Days are falling apart.

[~Emma~]

OK, so DD can now get a good nap in the morning ( most of the time!). Its hard to tell what the A is as she is generally awake when I wake just lying looking aorund bless her! However this morning I did wake her at 7.30 and she had a A of 1 hour 10 so I suppose thats a guidleline. ( cues are not reliable and/or non-existant  ) Goes down completely independantly, fully awake into crib and nods off amd will sleep for 1.5-2 hours. 

 The days goes to pieces after that. I have tried all different A's. This morning was as short as one hour, she fought it and ended up actually sleeping after 1 hour 20mins but only slept for 30 mins. She wont go down independantly for any other nap but the 1st but will for bedtime ( exhaustion mainly).

 After that second rubbish nap the only thing about the day that is consistant is feeding every 3 hours. I do try for another nap in the crib after that and if it happens its only ever 30/45 mins. After that I give up I'm afraid then if she doesn't fall asleep in her pram/carseat then she doesn't sleep again until bedtime.

 I know its OT thats the issue but I just dont know how to nail this second nap. Any ideas?

[LucySol]

Are her nights still as good as they were Emma? if so she is sleeping a good solid chunk at night maybe she needs a longer A time for that second A? Have you tried as long as 1.45/2 hrs? if she is still sleeping as well at night and then a good nap after that maybe she is UT going down for the next nap so therefore getting OT during the day?
Our first A of the day was always the shortest compared with the rest of them.

[~Emma~]

Her nights are pretty good. Down at 6.30/7pm, DF at 11, NF at 4ish and up for the day at 7/7.30am. I didn't think of an even longer A tbh. I thought going as far as 1.5 hour might be pushing it. Thing is when I did eventually get her to sleep this morning it was only after 1 hour 20 min A and she only slept 30 mins so I'm guessing OT. 

 So she napped for an hour 40 mins this am, woke at 10.10am. Since then she has had a 30 min nap. DH and I are taking it in turns to try and settle her and she ain't going down again so that'll be it for the day. No more sleep for her. Its just so frustrating knowing that she CAN do it. I can get her to sleep in my arms after ALOT of bouncing/jiggling but as soon as she goes down she's crying. She wont even be AP'd thats the most frustrating part of it all. She's now deep in OT land. 

[scucci1979]

Lots of hugs Emma! I know exactly what you are going through.  No matter what A time I try, I can't even get past the 35min mark. I have to go in her room at the 30min mark to help her sleep a little longer. 

She wont even be AP'd thats the most frustrating part of it all.

same here. There must be something in the air.
Is she waking up happy or crying?
Second nap for me is awful now. It seems the day slowly falls apart after the first nap-even if it is a good nap. 

[~Emma~]

Is she waking up happy or crying?

 She's waking frustrated I'd say, not hard crying but not mantra either. Screams the place down when I try to extend but as soon as I give up and turn the light on she's all smiles. The smiles are less and less throughout the day though! DH finally jiggled her to sleep a half hour ago and she's just woken this very second so better run. ( Was going to type that she's still asleep...hahahaha...)

[scucci1979]

too funny !  I personally think they wake up crying b/c they are frustrated that they can't move to the next sleep cycle. Alyssa does the same thing, even if it is a two hour nap. Of course the smiles would be less as she is getting more tired as the day progresses. why or why can't they just sleep if they are tired?  How did the second nap go?

[~Emma~]

Awful! She slept for 30 mins and woke really upset then I decided to go and do a bit Xmas shopping and thankfully she had an hour in the buggy whilst I was out. She's gone down for bed now and I still havent decided what to do with that 2nd A tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a new day.....

[scucci1979]

Tomorrow is a new day...

I keep telling myself that!
At lease she gave you a decent nap in the buggy.
For her last nap she woke up 35min into it and would fall asleep on my shoulder but as soon as I put her down she woke up crying.   

[~Emma~]

Had a BAD night last night. The first ever bad night we have had. She woke at 10.30 so I gave her DF, again at 2 and again at 5.30. Fed all times as I could not settle her, especially at 2am she was beside herself. When I fed at 2 I fell asleep and woke at 4 with her still attached to my breast in the bed!

 I think the swaddle might need to go over here, she had escaped at all wakings and was trying to get her fist in her mouth. But then again she needs it. I hope that this is not the sign of bad nights starting, I cant do it. I dont even know if feeding was the right thing to do or not.

 Its 8.30am and I have left her asleep so I am wondering how today is going to go.

[cath~]

Hi,
this all sounds incredibly familiar!  My LO is 3 mos and we're going through exactly the same thing! As you say, even AP wouldn't work yesterday! And at bedtime she was inconsolable and pretty much cried herself to sleep. First time that had ever happened as she's normally quite good at bedtimes.
The snow and freezing weather is making it even worse as I can't even take her out for a walk to help her nap. Roll on spring, eh!
Hope things improve for us all soon!

[scucci1979]

OMG Emma, lots of hugs! I know how frustrating it is.  I too feed when I have bad nights.  Not sure if it is the right thing to do, but I do. 
It could be the swaddle. Have you tried to swaddle with one arm out. Weaning something is so hard on us mommies.    You know my paci story.

[~Emma~]

I tihnk we are just caught in that in between stage with the swaddle...she still needs it but it needs to go too kwim? Just not sure how to call this one, one of her most trusted tired cues is sucking her fingers and I think she would do that if she got the hang of it but would keep hitting herself in the face.

 Well today I woke her at 8.30am, unsure where the start of the day was. 5.30am or 8.30am? Well now trying to squeeze all the feeds in before 7pm as she wouldn't last until an 8pm bedtime. I just put her down there at 12.00 for a nap after dropping of DS and she went down completely independantly. I have no idea whats going on here.

 Might give the DF a miss tonight and see what happens. I just cant seem to male a decision for the life of me on anything though. So tired right now.

[scucci1979]

I just cant seem to male a decision for the life of me on anything though.

Tell me about it!
That is why I go to bed when Madison goes to sleep at 8pm.  i need to get some sleep.  I feel like I don;t have a life.

That is great that she went down independently.
How did the rest of the day go?

[~Emma~]

Had the ostaopath so for the rest of the day she only had 20 min in the car. Dropping the DF tonight to see how that goes. Eeeeeek.

 I wish I could go to bed at 8pm but I need that time for me to do my thing. Mainly watching tv and eating but I need it to feel human y'know. I should really force myself to go though.

[Gpgmum]

Hi,

I hope you don't mind me jumping in on your post, I'm pretty new to these forums but have read so much good stuff and your post is exactly what I'm going through with DD who's 14 weeks. I've been working on ssh pat and extending naps, she seems to be getting good at putting herself over to sleep as long as I can get her to her crib at just the right time but I am finding it impossible to get a good second nap and then the feeding napping schedule goes haywire! Could it be that now the first nap is working well the second will come soon?! Does anyone consider waking LO from their first nap after say an hour to try to get a longer second nap? Too scared to try in case the rest of the day there is even less sleep! I have had no success with extending naps at all and the crying seems to escalate when I try and stops when I stop trying. But then my 3-3.25 hr routine is all off as I always have to feed early.

Good luck and look forward to any tips!

Thanks