6 mo. old EASY - can't get it right

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Hey Melinda -

Going to have to run in a minute to feed A when DH finishes bathtime but I'll be back.    Before I go, though, here's a link from the EASY forum on EWs that I think is good - http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=163926.0.  I was thinking that waking sounded UT to me.  I usually think that when A is up and happy at some absurd hour.  If he skips it tonight that might be a clue (since it sounds like he's certainly not UT today!).  Hate to say it but it could also be the CN - it's a big EW culprit at this age.   But I totally see how with his current A times it's going to be impossible to drop it for a while.   If you do decide to tweak ( ) I would start by pushing that first A time a bit.  But I see how you don't want to mess with things!

Just heard my call but I'll be back to whine about things at our house.  

So anyhow, I'm glad things have been going to well there despite the EWs.  Are you back to work this week?

C_mother - sorry to hear you're having not-so-great nights and EWs too!  I thought someone was supposed to be doing well at any given time? 

We're not so great, either.  That darn tooth is really taking its time coming in!!  Poor Austin was up for 2.5h last night just screaming inconsolably.  Meds didn't help.  Finally I laid down with him and after 20 min more of him screaming in my ear, he fell asleep.  For 50 min.  Ugh.  It was just a very, very long night.  I got a long morning nap today but then only 35 min for DH this afternoon!  So he's just gone to bed early, we'll see what tonight brings although I am very nervous about it. 

Hoping we all get some rest tonight. 

[Mjaz]

Thanks for that info, Kate.  I have the next 2 weeks off, and I do not think I am going to tweak.  This is the best things have been for us in a long time (minus today) - he's napping well, he's happy, he's taking the CN, we're having easy bedtimes and no NWs.  So...the EW is really the only issue.  I have to keep that in perspective!  He is clearly behind other LOs here (maybe b/c he was early) - since he's doing low A times and accepting the CN.  I think that'll start to move once he's well rested.

I don't really see how it could be UT EW- I think after sleeping 9.5 hours, he was hungry, and not really all too tired!  Kind of makes sense to me, though I know he's capable of a 12 hour night.  I think I'm just going to continue watching his cues, noting his A times and seeing if they increase a bit as he starts getting solid day time sleep.  WE'LL SEE!

Sorry, Kate, your nights sound so tough.  Poor Austin. 

Elf must have had a great day, huh? 

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

It's always good to remind yourself when there's just one issue that it could be a lot worse!  (And I'll help if you forget!  )  So I think it makes complete sense not to mess with things right now.  If it means getting up early to have a well-rested LO, so be it, right?

Nice that you have 3 weeks off!  That is wonderful.  Hopefully you and E are getting to enjoy it together, especially with his routine (generally) going well! 

Interesting about his nights.  I'll be curious to watch how he goes.  I just find it hard to believe that 9.5 is all he needs, iykwim?  I know he was doing 12 and with better naps I wouldn't be surprised if he goes to 11, but 9.5 is low.  Ah, well.  I love that E is his own little experiment and we're just watching from outside the test tube!  LOL!

Yes our nights have been really tough lately.  And my first PPAF is here (after kinda sorta TTCing and thinking I might be pg - I'm not....) so sleep deprivation plus hormonal nonsense is really hitting me hard.  Sigh.  I just hope this tooth will cut through tomorrow and we can get back to our 1 NW - sounds so glorious!! 

Yes, Elf where are you?  Having a blissful day I hope!! 

[Mjaz]

Hang in there, Kate   What does PPAF mean?  I read that sentence 10 times and still don't get it...  

I'm not letting him get away with 9.5 - I got him back from another 1:15 this morning - but he definitely WANTED to get up! 

Hope everyone has a good (better?) night.

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Heehee.   Sorry, been on the TTC boards too much lately.     It's post-partum aunt flo (aka period).  No fun!

Yay for getting him back down.  I know how hard that can be! 

Sleepy vibes all around. 

