EW with 6 month old

[huby]

extend those A times I reckon and see what happens. Just do 15 mins a time over three days and see what happens. Try the first nap first.
We had LO screaming for four hours last night and still woke at 6.30 - the teething is hellish. She only has two bottom teeth, but think the top ones are coming and giving her a hell of a lot of trouble at night. Ugh

[karendbrooks]

Hi ladies.  Happy Friday. 
Hope every one has had a good day today and a good night last night.  Our night was ok, but today so far has been pretty rockin'.  He had a 2 hour nap at 8:45, and a 2 hour nap at 1:45.  All that's left is our CN, which I dont know if we'll do.  Right now he's been up for almost 2 hours, and he's pretty darned happy.  May skip it and have an early bedtime since he woke up at 3:45. 

Amanda - I found the Aveeno lotion, and we're giving it a go on his face, since that seems to be the driest place.  Still doing the Mustella on the rest of him.

Oh and he launched himself forward last night.  Gop up on his hands and knees and PUSHED himself about a foot forward.  If his arms had moved, he would have looked like a little frog.  But, instead he face planted on the carpet.  Which didnt help his redness from the excema!   

Gotta run for now.  The jumperoo is no longer exciting!
Happy weekend!

[aselby]

hey all...spent a relaxing day away from the computer today ....so, we took C to the doc's today b/c he was still having diarrhea and not eating well and was up for 2 hrs last night from 930-1130 moaning..never crying just a low moan. it was very uncharacteristic and made me a bit nervous, really. i went in at 11:15 and put my hand on his back and rubbed it a bit and he didnt flinch. i then rubbed his head and he startled and started to cry. i'm not sure if he was even awake that whole time. it was very odd. anyway, the doc thinks that he had a bit of a bug in the beginning of the week and is getting better. the diarrhea has actually gotten better and he is starting to eat better during the day. ...BUT, his eczema was a secondary issue and the doc thinks that thats whats keeping him up at night....so, karen, i was given a new list of TO DOs for it...i will pass on the info for you incase Ians is as severe as Cs....

after the appt, i ran over to target and picked up a tub of eucerin cream, aveeno baby oatmeal bath and some children benadryl. we give him a bath every night as part of his bedtime routine, so i added the oatmeal to the bath and let him soak in that for 15 mins, then slather the eucerine all over his body immediately after while he is still wet to lock in the moisture. we gave him a 1/4tsp (1.25ml) of benadryl before bed. i dont know how i feel about this step, but i do feel like he is going crazy with itching so maybe once we get it under control, we wont have to use it. i am going to stop giving him yogurt for now and i am going to try and cut dairy out of my diet for awhile to see if that is a trigger. ugh. poor little guy.

so, he didnt get loads of sleep last night...woke up and had a 1.5h nap then 2 short ones ( dh was in charge and just went with cues) and was in bed for the night at 6. so far, i havent heard a peep. i'm hoping that he will feel better tonight to sleep well and we'll start anew tomorrow. the doc did say that he is, indeed teething. she can see his 2 lower teeth under the gums. so, we'll be waiting with baited breath for those little suckers to pop through...

karen- SO EXCITING about Ian crawling! we've been watching all sorts of gymnastics as well. i cant believe how quickly it all happens! have you baby proofed anything yet? we sure havent..i did put some plugs in the outlets, but thats it so far. here we go! thats so great about your day of naps! yahoo! what times did you use? did he end up taking the CN? hoping you have a great night tonight....

[anielasmommy]

i know bath time is a huge part of the bedtime routine but i heard it further dries out the skin. have you tried using any organic products? all the added chemicals to the other stuff may be contributing...
do you do the massage as a part of the routine? maybe you could do a bath every couple of days but have the massage every night. i use organic sunflower oil to massage DD with.

also if you are adamant about the bath maybe purchase a shower filter. i have a Berkey shower filter that filters out the chlorine and other chemicals and bacteria so it doesnt dry out all our skin or pollute our lungs from the harmful steam full of chemicals..this way when i take a shower DD is in there with me and i dont worry about damaging her lungs either. my shower is like my freedom or something lol i can not live without it and it needs to be super hot in order for me to feel good afterwards. --just a thought



we had company over the other day and DD didnt take her 2nd nap until 4hrs A and she had a short nap of course so she went to bed at 6 instaed of 7 and we are still recovering! b/c she went to bed at 6 she was up at 5 and then we were all screwed up i tired 3 naps yesterday b/c her first nap was 30 mins...then she would not hold out until 7 sp she passed out at 5:50 so last night was hell on earth. all the shorter A times screwed me and she was up from 1am-6am with only 1 hour of sleep!!!!! im a zombie right now lol she just did a 3.5hr A so hopefully thats enough A time to get a good nap out of her.

