Hello there,
I desperately need some help please cuz I don't understand my baby anymore!
Sofia is almost 6 months old (will be in 9 days) and has been on an EASY routine since birth more or less. Before this massive change happened she was on a pretty standard 4 hour routine, having two 2 hour naps + one 30 mins catnap every day. she would be in bed by 7.30, then dreamfeed around 11.30 and then asleep until the morning (around 7). She would wake up once or twice around 5-6 am, but I would just give her the dummy and within a second she would be full asleep again. She hasn't had a feed in the night since she was 7 weeks.
The change in time back in October messed it up a bit, but it only meant that her day started at 6 instead of 7 and then it slowly went back to normal.
I started noticing in the last month that her naps were getting shorter. she would have a 1.5 hour nap in the morning, then 45 mins in the afternoon and then she would try to have about 1 hour or more for her catnap (but I woke her up). and then suddenly few days ago she rejected the catnap, she was screaming and in the end I took her out of her cot as it had got to 6 pm. She slept quite well that night and woke up at 7.
However, that day she did not want to nap at all. She had 10 mins in the morning and then started screaming. I took her out of her cot and after a few hours she seemed tired again so put her back in but again she only had 10 mins. we then sat together on the sofa and slept for 1 hour on me (she has never done this before). That night before her dream feed she woke up more or less every 45 mins and went back to sleep once she had her dummy. after her DF she slept until 7 in the morning.
next day (yesterday) she slept for about 45 mins in the morning and then about 1.30 h in the afternoon, she rejected her catnap again but around 6 she fell asleep on her grandma's lap (I woke both of them up when I noticed!). Slept very well in the night as usual (woke up once at 5 and had her dummy).
Today it's even mores chaos! She fell asleep in the car about 2 hours after she woke up this morning, must have had 10-15 mins in there, I then took her out and put her in her cot skipping her usual solids as it's not a big amount at this time anyway, but she wasn't having any of it, she was proper screaming so I took her out and gave her breakfast. I then cleaned the house while carrying her in her carrier which usually makes her feel sleepy after a bit, but not today! she was laughing and giggling all the time, so at 11 o'clock I breastfed her as usual and she fell asleep while eating. I woke her up and put her in her cot and she had 45 mins. She woke up screaming which usually means she is still tired so I gave her the dummy, went back to sleep and after 10 mins she woke up again, seemed sleepy but did not want to go back to sleep. She seemed hungry as well so I BF again as I thought maybe she hadn't fully fed earlier as she had fallen asleep (she never does this). After that she happily played on the floor happy as larry! she stayed awake for 2 hours and then got fussy so I put her to sleep, stayed quiet for 10 mins and then starting crying like the world was going to end. she was putting her arms up like she wanted to be held and as soon as I did that she got quiet and put her head on my shoulder relaxing
I have now put her in her pram with her dummy and she is here in front of me but does not look like she wants to go to sleep, she is talking to her dress!
What is happening?!?! why is she not napping anymore?! I feel very confused as she is not respecting a routine anymore so when she cries I'm not sure what the problem is, I used to be very in sync with her
I don't have a clue why this is happening, so I'm going to list everything I can think of:
- My husband this week has started a new job and he now works in the day and not at night anymore. i have always been the main carer but Sofia used to spend some time with her dad as well in the day and now she can't
- except for late afternoon (from around 4-5 pm) she seems quite content and not overtired
- She is trying to crawl, she is not actually crawling but she is pushing her bum all the way up and is in general quite mobile now with all the rolling and turning.
- she has been quite a bit sick this week, she has reflux so she has always been sicky but I reckon this week has been a bit worse
-she seems to be more affected now by being left on her own, start of separation anxiety?? she screams as soon as I leave the room where she is playing and gets quite unsettled when I put her straight in her cot, so I'm now spending more time sitting and cuddling her before sleep so that she is quite sleepy when I put her in her cot.
I know many mothers have had to deal with similar situations since the birth of their baby, but for someone like me who has had her baby on a routine since the start it's very confusing and unsletting. I can't plan my days, i don't know when to go out, whether to take her swimming as I'm worried she is just not resting enough!
Please help me
Thank you
Alessandra
