Support thread for raising touchy babies - part 2

[ZacsMumme]

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=52283.0

[shirat]

my baby is a touchy/spirited. she is 6 months old and still takes an hour every night to fall asleep and is up from 3-5 am every night. I tried feeding her then and that seemed to work, but now i removed the feed and she wont go back to sleep- she is wide awake from 3-5 am every night! im losing my mind! plus, her naps are terrible also. I am lucky if i can get an hour. Usually always wakes after 30-40 minutes and takes me about 20 minutes to get her back to sleep only to wake again 10 minutes later. at that point i give up. im tired, exausted and i have tried every possible solution- i even hired to sleep coaches and nothing worked!!! any one have ideas with how to deal with a baby like this???

[ZacsMumme]

(HUGS) shirat. Have you tried posting on the EASY or sleep boards for advice? I would suggest posting your EASY on teh EASY board first as it could be a routine issue. Long NW at this time can be due to UT or OT. At this age there is also a huge GS and developmental changes going on, which can affect touchy babies quite strongly sometimes.

[MommaBrooke]

Shirat - My LO is touchy and spirited as well...Spirited LOs generally are on the high end of A times (and lower sleep needs).  Trying to remember back to L at 6 months...She was on 2 naps and I think her schedule looked something like this:

7am Wakeup
9:30-11:30 Nap 1
2:30-4 Nap 2
7pm Bedtime

I think the trick with the touchy/spirited combo is trying to figure out the right A times (L liked increasing A times through the day) otherwise you get a big fight and UT nap.  Is she happy when she wakes up at 3am? If so, you probably do need to increase her A times during the day.  I find OT usually results in angry nws but it's fairly easy to get them back to sleep...UT nws are usually long and content   Good luck!  May be worth it to post your EASY on the EASY board like Sara suggested, and maybe post a link to it in the spirited support thread asking for the lovely ladies over there to take a peek as well (because when you're dealing with a spirited LO it's a whole different set of rules ).

[shirat]

its not gs related, since she has been like this forever! her routine is nap every 2 hours now. I started offering the paci again (after trying to wean her off it, which  didn't seem to make things any better) by naps and she's asleep within minutes in my arms. if i am a couple minutes off she is impossible- she looks like she is falling asleep but the minutes i put her down she is wide awake! She seems to be having trouble settling down on her own- she constantly is flapping her arms, kicking her feet, looking around, i have to hold down her arms, legs and cover her eyes every nap and bedtime. Basically She gets so distracted and she cannot calm donw. i joke that i have a baby with ADD! she just won't stay still and calm down. No matter if she had 3 naps, 2 naps , short naps or long naps, its the same thing every night- an hour to fall asleep and nw's and up by 6am for the day
Im offering her solids now, its a disaster as well- she just wont look straight at me- only over her shoulder....

[~Sara~]

Hi shirat   I agree with Sara (ZacsMumme): feel free to post on the EASY board or the General Sleep board to get some specific advice for your LO.  My little guy was a spirited sleeper at that age, too, and his room was like a CAVE, I kid you not.  If she's not used to going to sleep on her own in her crib (and not in your arms) that will take some time to help her learn.

And don't feel too pressured about the solids right now; she's still so little and they're more for fun and exploration at this point than a bulk of her nutrition.  That said, I think posting on the EASY board is your best bet to make sure her routine is a good fit for her.

[shirat]

thanks, i am trying to figure out where and how to post everything....

[~Sara~]

Here's the EASY board:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=41.0

All of the boards look like this/work the same way.  All you have to do to create your own thread is hit the "New Topic" button/link/tab on the top right of the board, just under the FAQ Section.   It's the 3rd tab from the left.

[Ima shel Alon]

Hi Shirat, I want to second (and third and fourth ) the advice to post on the EASY board. The ladies here are great and they all have been there, so I am sure you'll get good advice.
Don't despair, things will get better and sometimes a really small tweak in your EASY can change a whole night.

[shirat]

thanks everyone i posted on the easy board so we will see what happens. She was up at 5:15 friday night and would not go back to sleep until 7:30
HOw do you deal with a short napper, bad night sleeper and extending activity time? even if i wanted to extend her awake time i can't since she barely makes her 2 hr mark because she is so tired from only half hr am nap and bad nights...
Also any advice of feeding solids to a touchy baby??? its a disaster! shes not interested- i have to feed her sideways because she looks over her shoulder or anywhere else but at me! she only has about 10-15 minutes before she starts bugging out...

[Khalam's Mama]

Have you thought about blw? She sounds like she isn't that interested as my Ds1 wasn't for 4 wk then he started eating lots.

[shirat]

sorry, whats blw?

[~Sara~]

BLW=baby lead weaning.  Here's an FAQ thread that talks about it: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=92560.0.  Plus, you can find loads of info on the web.

The key with starting a new routine or adjusting a routine is that sometimes it's a gradual process.  Sometimes, it's true, there's a quick fix; but mostly it's more a steady change.  She'll get there.  Don't worry   Then she'll be doing something else that will leave you wondering   There is a LOT of growth, development and change during the first year.  It seems like that's the only thing that stays the same: change.  Hang in there!

[*Ali*]

Hi ladies, just joining in as I *think* Colby (DS2) is touchy. Cadan (DS1) was textbook/angel so this is all new to me.
Colby is only 6wks so we're still finding our feet. We swaddle at night and he has a NF at 3-4am after a BT of 8pm-ish,then he's up around 7am either for another feed then another hour or two of sleep or he's up for the day then. I'm not swaddling for naps because I feel it will mean he's swaddled for most of the day. His day sleep is inconisistent. This afternoon he slept from 2-6pm when I woke him up but sometimes I can bearly get half hour from him unless I hold him.   
He goes down to sleep independently at BT (although with a soother he spits out after a while) but often spends up to an hour or more just staring until he drops off. He rarely goes down independently for naps but then we do lots of naps on in the pram or wrap because I am out lots with Cadan at playgroups etc. I do need to work on inde naps but at the moment if we are home he mainly falls asleep feeding or being held and then I put him in the cot. He wakes about half the time when set down though. My one failsafe to get him asleep is to feed him lying on my bed and then leave him where he is when he falls off the boob.
Colby cries a lot during his A time. He is sensitive about who holds him (much to my mum's dismay) and jumps lots at noises, which can be a pain when you have a 21mo running around the place banging a xylophone!
He's very windy and sicks up a lot so I'm using Infacol and I've been trying a dairy-free diet for the last 3 weeks.
On a positive note he smiled at my mum today which made her day. 
I look forward to getting to know you other mamas of touchy babies and sharing tips.

[ZacsMumme]

Welcome Ali Z was very touchy when he was little, but I think a lot of it was OT and discomfort for us which made it worse.
I am not sure how he is 'crying' during his A time, but one thing that always helped settle Z during A time cries was to walk outside int he fresh air around the house (if it isn't too cold.) I have no idea why! Fresh air maybe and sound of birds rather than indoor noise? Plus it helped me to relax I think which he sensed. Rocking to music always helped too,esp if there was a lot of other stuff going on, it helped him to tune it out.  

I think (only from my experience) that touchies are really in tune with your emotions. When I felt tense or stressed he always had a worse day and wouldn't settle as well.

If he is in his own room white noise may help too...esp if he has a strong moro reflex.

On the touchy front here. I think my little monkey is now about 50/50 spirited...esp when it comes to not getting what he wants