EW with 6 month old

[aselby]

good morning, girls.....so, i dontknow what happened last night, but i thought we were set up for a no fail night...

he went down like a dream at 620 and made a few peeps here and there throughout the evening....then was up at 1230 to eat , went back down no problem....back up at 430 so i fed him ( i will deal with this later...thinking i should cut out this feeding?!) and then he stayed up to babble until 520! whats that all about? he, thankfully, put himself back to sleep until 615 when we got up for the day....any ideas about the crib party at 430? so, in all, he got around 11 hrs which was my goal..i wouldnt have minded if he skipped the party, but what can you do? it was an off night here anyway. our heat went off at 11 so my husband had to tinker around with our boiler for an hour, and then one of our dogs wasnt feeling well so she had to go out a few times....BUT todays a new day!

here's our EASY from yesterday to the present:

thursday:

550 awake
E 600
E 700 solids
A 2hr25mins
S 815-925
E10:00
A 2hr
S 11:25-12:00ish
E 1:00 solids
E 1:30 bf
A 2hr
S 157-3:22
E 5:15 bf
E 545 solids
A 3 hrs
S 620

E 1230am
E 430....EW..party until 520?!

today:

awake 615
E 700


and thats where we are ....i will do a first A of 2.5, which will put us down for our first nap around 845. hopefully, this will set us up for a later day so we can get closer to a later bedtime.

meg- so are you saying that 30 mins can mean UT? i've always wondered that....everyone always says that its OT, but i dont think thats always the case...i know that a UT nap for C is always 37  mins. always has been. interesting about the 30 min UT. i will have to think about that some more...

hope both of your nights went well and you're set up for a good today! yeah! its friday!

[karendbrooks]

what a night.  I am going to have a hissy fit if I dont find a diaper that doesnt leak, soon.  Poor kiddo woke up at 2:45 drenched.  I was trying a new kind (pampers baby dry.  we usually use swaddlers.)  This leaking thing started when he realized he could roll over and that he enjoys sleeping on his tummy.  The swaddlers would leak around 5, which was a pain because I think that he would have maybe slept through the issue and possibly the night (Lord, please).  But last night, the new brand, which promises on the package "12 hours of overnight protection!" only made it 7 hours. 
After that wake up and change and feed (took 40 min) I think it threw off his sleep cycle so he was up at 5 for 20 minutes and then for the day at 6:40.  I have washed more sheets than a small hotel

Got him to sleep for his first nap at 9:15, but I think that may have been early even though he got up at 6:40 because he's now awake and singing in his crib and it's only 9:45.  Going to leave him for now.  He's happy and singing and maybe he'll put himself back out.  If not, I'll go shpat him when he starts to fuss. 

Amanda - Sorry about your night.  But maybe since he got up late, you can take that bull by the horns and steer him to a later bedtime tonight and start a new set of waking and sleeping habits!  Let's find that silver lining!  (I've had 2 cups of coffee this morning.  Ya'll forgive me please.)
This may make you not like me too much, but yesterday's EASY doesnt look too bad except for the short naps.  It actually looks like one of Ian's typical days from a couple of weeks ago.  I think if you stick with what you are doing, maybe he's working his way to figuring this sleep thing out.  Our days have gotten much better over the past few days, after WEEKS of what your yesterday looked like.  I think the consistency is the key, and that he'll get the hang of it. 
(DS is still talking to himself, the little goober. )
We have to run some errands today - namely to get new jammies.  The ones he's in are starting to look a little too short.  Poor kid.  Soon he wont be able to straighten his legs!    Hope that the errands dont hose us up too bad.  This weekend is already going to be nutty.  Saturday is going to be a full day out of the house, and Sunday I have to go to my in-laws for a bbq.  they DO NOT understand the concept of EASY and want him to be up, happy and thrilled to see them everytime we are there.  Thankfully they DID change the time of the bbq after I put my foot down and said that they would have to start without us if they had it at 1, since that was Ian's pm nap.  It is now at 4.  That means his CN will be all wonky on Sunday, but at least he should have 2 good naps that day to recouperate from Saturday. 

Hope everyone has a great day!!

[aselby]

hey karen! sorry about your night i have tried those pampers....no good. the only thing that i have found to be remotely leak proof are huggie overnights...but, still wake up damp due to 2 feeds. they dont leak if he only has 1. ugh.

so- you think my schedule looks ok? shold i continue with those times? i just have NO  idea what to do if he short naps...i guess its all trial and error....any idea abou tthe crib party EW after 2nd feed? i'm puzzled. i thought i did verything right yesterday ?

good luck this weekend! i hear you about the inlaws....we are getting my dh's ENTIRE family here for a visit the first week of may....they have zero concept of napping. last time they were here (when C was 6 wks old) my FIL woke him up EVERY time he fell asleep....i know i have a battle in front on me, but I'M THE MAMA! ugh. my thoughts will be with you this weekend. people just dont get it. "but he doesnt look tired." ugh.

