Sooo frusterated!

[ryates71]

Hi Jenn,

Sorry to hear it's all gone down hill again.  Hopefully it's one of those ripples that will sort itself out.  I'm not sure if prem affects sleep patterns but you would think that by 7 mo they are starting to catch-up with their peers anyway.

As you are able to resettle the first nap I would try stretching the 2nd A time and see if you can get a better second sleep from him.  At about this time the A times usually do start leaping forward so might be that he's ready to go a bit longer.  But it's soo difficult to tell when they don't give you any cues!!  I think our optimum 1st A time is 2hr 40 or 2hr 45 at the moment but just can't figure out that second one.  Yesterday we dropped the CN but ended up with last A time of 3hr 30m which was wayyy to long so 2 NW and an EW.  Also I was stressing over christmas presents last night ((((WHY??? I do not know!))))) so I had a really crap nights sleep.

We still have that battle with the CN and are down to 20mins but he definately sleeps better (less EWs) when he does have it.  I think we will need one today as expecting him to wake up from 2nd nap at 2:30.

Oh, and reading back to my prev post suddenly he is going down easier at nap times.  I have stopped picking him up once he's been put down and although he still complains it seems to be getting gradually quicker to settle him just with shh/pat.

((((hugs))))
Rachel

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

Awesome Rachel about the naps! I am trying a 2hr 45 A time this morning and accidentely he had a 2hr 45min A time yesterday afternoon and I was able to extend that second nap. I had to resettle him of course but at least it was longer. So I definitely think you are right about that. We had a CN last night also. Do you wake DS from his CN to ensure that it is only 20 min or does he do that himself? DS still sleeps for about 35min at his CN and wakes up screaming bloody murder everytime! DS's night last night was the same, lots and lots of NW's. Oh well, we will get back on track somehow.

I stress about Christmas presents too haha. It does seems silly but it happens anyways. I was incredibly stupid last night. We had some friends come over and they had gone to a coffee shop and gotten us a coffee. I have not drinken caffeine since I got pg with DS. Before that, caffeine never affected me in the least. Well I drank this massive coffee last night and then tried to go to bed and I wouldn't stay still! By the time my body like crashed, DS started waking every 20 min and I was soooo tired. So stupid of me really.

Anyways wishing you all the best for a good sleep tonight!

Jenn

[ryates71]

Do you wake DS from his CN to ensure that it is only 20 min or does he do that himself?

Ha ha!  He wakes screaming and tonight was then grumbly until I fed him at 6:20.  I can't figure out what the appropriate A time is after a 20min catnap - maybe I'll ask on the Naps board.

Fingers crossed for a better night for both of us!

Rachel

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

Yeah fingers crossed! Ethan woke at 1hr today after I extended his A time to 2hr 45 min. Do you think I should still extend his A time a little bit more for tomorrow? or does this mean OT? I was able to get him to go down for another 45min after he woke at the hr mark. This afternoon, he woke and fussed but put himself back to sleep at the hr. mark and has almost been asleep for two hours now. That was after a 2hr 50min A time this afternoon. Maybe I will try for a 2hr 50 min A time tomorrow morning. No CN for us tonight so we will see how the night goes...fingers crossed for sure!

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

OKay having problems again with everything it seems. We are now doing 3hrs of A time. DS is still waking from naps at 1hr and needing to be resettled. He will now go back down for another 45min at both naps. We no longer have a catnap. So this is our EAS:

Wake at 6:45
E: breast and 5oz bottle at 6:45
E: solids at 7:30
A: until 9:45
S: 9:45-11:30 with being resettled at 1hr
E: 8oz bottle at 11:30
E: solids at 12:30
A: until 2:30
S: until 4:15 with being resettled at 1hr
E: 8oz bottle at 4:15
E: solids at 5:30
A: bath, massage, stories
E: breast and 8oz bottle
S: asleep by 7pm

Then we are still getting all of our night wakings. He wakes at least once an hour all through the night. I have no clue what else to change! Any ideas out there?

I just don't get it!!!! Frusterated!!!!!

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

Okay we had another night like that last night. Awake for most of it. This time at three am apparently it was play time. So I went back to sleep and let him play I am trying to think if there is anything else that could be a prop issue here? He barely uses a paci...I give it to him at bedtime and naps and he usually spits it back out and smiles at me. I do give it back to him when he wakes at night but he just does the same thing. Can this somehow be a prop? He used to always hold my arm but I do not let him do that anymore. He does seem to prefer to fall asleep on his side but then move to his back once he is asleep. I have a blanket that is supposed to prop him on this side but he just moves it over and lays on his back So could the fact that I turn him onto his side when I go in at night be a prop? He falls asleep on his own. I rarely have to use Shh/pat and pretty much never have used PU/PD. Any other insight into this? I am getting ready to put him on ebay! lol

Also, he could be teething. I have given him pain meds but they do not seem to change anything at all. If I take any pain meds for anything, nothing works for my body for some reason so maybe he has inherited that lovely feature! Sort of frusterating really. So I do not know if he is in pain or not when giving pain meds hasn't changed anything.

Ugh...I am starting to feel like I cannot handle this another night....what do I do

[ryates71]

Oh Jenn!  Sooo sorry for you.  ((((Big HUGS)))).

What happens if you don't resettle him on his morning nap?  Is he tired and grumpy or is he ok?  From what you said before it did seem as though he might be one of those LO's that just needs less sleep than others.

What happens when DH does the night times?

Does he EVER sleep for more than one sleep cycle?  (Day or night?)

Rach x

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

If I do not resettle DS during the morning nap, he will get pretty grouchy. It definitely seems like he is needing the sleep, I just cannot figure out why he cannot do it! When DH puts DS to bed, the same things happen for him. Usually DS cries a bit (he is still getting used to DH putting him to bed) but he is actually going to sleep for him. DH uses the same methods as I do so DS reacts about the same. DS will randomly suprise us and sleep for a few hours in a row. A few weeks ago there, DS slept 8 hours in a row. But that is a distant memory at this point.  This is why I completely do not understand what is going on. A very select few nights are great and then the others are terrible with no differences during the day or night time. (we barely ever go anywhere so each day is pretty much identical)

I don't know what to do anymore I am getting very run down and exhausted. I don't know how to manage another night. Thanks so much for the hugs! 

[ryates71]

Oh Jenn, that's soo hard on you!  Only thing I can think of is to stretch the A times even further.  1 hr can be a sign of UT (tired enough to go through to the next sleep cycle but not tired enough to stay down).  Lets see if anybody else has any suggestions!

((((HUgs))))
Rachel

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

Hi Rachel,

I thought about extending the A time even farther but he gets so cranky even at 3hrs of A time. On Tuesday I had someone over replacing our furnace and it was time for DS to go for his nap but I had to talk to this guy for a minute so his A time ended up being 3hr 10 min and DS fell asleep on my shoulder. I can give it another try today and see how it goes though. Hopefully it will work! DH does not work tomorrow so I will have help in the middle of the night tonight so I am very much looking forward to sleep!

Thanks again for your ideas and support!