Help! Awful schedule since we've moved!

[ccue89]

Hello,
My 11 month-old daughter had just gotten onto a good schedule (only one NW at 4:30am for milk- well, really comfort) and then right back to sleep, and then we moved! We have been in our new home for just about a month now and we have had tough nights ever since. Initially when we moved, she was in our room with us as we painted her room and then waited for the VOC's to clear. That does not work well for us as she is a light sleeper and when my husband would roll over she would wake up. I think that might have begun the downfall.

When we moved her into her room, she has since started waking up at 3:30 and crying for up to an hour and a half and then waking up again for the day around 6:30.

I have tried nursing her, doing PUPD (which seems to backfire as the more I go into her room, the harder she screams), and also just letting her try to put herself back to sleep (as she knows how, she is just choosing not to) which works sometimes. For the most part she is awake and crying, but its an attention cry, not a real scream like something is wrong. She is obviously tired as she is rubbing her eyes the whole time. She also just got a top tooth and the other front tooth is coming in now, so teething is definitely a factor, but I don't know how much as she goes down fine and it isn't until 3:30am (like clockwork) that she wakes up.

I would REALLY like her to STTN! She is coming up on her first birthday and a full nights sleep would be the best gift anyone could give!

Her schedule is as follows:
WU: 6:30am
Breakfast: 7:30
BM and Nap: 9:30-10 (for about an hour)
Lunch: 12pm
BM and Nap 2:30 (hour to hour and a half)
Dinner: 5:15
BT: 6:30-7pm
NW: 3:30, 5am (usually try to hold out till 5am to nurse her, as I don't think she's waking because she's hungry)

Thanks for your help!

[Erin M]

Amazing how much moving can throw them!  I think you've got a couple of possibilities of different things going on right now.

The first thing is that you may be headed into the 2-1 nap switch -- there's some good info here on that: 10 to 12 mth old Sleep Gone Wonky, and the 2 - 1 Nap Switch

Teeth can always be an issue with NWs -- you might try medicating one night and see if it makes any difference in her sleep.

If her wakings occur at the same time every night, they might be truly habitual in which case, you might try wake to sleep -- How to address habitual wakings (w2s and other methods)

Does any of that seem to ring true for you?

[ccue89]

Thanks for the links- I think it is either a combination of teething and habitual waking or just habitual waking. I will try medicating tonight, but it will be hard to tell if that helps because she wakes up after 8 hours of sleeping, so the ibuprofen will have worn off making it hard to know if she's waking due to lack of medicine or habitual waking.

DD still seems to need 2 naps- she gets very tired about 2 1/2 hours after WU (although maybe if she was sleeping better at night this would be different) and then again early/mid afternoon. Seems like it would be easier to tell if its time to think about 2-1 if she was STTN.

Question about the habitual waking technique- is it something that should change her sleep habit that night, or a technique that I won't see a change for a few days, or a week? I ask because I had read about that technique before and the other night I happened to wake up about an hour before she normally does and went in and tried it. I didn't see any change in her sleeping that night (she still woke up an hour later as usual), so I wasn't sure if it is something that will take time, or if its more of an immediate response technique.

Thanks,
Cara

[Erin M]

Question about the habitual waking technique- is it something that should change her sleep habit that night, or a technique that I won't see a change for a few days, or a week? I ask because I had read about that technique before and the other night I happened to wake up about an hour before she normally does and went in and tried it. I didn't see any change in her sleeping that night (she still woke up an hour later as usual), so I wasn't sure if it is something that will take time, or if its more of an immediate response technique.

I might try it a few times -- I think you probably want to go in closer to 30 minutes before she usually wakes, an hour might be too long before her waking to make a difference.  I know with some people it makes an immediate difference, with others they have to play around with it a little before they can get it to work.

HTH!

