Update of today with 5month old, is that schedule ok??? advice plz

[beckys88]

Hi everyone, i have 2 little boys 5 months and 17months and they both wake during the night.

my 17 month old has the same routine every night. has a bath about 6.30 and goes to bed around 7-8 and goes to bed in his own room but will wake every night without fail crying. sometimes he will go straight back to sleep but other nights he might have crying fits and wake countless times. No matter how much sleep he has had he always wake about 4.30am! he usually naps once in the day for around 1.5hrs.

my second little boy goes to bed around 7-8 and wakes about 12.00 for a bottle (formula not breast milk) and then again about 3-4. in between these times hes jiggling around and i have to turn him onto his side or bring him in the bed with me so i can get some sleep. he has about 3 naps during the day and sleeps lovely.

Can someone help with some advice from a very sleep deprived mummy

[Bex09]

Hi there and welcome. I have pm'd you about your 17 mo and maybe posting in Toddler Sleep.

As for your 5 mo DS, does he have a DF at all? Can you post your routine in EAS format like this...

wu 7am
E 7.15
A time 2 hrs
S 9.00- 10.30 and so on

[beckys88]

my 5 month olds day is as follows

wake up 6am (if not earlier by my 17month old crying)
Bottle 7am
(Play time)
nap 9am-10ish
Banana porridge 10ish
(play time)
nap 11-12ish
Bottle 2ish
(play time)
Bottle 4-4.30pm
Bath 6.30pm
bottle 7-8pm
Bed after bottle is finished

2 feeds in the night 12pm and around 3am

[Bex09]

Looking at your EASY I would think that your DS's NW are down to him being OT. He is doing some long A times there for his age. Is it right that he doesn't nap again after he wakes at 12? That is a huge A time and longer than my 20 mo does so he would be really OT by then if I have read that right.

His middle A time is also really short if he naps from 9-10 and then again from 11-12. So most 5 mo are having A times of about 2 hrs to 2.5 hrs at the most really. I think if you aim to shorten his first A a little and then push his second A time out slowly by 10 mins every few days then the naps might lengthen too. You should then be able to fit in a short 45 min CN to prevent OT to BT. I might also try bringing that BT earlier so that your day is no so long and nearer 12 hrs. A long day can also make LOs OT too.

Have you seen these sample routines to give you an idea of what others are doing? http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=164029.0 HTHs.

[beckys88]

i will update today as i go along with what happens thank you for your advice,so to start today

Wake up 4.30am (due to brother screaming to get up )
Bottle     6.00am
Asleep    6.30am
Awake   7.30am (1 hr nap)
Breakfast 9.00am
Asleep 9.20
Awake 10.35 (1.15hr nap)
Bottle 11.30am
Asleep 13.00pm
Awake 15.30pm (2.30hr nap)
Bottle 15.30
Bath 18.00
Bottle 19.00
Asleep 19.00

[Bex09]

Hey there, that day looks much better today. How has your DS seemed? Did he always settle easily?

OT can cause EW (although it seems that your DS1 is waking DS2) but if you can sort the OT hopefully the EW may stop too. Have you tried resettling when your DS wakes this early? Do you ever have any luck getting him back to sleep?

So for those naps did you wake him at those times or did he wake himself? I would try to keep your day like this for a few days now so that your DS can adjust and get used to the new EASY schedule. Then, if he is waking at the 1 hr mark it may be worth pushing his first A time out by just 10 mins, so 2 hrs 10 mins and see if that gets you a longer nap. BUT... for now I would stick with the chages you have made and see what that brings. How does that sound?

[beckys88]

sounds good to me, he woke last night at 12.00 for a bottle and finished that and woke again around 3 but didnt want a bottle. was just fussing. But on the plus side he woke today at

wake up 6.00am

[Bex09]

Wow that is great progress already!

So today I would keep your A times to 2 hrs again and see how you get on. Your day will probably be shorter because your wu wasn't as early but that is better. Really eventually you will be aiming for a 12 hr day and fingers crossed for a 12 hr night.