[kikoz]

hi ladies , sorry to jump in like that, but i ve started to read your thread and it seems very similar to what i m experiencng right now... my lo is 7 months and 2 days , has two ok naps- between 1 hr to 2 hrs... BUT has an early wake everyday between 515 and 545! and she is up for the day!
1st A time 3hr 15, 2nd 3hr 30 and 3rd between 3h and 3hr 15...
can you just please let me know if any of you worked this EW out? I m thinking of implementing the set nap thing... can you please explain to me how its done and if it worked for any of you? is there a sticky so i can read about it?
soryy again to jump in like that, but been posting on this for a while with no success! i m happy to find somthg similar to what i m going through, so maybe now i will see some light... thanks a lot X

[aselby]

welcome kikoz15! hey- the more the merrier! we are just tired moms looking for ways to find sleep! you are more than welcome to hop aboard..great group of ladies on this thread. please feel free to post your EASY so we can take a peak. we have had minimal success with our EWs....we were getting up at 4-5am...now we have it tamed to 615-645, but like your lo, he goes to bed early so its to be expected that he wakes with the birds. we pushed our bedtime back ( he was going down earlier than 6 due to short naps and that only perpetuated the EWs)and i stopped feeding him when he woke ( i did that in hopes of him falling back off to sleep...worked 50% of the time, but a nasty little habit formed) . i also pushed his first A out a bit. these all seemed to help out quite a bit. the last week has been a complete mess due to teething and illness so we are nowhere near "back on track" whatever that is for us. this morning he was up at 515, but was in bed for the night at 6. we didnt have any NWs for the exception of 2 feeds so i am happy.

kami- i so hear you on the organic front. we have tried all sorts of homeopathic remedies and nothing really seemed to work. we are still against any major steroid creams, so we'll see where this takes us. as far as the bath goes...its actually recommended that he take a short bath and then heavily lubricate his body to lock in that extra moisture. we liive in a SUPER dry climate so thats whats been suggested for us to help make up for it. sorry about your bad nap days..hope they clear up for you!

[karendbrooks]

Hi Gals.
Hope everyone had a great Friday night and that your weekend is getting off on the right foot. 

I kinda set myself up for disaster last night; I was a little selfish.  After a day of great naps, 2 of them at 2hours each, I was setting the Man up to not have a CN and go to bed at 7.  But then my sweet, loving DH called and said, "lets go to dinner, something quick and easy."  It was only 5:45 at the time, so I figured we could get Ian in bed still by 7 something if we went to a cheap, quick little Mexican restaurant right by our house.  Went well.  Got to dinner at 6:15, and we were out by 7:15.  The kiddo was still awake, and it only took 5 minutes to get home, so I had him in bed by 7:30. Problem was - this was almost 4 hours A time.  But he was SO good and so happy and sweet.  Fell right to sleep and slept great up until about 10. Then he woke up crying REALLY hard.  Dont know what that was about.  Stopped after about 10 minutes of snuggles, then back to sleep and slept through his DF.  He fussed at 3:45 (and normally I would have gotten up to feed him, but -be proud of me- I let him work it out and he went back to sleep.  Then did it again at 4:45.  I tried to ignore him again, but he really woke himself up this time.  Fussing turned to singing, singing turned to screeching...  So I got up, gave him 4oz at 5, and he was awake until 5:45.  Went back to sleep until 7:15.  Our first nap today was at 9:45, but he only slept for an hour and 20 mins.  Not sure what that means.  So I'm going to shoot for another 2.5-2.75 A time. 

Amanda - Thanks for the excema tips.  His isnt horrifically bad, but his skin is really dry, especially on his forehead and cheeks.  I'm using the Aveeno lotion on his face and the Mustella on his body.  Going to try this for a time and see how it goes.

Kami - what organic products?  I havent found any here. 

Kikoz - welcome!  Glad to have you with us.  Like Aselby said, please post your EASY, and maybe we can spot something   Nothing like the blind leading the blind though!!

Happy Saturday everyone!

[huby]

hello ladies,

Wow two long naps is great Karen, well done.
Hi Kikoz, i think i was in a similar position to you (baby 8 months today) but sigh, now she are back to one long morning nap and one short afternoon nap just when i thought I had it cracked.
Can any one think of anything?
#

[karendbrooks]

Huby!  Sorry! I forgot you in that last post   Oops.  How are things with you? 

I personally think our babies have been logging on and reading about all of our stress, trials and tribulations and having a great laugh   I think it's a conspiracy. 

[karendbrooks]

Ladies,
 
did we ever decide that 45 min naps were OT or UT?  In the throes of a 45 min nap right now.  He's currently still in his crib singing.  Well, now fussing.
sigh

[huby]

don't worry Karen, no harm done.
oh blimey - 45 mins is a tricky one as it could be either, but I'm hazarding a guess that it could be UT....but then again?
I have no idea really, suppose the way to find out is to push the A time by 15 mins and see if he wakes up cranky or gets cranky v shortly afterwards? Ifo, suppose he's OT, if not, guessing UT.