[C_mother]

We had a good day here, so I guess it was my turn  Of course, the one time in six months I half-hoped DS would wake for a MOTNF, he did not...so, I could not run my experiment. I am still assuming that the CN is causing the shorter nights, perhaps in combination with him dropping the night feed (maybe waking up early, a little peckish, no incentive to go back to sleep, etc. etc.).  I am going to keep working on the As and hopefully I can drop the CN in the nearish future. Until then, I think that I have to accept shorter nights, and try to extend them when I think he really needs more sleep. If I can get his wake up time later, then I can do some days with no CN and an early bedtime.  I will let you know how it goes, and maybe it will give you some ideas for your transition.

Sorry to hear about the 15min nap!!  Too bad that wasn't the CN.  Hopefully, he will be okay tonight. At least you will have more time with him over the next couple of weeks to solidify his routine.  Maybe he will just be the type to increase his As suddenly and drop the CN ??

Kate - hope you see some teeth tomorrow!!

[elf]

Hi ladies!  We are doing ok I think.  Yesterday it was two naps again.  Bedtime at 6.50pm and I had to wake him at 7am.  However.......  yes, however!  2 night feeds.  1 at 10.3opm, drained an entire bottle straight back to sleep.  Again at 4.30am.  Tried to give water, dummy, anything!  Drank half a bottle - straight back to sleep.  So it's great that we are having 12 hour nights but not so great with the 2 feeds.  It is going to be a real battle for me to change all of this.  If only I could get him to wake up RAVENOUS!!!  Obvioulsy due to the night feeds he wasn't hungry at all... so we seem to continue like this.  He has kind of switched day and night feeds around.   Or do you think it is sleep association?  Anyway, last night we had a few stirrings between 7pm and 10.30pm so I do think overtired but I think that to get rid of the catnap you either accept a bit of overtiredness or an early waking.  I am keeping a close eye on the OT though.  We are averaging 3 hours day sleep which I think is probably fine due to the 12 hours at night.  Am tempted to sneak in a 15 min catnap today if needed - though even if he needs it we might be at the stage that his body is now used to the long night and two sleeps and just have to wait for him to be able to properly handle the activity time that goes with 2 naps.  So, I don't know if we are any better off?  What do you think???

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

C_mother - glad you had a turn at a good day!    Dropping the CN was such a process for us, I hope you get through it soon.  I agree with Elf that there's some degree of OT that's inevitable in the process but you get through it. Getting the wakeup time pushed out definitely helps, of course that's easier said than done!  Good luck and let us know if we can help at all.

Elf - If you're getting by without the CN I'd avoid putting in a 15 min one.  I tried that a few times as we were going through the 3-2 process and I found it actually made his night sleep more disrupted and/or caused an EW.  With that amount of sleep I think he's doing fine and his A times should continue to stretch.  As for the MOTNF if you really want to drop that 2nd feed you might just have to flat our refuse it.  Yes he'll be hungry but he'll take more in the day because of it.  I had to do that with A and it was a long couple of nights and he was MAD but now he feeds longer at his daytime feeds and we only do one at night.  I think if he's not taking his morning feed because of that 2nd night feed that you should definitely consider it. 

We had a better night last night, finally.  His longest NW was 40 min and it was before I went to bed myself!  Then a quick resettle and then a feed later on.  So not nearly as bad.  Still can't see this tooth though!  It's right there but still hasn't broken through.  Maybe today is the day.

Hope everyone has good naps today! 

[C_mother]

Come out teeth!  Glad to hear that things were more restful last night. I am sure that you are feeling ready for a break from all of these changes Is he back to sleeping longer nights?

Elf - I agree with Kate about the MOTNF. I wonder if it would be worth waiting until you know he isn't too OT??  It may be harder to resettle w/o food if he is not used to doing that and is already having difficulty sleeping.  My only other suggestion would be regarding his last A. I know that you are doing set, earlier naps and having success, so maybe tweaking is a bad idea, BUT, DS is soooo sensitive to his last A time. Maybe your LO is waking at night because he is going to bed too OT. Is there anyway that you can make his last A shorter (i.e., so that he is going to bed exactly when he is feeling tired)? Of course, maybe he is just about to get used to his new routine

We had another CN yesterday, and an almost 11 hr night last night - so as good as we can get right now I think.