[karendbrooks]

I get the "he doesnt look tired" all the time.  That's because when he gets OT he gets MANIC!!  Which everyone interprets to being wide awake and happy.  They cant look past the cute smiles to see the wildness in his eyes, lol! 

The schedule looks like a crazy schedule, so I dont know if I would call it ok, since he's short napping, but what I meant was, I've seen it before.  It looks like what I was dealing with, but since I've been consistent, it's been evening out.  I was thinking that maybe you were on the brink of the evening out too once he realizes that the world is going to stay the same, routine-wise.

Can you try something for me?  It just worked for me, (it usually does) and since our boys sound similar, figured I'd toss it out there. 

Ian woke after 30 min of sleeping.  (last post)  He woke up and talked to himself for 15 minutes and then started to "ehh ehh ehh - come get me mom" crank.  I went in, flipped him back on this back and did shpat for about 10 min.  He wasnt wild about me not picking him up, but then he started rubbing his eyes and chewing on lovey (which he does when he's tired.  I have a weird kid)  After than, he just lay there staring at the wall, and then he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.  Since your DS wakes up happy like mine, even after an OT nap, I let him be until he fusses and then shpat him back down. He's asleep again, even though he was awake for close to an hour.  Probably only going to sleep for another 30-50 min, but it will at least keep our day on a somewhat even keel.  Maybe it will work for you.  Worth a shot

[nursemeg01]

Hi Amanda and Karen!

Amanda: I think you need to not feed at the 4:30 wake. He ate about 4 hours ago so he shouldn't be hungry and when you feed him it's like a 'reward' for waking up. that's what another post told me when I was thinking of weaning a feeding. You can do a thing called a gradual wean if you are worried about hunger--do you know what that is? I think the reason why he's having the crib party is that he's awake and happy because you fed him and so not tired. Try to stretch the A times, look for cues, and aim for that set bedtime. i agree with Karen that consistency might be key and it may take a few days to iron out.

Karen: I have no idea what kind of diapers to recommend. I'll ask around.

My DD just woke up, It's like she knows when I log on here. I'll be back soon!

[aselby]

ok, karen...ANYTHING is worth a shot. if he wakes up short, i will give it a whirl. what do i have to lose at this point? LOL about the manic OT state they get into. everyone , even my husband is always like " oh, he's soooo active!" i always have to explain that actually, he's completely OT and running on empty. i know a lot of people think its bizarre to put him down when he's so "awake" but perhaps they have all had babies with sleeping problems. to each their own.

meg- i just read that chpt in BWSAYP yesterday about the GW...i am soooo hesitant to try it, but i know that it's inevitable at this point. i think we will start giving it a whirl tonight. so- do you EBF? have you been doing the GW? you just count the minutes, right? gosh, i hope it works. i would love to kick that feeding out the door. i know its disrupting his sleep leading right into that first A and nap. it looks like it take about 5 days to achieve? ami right in thinking that? i will look over that part again and get ready to give it a shot tonight. ugh.

[karendbrooks]

I bottle feed, but I am doing the GW too.  An ounce less every 2 day, adding it to another feed during the day.  seems to be working

[aselby]

how long have you been at it?

alright, after a first A of 2h35mins...he slept for 33mins...i think it was a bit too long. i actually am not 100% sure of when he actually woke up this morning...it was such a long night, i dozed back off this am...but i THINK he was up around 615. maybe not?!

[aselby]

ok...so i'm going to throw up my EASY for today thus far in hopes that something jumps out ...we are getting short naps:

615 pretty positive he woke up then
630 get up
E 700 bf
E 730 solids
A 2h35mins
S 852-925
E 1045
A 2hr
S 11:25-12:03


thats where we are up to ...i will keep you posted and edit as needed...

[karendbrooks]

Ack.  Ian has done short naps too today.  First one I think he was UT, then when I got him back to sleep, he woke up tired.  Then my mother in law came over (remember that rant a few posts ago?  sigh) and he was up longer than I wanted him to be.  So this nap was OT, and now he's up.  But it's about time to feed him again, so I guess we're done with that nap.  He's playing in his crib.  Going to run some errands, so I'm sure he'll sleep in the car   Goober.

Maybe theyre just trying to make us nuts today?   
I have to go feed him now, but I'll be back

[nursemeg01]

Sorry about the short naps guys! I did do GW (I EBW) and it took about 6 days for me. What I can say was that it gave me the confidence to know that she really didn't need the feed. last night she woke up at 2 AM and kind of made a waah waah noise. I would normally go up there pronto when hearing her and feed her but I made myself stay back. She 'fussed' for 10 minutes and it didn't escalate. She drifted off on her own. This was the first day I've not gone up there because I just finished the GW. At least I know she is not hungry so unless she is giving me her "I really need you mom" cry, I'm not planning on going up there.

that's the weird part. When I first started BW, I was thinking that this would mean that she wouldn't cry at all. After being on this board, I realized that I needed to listen to her cry. I didn't know what a mantra was and I would get so upset if she cried at all. Now I realize it is her only way of communicating and I sit back and listen. If her cry sounds like a 'hey guys I need you to come entertain me cry" at 2 AM. I don't intervene...YKWIM?

