8 mo having horrible nws and naps are not good either - what is going on?

[shresmummy]

Hey sherry!

Actually he was rubbing his eyes and yawning. So I thought he would settle well. Yesterday was in fact a 13 hr day by the time he finally settled at 6:50 pm. But we still had the same pattern of nws.

Today he had a short am nap funnily which screwed up my plans to stretch outthe 2nd A time. But it turned out ok.

Wake 6
Nap 9-9:45
Nap 12:40-2
Bt I took him in at 5:40 h fell asleep well. Then he had a cry at 6:15, and took till 6:30 o resettle. Then again he's up at 7.

Geez my patience is wearing thin!! I just released it's been 6 weeks since he's slept in one go for longer than 45 mins in the early part of the night.

Jane, I try and hang back as much as I can.but usually it can start off as a grizzle but becomes a full blown cry of desperation and I need mummy now! To resettle I pck up for a few mins then put him back down in 2 minsor so. Then. Try to pat or stroke if he hasn't settled. Usually he will.

Seriously do I have any options left? Is this just one of those things I have o ride out?

Btw he still has no teeth at  nearly 9 months!

[shresmummy]

I forgot to ask...is it worth ditching th early bt concept? And just keep him up till 6:30 or something even I he's woken at 2pm? clearly early bt isn't helping either?

[*Kara*]

Honestly hun, I would keep him up closer to 7pm to get him good and tired.  I truly think that your NW's are UT, not OT as would generally be thought. 

FWIW - we got 4 teeth within 3 weeks here... first one at 9.5 months.

[annette.xx]

and we got 4 teeth within 1.5 wks here!! so could be coming for you!!

Annette.xx

[*Kara*]

Wow Annette! That would be tough on a LO (and a momma!)

[shresmummy]

Wow! That seems tobe a teething record! Dd was so different with teething.

Today was a good day I think. But let's see what the night brings.

Wake 6
Nap 9:05-10:35 (i had to wake him up to go pick up dd. Shame! But figured he had a good nap)

Nap 1:55-3

Bt settled by 6:30. He was outright crying with DH at 6 while I was putting dd to bed. Anyway I took him in at 6:15 he was fussy.

I have no idea if he was super ot or if that was his body used to bing tired?

He slept by 6:30 pm. I guess 3.5hr A time? Or is that 3h15 min cos I took him in at 6:15?

Anyway let's see

(update...he has woken now at 7:15, then again at 8:20.. After this resettle he seems to be sleeping. He did this last night too. After the first 2 or 3 wakes he sleeps for 1.5-2 hrs before waking for a feed.)

[*Kara*]

Have you thought about night weaning?  He is getting to the age where night feeds can be more disruptive than helpful...

[shresmummy]

I have Kara...I was going to wait until October to start holding back on the second night feed. I say october because we are going for a holiday back to Sydney for a week at the end of sept. We will all be sharing a room at my in laws place so if everyone is to get some sleep I will have to feed him!! But when we get back I am going to seriously think about it.

Same story with nws tonight.

Sherry, I remember you once saying Lyle was like this too with the early nws. How did you deal with that? Did he just outgrow it? Did you play around with A times?

Our day today was average..
Wake 6
Nap 9-10:15
Nap 1:25-2:15... Oh well!
He was off his face tired so I took him to sleep by 5:45... I literally could not keep him up. He slept instantly. But then dd woke him up with a tantrum before her bt at 6:10.

I had both of them to deal with then! I had to bf him to sleep in Dd's room! he slept by 6:40

He has been up at 7:30, 8:20, 9:20 and again at 9:40 when he had a full feed.

[annette.xx]

yeah it was hell with all them teeth popping at once!! he now has 3 more lurking under gums and has started complete morning meltdowns so im guessing history may repeat itself!! oh and yesterday and today 2hr 15 first A time  I just couldnt deal with watching him rub his face off and screaming so to hell with it I let him sleep!!

Priya I really feel for you will this NW malarky! I think he is really telling you he is in 2;1 territory - I think he likes his first A shorter so if you stick with 3hrs then allow as long a nap as possible (you may have to stretch to 3hrs 15 soon tho if you keep getting 1hr 15 nap cos this will mess you up!) then next A will be 15-30 mins longer than first A time then nap 2 needs to be capped anyway if you had a first nap of over 1.5hrs - I think he is ready for capping it at 45 mins/1hr personally then you keep last A at 3hrs max if 45 min or 3hr 15 max if 1hour nap ...