Hoping for a good nap day all around -- before DS, I had know idea that babies sometimes would take short naps 

[Mjaz]

Hi ladies,
Sounds like we're all doing OK - relatively - for a change - yay   Kate, I know you were curious about what Elijah's night would be like KNOWING he wasn't UT.  Well....he slept from 6-2:30.  Fed him at 2:30 and it took him nearly an hour to get back to sleep :/  Then my DH's alarm was BLARING at 5:30.  I think he would have slept later.  And yes, I almost punched DH. 

Have to keep reminding myself that every day around here is going to be different   Do we really think daylight savings is going to help with the EWs? 

Have a good day everyone!

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Hmmmm.....That is very interesting!  So it doesn't seem like UT is the culprit with those NWs either.  Was he crying and upset or just awake?  Is he teething?  A does these crazy long NWs when he's teething and he's not always screaming through them (although when he does that's really fun! ), sometimes I think he's just uncomfortable enough that he can't get back down, iykwim?

LOL about punching DH - I definitely would have wanted to do the same!!  My DH seems to always step on the loudest floorboards in the house!

I absolutely have my fingers crossed about daylight savings.  We'll know soon enough, I guess.

I hear you on rolling with each day being different.  Sometimes that's hard for us Type As!!

[Mjaz]

He was just awake.  Would fall asleep for a few minutes, wake again, fall back to sleep, etc for about an hour.  Then he started crying.  I gave him some motrin and shh/patted for about 5 minutes - and he was back to sleep.  Never had a NW quite like that.  Anyway, I don't know if he's teething!  He has his bottom 2 already...and I don't see signs of others...?

Yeah, DH forgot he was listening to the radio earlier in the day.  Almost killed him.

Elf- I have only had to withhold a feed several times - but it wasn't as painful as I thought.  He screamed for 5-10 minutes and then sort of gave up and went back to bed.  You can do it!

Naps today have not been good :/  I am getting NO CUES from the little bugger.  And to make matters worse, I apparently wrote down the wrong times this morning or something - so I had no idea what his second A should be close to.  Basically *I* messed it all up.  Sigh.  Yes, every day is different in this household! 

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Yeah that sounds hungry or in pain to me.  Since you fed him I wonder if there are some teeth hovering in there, waiting to just bring on the fun.

Sorry about the messed up A times.  I hate when I do the math wrong or some other silly thing and mess up our whole day!  It's the worst.  Hope things got back on track this afternoon for you?

We had decent naps and that tooth is just under there so hopefully tonight will be good over here.  Hope it is for all of you, too! 

[C_mother]

Then my DH's alarm was BLARING at 5:30.  I think he would have slept later.  And yes, I almost punched DH. 

  My favourite is when DH wakes me to ask if I have fed DS!

Just a thought - could your LO just prefer more day sleep than most? Maybe he wants to have two v. long naps + CN, and a shorter night for now? Would it be possible to build a day around that, while pushing out his bedtime so you are not getting up super early (with the help of daylight savings)?

We almost went with a no CN day, but I chickened out when DS drifted off in the car after 1 hr A    I can really see how As have to be strong around 3hrs for 2 naps to work well - sigh 

[elf]

Morning all...

Just thought I'd let you know that we did a 20min catnap yesterday and had no stirrings between 7pm - 11pm.  So yes, prone to OT.  He woke at 11pm (habit I'm sure).  Offered a feed as my plan was to resettle the feed closest to breakfast.  Wasn't really hungry so he drank a tiny bit then back to sleep.  Woke at 2.45am.  Took me 1.5 hours to resettle him but I did not give in!  Just patted his tummy and kept the dummy in his mouth saying, 'time for sleep' and eventually he dozed off.  I had to wake him this morning and he drank a full bottle and ate a big breakfast.  Has had a good mid morning bottle and am about to give him his lunch then take a much needed sleep myself!  I've started the weaning night feed process now so I feel as though I really have to stick to it as the sleepless nights will not be worth it.  Boy, it's tiring and I almost gave in!  Talk about a sore back from hovering over the cot!