Naps regressing by the day

[Flossie's Mum]

Hi, just seeing if anyone has any ideas for extending nap times as they are still exactly the same after I last posted a week or so ago. We've had a bit of disruption over Christmas but tried to keep it to a minimum and her NWs are very slightly and very gradually improving (still have at least one before the DF and a long one of at least 90 mins (down from 2 hours) after about 3am with a couple more in between!). However the naps are still unimproved, and I've really tried everything - httj, white noise, no white noise, staying in the room, going out, me doing it, DH doing it  .... everything I can think of, and she wakes exactly 35 mins after falling sleep every time, then its almost impossible to get her back to sleep, sometimes I can do it, but it takes about 25 mins of intervention to get only another 10 - 20 mins of extra sleep.

She's really easy to put down for a nap now, which is great, I barely have to do anything more than put her in the cot and she happily falls asleep with her lovey, but when she wakes its like a different baby! I'm still not sure what her mantra cry is, even if she has one, but I've tried leaving her for a couple of minutes when she wakes to see if she settles herself but instead her cries just escalate and she becomes a bit hysterical. She settles herself to sleep so I don't understand why she can't resettle herself for naps, as she has managed this at night (although not very often)

[*Jo*]

Hi again, its good to hear things are improving, however obviously something still isnt quite right. i was thinking if you can set your watch to her wakings then perhaps try to do W2S? i cant remember if you have already tried it, but just go in and gently stir her at about the 28-30min mark, this is very hit and miss, it took us a couple of days to figure out what time exactly to do it for Caleb and every LO is different but often that and HTTJ works well together, so the W2S changes the sleep cycle slightly and if your LO is OT then the HTTJ just helps them through

[Flossie's Mum]

Thanks, I haven't tried that so I'll give it a try

[Flossie's Mum]

Happy new year to anyone reading this!

You must be fed up of seeing my post reappearing at the top of the board with the same old moans! I've tried W2S today, admittedly only for one day and I'll keep trying, but it made no difference unfortunately. I'm also simply not able to extend her naps any more at all, using patting, rubbing, soft talking, shhing and the ohter comforts that used to work (although they never extended naps for very long). Now after she wakes she seems quite angry/frustrated (maybe cos she's so tired) and cries and creams madly but is wide awake. HOwever she yawns constantly and can't be well rested after 35 minutes sleep, especially as she doesn't sleep well at night (currently about 6-8 wakings on average). I've tried extending and reducing teh A time and we're currently on about 2h20m, which means she goes down for her naps easily and seems to welcome the sleep, but it just doesn't last.

I am currently keeping the same A time even if (as I am almost always doing now) I spend 45 mins trying to get her back to sleep without success, then I have to get her up, tired and tearstained! I have tried putting her back down again after an hour, but apart from making the day's plans into chaos, it means she sleeps 35 mins again and has 4 or 5 naps a day instead of 3, and I don't want this to form into a habit. I know that at about 7 mo (she is currently 6.5 mo) we should be trying to drop the cn, and I can't see how we can ever get there!

Could I be doing something to make her wake up after this time, like going in to her, then getting her out of her cot in the end if the 45 mins of intervention doesn't work? Am I making it worse somehow? And is it possible she doesn't have a mantra cry, do all babies have them? I've never heard her do anything that fits the description and although she always wakes up crying it never stays steady and she hardly ever settles herself (never for naps) but instead her cries escalate and get louder and more screamy if I don't go in. She settles herself to sleep without crying but I could never follow the same pattern when she wakes, because she seems to be objecting to being in her cot, even though when I first put her in she seems very happy and just drifts off to sleep.

[*Jo*]

Hi Hun, sorry things are still really rough for you both, just wanted to point out that at 6.5 months old you can increase A times to 2.5 hours, the general A time for a 6.5 month old is 2 hours 45 mins to 3 hours so I would advise increasing again. also take a look at this: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64837.0

AS for the mantra cry, its hard, every baby has a different mantra cry, some mothers didnt know their baby had one, they later realised what they thoght was hard out crying was actually a mantra cry, only the parent knows unfortunately.

Have you thought it might be time to try Pu/Pd now that nothing else has really worked?

[Flossie's Mum]

Thanks for the link, thats helpful. I guess you're right about the pu/pd, I've just been wary of doing it because I've read elsewhere on teh message boards that it doesn't always work for spirited babies (mine is v spirited!) and doesn't always work when they're OT. I think she is still a bit OT all the time although thats improved alot, because of the multiple night wakings, although she doesn't stay awake for nearly as long as she used to (takes about 30 mins to resettle but used to be anything up to 2 hours and once was even 5 hours!) First I'll try to increase the A time again as its a couple of weeks since I've done that and thats probably a long time in baby development terms I guess.

How long do you think I should leave her crying to see if a cry is a mantra cry when she wakes up? I've only done 1 or 2 mins before because I obviously don't want to leave her to CIO

[~Emma~]

 hey hun,

 I think Jo is right, perhaps its time to think about pu/pd. Pop over to the pu/pd boards of you need any help with it. I'll post the link regarding age adaptations here for you to look at. Just so you know, Brodie is spirited to the max!! So not entirely impossible I can assure you, but yes it can be a little more tricky! Just ailor it to what suits you. If oyu have BWSAYP do read and reread the pu/pd chapter, I find it invaluable, especially the case studies. If anything they give you light at thenend of the tunnel!

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=63161.0


We found this age difficult and I was still battling with dropping the cn at nearly 8months. In fact I think that why I started pu/pd in the first place thinking back....it all seems so long ago!

 I would however try to up your A's 1st as Jo suggested. Pu/pd can also be all the more tricky if your routine isn't right for your LO iyswim. You need to get A's right etc to ensure your LO is the right amount of tired but not OT!!

Regarding the mantra cry, well I couldn't possibly say, only you can answer that really. I do know that Brodie's mantra can be quite heartwrenching especially when he's tired and it took me a while to get the idea that that was actually it!
 

 

[Flossie's Mum]

OK, thanks for the brill advice as usual

Louise xx

[~Emma~]

Posted the wrong link hun, sorry!

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=69177.0

xxx