Tired and Frustrated Mommy - EW's and back to a NW, too

[karendbrooks]

Help Ladies.
I was hoping that the time change would help the fact that my DS (who will be 5mos in 4 days) was waking early.  He is waking at 5:45ish and I had hoped that moving the clocks ahead would have him waking at 6:45 so that way maybe I could get things back on track. 
Nope.
He was up again today at 5:45, which used to be 4:45.  I have no idea what to do.  And over the past couple of days, he's taken to getting back up at 3ish to eat.  Last night he woke at 2:45, and I tried shpat to get him back down, but he kept fussing and shoving his lovey in his mouth, so I figured he might be hungry.  Took in a whole 6oz!  Then the EW.  I got him back to sleep for 30 minutes or so, and then he woke at 7:20 and ate another 6.5oz. 
Just a couple of weeks ago, he was sleeping straight through to 5am, and my biggest concern was eeking out two more hours of sleep.  Now here we are back to an NW for feeding and STILL EW. 

His naps are all thrown off time wise.  He used to be on a lovely 4 hour EASY.  Up at 7, nap at 9, up and eat at 11, nap at 1, up and eat at 3,  CN at 5, bath bottle and bed by 7:30.  DF at 11  one NW at 3 to eat, and then back up at 7 again.

Now his naps are all moved up at least 35 minutes, because after EW at 6, even if he goes back to sleep say from 6:45 to 7:30, he cant really make it to 9 for his first nap.  Feeds are still at their normal times, though of 7,1,3 and 7.  DF is done at 10:45 or 11. 

Am I EVER going to get this little monkey to STTN?    Yesterday I had to take him to grandmas just so I could nap.  I'm so tired and fighting a cold, and I feel like I am fighting a losing battle. 

He's bottle-fed, almost 5 mos, swaddled from the waist down and has a lovey.  He is the joy of my life, but I need to sleep too.  That also makes me joyfull...

I just need help to figure out WHAT is going on and how to fix it.  His EW's arent really consistent, so I havent tried W2S yet, and I cant seem to get that right anyway when I try it at nap time.  And since he's sucking down a full bottle, I dont think that the 3am wake up is habit.  It also just re-started the other day.  GS?  Teething?  Just trying to make me nuts?  HELP!!  I'm desperate!!

Thanks in advance
karen

[karendbrooks]

Hi Jane.
Yesterday (of course) actually went quite well.  Figures, doesnt it?  I bare my tired, frustrated soul on BW, and then he has a beautiful day.  Going to post a typical day instead.

Wake 6:00ish (sometimes 6am but anywhere between 6 and 6:45)
E 7:00 - 7:20
A 7:20 to 7:45 (wind down time depends on when he woke up.  Lets say he woke at 6:30, wind down would start at 8:15)
S 8:30 - 10:15

A to hold him off for his feed

E 11:00 - 11:20
A 11:20 - 12:00
S 12:15 - 1:50

*this is where it gets weird....

A 1:50 - 2:40 I hold him off as long as I can to try to make things normal...

E 2:45 - 3:00
A 3:00 - 3:50
S 4:00 - 4:50 CN

A 5:00 - 6:30
E 6:35
Bed time 7:15.  Usually asleep by 7:30 or so

DF at 10:45
NW at 3ish
EW at 5, but I am able to get him back down usually until 6:30

Like I said, yesterday was flawless.  Took 2 two-hour naps and a 40 min cat nap.  Ate right on time all day and went to bed on time.  Fussed for about 20 minutes and fell asleep late, but he was in the crib at his normal time.  This morning he woke up at 3:30 and ate a full 6 oz, then was up at 5, but fussed a bit and went back to sleep.  Then he was up for the day at 6:45.  We are having some construction done on our house today, so he's spending the morning with my MIL, so hopefully it will go well. 

I know compared to some, he's having a great day/night routine, but he was sleeping straight through until 5, and I was only trying to extend that to 7.  Now we're back to what he was doing at 3mos old!  He'll be 5 mos in 4 days    

Should we maybe try starting solids?  Does this sound like hunger or a growth spurt?

[karendbrooks]

I am not thrilled about the idea of starting solids early, but I was thinking that maybe his EW and NW are due to hunger, and he's already getting 36 oz a day of formula! 

How long should his A times be?  He goes for 2 hours (1h45m of play, 15 of wind-down and then eyes shut pretty much right at the two hour mark) and gets REALLY grumpy and has short naps if I go longer.  I can try to start lengthening them by 5 mins. 

He has been fussy going down for his cat nap.  Bout time to drop that, you think?  Maybe that could be causing the EW? 

Lord.  Can you believe that I ran a huge child care center?!  I have no idea what to do with my own baby!  :-/

[karendbrooks]

Thanks for all of the help, Jane. I really appreciate it. 
I'm going to kinda ride the rest of the week out and see what happens.  He's at his grandma's right now and took a 2hour nap so far this morning.  Little turkey...

[karendbrooks]

TOnight should be interesting.  He took a good morning nap, but then his uncle went in and started playing with him 45 min into the 2nd nap when Ian woke up.  He took a small cat nap from 4:30 - 5:10, and has been awake since.  It's now bed time, and DH is giving him his bath so we can start wind down.  Fingers crossed that he doesnt have multiple OT NW's. 

[karendbrooks]

The night wasnt too bad.  He went down a little rough, and didnt actually get to sleep until almost 8.  Woke at 3:51 for the second (or third, I have to check) night in a row and only ate 4oz of 6.  Then fussed at 5:45 and then started singing.  Got him to go back down from 6:30-7:15.  He had a pretty good start to the morning and is now napping at 8:55. 
So, since we're on night 2 (or 3) of the 3:51am, I'm thinking that's a habit NW.  I guess I need to try to break that habit, unless there are any volunteers !! 
Going to go try to look for the W2S thread and read up.  DH is going out of town for business Thursday, so I'm thinking that Thursday night will be a good night to start undoing NW's.  That way I dont interfere with his sleep so he can work.  I have the option for napping during the day, and DH doesnt. 
Any suggestions?

[karendbrooks]

It does!  Thanks Jane! 
Going to see if he does it again tonight and then try W2S on Thursday.  I sure dont mind the snuggles at 3:51am, but I also wouldnt mind the sleep!!