5 mth old NWs- could he be ready for solids?

[RAMM]

Hey fellow BWers,

So, DS turned 5 mths today and I am alive and sane!!! (thanks ONLY to this forum & helpers in the Naps section who were 100% RIGHT ON about their advice on the nap issues I was having with my LO) Great job, guys!! I talk to new moms about BW so much!!!

Anyway, so DS is doing very good with naps. He takes two good 2 hr naps, morning and afternoon and a catnap in the evening, although we do get our share of downs every now and then. He is on a 4 hr EASY, with the first feeding at 7 am. Even though I have his days straightened out, I can't seem to be able to get his nights right. He wakes up 2 to 3 times in the night and no matter what I do, I can't seem to be able to get him to sleep without giving him a feed. I should mention that he has STTN in the past, even when he was just 3 weeks old, so I know that he can make it through the whole night now. I just don't know what to do to make that happen, so I was hoping to get some ideas on that. 

This is his EASY for now

Awake & Eat: 7:00 am
Sleep - 9:10 to 11 am
Eat - 11 am
Sleep - 1:15 to 3 pm
Eat - 3 pm
Sleep - 5:05 to 5:30 pm
Bath  & massage - 6:15 pm
Eat - 6:30 for 15 to 25 minutes
BT - 7 pm
NW - 10:30 to 11:30 pm
NW - 3:30 am


I try to make sure that he doesn't get OT when BT roles around, but he still wakes up at night. I have a 2 yr old, so we are usually out of the house in the evenings, so he may or may not take his evening catnap in the carseat, so he is OT at times. He does have NWs as a result, even when I move BT up by half our or 45b minutes, but they just seem to stick and he absolutely refuses to go down without a feed everytime. He does seem to eat ok when I feed him at a NW. I have tried some PU/PD but it just works him up so much. Do you think that he may be ready for solids or should I just work hard on PU/PD? I am not sure if they go through GS at 22 weeks old

[ZacsMumme]

Mmmm nice routine! I think your LO may be ready for an A increase
How long has he been on 2-2hr15 A? You could try increasing one or two As by 15 mins and see if it helps.

How much your LO feeding at the NW have you always offered a feed at NW?
Are you BF or bottle?
Do you think it could be prop related at all?

[RAMM]

Hey ZacsMumme,
Thanks for the response! I think his days are definitely better than what they were before. His A times, however, seem to mimic the A times guidelines (Let me emphasize that no other sleep training program that I've ready about gives guidance on A times, BW is a godsend). Because, he has a few NWs he seems to want to go down a bit earlier in the mornings and then a longer A time before his afternoon nap. I have been increasing his A time by 5 minutes; haven't extended by 15 minutes because of the fear of OT. Should I try to increase them even more. I know that they can stay awake more when they turn 6 months, so I may be looking to increasing by more amounts in the coming weeks anyway, right?

I am BF right now, so I can't tell how much he is taking but he does nurse for about 10 minutes on one side. He is not prop dependent; just a thumbsucker.

Let me tell you about yesterday. He took a 1 hr nap in the morning yesterday and 3.25 hours nap in the afternoon. DD had a gym class, so he didn't catnap in the evening at all. So I took him to bed earlier and he was out around 6:30. Then I tried W2S at 10:15 pm before I went to bed and he slept through the whole night and woke up at 6:40 am. So, I am not sure if W2S worked or the fact that he just needed to be up for a little bit more. Should I try W2S today also? Wasn't sure how long to keep doing it before he transitions on his own.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I wish there were BW meetups where I live!! Would be so nice to have one!!!!

[ZacsMumme]

Great day, maybe that long nap was a catch up or GS. Either way I has probably helped him be refreshed for a good night. It up to you how much you extend at once, My Z was touchy so I had to do small changes too, but at some point I do think you hae to try a bit more than a few mins every week or so to get them up to the right A sometimes.

If you added 5mins every few days get the naps up 15mins later then that should work as I dont think your far off

[RAMM]

I agree. I think I do need to start extending his As again....Will do so and let you know how it's going. In the meantime, I will do W2S again tonight and see how it goes...I guess it wouldn't hurt.

