What's up baby? 13.5 weeks lots of questions

[babymunkey]

Hey Anna, how it going? It's 3.45 am and you've not posted yet so hoping that means its going OK?!

[anna*]

Hey Anna, how it going? It's 3.45 am and you've not posted yet so hoping that means its going OK?!

Thanks H, it was an OK night - not amazing, but definitely better than Monday!

Or the other thing I'm wondering is if her 5:15 wakeup is an EW (from being OT from the day or because she just needs less nighttime sleep) and that back to sleep is acting like a first nap, but because it's so early, it's like an extension of night sleep (which is how you're treating it since there's no A time) which is then giving her too much nightsleep, so she wakes more.

ok, I just read that and it doesn't even make sense to me....ugh....if it does to you, great.  If not, just disregard....

LOL. I know what you mean I've had the same thought but I'm pretty sure it's not EW. She treats it just like a night feed. Once or twice she has been awake at that feed, and it's a totally different deal. Even at 6am today, she pooped while I was feeding her and I thought for sure that changing her nappy at that time of morning would wake her up but no she stayed asleep and then woke up for the day at 7.45. Sometimes she goes straight through from say 4am until 7.30am - it really just depends how her night feeds fall.

Even though yesterday's naps were a bust, I'm trying a tad bit more A time today, hoping that I won't have to do so much resettling. She fell asleep without a peep (and, without her dummy???) for her first nap today after 1hr40.

[babymunkey]

Fingers crossed Anna, hope it's a good nap, glad you had a better night.

[deckchariot]

so glad that the night wasn't as bad as expected!!!  And YAY for her falling asleep on her own (and with no dummy!).  I hope that first nap goes great for you!!!  With Abby, she got that first nap figured out first (with extending and everything else) and then the others followed in the next weeks.  So maybe Audrey will follow the same pattern.

it does sound like that 5:30ish waking then is a hunger thing (goodness  - neither of my girls would sleep through a a diaper change!) and my guess is she'll eliminate that on her own as she gets bigger.

FX for good naps today and successful extensions (if needed)!

[anna*]

OH it's so frustrating. She had a GREAT day (thank you Kirry for the suggestion of more A time) of naps, she can't have been OT at bedtime, but she's still having trouble settling. It's 8.30 now and she's been in bed since 6.30... she'll be quiet for 15 mins, and then start stirring and work up to crying and need to be picked up until she calms down, then laid back down and it starts all over again. I can't tell if she has gas, or overstimulated or what. OS is a possibility just because Stan is home from nursery, she watches us all have dinner etc. It's generally pretty calm though. Today she needed a bath, so there was that (which is always exciting for her), but she hasn't had one the last two nights. I guess all we can do is keep her in her room, keep resettling her, and hope she gets the hang of it sooner rather than later.

Today was:
5.15am feed and straight back to sleep
7.40am awake for the day
8.40am feed
9.15am nap 1hr30
10.45am awake
11.45am feed
12.25pm nap 2hrs10
2.35pm awake and feed
4.15pm nap 45 mins
5pm awake and feed
6pm feed
6.30pm sleep

[anna*]

Ugh waking and crying all evening, so I'm feeding her now as its been over 3 hrs and I can't think what else to do?

[babymunkey]

Hugs Anna, maybe just write it off as one of 'those' nights. She may be coming down with something, maybe it's a wonder week, who knows. Good luck tonight for a good one - if it's any consolation we've had a bad evening too, all beta are off as to when ahe'll next want feeding as we've only just got her down for the night so the DF is out the window....but she's not well so at least I have a probable cause.

Xx

[anna*]

I wish it were a one off but this seems like its the new pattern for now at least - I've lost track but think this is the 6th night of really unsettled evenings.

[deckchariot]

hmmm.....first off, FABULOUS day napwise - and no extension from you, right?  YAY!!!  And definitely celebration worthy.  But I know, the voice in your head then says "so why OH WHY is the night still cr@p?!" 

How much A time does she usually have between the last nap and bedtime?  I see that tonight it was 1.5 hrs - which is her lowest A time of the day.  Is it possible that because she'd been napping well that she needed more then too?  Although with a catnap as her last nap, I would expect a shorter A time, so maybe 1.5 hrs is too much A time after a catnap and before bed?

If it's been 6 days, have you by any chance been writing it down?  I'm just wondering about length of the last nap and A time before bed - maybe there's a pattern?

fwiw, I think you're doing great!  It's just so hard when a good day doesn't equal a good night!  {{{hugs}}

[anna*]

TBH, I could totally handle bad days as long as I get that bit of me time between 7pm and my bedtime. When I'm up and down stairs all evening resettling, it just feels so relentless you know? It's the only me time I get all day and I treasure it!

So lets have a look at the last few days afternoon/evening A times. I am no good at all in spotting a pattern in EASY routines. Of course, stupidly I've only written down the times I put her down and not how many times she woke up subsequently - I'll try and remember...

