Please help me figure out the reasons for the NWs

[ZacsMumme]

This gradual thing takes too long as we don't seem to have long enough between teething and reflux flares to make any progress.

(HUGS) I know what you mean, we are always 2 steps forward one step back. At the moment our PM naps are all AP, Im pretty sure I have created a monster but DS has been teething so bad, now has a cold and seems to have had a bit of a reflux flare up. I just want bear to see him in pain.

I can honestly say though, that for Zac anyway, the teething seems to upset him almost as much as the reflux did/does. It could be your LO is similar, just a rotten teether

Hope that stuff helps. We have bonjela, probably similar. wares off after 1/2 hour though.  Good luck for tonight x

[lesliemarie]

Last night was actually better.  Still not great but not the hourly waking.  I had given her advil at bedtime but she still woke 4 times in the first 3 hours.  So I tried Giving her a big bottle of very thickened formula.  After that she slept for over 4 hours (if I'm remembering the times right).  thin she was up two more times.

So what I changed yesterday was putting her down after only 2 to 2.5 hours of A time.  I just went by her cues.  She still only slept less then three hours during the day.  I also split her Losec dose so she has 10mg in the morning and 15mg in the evening instead of all of it in the evening.  Not sure if it helped but strangely she woke with hiccups which used to happen before the reflex was under control.  It didn't really seem to bother her but I had to help her back to sleep.  The last thing was to give the bottle of very thickened formula at 11.  I'm going to follow her cues again today and keep up the other changes to see if pit makes a difference.

[ZacsMumme]

Interesting about the hiccups, we are getting them again too and little spills which look curdled. I really think that teething makes the reflux worse (for us anyway) Sounds like you have got things moving in the right direction. I am going with DS cues at the moment too as well, he seems to need less A time while teething.

[Bex09]

Hi ladies, C also needs less A time when she is teething and she also gets clingy and OT really easily with it. I always go by her cues when she is teething and OT as her A times sometimes need to be hours shorter than normal! It usually works great to get her out of being OT though, so sounds like you are doing the right thing. Hope tonight is better again.

[lesliemarie]

Thanks for the positive responses.  I really hope it will be better as well.  She is really rubbing her mouth today and her nose is running.  She is also biting everything in sight.

[lesliemarie]

So last night was decent.  There were 5 NWs compared with the hourly waking.  I did feed her twice but it did help her sleep afterwards so I think that she was actually hungry.  Last night I thought that she was UT when I was putting her to bed because it took so long but then she slept the best in the early evening that she has in months.  I'm really not sure where to go from here.  It is really hard to get the CN in because sometimes I can't even wait 2.5 hours between the last nap and the CN but if she doesn't have it then she would have to be in bed by 5pm which doesn't work.  Any ideas?

[Bex09]

Hi hun glad you had a half decent night. If it makes you feel any better my DD is teething and has been that unsettled even with pain meds that she has spent the past two nights in our bed!!!! Oh dear AP nightmare alert! I just can't stand the constant up and down to her room every few mins and no sleep for any of us otherwise.

Anyway, from what you have said about your DD being more settled in the first part of the night when she was less tired really makes me think she is normally OT. The frequent wakings you normally get early in the night are classic signs anyway aren't they? What you do about this when she is already on short A times hun I really don't know. 

[lesliemarie]

I know.  It really is a struggle.  I think I was waiting until she was too tired just to stretch the A times.  Today she gave me just over 3 hours for her afternoon nap but then only slept an hour.  Only just as well.  So now bedtime will be at 6:15   and that is if she can do another 3 hours.

[Bex09]

For what it is worth, if my DD gives me a 1h nap then it means UT. I know all LOs are different though, why do you think that was, any ideas? I know I said OT before but you can easily get into the dreaded OT/UT loop can't you? So what is your EASY looking like now? Maybe if you post it we can spot something.

Also does she wake happy or crying and can you extend naps in any way? The way DD wakes early from naps always gives me a clue as to weather she was OT or UT. When she has done 3h A time how is she? Is she grumpy, sleepy, happy? Sounds like I am listing the 7 dwarfs here!! LOL. Does she then fall asleep easily and quickly or not?

