Wake To Sleep for NWs - any experiences?

[jenslc]

Hi, Can someone please direct me to past posts on wake to sleep method? I have a 4 month old who wakes at 4 a.m. every morning (give or take about 15 minutes). I would like to read about others experiences with this technique. Thanks!

[deckchariot]

How about this: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64168.0

hth
michelle

[jenslc]

Thank you for sending, my browser keeps hanging up every time I click on the link. Are you having the same issue by any chance?

[deckchariot]

no, I'm not.....but you could try going to the naps board, then clicking on the FAQs and then clicking on the link - that might work better if you're having trouble. {{{{{{hugs}}}}}}

[jenslc]

Thanks, the information is helpful but I am actually looking for help on Wake to Sleep for night waking and I would really be interested in hearing about others experiences using it for night waking. Are there any posts out there you can direct me to? Thank you so much!

[deckchariot]

unfortunately, we don't have a support thread on w2s except for on Toddler Sleep.  I can do a couple of things - change the title of your post to ask for others' experiences, and move it over to the NWs board, that may generate some additional responses.

The other thing I wonder is if he's waking out of hunger?  At 4 mos, it's really normal to still have a night feed (or more).  My dd woke for months right around 4 every night (give or take 15 or so minutes either way) and it was hunger, not habitual.  She had a df at 10:30/11 every night and 4ish was just the time she got hungry.  If you want to post your EASY, we could take a look and see if there's something there to tweak.

In terms of doing w2s for NWs vs. short naps - the approach is really the same.  Instead of going in 15 min before the 45 min nap wake up, you'd go in 15 min before the habitual NW and follow the same procedure.    Let's just make sure it's habitual first.

hth
michelle

[jenslc]

Thanks, Michelle, I haven't ruled out hunger but I'm not quite sure if it's hunger or habitual. Here is my EASY. I stopped doing a dream feed around 9-10 weeks because it didn't seem to have any impact on the early morning wake up. I am considering adding it back but am nervous that by adding the dream feed I'll cause a night waking problem. I don't want to him to start waking up more than once.
Morning wake up is almost exactly 3 hours after the 4 a.m. wake up. The 4 a.m. wake up varies by 15 - 20 minutes in either direction and occasionally ends up being earlier, like 3:30.
Wake: 7:00 a.m.
E: 7:30 - 7:45 a.m. (wake up is 7:00 but he takes an antacid for reflux which requires we wait 30 minutes before feeding)
A: 7:30/8ish (Immediately after feed )
S: 8:30 - 9:00 - 10:40/11:00 a.m.

E: 11:00 a.m.
A: 11:20 a.m. (he is a quick eater)
S: 12:40/1:00 p.m. (depending on drowsy signs) - 2:40/3:00 (both day time naps are pretty regularly between 1:40 and 2 hrs)

E: 3:00
A: 3:20
S: 4:40 pm /5ish  (based on drowsy signs and prior wake up), lasts 40 - 45 mins, he wakes on his own for all naps)

E: 5:30 pm
A: 5:50
E: 7:00 (sort of a top off as part of our bed time routine)
S: 7:20/7:30

E: 4:00 a.m. always falls asleep during this feed and I put him back to bed until the morning wake up

Thanks for your input.

[deckchariot]

Based on your EASY, my guess with that 4 am feed is that it's hunger.  Especially if it varies timewise.  Bubs with habitual NWs are really habitual.  It doesn't vary more than 5 min usually.  And since there is no df, I'd say it's hunger.  I wouldn't bother adding in a df at this point if he's not used to taking one and he's only waking once for a feed, that's pretty normal for his age.  Is his bf?  If so, then I'd bet money it's hunger.  Our dd had 1 night feed (which was her df) until solids were well established (around 7.5 mos). 

If he goes right back to sleep after the feed and it's a full feed, my guess is that it's hunger, and I'd just keep it going and he'll drop it when he's ready.  If you notice that he's not wanting to eat at his first feed, then you might want to try to switch things up a bit, but if he's eating fine, then I wouldn't change anything.

The only other thing you could try is to merge the 5:30 and 7 cluster feeds into just one feed at bedtime - see if he takes a fuller feed later if that affects his 4 am feed.  I think we phased out the cluster feeds when we went to a 4 hr EASY, so you could try that.

[jenslc]

Thanks so much. I'd like to merge those last two feeds but he typically wakes up a bit cranky from the cat nap and feeding gets him through our dinner  . I'll see if I can gradually stretch to the 7 pm bed time. Sounds like I need to hang in there as this is a hunger feed - my first ds spoiled me, he fully slept through the night at around 8 or 9 weeks old. They are all different, right! I really appreciate the insight. Best to you.

[deckchariot]

and sometimes we do what we need so we can have that Y time and eat

And yes, they are allllllllll different