It's taken me a long time to get here though.

I just made a HUGE jump in A time because I was getting short naps all day yesterday. We just went from 2.5 to 2.75. So far so good. One thing you can do if you think you have an UT nap and they won't extend is to have a low key A time and then put them down about 15 minutes earlier than you would usually do...sometimes that gets them back on track without throwing off the whole day. That has worked for me...

Is there anything developmental going on? Like trying to roll over, crawl, teething? That can also make short naps because 'hey life is too fun to sleep!' Short naps are the worst! I remember when I first started this I kept saying I just want my Y in EASY! Some day ladies, some day!

[aselby]

so sorry about your shorties today....we are all over the place with feeds at the mo...about to give him a titch seeing as that we are getting close to another naptime. i think our 1st was OT the 2nd was UT.... not sure where to go with thisnextoneasfar as A oes...guess i'll stick with 2ish likeyesterday andhope for long one.

i hope your day isgetting better and you have found some better diapers. def check out the huggie overnights..or i have heard that fischer price makes a good nighttime diaper. might be worth checking out that fleece soaker on ETSY.

just put him down for #3 after an A of 2h7min....similar to yesterdays...praying for a miracle. he just doesnt seem as tired today?!

[aselby]

hey meg- i sent this off w/out reading your post

i am really excited/nervous about starting gw tonight. and i cannot for the life of me find where i read about it yesterday in the book! so , i have been trying my hardest to fill him up today so that i can get the ball rolling with this. i think it will really make a difference in his napping. so, do you mind either telling me what pg its on or giving me a quick rundown on minutes...how'd you do it? are you feeding at all at night anymore? taxe season is over next week so i figured that i would concentrate on the GW for the next week and then by the time my husband will be around more, if need be, we can do pu/pd for the rest of it and kick it. god, i hope this works. we ALL need some much deserved sleep around here

ya, i know what you mean about the crying thing . i am like a horse out of the shoots when i hear him cry at night. i guess i am APing when he cries. i hope the next week isnt awful for us. i def need to learn to sit back and listen more often. we do it when i know he cant be hungry like 2 hours after a feed. i just figure that if he's gone 4 hrs at night after his long stretch, then i should feed him....BUT he's not eating much and then setting up the first feed as a disaster. ugh.

i dont think there's anything new going on....he rolls like a champ and as far as teething goes, your guess is as good as mine. it comes and goes.

[karendbrooks]

What a day I am having.  I need to go to bed and have a do-over.  Not because of Ian, but for my own issues.  His naps have been wonky today, but that's ok.  I can work with that.  He's taking a late CN right now because we just spent 2 hours in an emergency session at the eye doctor.  I got him up from nap number 2, (the OT nap ) after letting him play for 30 min in the crib, trying to shpat for 10 and then it was time to eat, so up we went.  My intention was to run errands after he woke up so he could maybe catch an early CN in the car and then we would just go to bed a little early to make up for today.  That's when my vision started to diminish!!!  Seriously.  It scared the life out of me.  It was like my right eye was a closing tunnel.  Holy Crap!  So I called the eye dr, they  told me to come in, I called DH (could barely see the numbers on the phone) and he came to get me and off we went. 
Turns out everything with my EYE is fine.  Dr. Thinks that my Birth Control pills, that I started 6 weeks ago are causing hormonal issues and migraines.  He ran about 15 different tests.  Sweet Ian was awake and happy for the whole process.  Who wouldnt be with a whole doctor's office full of people to smile at!!    So now we are home, he is cat napping and I am wearing the sexiest plastic sunglasses with dilated pupils.  Ack.  I need a drink.

My goal is just to get through tonight and this weekend and try to get back on track.  Today wasnt terrible for him, just unusual, and I need to get back on the usual. 

As far as responses to your posts:  I'm not new to BW.  I used to keep babies in my house and that's how I found BW, and then I ran a huge preschool, and I actually taught my infant room teachers BW.  My issues are at night time   My child doesnt go home at 6pm!  Honestly, the first night we had him at home kinda felt like baby sitting and I kept waiting for someone to come pick him up!   I Guess that's why I feel like I can handle nap time issues but get lost at night time problems.  But yeah, learning to decipher cries and understanding that crying is how babies communicate was a big part of my day and a tough thing to learn. 

Ah geez.  He's up from his CN.  30 mins on the dot.  So bath, books and bed time are coming up, and I'm going to go hide under my covers and wait for tomorrow. 

[nursemeg01]

so sorry to hear about that. I actually had the same type of migraine. They are called atypical migraines. I still get them...lose my vision for 20 minutes (like a tunnel). very scary.

I was completely new to BW when I started so the crying thing was new to me. I'm finally getting comfortable.

It's almost 7 here and my plan was to have DD down by 6:15 since she is still refusing the CN and she had been awake since 3. However, we got stuck in traffic and so she's upstairs playing with her feet. Let's hope this last SUPER long A time doesn't mess things up tonight. Man I can't wait for the CN to be an issue of the past!