 

[ZacsMumme]

Yeah I would try W2S Good luck!

[RAMM]

Last night was a total bust. DS pulled a fast one on me and woke up before I got to attempt W2S...and it went just downhill from then. I tried for 45 minutes to get him to sleep, but he had more might in him than I thought. I finally gave up and he got his feed. Boy! CAN HE FIGHT!?! He just kept throwing himself down to my chest level and everytime I moved him away, he would scream bloody murder!!

So this is what his day & night were in terms of EASY:

Awake & Eat: 6:28 Am
Sleep: 8:45 am
Wake & Eat: 10:30 am
Sleep: 12:45
Wake: 1:15 (only 30 minutes or maybe 35, I really don't know what went wrong there, OT/UT?)
Eat: 2:30
Sleep: 2:45 to 4:00 pm
Activity: I had to take DD out on her playdate
Bath: 6:00pm
BT: 6:36pm
NW: 9:40 pm, tried for 45 minutes and fed him
NW: 1:15 am (talked for a bit and went back to sleep)
NW: 4:15 am (I was too exhausted to try PU/PD so fed him)
EW: 5:56 am  - he first cried out at 5:56 am and went quiet for a few minutes and then finally woke up and I got him out of the room.

This morning, I tried to keep him awake by 10 more minutes, walked with him and he started fussing like he wasn't ready for his nap. His eyes didn't look like they had any sleep in them. So, I walked for a few more minutes and finally got him down at 8:27 am. So that is almost 31 minutes of awake time from 5:56 am. We'll see how it goes. Some times I tend to misread his fussiness as OT rather than UT. I think he always fights more when he is UT. So many variables to keep up with.

I agree that he needs more A time, but I don't know what went wrong during the day. Should I have kept him up longer during BT? He went down 2.5 hours after his last nap and I thought that would have been enough to get him sleepy.

[ZacsMumme]

I thought your A looked good too! The short nap based on your LOs day is more likely to be UT than OT but it's so hard to tell

How was he at BT?

[RAMM]

He didn't fight me at BT, he went down fast. So he may have been OT, then?

I have the same day like yesterday today. He took a 1.5 hour nap in the morning, 45 minutes in the afternoon (I knew this was going to be short; DD had to poo and I had to rush his winddown. When I came out of the room, I realized I had put him down a 2 hr 20 min) and was still fussy. I fed him at his E time at 2:30 and put him in bed at 2:45 like yesterday. He went down after a bit of talking. I am hoping he would wake up around 4. What time should BT be today after his S. Should he be asleep by the 2.5 hour mark, u think?

The other day, with one W2S, he STTN and his A time before BT was 3hr 15mins. Do you think I should keep him up a bit longer before BT?

[ZacsMumme]

He could have just been tired at BT no fighting or fussingwas a good sign for us.
yes after a good nap a full A time before BT should work, maybe try 2hrs 45.... Or go with your gut sometimes after a very long S they STTN or well but it's just a big catch up and if done every day they will get cumulated OT

[RAMM]

Just thought I'd post an update on what's been going on with my LO...
Well, right off the bat, he STTN when I increased his A time by 15 minutes. He is now at 2.5 hours A time and I will keep moving him up 5 minutes every few days. Yesterday, he took 1.25 hour nap in the morning, 30 minutes in the afternoon and another 30 minute catnap in the car in the evening. Because he was short one hour on his sleep, I did BT at 1.5 hour of A time after his last nap. He was a bit tired, but STTN. He did however have an EW at 6. Maybe I should have taken him to bed earlier, 'coz he did seem to be a little sleepy when he woke up this morning.

Today,  we got two good naps and one good catnap, so he went down after 2.5 hours of A time, so we'll see how it goes today.
I am keeping my fingers crossed.. I think right A times are a key to it all...

Thanks!

[ZacsMumme]

Wow that is fantastic progress! Good work you!

Yes A times are key, and once you find that magic A for your LO things do fall into place most of the time. It is great he is STTN, obviously no prop issues then, but routine