[ccue89]

I tested the theory of teething the last few nights, and I don't think that that is what is causing her NW's. I think it is more habitual than anything. I will try the technique suggested and see if that works. I am a little concerned because over the last few nights DD hasn't been waking up at the same time anymore. DD has woken up anywhere from 2:30am to 4:00am, and then again around 5-5:30am.

Thanks!
Cara

[Erin M]

Good luck!  Let me know how you get on.  She could be waking because she wants to eat -- not that she needs to eat most likely at this age, but because she's used to eating at night.  You might just have to work on dropping the night feeds until she gets used to not eating.

[ccue89]

So now I'm very confused! DD has been waking up between 3:30-4:30am and wanting to BF- and she REALLY eats. Like she is starving! But it also seems like just in the last few days she has decided to begin the 2-1 nap transition all by herself. She doesn't want to go down as early in the AM (plays in her crib for up to a half hour before going to sleep- it has also been a bit shorter of a nap than before by 15-30 mins or so). She also has decided that 6:45 is too early for bed and will stay awake until 7:30-8pm (again, just in the last 3 days or so).

Not sure how to proceed with all of these changes at once! The good news is she has been going back to sleep after I feed her for another couple of hours instead of waking up multiple times in the early morning.

Any suggestions as to how to begin weening her off of the early morning feeding?

TIA!

[Erin M]

I'd probably try capping one of your naps then, so that she's not getting quite so much daytime sleep.  If you have one that's generally better, I'd leave that one and cap the other one.  In regards to the night feed, sometimes you just have to tackle it head on and accept the fact that you're going to have a few very broken nights before it improves.  At her age, she should catch on pretty quickly and shift those calories to the daytime.  Most of the time, people will wean night feeds by settling by any means necessary (other than feeding) for a few nights -- the thing is, once you start, you can't give in because that will only teach your LO that if she puts up enough of a fuss, she'll eventually get fed. 

[ccue89]

Hi again,
So cutting out the early morning feeding has gone well, and we actually got one night where DD actually slept completely through (7pm-6:40am)! That, however, was the exception to the rule. DD is still waking up at approximately 4am almost every morning (habitual waking technique does not seem to work) and doesn't go right back to sleep. Last night she was away for a half hour (crying) before finally going back to sleep. I had to go in and sooth her 3 times. When I go in, DD is sitting up in the middle of her crib with a binkie in her lap (and usually a few more surrounding her). When she sees me, she starts to cry harder for a few minutes. I don't know how to get her to go back to sleep by herself without the crying.

Any ideas would be appreciated!
TIA
Cara

[Erin M]

Hmm....once she goes back to sleep, does she stay asleep? 
What's your routine look like right now? 

[ccue89]

DD goes down to bed easily- BM, stories, song while she's in her crib, and then she falls asleep. When she wakes up (generally not until 4am), I hear her cry and generally let her go for a few minutes to make sure its a "real" cry and not just her stirring. When she starts to really cry, I go into her room, make sure she has a binkie, lay her down on her back, and walk out. I don't say anything to her or give her any additional attention. I try to make the whole interaction as dull as possible. When I leave the room, she ramps up the crying and is almost screaming for a minute. It's not generally very long, and I don't go back in unless she does not settle within a few minutes.

At this point, some nights she will go back to sleep and sleep through until morning (6:45-7:15am) or she will not completely fall back to sleep, but every 10 minutes or so will "wake up" and start to cry again. Sometimes she will settle herself without me having to go back in, and other times I need to go in and lay her back down.

I tried going in last night at 3:30am to try the habitual waking routine you told me about, and it prevented her from waking up at 4am, but instead she woke up at 5:15am. I only had to go in once at that point, and then she fell back to sleep until 7:10am.

[Erin M]

I tried going in last night at 3:30am to try the habitual waking routine you told me about, and it prevented her from waking up at 4am, but instead she woke up at 5:15am.

Realizing it means less sleep for you as you're getting up twice then, I might try this for a few nights and see if it helps at all.  But just give it a couple more nights and then reassess.

Can you post your daytime EASY?