Baby won't sleep @ night

[cyn0118]

Not sure if this belongs here or in the sleep section.  We're following the BW schedule with an exception - not sure if that's affecting things.
Baby is 5 mo old.

7 am - Eat
8:15 in bed
10:30 we give her her reflux meds which usually wakes her upish
11 Eat
1 Sleep
3 Eat
5 Sleep
6 Eat solids
Activity
7:30 Bottle
7:45 Sleep
8:45 AWAKE

This is where things go bad.  She just does not want to sleep!  It's 11:15 and she's still awake.  I tried PU/PD.  For hours and then just gave up.  How long do I try for?  We've been doing this for about a week.  Am I just not giving it long enough?  I'm so exhausted - can someone please help us!  I"m ready to abandoned the whole process because it just doesn't seem to be working for my baby.  (Although I'm sure I"m just not doing it right)

[*Liz*]

Hi and welcome to BW 

With her naps - what time does she usually wake up from them? Especially the 5pm catnap. And the morning nap - is your lo asleep at 8.15, then you wake at 10.30 to give reflux meds.

Are the other naps always the full 2hrs long?

How is her reflux? What meds are you using and is it well controlled?

When she wakes at 8.45pm what is she doing? Chatting, fussing or crying?

In theory you would do PU/PD until she went to sleep for nighttime - but I am worried that it might be her reflux pain that is waking her and PU/PD wouldn't be suitable if she was in pain.

I also wouldn't allow her to sleep longer than 2 hrs first thing in the morning as naps longer than 2 hrs will impact on nighttime sleep. She is likelt trying to make up for he bad nights by having a huge nap in the morning instead.

What do you mean by following BW with an exception?

Sorry for lots of questions and no real answers but just want to make sure I have it clear in my mind first.

[anna*]

I'm also wondering if the solids might be upsettin gher tummy. If you gave solids at breakfast time, then any tummy upset can be dealt with during the day rather than disturbing her nights.

[cyn0118]

Thanks guys

So the morning nap is usually 2 hours - although I think sometimes it may end up being more like 2 1/2 / 3 hours.  The afternoon nap is 1-2 hours and the capnap is like 45 min - 1 hr.  I wake her up after an hour.

Her refulx - we're using baby zantac.  It seemed pretty well controled.

Then we introduced solids.  She def does seem gassy and uncomfortable at night.  We've got her sleeping on a bit of an incline.

We're doing solids twice a day - once @ the 11 am feeding - and once @ 6 pm.

When she wakes up at 8:45 - she is the cutest baby ever.  Totally smiley and happy.  Last night I tried getting her up and letting her do her thing.  Within 45 min she was exhausted again.

I'm ashamed to admit I'm trying cry it out tonight.  Combining it with PU/PD a bit - but letting her cry in 3 min increments.

Oh and the exception is that I'm putting her down for her morning nap without enough activity time.  My husband works late night - and I need to be at work in the AM.  So if I put her down around 8:15 - 8:30 - I can be at work by 9 - and he can sleep until 10.  Ideally she should be going down for her morning nap closer to 9 I think.

[*Liz*]

I think the early loong morning nap might be your issue - especially if it is sometimes going on longer than 2 hrs. She is treating this as part of her night sleep and then isn't tired enough in the evenings so is treating it as another nap and waking for some more A time. The fact that she is waking to play kind of points to that too.

Can you put her down nearer to 8.30am, but make sure your DH wakes he after 2 hrs max even if she is still sleeping? Lots of babies are happy to have a shorter A first thing in the morning so this may work for a little while longer, but I doubt a 6 month plus baby will take a morning nap 1.5 hrs after waking  . Mine certainly wouldn't!

If the afternoon nap is starting to shorten to nearer 1 hr she might need a little bit more A before it.

I also think I would limit the catnap to 45 mins.

I'm afraid the 4hrly EASY does start to get a bit messier once their A increases, and you sometimes have to get a bit more imaginative with the feed regime, until solids start to bridge the gap between milk feeds.

Hopefully Anna will see this too and offer her advice.

[cyn0118]

I've been wondering about the morning nap as well.  The nap actually used to go til 12:30!!  So we've been gradually shortening it.  I think once we get her on an earlier night schedule - DH can get to bed earlier and won't need to sleep in as long.  Although he gets home late - so it's hard for him to walk through the door and go to bed so quickly.  I think you're very right on her treating it as nightime sleep - especially since it has such a short activity period - and I usually keep the activities pretty low key / non existent - ie watching me wash my pumping equipment and get ready for work, maybe laying on her floor together, and reading.  So mostly low key stuff.   I think at some point DH will just have to suck it up and get up @8:45 and then I can leave to work.  It's kinda unfortunate timing - because she should be going down for her nap around 9ish.  I just can't get to work that late!


Thanks so much for the advice!!

[anna*]

I totally agree with Liz about the morning nap, I wouldn't let her sleep more than 2 hours and I would try to push that nap later, first to 8.30 and after a few days maybe even to 8.45. I'd also try to make sure she's awake for 2 hours before bedtime, so cut that catnap shorter too. Then, once she's in bed, she stays in her bedroom. Even if she's wide awake and wants to play. If she's awake and happy, she can lay in the dark and chat to herself, if she's crying you'll be in there with her doing shush-pat or PUPD. But I'm thinking that these tweaks to her routine will have her sleeping better.