I had early NW again the other night and it was 100% down to the fact that I had let him nap an hour for last nap then did just over 3hrs A time but he went sleep nicely only to keep greeting me every 40 mins thereafter!!

its so hard to get it right isnt it? im still debating short am or short pm nap - I know my DS needs one or the other shorter sometime soon!!

hope it gets better soon for you

Annette.xx

[Lisacancun]

Hi. I too am having similar problems with night wakes and I am not even close to solving my LO problems but something great happened yesterday. My 5 month old woke up once instead of four times and slept in until 6 rather than 515 am. What I changes was her early bedtime. She was falling asleep at 630 sometimes 640 but then waking all through the night. Yesterday I decided to give her a catnap at 5 and feed  ( I added a feed here  between 3 and 7)woke her up after 40 minutes. 540 activity time soft play bath book snuggled and bottle at 720 and sleeping at 740. What I feel like is it's almost an extra activity time I've added before nighttime. Well it's quick to talk but I think that made her more tired for the night. Seems from your posts she wakes up anyways at 7 8 9. You also said she is sooo tired at 6 so even if her cn is at 530 till 6 it's ok then she will stay up a bit longer to have the later bedtime. I realized my LO was also hungry and got cranky at 5 so a feed worked well and I think helped her fill up more to lower nw frequency. Worked for me...... So far. Let's see tonight.

[shresmummy]

Hey Annette, gosh 3 more teeth! Good luck!

You reckon they are already in 2-1? My goodness!

Well today worked well and guess what! After going to bed tonight, he only woke up 1.5 hr after!! And resettled very quickly too.

Wake 6
Nap 9-10:15 ish.
Nap 1:30-2:50/2:55
Bt he was asleep by 6:20 and I took him in at 6:05.

His nws were so far 7:55. I felt like a new woman able to eat dinner in one sitting! Now I don't know if this will ever happen again but I am going to try and repeat today.

Seems like he liked 3h15 min A time.

Lisacancun, that is so great your lo had a good night! At 5 mo we were also doing that cn. It was such a drama trying to drop it and I finally feel like we are able to get through the day on 2 naps! And before I know it we will be doing the 2-1!!  Good luck with your night!

[annette.xx]

wow thats great!! long may it continue!!

when I say 2;1 we are still way off the switch but I mean approaching the slow painful process of nap shortening - at 9 months most babies drastically cut sleep needs by 15-30 less sleep needed each day and its blimin hard work isnt it!! I think my DS has already started needing less overall sleep as if I get the naps spaced right in the day and daysleep is 2.5/3 hrs in a 13hr day then he sleeps almost thru (just 1 feed on those nights!!) and wakes at a lovely 7am!! ...which tells me he needs 13.5/14hrs total sleep - wheras I was until just a couple of weeks ago keeping him on a 12hr/12.5 day with 3hrs daysleep which meant 12hrs left in the 24hr day for nightsleep which was obviously why it was going wrong for me and I was getting loads of NW cos his day was too short for the amount of sleep he needed - IYKWIM!!!

I got an EW today and wasnt really suprised as looking back my day ended up nearer to 12.5 hrs with him napping 3hrs so it was just too much sleep I suppose!...

Lisa - I think you are really onto something cos all the madness happens when they are dropping sleep needs and the main nightmare ones are 3-4 months then 5-6 months then 8-9 months then again 11 - 12 months - so by you adding that catnap and stretching the day out later you are allowing the extra A time needed without your LO becoming OT - I remember when I was trying to get to 2 naps and I would end up with a rubbish nap day and throw in a catnap often it would make for a good night as it added the extra A time needed! unfortunately a few of these long days in a row can cause OT along with a whole host of other issues so watch out for any OT signs looming!! at the transition to 6 months AVERAGE sleep needs drop to around 14 1/4 hrs so make sure you are getting this is a 24 hr period and all should be ok!

Annette.xx

[Lisacancun]

Thanks for the tips.. i hope I wont have more problems from trying this new schedule. I guess we will see soon enough. So far she is not ot but Im watching carefully for signs. At 6 months is three naps necessary or two is enough. Right now she only sleeps about 30 to 40 minutes in the morning then 1 to 2 hours in afternoon then cat nap 30 to 45 minutes. She sleeps from 7/730 till 6 am. I always am worried Im messing up! lol

[*Kara*]

Three naps isn't always needed.  My DD was on 2 naps at 5 months, but they were each 2 hours long with 10 hours of night sleep.  It really all depends on the baby, hun.  Not all babies will do a 12 hr night, mine is a perfect example: no matter what time she goes to bed, she wakes 10 hours later   If I want her up at 7am, she has to be up until 9pm!  YEESH!

Is she happy with the naps she is getting and does she STTN?  If the answers are yes and yes, it works for her

[Lisacancun]

sorry i am adding on this post but i appreciate the guidance. She does not sleep through the night. I wish.... She wakes once and sometimes again at 515 a.m: wondering if cat nap could be working against me, (waking) although seems like a long time without a nap. (she wakes at 2 or 230 from mid day nap.) Kara seems like you r baby naps really wow. you are lucky lol. I havent tried keeping my baby up  till 9 but i have a feeling she would probably sleep later.. but I rather wake up early than keep her up. I need my downtime in the evening.