5 mo old - OT wakeups

[Rizzo]

Thanks guys. We were extra grumpy this morning due to last night being later, so had to put him down after 1hr 45. Will put him to bed earlier and try tomorrow am.

How does one calculate how old babies are? He is born on the 1st feb, so does that make him almost 5.5 months, or does one go in weeks still? He'd be 24 weeks (6 months) next week. Just trying to work out in relation to
Solids, amount of A time for age etc.

[katie80]

I don't know if there's a set way of calculating.  Some people still talk about weeks at that point, others months.  I usually count weeks up until 3/4 mo, but after that I always use mo.  If I were talking about your DS, I'd say 5.5mo.

[Rizzo]

Well, after an absolute shocker day yesterday (30 min naps) and a bit of a struggle to bed and one NW after 10 mins, he only woke at 11pm and then at 6am for the day

I managed to stretch him out to 2 hrs and he slept for 1hr 20. Then stretched him again to 2hr A time and another 1hr 20m. Third A time has been 2hrs and he has just gone down to sleep/

He has been really grumpy during the awake times, and almost fell asleep during a feed. Is that normal cause he is so in tune to sleeping after 1.5 hrs? How lOng will it take before he is happier to be awake for longer?

[jennyg33]

That's great and exactly the same sleep as I got when I stretched the A times and yes the first few days were grumpy. Things improved within 3/4 days for us, then I stretched by another 15 mins and have now got a 1 hr and a 2 hour nap followed by 10 min caped CN. Sometimes the 1hr nap comes first, sometimes the 1. Depends on the night and what we are doing.
As far as age, I counted by weeks until I could no longer remember how long it was! I would say 26 weeks is 6 months and work from there Aaron is 24 weeks for comparison.
 But they are all going to have slightly different A times.

[Rizzo]

Thanks for the reply. I will keep the A times similar for a few days and see what happens. Was a bit awkward tonight as he woke up from the last 1hr 20 min nap at 3.45, so I just kept the last A time at 2 hrs and put him to bed by 5.45. Hopefully we don't get too early a morning.....

[jennyg33]

So was he in bed for the night at 5.45? This is when we have our 10 min cat nap. I cap it at 10mins just to get him to bed time. That way you get a fourth A time I'm happy post our EASY if it is of any help. Though its a long way from perfect.

[Rizzo]

Yes bedtime was 5.45. He has been waking up around 6am, so I was trying to give him a 12 hour day. I wasn't sure whether to catnap him... He had a 30 min catnap between 545 and 6.15 the other day and then wouldn't go to sleep till 7.45. Was a rough evening for the first few hours...

Are u still doing a 10 min catnap now?

[Rizzo]

Um, maybe we do better with less sleep during the day....
He wOke at 7.10, 8.40, 12.30, 2.30 and then was awake from 5am.... Tried to feed at 5.15 to get back to sleep, but he is still trying to sleep now
At 5.50...
Is 3 x 1 hr 20 mins too much for him during day???

[jennyg33]

Oh dear you must be exhausted. I would have thought 3 x 1 20 would be too much. Amount of daytime sleep depends on baby and also length of their day. For 12 hour night/day I aim for 3 hours. If you do 3 longer naps you'll need a later bedtime to get a good last A time. Someone told me you have to gain enough tiredness through the day to add together for bedtime.
The waking so soon after bed is definitely sign of UT.

[Rizzo]

I thought wakeups in the early part of the night were OT? I wonder how long I should have given him before BT then?
Well, we started off OK today, even thought he was feral... but he had a likely UT nap last time and now a likely OT nap I couldnt resettle him for... maybe tomorrow will be better....

[katie80]

I thought wakeups in the early part of the night were OT?

Typically they are, but in your case along with the 5am happy wake, I think they're more UT (maybe not from the last A time, but the day as a whole).

Is 3 x 1 hr 20 mins too much for him during day???

I think if you look at sleep totals, no 4hr day sleep at 5.5mo is not likely too much unless he is low sleep needs. But, I think what's happening is that the A time just isn't distributed right quite yet. Keep pushing him to get up to 2.5hr A when possible. However, if you look at the day as a whole, it really was not bad, it just started and ended too early. He still ended up doing about 11hr at night (assuming the wakes were quick resettles) and if that would've been from 6:45pm-6am or 7:45-7am, we probably wouldn't be here.

It might be worth it to try Jenny's 10min CN one or two nights just to see if you get a later wake to start from. I know that 30min one caused issues the other day, but really limiting it to 10/15min might help him get to a more decent BT without too much OT.

[Rizzo]

Thanks Katie. Pushed him a little more today (last night wasn't that great... he decided to roll onto him tummy a few times and he can't roll back, so I wonder if that's causing some wakeups).
EASY today (so far...)
Wakeup 5.45, E 6am
S 7.55-8.35 (a 2hr 15)
E 9am
S 10.25-11.50, then slept till 12.10 I think (a 1hr 50)
E 12.20, husband topped up 2pm...by mistake
S 2.25-3.05 (a 2hr 20)
E 4pm
S 5.05-5.25 (a 2hr)
E 6pm
BT 6.35, asleep 6.55
Woke 7.55 screaming...I Resettled on tummy but he wouldn't stay asleep. It's now 8.45 and I have just wrapped him. He is in my arms and really grunting and arching his back. I don't know whether this is him UT or OT? How can I tell? I can tell when he is OT during the day and won't resettle. Have no idea at night!!
Asleep in arms at 8.50, but awake again in 1 hr...

So do I assume first a time too low hence short nap.
Now he has woken up again... 10 mins later
I did restart solids again 2 days ago (pumpkin).. He is almost 6 months... 2 weeks off.

[jennyg33]

Oops sorry, seems I misead about wakings in early evening, probably cause ours were due to UT.

Walkings could be related to the solids. What time are you giving them? Arching back could be discomfort. It has taken 2 weeks for Aaron to settle down after weaning. For Aaron I have found I cannot give solids later than 4.30 pm. I space milk and solids through the day so solids tends to be 1 hr after milk. Everytime I have introduced a new food it unsettled him for 3 days, but he does settle. I have read lots that weaning causes NW as it is very stimulating, and that was certainly the case for us and just starting to get back on track now. 

Did he seem OT at first nap and how did he wake. DS often wakes happy or at least not too grumpy at 45 mins from UT nap and screaming if OT. I often can't tell until wake up. this morning DS has UT short nap, but had been grumpy for 45 mins before bed, only now can I see it must have been discomfort. I would be tempted to stick to A time of 2hr 15 for a couple of days before you change anymore. Give him a chance to get used to that first, unless he shows obvious signs of being able to push it.

[Rizzo]

I had been giving solids around 10am, today at 1pm. Always an hr after milk. Maybe I should just stop them and restart in a week once I have the nights under control..

He woke happy from all naps today except for the last 20min nap - I guessed he would have been overtired as he was up for 2 hrs on 40mins sleep.

[jennyg33]

Sounds like that first A could be too short still. It might be worth cutting the solids to rule it out just while you are trying to sort the nights. We tried to wean at 20 weeks with baby rice and he screamed for 4 days, we were going on holiday so we stopped as I didn't want to be working through it while we were away. We then started again 2 weeks ago, and I don't think waiting made any difference to him. We did the weaning at the same time as stretching A time, but then its quite clear for us if it is discomfort or not.