4mo getting worse with naps... please help!

[mrsfabmoretti]

Hi,

My LO is 4 mo and a spirited baby. About a month ago, he was great at self-settling and would have about 4-5 (short) naps per day. I left this as he sleeps 13 hours per night and seemed happy enough through the day.

A few weeks ago, he started crying before each nap and was getting more and more difficult to put down to sleep. So, following advice on these forums, I upped his A time to 1hr40 and he started napping for 1.5hrs! However, the past week, he has seemed to regress. 1hr40 no longer seems to work and he has started taking 30 min naps. I thought he might be UT, so have tried playing about with A times- from 1hr40 to 2hr10 and still- 30 min naps and a battle to get him down to sleep. After the first short nap, the day seems to go downhill from there. He does have the odd 1.5hr through the day, but this doesn't seem to follow any pattern.

Please help! Very unhappy baby and mummy.

x

[mrsfabmoretti]

P.S. Should also mention- he used to go 3.5-4 hrs between each bottle, but now it can be anything up to 5h, as he just doesn't seem to want it. Our routine is all over the place!

[*Jo*]

hi!

does your baby have any medical conditions ie reflux, MPI? something that could contribute to him not wanting to feed as often? also how long did you try the new A times for? just trying it once or twice you may not see results straight away and also with spirited babes i think you ahve to increase A times slowly?

[mrsfabmoretti]

Hi again,

Thanks for your reply.

I think that he may be teething. Have tried giving him Calpol or teething gel before each feed and it seems to be working a little, but his feeding times are still really inconsistent.

We tried 1hr35-40 for just over a week, and this worked with longer naps, but then he started crying lots when I put him down for a sleep and it took him up to 30 mins to settle. I wondered if that was because he was OT so have tried extending A times, but only trying them for a few days at a time. We are all over the place now and just don't know how long to have his A times.

[mrsfabmoretti]

Well I tried 1hr40 again and he just cried and cried for 20 mins (me trying to soothe, put dummy in,  etc.) and now I have just gotten him up and going to have to try again soon. It is really stressing us both out and I go back to work on Wednesday so wondering if it is all worth it for the sake of a short nap. But also know it is no good for me or him if he is OT. Please help- I am completely lost and no idea how to set A times. It's all gone to pieces.

[*Jo*]

ok, are you able to put up how your day went today? in EAS routine
it could be that hes fighting going to sleep because hes not ready to go to sleep yet? Often times we found that if Caleb fought going to sleep like that it was either because he wasnt ready to go to sleep and thats what he was telling me or he was overtired, we had missed the sleep window and gone way past it. now unless your LO is really OT then i dont think its that as he will be pretty close to the 4 hour routine as it is

[mrsfabmoretti]

I suspect that it could be UT. It just baffles me how 1hr35-40 worked like a dream just two weeks ago and now not at all. How long do you suggest I increase it? Might try 1hr50 tomorrow and see what happens. Also, I always clock-watch, rather then read his cues. Could this be where I'm going wrong? I'm scared of him getting OT.

I will post his EAS routine tomorrow night, as we have had a very unsettled day (had a baby class then been out) and it wouldn't be a true reflection of his routine. I can tell you that he woke at 7am, was fed at half 8 (last feed at 5am so wasn't hingry before this), then I attempted to get down at 8.40am. It was 9.25am before he finally settled and slept, and he was awake at 9.55am.

Thanks for your help. I felt desperate this morning!!

[*Jo*]

yes i would try 1 hour 50 and see how that works. most people advise reqading by cues only but im a huge fan of both at the same time, so keeping an eye on the time but also reading cues