Hello! My baby boy is 8 weeks old today. He was sleeping GREAT at night until recently...I guess he's still doing pretty good, but not as great as we had become used to. Before we started trying to teach him to take good naps in his crib, he was going to bed at night at around 7:30 p.m. and staying asleep until 3:30 in the morning (w/ an 11 p.m. dream feed). After that, he'd wake again at 5:30 or 6, nurse a bit and stay asleep until almost 8.
So, we started teaching independent sleep for napping. We started putting him to down in his crib (previously was sleeping in his bouncy seat) while he was dosing off, rather than fully asleep. We've dealt w/ the 20 minute wakings, then he got past that and does 30 minute wakings. It's a struggle to get him back to sleep at all after this unless he's being held.
My question is this...at this young age, is it possible that his fragmented napping could be effecting his night sleep? He is still going to bed around 7:30 but now he's waking at 1:30 or 2 to eat and again at 4, then again at 5:30 at which point I give up and put him to bed w/ me. If it's possible that his bad naps are the culprit, should I take a break on the nap training for a day or two and just hold him after the 30 minute waking so he can get some rest and start sleeping again at night?
I feel like we are in a vicious cycle...The longer we go w/ the nap training w/o success the worse his night sleeping is. Of course I'd LOVE him to take great naps right now, but for me, the night sleep is most important and I really want it back .
Thanks,
Trisha
