1 AM Bed Time?

[janaprestidge]

Hello!

My sweet 7 week old Brynn for some reason thinks 1 am is her bedtime (for about 3 weeks).  I'm not sure where I made the mistake.  Here is how her day yesterday went:

Asleep at 11PM - 5 AM (took an hour to get her down for the 11pm bedtime, and I was so excited she went to sleep)

E 5 AM
A Diaper Change
S 'Til 8 AM

E 8AM
A 9:30 AM
S 11:15 AM

E 11:15
A Until 1 PM
S 2:30 PM

E 2:30 PM
A 3:30 PM
S 5:30 PM

HERE STARTED THE PROBLEM:
E 5:30 PM
A 7 PM - Wanted to fall asleep, but woke back up
A 7:50 BATH Time
E 8:20

Over the next 5 hours, tried to get her to sleep, with eating at 11 again.  Tried Swaddle, Pat shhh, woke up after 30 minutes screaming.  Unswaddled, tried rocking, woke up 30 mins later crying.  Pat Shhh another 30 minutes, woke up crying.  Brought back down stairs at 10:00 PM, was awake crying (probably over tired) until midnight.  Tried again until 1:30 - let her cry in my arms ( couldn't calm her) until she fell asleep at 1AM.  woke up again at 130, then finally went to sleep until 6:15. 

E 6:15 AM
Sleep til 9 AM
E 9AM
A Diaper Change
S 11
A til 12
E 12PM
A Diaper Change & GYM til 1
S 1:15 - 2:30

Now awake.  For the past 3 weeks her preferred bedtime has been 1am, and I have tried keeping her up after her late afternoon nap (in bw 4 & 6), letting her sleep in the evening from 7-9 after her evening feed, and then she wakes up and is awake until 1am.  She hates the swaddle, but I tried it again to get her to calm down because I was desperate.  She kept rockign her head side to side against my chest (and she wasn't hungry), wouldn't take a paci, tried swaddle, side position, shhhh, and rocking and she still was inconsolable.

I'm very nervous as I will be going back to work in January and I really, really need sleep!  I also feel lazy because it's 12pm and I'm still in my PJ's.  Should I put her down when she wants to sleep at 7?  Will she be up then at 3 AM?  7pm seems like an awfully early bedtime for a 7 week old, but what I'm doing now is not working. Any help would be appreciated!

[Smurfette]

Your A times are waaaay too long for her age.  Assuming she was born on time she can probably only handle 1hr-1hr15 min eyes open to eyes closed.

And no 7 pm is not too early. I would even go earlier in the next few weeks.

[janaprestidge]

OK I will work on getting her good naps and to only be awake for 1 15 mins.  My pediatrician said to expect her to be awake longer, so I didn't think anything of it.  But I guess I was overdoing it.  Thank you!

Had to take my husband to the airport so couldn't do 6pm.  Fed at 6:15, then bath at 6:45, then pat shhh from 7 pm til 7:50.  Had to go back in once.  Going to do a dream feed around 9 and see how it goes.  She has been sleeping for a 5 - 6 hour stretch at night, so it's hard to complain!  I just want her to not take 5 hours to get to sleep finally at 1am.  I'm sure she is exhausted and so am I.


Thank you!

[janaprestidge]

so she slept from 8-840 and then was up until 10 and I had to feed her again.  So that is 3 hours to get her down.  we will see if she will go to sleep now - fingers crossed.

[Smurfette]

She is really young, so don't expect patterns to really be formed yet as the brain has a lot of maturing to do.

As OT as she is, it will also take her a while to get over it and one way to do that is to keep those A times short and not to stretch her too long until bedtime. Keep at it and don't get discouraged! You probably won't see miracles in 1-2 days, but more like a week or so. Be realistic and know that her biological systems are so young and undeveloped. It's great that you're getting a 5 hour stretch at night though!

During the day,watch for sleepy cues (the subtle ones like zoning out, turning head away from you or toys, less activity or noises) don't wait until you see eye rubs or yawning to put her down for a nap as that means she's already getting OT.

I would also try the swaddle again-she might be more receptive to it if she' isn't so tired and fighting it.

[janaprestidge]

Wow! Here is how it went.  I fed her again at 9 and finally got her down at 10pm.  I did a dream feed at 12 bc I was so wired I couldn't sleep.  She slept until 7!! (6 with the hour change).  I also put her back in the swaddle - that is 10-7! So fed at 6 put her back down and she slept until 9:45 - with a swaddle.  Woke up at 9:45, ate, put back down at 11 and she only slept til 12 with swaddle and she was wide awake.  I couldn't get her back to sleep.  I had to shower so put her in her little chair outside the shower, fed at 12:45, and it took me another hr to get her down for this nap.  So she is now down at 2.   

Her morning nap was super long - I almost wanted to wake her to eat.  Do you think that is because she is so OT?  Should I just let her sleep even if she sleeps through a feeding?  EBF - No weight issues. 