We had 1 1.5 nap and second day of the dreaded 45 min afternoon nap - so am gonna try pushing it 15 mins if tomorrow I get the same. Eeek, here we go again.

[aselby]

Hey ladies....

karen....sorry about your night. it sounds like everything straigtened itself out in the end. good work on letting him resettle! i need some of that courage right now! 45 mins naps ...hhmmm....we aso rarely get them that i'm not sure. our UT naps are ALWAYS 36mins. dont know what thats all about. would love to know more about the 1h20min nap. thats what we've been consistently geting 1x day. i'm believing it UT. and if Ians singing after a 45min nap...UT, i'm thinking. what A time did you use? i agree with huby..push it out and see what the result is.

huby- sorry to hear that your 2nd nap got cut short again . sounds like mayeb she needs another bump, what do you think? what times are you currently using these days? i think you said 3, am i right? i would try 3.15 tomorrow for that second A and see what happens...and she just turned 8 months today?! happy 8 months! do you think she might need a boost at that first A as well? have you ever gotten more than a 1.5 nap?

well....we had our first nap at 36mins (UT) after an A time of 2h30....second A of 2.25 and had a 1h20 nap. he is down for nap #3 after a long A of 3.15.....oooppps! we went out to watch a horse drive and didnt get home until a bit later than expected. he was cheery and not too hard to put down. he was sleepy in the car on the way back and i felt awful, but like karen and meg....sometimes you just need to get out and do something fun. i'm guessing this nap will be 30mins of the nose (OT for us). oh well. at least its the last nap of the day....he woke at 515 this morning and its 330 now...i bet he'll be up from this nap around 345, so i'll plan on having him in bed around 615. long day, i know, but i'd like to stretch him out a bit so we can get back on schedule.

how much A time are you all giving as a last one before bed, with or without a CN? C can handle a good amount of time...he rarely wakes early in the night from OT...it shows up later ..but we've been having so many NWs lately from illness and accumulated OT that i cant tell anymore. perhaps i should put him down earlier tonight...like 6? what do you all think?

[*Ali*]

I haven't read all 13 pages of this thread so forgive me if I repeat anything just a few things I noticed:
-11.5 hours of night sleep is the ideal on a regular basis so it is natural that a baby should wake happy and not tired or wanting more sleep after this amount of sleep. If a baby goes to sleep at 6 or 6:30 on a regular basis and wakes early it is probably because he has had enough sleep. If the EW is too early for you try to gradually (not all in one go) reset bedtime to 7:30 with a goal of waking at 7am.
-A baby of 4 months or older should not be feeding more often than every 4 hours on a regular basis. The tummy is big enough to eat more at each sitting so eating every 3 hours or so is not appropriate for a baby so old. Shorter times between feeds can mean they are not taking enough at each sitting and therefore not taking enough throughout the day. This will mean NWs when they will take a full feed to fill up. Upping the amount of milk during the day can reduce the need to feed at night even during a GS (which I think there is one at 6 months).
- There should be no need (nutritionally) for a baby of 6 months to feed at night so if upping the milk during the day doesn't stop this it may be habit. You can use PUPD instead of feeding to get then back to sleep for a few nights and then they should sleep through without waking on their own. Probably try this first of all on a (Friday?) night when you don't all have to wake up for work the next couple days.
All easier said than done I know... 

[anielasmommy]

PUPD is torture for my LO and nothing comes out of it...idk about formula feeders but alot of BF babies eat at night until 1yr. its all society based anyways...i the US if your baby doesnt come out of the womb STTN there must be something wrong with him but in alot of other countries its perfectly normal for a baby to have NW and NF until the age of 2 or so...it all depends how you feel i guess.

i dont know any specific eczema products...but if you got to whole foods or another natural store maybe even shaws...they have a specific organic baby products section that has lots of creams and stuff. you could use adult treatments that are organic as well. i head coconut oil does wonders for eczema. california baby has good products i just googled and found an eczema one too idk if it works b/c DD doesnt have it but heres a link http://www.californiababy.com/eczema-sampler.html

[aselby]

PU/PD is torture over here too. i think i might relax a bit on the nightfeeds for a bit. and HAHAHA about STTN out of the womb. i got a huge kick out of that. too true!

thanks for the links to natural eczema creams...we do use coconut oil and have had minimal success with it..but your baby smells like a dream! have seen california baby products before. perhaps i will pick some up.

well....he went down at 6. he was rubbing his eyes in the tub, so away we went. and OF COURSE as soon as i put him down, he started chatting away. i dont know if any of your babies have started doing this or not, but just within this week, when i bend over to put C down in his crib he practically leaps out of my arms into his crib and immediately rolls over onto his belly. its as if he's begging me to put him down! here i am, slow dancing with my little boy, singing away thinking that he NEEDS this in his routine ( i think i need it more than him) and he just wants to be put down breaks my little heart. oh how am i going to cope with the first day of school, college...etc....its starting!