goes pear shaped by the evening! Just done her bed/bath routine and she was sooo OT by the end, and i took her for a walk to get her some sleep before hand, she seemed to just be rooting for comfort. I mistook the signs last night and fed all night! 

Anyway i tried to rock her to sleep, but she is so used to settling herself now, that she wasn't having any of it, so i had to just let her cry and settle herself. It actually only took 3 mins of screaming, but god it felt like forever! I went up after 2, and shh'd her and it calmed her a little bit, and i saw she had her eyes closed so was on the way, so as soon as she was calmer i left the room. Luckily i learnt from my mistakes tonight and went to give her a bottle early to check if she was hungry, and she wasn't taking any of it so i knew she wasn't hungry. She actually hasn't been feeding as well today on 2 hourly so i think i should try and push feeds further apart. How do i do this without making her A too long and her getting OT?

Sorry for the essay, its been a very hard few days and testing also, hopefully its nearlly over! 

[* Paula *]

Huge hugs hun, these GS's can be very tiring.

Are you sure that she is actually hungry now, and not just OT?

Can you post what today has looked like with

E
A - how long (including the E time)
S - how long

I cannot remember if I have asked you does your lo take a dummy at all?

[Adaias mom]

She will only take a dummy if she is hungry.

Yesterday went as follows,
E 5.30
S 6 - 8.15

E 8.30
S 9.30- 1045

E 11
S 1145 - 1300 (In car seat so was very fretful)

E 1330
S 1350 - 1400
   1430 - 1500 ( Had her 6w check up so was at docs)

E 1510
S 1615 - 1700 (in pushchair on walk as wouldn't settle)

E 1715
Bath 1745
E 1800 (wouldn't really take it)
S 1810 - 1845 (I don't think she really slept here as was OT and just kept crying out)
1845 she was just screaming. Tried Shhh/Pat, walking, rocking, dummy, nothing worked, so hubby took her for a walk to calm her. She didn't sleep though

E 2000

Had a bit of quiet time on my bed until 2130 when she finally dropped off. I know she is OT, but i don't know how to help her sleep. Evenings have been horrible these past few days.

She then woke at 1.30, 4.45 and 7. She went back to sleep at 7.45 and is still asleep now.

[* Paula *]

Hugs, it is always so hard, when appointments etc throw the whole routine out the window.

How did yesterday go?  Is she still feeding so much or does that seem to have calmed down a bit?

[Adaias mom]

Hi Paula,

Yesterday was alot better in that she fed every 2 1/2 to 3 hours, so i think the GS is over. Only problem was that she hardly slept all day! I bloody OS her after her 2nd feed and so she didn't nap well and it just threw the whole day out! To the point she didn't get back in her cot for more than 15 mins until 9.30pm when she went to bed!

I learnt my lesson though and today she has had 1hr 20 mins this morning and then i put her back down at 10.20 and she is still asleep so has had a good nap now! I will try and keep A time to the min and get her to bed in good time today and hopefully i'll have a better evening!

Just got to get back on track properly now and hopefully i'll get back to my nice routine (I hope anyway)

Thanks for your support, the last 5 days were horrible, but i can see light at the end of the tunnel now, so am glad i didn't give up BF.

Hugs Helen xx

[* Paula *]

Hugs Helen,

So sorry you had such a rough day yesterday.

My DD did not nap in nursery yesterday, and was up at like 5:30 this morning - It is only just gone 12:30 - she is asleep, DS is watching a moving and I think I am going to catch a nap.  I am shattered.

Sounds like your lo is coming to the end of the growth spurt.  Hugs hun, they can be so hard.  Hope that this nap goes well for you and it off sets the rest of the day.

Will check in with you later to see how the rest of your day has gone.

 

[Adaias mom]

Hi Paula,

Just thought i would give a quick update. My LO went 3hrs 20 between the last 2 feeds, and slept for a total of 2hrs 20 mins. Just given her an hour and 10 mins A time and she is just settling herself now. Hopefully she will go down!

Today has been loads better, and i am hoping that if i can get this next nap cracked, then the one after that is just a catnap whilst walking the dogs (in the rain ) then i may be able to get her down at 6-7 and she will stay down! Fingers and toes crossed anyway.

She is also feeding for about 20 - 25 mins well, and also seems to be taking slower gulps so to regulate my flow better for her, to make it more managable. Things are looking up anyway!

My DH thinks i have been lying all week, as the GS only lasted Mon to Fri so he hasn't witnessed the horribleness that has been the 2 hour feeding! Oh well, i know it wasn't easy!

Thanks alot and will keep you posted!

Hugs Helen xxx

[* Paula *]

Great news that the naps and feeds have gone better today 

Fingers crossed that the nap was a decent nap, and that the rain stopped for you to go out for a walk for the cat nap.

I had a lovely 2 hour nap and my DD napped for almost 3 hours today, so we both felt a lot better after that.

Hope you have a good night hun 

[Adaias mom]

Hi Paula,

Well the nap i was hoping to go well, was spoilt by my DH doing a rubbish swaddle so she eascaped so only slept for 50 mins! I tried and tried to get her to go back down but just wouldn't, so i took her for a 20 min drive to get her back to sleep, which worked, but then she was messed up for the rest of the evening! She ended up being massively OT after her bath and just would not settle, so yet again she was up from about 7 til half 9 when she zonked and was asleep.

