16weeks, screwy nights, time to transition to 4hr EASY??

[londonlady]

Hi,

Not sure if this is best placed here or in the EASY board...

At the end of last week, we'd finally got to the point where we realised that DD didn't need the night feed. She'd only been taking a couple of ounces at about 4-5am, then would wake up for 7am and refuse her 1st proper feed of the day. So we'd managed to drop the feed entirely and just resettle her if she woke up.

Since Saturday (just before turning 16 w) she has been waking 3-4 times a night. She doesn't seem hungry, and will settle fairly well, then will be awake again within the hour.

This is particularly difficult for us right now as I've just broken my ankle and poor DH is having to do all the nights, plus go to work, while my mum is then helping with DD in the day...

I was reading in BWSAYP that NWs could be to do with being on the wrong day time routine. But it doesn't explain more about it so I'm not sure if transitioning is the best thing to do (and I need to be sure given that we have a lot going on right now and I don't want to make things worse.)

DD struggles to stay awake more than 1hr 30-1hr 45 at the very most in each cycle. But is only taking small feeds every 3 hrs (3-4oz) so I think that 4hrly feeding would work better for us... I tend to find that stetching her A times results in 45 min napes, so am keen to avoid that. 

Can anyone shed any light on why the wrong day time routine would screw up our nights (is it too much day time sleep?) And does it sound like transitioning is the right thing to do...?



Thanks,
Rachel. x

[londonlady]

Anyone? (voice of desperation...)

Even worse night last night. We moved to 3.5hr feeding yesterday and she did it quite naturally (no nap problems) we had a really text book day in terms of A times and naps,
E 7am
S 8.45am
E 10.30am
S 12pm
E 2pm
S 3.40pm woke at 5.10pm
E 5.30pm
E 6.40pm top up before bed
S Started bedtime at 7pm, but fought it for a while. shh patted to bed about 7.30pm
Woke 8.10pm - we have a lot going on in the house with family helping out so not sure if she was woken by noise or woke herself.
DF 10.45pm
Woke screaming for food at 2.20am
Woke fussing at 5.15am - resettled with dummy (we don't usually use one)

The longer periods between feeds meant she took better feeds all day,so can't understand why she woke at 2.20am and wanted a full feed (DH tried to settle her but she was having none of it.) She was going through til 4/5am and just needed resettling, or a very very small feed.

My DH wants me to move back to 3hrly feeding in the day as he is coping with the NWs and working during the day as I am immobile with this broken ankle. I'm just unsure what to do for the best...?? My point is that she was still waking in the night on the 3hrly routine which is why we were looking to transition her. It's just that last night was worse...

I can't believe we've gone from almost sleeping through last week, to the nights we're having now. How long will transitioning in the day take to have an impact on our nights if we stick with this? Or am I missing something? I know there is a GS at 16 weeks but this has been going on for 5 days now, don't most GS' finish in 2-3 days?

Any help would be really appreciated...
Thanks, Rachel.

[londonlady]

Mods - do I need to get this moved? Our nights are the same and poor DH is really struggling doing everything, maybe this is normal for 16w but would love some reassurance / opinions / BTDT stories...

[~Sara~]

Hi Rachel!  I'm sorry you haven't gotten a response yet.

I was going to suggest a GS, too.  But, if you've been feeding her at night and it's still going on, I'm not sure it is, either.

From the routine you posted, I couldn't tell how long she actually naps for.  Could you let me know?

[Buntybear]

From your title I can tell it is the growth spurt! We started to transitioned to 4 hours around 14 weeks. From memory going to 4 hours feeds actually helps them take more in one feed as they are more hungry for it. Hopefully then they go longer at night too!

[londonlady]

Thanks ladies.

So we tried 3.5hr EASY as she cannot stay awake long enough to make 4hr EASY work yet, it went well on the Weds, but on Thurs it was a disaster with poor naps in the afternoon. So because DH is kind of running the show as I am immobile, he has reverted to 3hr EASY as that's what he knows and also he doesn't want to mess up her day time naps.  On 3.5hr EASY, it also drops a feed so although she took more in the day, she woke up starving at 2.20am. On 3hr EASY, she doesn't actually want to feed overnight but is still waking up.

She is a good napper and in that EASY I posted before, she napped for 1hr 40, then 2hrs, then just under an hour in the last one. On 3hr EASY, we tend to get 2 x 1.45hr-2hr naps, 1x 1hr 30 and she then fights the cat nap. (It's always been a problem for her, but nowadays I am thinking it means she is ready to transition as she doesn't need all that day time sleep.)

She always self settles, we rarely have to do anything much for nap times just a short wind down, swaddle / sleeping bag and into bed, no props, no need for shh pat most of time.

So there's no prop issue, we're kind of ruling out hunger on 3hr EASY, we've been giving infant paracetamol on the days she shows signs of teething pain, we've made sure she is warm enough, but she was still up 3-4 times last night. Is this a developmental thing? She has always been such a good night sleeper, and is a total champ at self settling so I just cannot put a finger on why she is waking up.  She settles back down pretty easily, so it's not like we're doing PUPD for hours teaching her to sleep, she can do it already...

Totally mystified...  I'm hoping it's just a phase, but if transitioning is the answer, how long will it take to see improvements? And how can I get these extra ounces into her to make up for the lost feed?

Thanks,
Rachel. x