[lesliemarie]

She seems to do a 1 hour nap regardless of whether she has been awake for 2 hours or 3 hours.  I know that if she wakes happy then I can't extend.  So for example yesterday morning she woke after 30 minutes and was crying so I was able to extend and actually ended up having to wake her up at 11 for the school run.  That was an hour and a half.  Then later in the day she did 3 hours of A time and had just barely an hour.  But then was in a great mood and she actually stayed up for 3 hours and 40 minutes.  I knew it was a bad idea but she was happy and just chewing away on a teething cookie for a good hour before bed.  I actually had to put her to bed and she didn't seem tired.  Then she woke 7 times between 7 and 10.  So I finally had to take her into my bed and go to bed for the night.  The positive thing here is that I know that the frequent waking in the early evening is OT.  After I took her into my bed she slept until 1 which never happens, then had a bottle.  I put her back in her bed where she only slept an hour.  Then I brought her back to my bed where she slept until almost 6.  My room is too light for her so I just bounced her a little then and she slept in her room for another hour. 

All that being said I don't really have an EASY to post as it has been different the past three days.  I'm going to attempt to only do two naps again today but put her to bed earlier.  I just wonder if it will work out timing wise.  Of course DH was out last night and tonight and I have to get DD1 to bed as well   

[Bex09]

Oh hugs hun, figuring out sleep is just sooooo hard isn't it? Your DD sounds just like mine in that if she is UT she wakes happy and you can't extend naps and if she is OT she wakes crying and you sometimes can extend. It sounds like she has quite a small window in which is the perfect A time for her so as not to be OT/UT. Finding it is the problem hey?!

OK, so you have tried 2h and 3h A time and still get about 1h sleep, 3h 40 gave you OT early NWings. So have you tried 3h 15mins? Maybe you could try adding 5 mins each day and see what happens? Some babies take a good while to get used to a change though so maybe only increase every few days. Do you think that would work to extend her naps and then eventually drop that CN?

Also I think taking her into your bed is also not helping. I say this from my own experiences as we have been doing this due to teething the past few nights. So last night the tooth has popped and she was medicated before bed and all seemed fine. BUT our DD kept waking all the time, I would settle her with just a hand on her and then leave and she would wake again. This went on and on so I caved and she came into our bed where she instantly snuggled up to me and DH and fell flat out asleep! There was clearly nothing wrong she just wanted us and our bed. She is staying put in her cot tonight no matter what!

[lesliemarie]

Well I'm going to do the 2.5 hours before the first nap because she woke at 7 and if I don't get her down by 9:30 then she won't have the opportunity to have a longer nap because she has to be up for the school run at 11.  Thankfully school is done in a few weeks.  Then I guess I'll have to go from there to figure out what A time to do depending on how long she sleeps for.  I am going to try to go back closer to to maybe 2.75 hours and see how that works.  I'll try reading her cues again but we saw how well that worked last night 

As for bringing her into bed with me I only did it because I couldn't keep going back in constantly.  I also didn't actually think it would work.  Last night was the first night that she has slept OK in my bed.  What I'm planning on doing is putting her crib mattress flat again (it is raised because of the reflux) because she slept fine in my bed.  I'm also going to put the really padded bumper pads on the rails in case running into that is causing a problem.  In my bed she rolled around a lot but in her crib she always ends up at the bottom of the bed so maybe it will help.  I only wish I could climb into her crib and that way she is still in her bed 

Oh and last night teeth were definitely an issue.  She was rubbing her mouth so much yesterday and when I brought her into bed with me she was whimpering a lot and I think me being there to put my hand on her and kind of shhh her back to sleep helped her not wake.  I had given her tylenol at bedtime and then oragel (numbing stuff) and finally advil at 10 and that allowed her to sleep but the stupid tooth is still not through.  She doesn't have any yet but they are bothering her so much.

[lesliemarie]

So she went down at 2 hours and 40 minutes of A time and fell asleep in less than 5 minutes.  I wonder if that is the perfect time for her.  It has been an hour and a half and she is still sleeping and now I have to wake her to go get DD1.    We'll see how this afternoon goes.

[ZacsMumme]

Great progress!

[Bex09]

That is great! Sounds like 2h 40 is the way to go. If you can get decent naps like that on that A time I would stick with it, if she is OT from NW then a long nap like that should get her over it too and set you up well for the rest of the day. Brilliant! How did the rest of your day and BT go hun?