15/1 (first night sharing room with Stan)
S 2.30-5.20pm Oops! We were napping together and overslept
A 5.20-6.45pm (1hr25)
S 6.45pm, slept soundly til 11.30pm when she woke to feed.
Total sleep (naps) for the day 4hrs25

16/1
S 4.25-5.10pm (45mins)
A 5.10-6.30pm (1hr20)
S 6.30pm, put in cot but very unsettled until she did a poop at 7.30pm, then asleep for the night at 7.45pm
Total sleep (naps) for the day 4hrs

17/1 (had vaccinations in the morning)
S 3.25-4.10pm (45mins) - tried for another nap later but she wouldn't settle
A 4.10-6.40pm (2hr30)
S 6.40pm, all quiet until DF at 10.15pm
Total sleep (naps) for the day 3hrs45

18/1
S 4.15-5.15pm (1hr)
A 5.15-6.40pm (1hr10)
S 6.40pm very unsettled all evening, crying on and off, until fed at 10.
Total sleep (naps) for the day 4hrs25

19/1
S 2.40-4.20pm (40mins)
A 4.20-6.35pm (2hr15)
S 6.35pm unsettled all evening, crying on and off, eventually settled about 9pm then DF at 10.25. Slept through after that!
Total sleep (naps) for the day 5hrs45!!

20/1
S 3-3.30pm (30mins) - wouldn't have another nap
A 3.30-6.20pm (2hr50)
S 6.20pm unsettled all evening, waking frequently until fed at 9.20. V good rest of the night.
Total sleep (naps) for the day 3hrs20

21/1
S 4.10-5.15pm (1hr5)
A 5.15-6.45pm (1hr30)
S 6.45pm, unsettled but did eventually go quiet (about 8.30) and sleep peacefully until DF at 10.15
Total sleep (naps) for the day 3hrs10

22/1
S 3-3.35pm (35mins - bad naps all day, wouldn't go down again when we tried later)
A 3.35-6.40pm (3hr5)
S 6.40pm, unsettled but did eventually go quiet and sleep until DF at 10.25
Total sleep (naps) for the day 2hrs5

23/1
S 3.45-4.30pm (45mins)
A 4.30-6.30pm (2hrs)
S 6.40pm, very unsettled, fed at 9.10pm, hideous night up every 2.5-3hrs.
Total sleep (naps) for the day 3hrs55

24/1
S 4-5.05pm (1hr5)
A 5.05-6.40pm (1hr35)
S 6.40pm, unsettled, went quiet eventually, DF 10.15
Total sleep (naps) for the day 3hrs10

25/1
S 4.15-5pm (45mins - best naps day in a while)
A 5-6.30pm (1hr30)
S 6.30pm, very unsettled all evening, fed at 9.30, rest of the night OK.
Total sleep (naps) for the day 4hrs25

[deckchariot]

hmm...it looks like her unsettledness is early in the night, and she settles out usually after the df, am I reading that right?  That would suggest OT to me or  possibly that she's not really filling up at her bedtime feed and once she gets the df she's happier?  Looking back, her best nights were when she had her vaccinations (that always made Katie sleep better at night - no idea why), and the day you had that almost 3 hr nap at the end of her day.  That leads me to believe she's OT by bedtime - either from short naps or too long of an A time. 

On the days when you've had 1.5 hrs or less A time before bed, what was her total day sleep like?  I should have asked you that the first time...sorry about that.  YAY for you on keeping a log, hopefully that will help us spot something.....

{{{{{hugs}}}}} on missing that me time - I  know exactly what you mean - once I put the kids down, that's my time, and having to keep resettling is soooooooo disheartening!!

[anna*]

Michelle I think you're on to something. It could just be coincidence - but today she woke up from her nap at 5.15, and went to bed at 6.30 and has - so far - stayed asleep (it's 8.15 now). I guess the question is, if she needs a shorter A time before bed, do I push her catnap later regardless of how long that SECOND to last A time will be? I guess it wouldn't matter too much if it is an OT nap since it's a catnap anyway... so I could do the catnap at 4.30-4.45 and then bedtime at 6.15 (if it's a 30 mins nap) or 6.30 (if it's a 45 mins nap). Does that make sense?

I'm going to go back and add the day's total sleep on my last post, rather than put it all again here...

[deckchariot]

How did the night continue?  It's midnight for you now, so hopefully everyone is sleeping nicely   I know Abby always needed a super short  A time before bed, and even Katie has her shortest A time before bedtime too...

I would say push that catnap a bit later (and yes, if she's OT and short naps, well, you were aiming for a short nap anyway) and keep that last A time shorter than her others.  Maybe that will help.  Maybe all the planets and stars will align too.  I'm always wanting to "figure it out" and sometimes I can, and other times.....

I sooooooo hope the night went better!!!

[huntersmummyinoz]

great that the extra A time worked for naps, now to work out these nights! dont have much to add to michelle's thoughts, only other thing i could see was maybe immunisations unsettled her a little, or maybe getting used to sharing with stan. i would shoot for the later and potential OT last nap too. with K i could even get away with a 5.30-6pm catnap, bf, short sit in bouncy chair or swing, bath, then 6.45BF and into bed at 7pm. was a little crazy in that DH would eat dinner with ds1 while i BF, then i finished dinner with DS1 while he bathed DS2. just make sure if u r going to push that A time before catnap to keep the last half as low key as possible (easier said than done with another LO around i know!)
hope the night went well 

[anna*]

She did great until the DF but it all went wrong after that. She had a stuffed nose and so she couldn't suck her dummy and was basically up every 1.5hrs until I realised what was going on and took her in with me. When she's lying with me she can sleep without her dummy, but she can't in her cot. She seems to be basically fine today, only a tiny sniffle, so hopefully that was 'it' and we'll both be able to get some sleep tonight.