Naughty Napper with Bags under her eyes

[Enyas Mama]

Just found this site and am currently reading BW. Love it! I am not all the way through so my questions might get answered but i feel like I am within a window that I can still fix her nap issues. I know she is only naughty because I made her that way. She's a very happy baby for the most part, but she's getting these huge bags under her eyes and when I do put her in a sling or turn the music on and rock her she's out like a light so I know she is tired. She was basically rocked to sleep for the first 13 weeks of her life. She's 5 months now and here's somewhat of a schedule. I've seen on threads you helping others with their schedule so hopefully you can help me too

E 0700 - BF/0730 - solids

A 0745 - 0845/0900

S 0900 - 0930
I go in and try the HHTJ, mostly doesn't work. She naps on our bed (see how naughty I am) so if it doesn't i can nurse her or pick her up and rock her back for an addition 30 min sometime. If not, then we are up

A 0930 - 1100

E 1100

A 1115 - depends on when she slept in  the morning

S , usually two hours from last waking. naps for 30min. I can sometime get 1 hr or 1 hr 15

A

E - 3pm

A

S - 430 - 5pm naps in sling for 45 - 1 hr

E - 7pm bf and solids

S - 730 - 745

She will stir at 0130ish and sometimes puts herself back to sleep but sometimes wants up, but when she wakes up at 330ish she is wide awake so I feed her and she usually stays in bed with us for the rest of the night.

I know I have some real work (as far as getting her to her crib)to do and will start when I finish the book and have a plan. Just wanted some advice. Thanks

-- Oh i forgot to mention that her feeding times I haven't messed with since she was sleeping ok at night. They are 7, 11, 3, 7.

[LizzieN]

Ok firstly welcome to this site   There are a few things you are going to have to tackle and I know you are going to get great advice and support 'cause the mums on this site are AMAZING!!!!

Ok I think there are a few things you need to deal with:

1. 30 minute sleeps are a sign that your LO is over tired.  When babies are over tired they actually rouse completely when they come into their lighter sleep cycle rather than partially rousing then going back to sleep.  I would go in and watch your baby sleep for a day, observe what is happening at the 30 minutes...if she is jolting herself awake, applying gentle pressure to her legs and arms can help.

2. The first sleep in the morning is a bit of an extension of the night sleep, so often LOs will need to go down to bed earlier for this nap.  Try reducing your A time by say 15 minutes and see if she goes down easier and sleeps a little longer.  You will have to do this for a few days I would think to see if it helps.

3. The rocking and nursing are props for your LO.  I would imagine that a lot of the wakings are probably because your LO thinks this is how to get back to sleep.  There are plenty of ways to remove these props, but they are difficult, they do involve quite a lot of crying and you will have to spend a bit of time to get back on track.  Basically you will need to teach your LO a new way of going to sleep and it is hard work, but OH SO WORTH IT.  Don't be worried either, I put our bub to sleep in my arms for 11 MONTHS and PU/PD worked beautifully for us.  To get advice for this, I would post over on the PU/PD board, Anna is wonderful over there and she will be able to explain exactly how it works and what to do...I would write it here, but it will end up as a HUGE reply and I don't want to do that to you!!!  PU/PD is the answer for removing props and for training independent sleep after 4months old, so that's the way I would go.

3. You need to be very consistent with how you put your LO to bed.  If you are ready for your LO to sleep in her crib it has to be the only place she sleeps while you do your sleep training...so you are going to need some time at home to get it all working (you will probably get there really quickly so don't let that put you off)...If you occasionally give in and put your LO to sleep with you or nurse to sleep during the day this will set you back a lot, it reinforces the habit.  I guess what I am trying to say is you need to be certain in your own mind that you are ready...

Also you and bub are not naughty, you have done what you felt you needed to do to get yourselves through those first difficult and sleep deprived months.  Don't feel guilty or worried for what you have done in the past, now you are on track to learning and teaching a better more sustainable way of sleeping, that's great....

BW is a really gentle approach and a really wonderful way of connecting with your bub, I am amazed at how well it works and the amount of help and support you get here, I love this site it's been my saviour!!  I hope that this helps a little and I will try and help any way I can, even though I am still learning too

Big Hugs
lizzie