NEWBIE - Advice Needed!

[jenc82]

Hi,

I've only just started EASY with my 11 week old. I chose to this approach as I was really getting down as my baby was crying all the time (no exaggeration, when wasnt asleep or breastfeeding he was crying) & I couldn't work out why!! I asked for advice from my doctor and health visitor and was just fobbed off really. Eventually I figured out that he was overtired.

I think he is a spirited baby. He is very alert and into everything around him and seems to become overstimulated very quickly. He gets very upset very quickly then and finds it hard to settle again. I think over the last few weeks we have just been trapped in a cycle of over tiredness & everything we have done to try and calm him has actually stimulated him even more.

The last couple of days using EASY have been much better. He is crying less, happier when awake & we have been able to settle him by 8pm for bed.

I have a few questions though.

Sometimes he starts yawning 45mins after waking up. This seems really soon but should I respond and put him down for a nap? He struggles to take long naps, often waking after 45mins. I try & get him to back to sleep which can take about half an hour and he will then only sleep for another half hour. Is this what I should be doing??

Any advice would be appreciated!!!

[Ima shel Alon]

Sometimes he starts yawning 45mins after waking up. This seems really soon but should I respond and put him down for a nap? He struggles to take long naps, often waking after 45mins. I try & get him to back to sleep which can take about half an hour and he will then only sleep for another half hour. Is this what I should be doing??

Hi and welcome, I am very happy you found BW and that you already see progress.
Yawning can be misleading. It's going to sound funny, but I found that there are two kinds of yawns. There are the small ones, they come quite frequently, and there are the big ones, that the mouth is fully open and they are also longer than the other ones. The first ones are bored yawns and the second ones are tiredness. Once you can distinguish between them your life will be easier.
If he is napping for only 45min it could be that he is ready for some more A time, have a look here: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=84884.0
Would you like to post your EASY and we can have look at it?

[Skadiver13]

I have a similar question. I started EASY at 8 weeks and all seemed to go well then last week we had to switch to formula and things have been turned upside down> i cant get him to nap longer than 45 min when he used to nap for 2hrs. I'll shush pat him for 30-45 min more to try and extend his nap but he jsut seems to never get out of the REM Stage into deep sleep. His eyes never stop moving behind his eyelids and then when I lay him down 10 min later he wakes up and crys.  He seems active and happy when I pick him up and bring him downstairs to eat and has 45 min of activity before getting sleepy again. We're on a 3hr easy. Should I worry about his naps? He's pretty good at night although he does wake early sometimes around 4 (goes to bed at 6) I can usually get him back down now instead of bringing him to bed with me which was AP.

[Ima shel Alon]

Skadiver, it sounds like your LO is UT, but I think the best would be if you start a thread and can post your EASY for people to look at.

[Skadiver13]

Hi Ima I did an no one responded so I added to this one. He's not UT because he's yawning and acting tired, rubbing face in my chest etc. So i though he was OS but reducing his stimulation isn't working ether.

[jenc82]

Thanks!
Today has looked like this...

E - 7am
A - nappy change, played in bed
S - 8.30 - 9.30
E - 9.30
A - wash & dressed, played on mat
S - 10.40-11.40, woke crying and after half an hour of shush/pat slept again 12-12.30
E -12.30
A - Went to friends in car, sat on my lap there
S - 2.30 - 3.15
A - played on playmat
E - 4.45
A - nappy change
Tried catnap but only drifting off then waking up
E - 6
S - 8 (needed 2hr shush/pat to get to sleep, crying lots)

It's a bit all over the place! Find I get thrown off by the short naps.
He takes ages to get to sleep - is this likely to be due to OT?

[jenc82]

He slept from 8pm-3.30am. Fed at 3.30 and again and 5.30. Woke at 7am.
I am breastfeeding. Tried dream feed when I went to bed but he clamped his mouth shut and wouldn't latch on!!

[Ima shel Alon]

It looks like he went to bed OT in the evening and perhaps that's the reason it took him so long to settle. He had like 5h of A time which is a lot.
I think he is actually UT during the day and not OT because his A is a bit low. Have a look here: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=164027.0 you would see there that a 12 week old baby does around 1:45-2h A time. Your LO is 11 weeks old so maybe he does a bit less than that, but not as little as 1h. I would work on extending his A times. You can up it by 10-15min every 3-4 days and see where you are at. On those 3-4 days it's important to stick to the new A because it takes then that long to get used to it and also prevents them from getting OT.
Let me know how you are doing.

[jenc82]

Brilliant, thanks for the advice. Will get started and see how I get on.

[jenc82]

So close to giving up :-(
No luck getting him to sleep no matter when I try, currently getting about half an hour of daytime naps.
Obviously am doing something wrong.

[Ima shel Alon]

Are you keeping a log?
Could you post your last few days in an EASY format?
Did you stretch A times? Maybe a bit too much?

[jenc82]

No. He is waking at about 7am, breastfeeding and then we have some activity. I am being so careful to look out for signs of tiredness. I start winding down after 1.5hrs and put down after 1hr 45mins but not working. He cries in his crib, I'm doing shush/pat for an hour and nothing. I don't then keep a log for the rest of the day as it all goes out the window after that first attempt at a nap. The only way he will sleep is if I put him in a sling but my back is killing me from doing this all the time for 3 months. I'm so fed up and he is too, we are both crying most of the day now!!

[Ima shel Alon]

What could be happening is that you put him a bit UT and then he fights the nap and then becomes OT and doesn't manage to fall asleep anymore. This happens a lot at this age, you are not alone in it! I remember this was a huge issue for us.
You you could try and put him down after 1:45h A and see if that helps.
Maybe this will also help: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=65944.0
Don't give up, we are here for you.