This puts her eating at 4 - should I start WD after that?  Or wait until after her next feeding and try to feed her earlier around 6?  who knows, she might sleep til about five the way her morning nap went!  Please let me know any thoughts/comments you may have!  It's been a rough 1/2 day but I think it will really pay off if I am consistent.  I forget she is so little because she has made such strides from when I brought her home.  She would not sleep AT ALL.  Thanks so much!

[Smurfette]

I am all for letting a baby sleep! In all likehood she will wake when she's hungry. I might not let her sleep over 4 hours or anything, but if you get a long nap, enjoy it because you don't know when the next one will be!
Having said that, you do want to start a tiny bit of a routine in the next couple of weeks, but long naps here or there are not something to wake a baby from in my opinion.

Keep an eye out for those sleepy cues and respect them so that she can fall asleep easily.

P.S. I'm not sure what you meant that it's been a rough 1/2 day-it seemed pretty good to me!

[janaprestidge]

well, she slept from 12 -1 and then after i fed her refused to sleep.  She basically cried from 2-345.  She dozed from 345 - 430 and then i fed her til 5:15.  Then wind down and she is still up   So she has been up for a very long time and I can't get her down.  she seems happy but I know she has to be tired??

[Smurfette]

Sorry-can you post your day in EASY format so I have a better idea of how things went/are going?

[janaprestidge]

Sure - Last night was not a good night for either of us 

Starting from yesterday morning:
E 11:15
A until 12:00
S 12:00-1:00

E 1:30
A until 2:00
S - Tried to get hr to sleep for two hours.  Finally fell asleep at 3:30.  Tried swaddle, not swaddle, rocking all but a car ride.  Will try a walk today.

E: 4:30
A 5:00 bath
S: tried to get her to sleep until 7:30

E: 7:30
A: Tried to get he to sleep to no avail.  Tried every prop I could think of but a car ride She was up until her next feeding at 10:30

E: 10:30
A: She would not go to sleep.  Again tried everything, even nursing her.  She just cried and cried and cried.  I think we both cried for 3 hours.  She finally went to bed at 1:45am and slept until 7am

E: 7:15am
A: were none
s: 7:30 - 10:00

E: 10:15
A: Diaper change/swaddle bc I was so scared of missing her window
S: She is now asleep at 11:00 AM

Very difficult night. That afternoon sleep went awry and it just fell apart from there.     I'm thinking of just starting WD right after she is done eating even if she wants to stay up because it is such a downward spiral.

 

[janaprestidge]

update on latest EASY:

E: 10:15
A: Swaddle
S: 11-12

E: 12:20
A: She as awake from 12-2   She wanted to eat earlier than normal, then had gas and had to poop, then had the hiccups. 
S: Just got her to sleep around 2:00. 

[janaprestidge]

She's already awake from the 2:00 pm nap.  I didn't mention that she has gas and reflux which I have asked the pediatrciain about 100 times and they think it's over diagnosed and want me to wait it out.  But I think that could be the big problem here   So I will call today and try to get in to get her medicated.

[Smurfette]

If you think there are reflux issues then you should pop over to the reflux board which I think is under Medical on the main list as those ladies have a wealth of knowledge.

Have you tried elevating the crib and keeping her upright for at least 20 mins after a feed? If you are nursing and have a fast let down it can cause a lot of problems as a baby will take in a lot of air trying to keep up with the milk pouring out. Try to express a bit before you latch her on.

Yes, she may have reflux, but don't underestimate the power of being OT. LIke I said before, it takes a while to get out of so keep going with what you're doing.

[janaprestidge]

So - here is a happy update. 

Last night was the usually 12 am stuff.  Tried to get her down forever but she just wouldn't have it.

However, today has been pretty darn good.  She woke up at 6am for what is really her overnight feed bc she isn't going to bed until midnight, then slept til nine.  Then - SHE SLEPT!

E 6am
A Diaper
S until 9am

E 9am
A vibrating chair while mommy showered
S 10:15 - 11:20 - I had to wake her up because we had a dr appointment

E 12 at doctor
A Doctor
S 12:20 - 2:30 in the car!  She has NEVER done this.  I had to sit for an hour in the pharmacy parking lot and not a peep.

E 3:00
A: Diaper and swaddle since she had already been up for 30 mins before feed
S: Gaver her the dose of zantac. Fought the Swaddle for literally 30 seconds and then out like a LIGHT!! 

I'm sure it's a combo of both - the last 3 days of focusing on day sleep plus the zantac.  But I am so encouraged.  The past 2 days I have to say were terrible.  But I can definitely handle a day like today, and it was so worth the two days of head ache for both of us.  I'll let you know after this week if she is going to bed at a more reasonable hour.  Thanks so much for your help and encouragement.

[Smurfette]

Way to go mom!!!

For the sleep at 3, was she flat on her back on in a chair or swing?

Did you get the ok from the dr to give the Zantac? Sorry, I'm not familiar with that so just want to make sure.