One good thing though was that she woke at 1.20 but i ignored her to see if she would go without this feed and she fell back asleep until 3.30!!! So she did 6 hours then was back in bed half hour later after a good feed and got up at 7.10 for her next one! So really chuffed with that.

I am just really struggling getting the evening sorted, and she is so tired, but just can't seem to settle. I have only managed to get her to sleep between 7 and 9.30 twice since she was born! Maybe you could look at what i have been doing and let me know if i need to tweak things to get her to settle. Yesterday looked as follows:

E 0700
S 0730

A 0900 - 0930 (nap fell short)

E 0930
S 1000 - 1240

E 1250
S 1350 - 1440 (woke because she escaped form the swaddle!)
S 1510 - 1540 (in the car)

E 1550
(had to go sort my car out, new tyres £610.00!!!!)

E 1620
S 1645 - 1715 (I think but was in the pram as we walked the dogs)

Bath 1730

E 1745

Attempted to put her down at 6 to no avail. Put her down about 6 or 7 times, using Pat/shhh and she fell asleep, but woke about 5 mins later (if that) crying and would not resettle. She was obviously knackered, burying head etc but just won't settle.

E 2015
E 2120

S 2145

E 0330

E 0710

Sorry its long, and i know she is getting very OT prior to bed time but i just seem to have a nightmare in the afternoons and then the evening is worse! Any advice will be great.

Hugs Helen xx

[* Paula *]

OUCH!!! £610.00 is a lot of money.  Hugs hun.

Great news on the 6 hour stretch, sounds like she is doing well with her feeds.

Are you aiming for 1 hour 10 mins A time?  Just checking? 

I think that when you have a shorter nap, you need to cut down the A time, so go for about 50 mins to max 1 hour and try and get her down again.

If you still keep the same A time, she is going to end up OT.

How has today gone so far?

[Adaias mom]

Hi Paula,

Yesterday actually ended quite alot better than i had ever hoped for. I got a really good 21/2hr nap out of her from 7.30 til 10 am,  but then the next nap was rubbish, (only 30 mins, ) so i got DH to take her for a drive so she had some more sleep, and she got another 20 mins. She then only had about a 30 min catnap until i put her down at 4.20pm (had put her down alot before this, but just wouldn't settle) when she slept for 1hr 30 mins! She then got up happy as ever, had her bath, really good feed and went down again until she woke for a cluster feed at 8.20pm, and i did a DF at 11pm. She then slept until 5 to 4, and then woke up ay 10 past 7. So what i thought was going to be a  nightmare ended well.

I think maybe she doesn't need as much sleep as i am forcing upon her, so today i am going to try and follow sleep cues more than time and see how i get on. As i think the 30 min nap was UT, then she was tired from such a poor nap.

Do you think me following cues is better than clock watching? I could always give it a try anyway and see how i get on. She ended up getting the recommended 4hr 30 of sleep yesterday during the day, just at different times. What do you think?

Helen xx

[Adaias mom]

Hi Paula,

Well today i have completely ignored the clock and just watched Adaia and its gone really well. She had 2 hrs this morning, then 1hr 20 mins, then about 40 mins, and another 25 mins in the pram as i walked the dogs, and she has gone down again and is now on just under an hour!

She has struggled to reach 3 hours on two feeds but has gone over 2 1/2 so i'm not concerned. I will let her wake up, then i am going to bath her, give her a really good feed and hopefully she will go down again.

Things are so much better, and seem to be getting back to how i had it before the 6w GS. I have had to shhh/pat her twice today to get to sleep, but it didn't take more than 10 mins, and it worked, so its great! I don't think i could hope for anything better with a 7w old!

She has been so happy today, full of smiles and joy. I have really enjoyed her today and i am a happier mommy for it.

Hope all is good with you

xxx

[* Paula *]

Helen,

Great news I am so pleased that things are going so well.

Yes, the best way to do it is to go by your lo's cues.  The A times are there for just a guide line.

I am so pleased that today has gone so well.

Keep us posted.

[Adaias mom]

Hi Paula,

Well thought i would give you a quick update. The last 3 days have been great! She has gone down really well for her naps, (some with a bit of shhh/pat but no more than 10 mins) and i have managed to get her in bed for 6 every night with her waking for feeds at 8 and 10. The feeds in the evening have also just been a quick feed (15mins) and then wind and back down. I change her bum at the 10 feed so i know she is clean for bed. She has then been waking between 3 & 4 and then back to bed until between 6.30 and 7.

I thought today would be a mare, as she didn't do the full 2 hours for her first nap, then we went out over her second, so she was very tired by the 1pm feed, so i just fed her and put her down. he woke after about 25 mins, but for the first time i managed to extend the nap with shhh/pat. I was ready for the long haul as i knew she needed the sleep, but it actually only took about 5 mins and she fell back to sleep. She is still aleep an hour later!

So she has been great and BFing is going really well too, so we are happy! Just got to stop sitting on here and get some housework done!

Thanks again for your help and support, No doubt i'll be back on in a couple of days when she decides to change and it all goes wrong ha ha!!!

Hugs Helen xx