Waking up every 2 hours

[Lollipop86]

Hello. Well in this couple of days I learned some new things about my DD.
I started putting her down on her back instead of her tummy. It seems to be better since she got up on her knees always before.
I started putting her in a sack for the night. Because before she got her blanket off herself and I think it's better now because she is not cold.
Even if she fusses I try to keep her up 2,5-2,45 hours.
If she fusses in the night I always wait a little before I go in and sometimes she falls back to sleep (if she even wakes up?) so night wakings are not so stressful anymore. Now sometimes she even sleeps longer - 3,5 hours After midnight I BF only once now.

But now we've got some other problems. Since she is sleeping on her back now she can't reach for her dummy and can't replug herself. I'm thinking of putting it on a short strip on her sack so that she can reach it.
And now since she is sleeping on her back, she is starting to wake up after 45 mins for her naps. I've considered undertiredness so I kept her awake a bit longer but it didn't help. I've tried to BF her a little bit before the nap but it didn't help either. She gets completely awake and wants to play. I'm keeping her in her crib until 1,5 hours at the moment. She is not crying but not sleeping. I thought she pooped but she didn't. What else can I do?

[Lollipop86]

Oh and is it possible that she has enough this much sleep? I mean 45 mins for one nap? Now that she sleeps better in the night. Do I have to try to keep her down or not? Or I try a couple of times and if it doesn't work drop it and leave it at 45?

And about soothing her - now she falls asleep after 5-10 mins with the wind down. I hold her in my hands, go in the room, sing a short lullaby over and over until she is drowsy, then I put her in the crib, she fusses a little, then I rub her tummy and sing, then ssh. Then after she drops her hands I stop rubbing and just leave my hand on her tummy and then I remove it and only ssh until I see she is asleep.
What about holding hands? She alwasy grabs my hand. But I think it stimulates her more because she doesn't know what to do with it She rubs her eyes with it and scratches it... But anyway - can it be a prop?

[Erin M]

Believe it or not, if she wakes after 45 minutes and seems happy, I'd say she actually needs some more A time before the nap.  Your night sounds like you're making great progress!  The hand holding can become a prop, I've known some people who have lots of problems with getting rid of it -- I'd see if you could get rid of it -- see if you could put just a hand on her and try to remove it before she falls completely asleep. 

[Lollipop86]

Well I was just asking, I don't let her take my  hand - because I had a feeling this is not a good idea
OK, this will sound very stupid now  but it seems she prefers tummy sleep after all    it was OK on her back for a couple of days but now she can't sleep in this position. She can fall asleep at the start but when she wakes up it's not OK anymore. Maybe that was the case with 45 nap. I will keep trying to figure out what suits her best.

You think maybe I should increase A time? It's about 2.45 mins now and she is 6 months and 3 weeks old.

She woke up at 5.15 am today and I didn't go in right away and she stopped crying but started talking. After about 30 mins she got quiet and fell asleep of about 45 mins. She woke up at about 6.40 and talked for a while. I picked her up at 7. Now, she fell asleep almost instantly at 9.15 am. I don't know if this handling was OK. She usually wakes up 7.45. But she went to sleep at 7.00 pm yesterday and she was OT by then - she was up a little bit more than 3h. But if we had a CN she would go to sleep at about 9-9.30 pm.  I think today CN would be good...

[Lollipop86]

OK, she slept only 55 mins and now after 3h she is not showing any tiredness at all... funny girl... I really don't get her at all! I get a feeling one day that I do and then the next one is totally different!! 

[Lollipop86]

Fell asleep on her own!! at 2pm. So that is 3.45h. (OK, I forgot to turn on the ventilator...  ) I think I will have to extend the morning A time. And maybe put her down a bit later. I really don't want early wakings Lets see how long she naps this time.

[katie80]

Yes, if she's almost 7mo, I bet she's ready for about 3hr A first thing in the morning.  It can take a few days to a week for things to even out with a longer A time, so don't let one day make the decision for you.  I'm guessing she's about ready to drop the CN too, and that is probably playing a factor in the EW.

As for settling and sleeping, most LOs do sleep better on their tummies.  This will likely solve the dummy and hand issue that you were having, but I was also thinking you could start giving her a lovey if you don't already.  That would give her something to hold other than your hand and can become a good comfort item.  I think somebody also makes loveys that you can attach some dummies to so she can find them easier.

She woke up at 5.15 am today and I didn't go in right away and she stopped crying but started talking. After about 30 mins she got quiet and fell asleep of about 45 mins. She woke up at about 6.40 and talked for a while. I picked her up at 7. Now, she fell asleep almost instantly at 9.15 am. I don't know if this handling was OK.

Yes, this is totally fine.  If she doesn't need you, then let her be and if she falls back to sleep, great, she won't get used to the EW.  You want to be careful this doesn't happen often though, as that 45min can act like a nap then and encourage the EW.  Pushing your A time out to 3hr and dropping the CN should help that.  This morning's nap was definitely UT at 55min, as she only had 2:15A.

Hope that helps! Glad to hear you've had good progress in the night!

[Lollipop86]

OK, everything makes sense.

I'm kind of scared to write this but I think we are getting there!  (hope Mr. Murphy doesn't read this) Yesterday she napped 2-3.30pm, then a short CN 5.40-6.10pm, then BT 8.10pm. She only woke up at 11pm and 3am for BF and then 5ish but fell right back to sleep (I think so because baby phone didn't say anything) and then again 6.55am.
I struggled to keep her up until 10am and now we'll see how long she naps.
How do I make sure she's not OT?
She has a lovey but not using it a lot. I mean she didn't adopt her for comfort yet I hope she does. She has it a long time now in the crib.

[Lollipop86]

Awake after 35 mins. Talking to herself. I didn't go in now - I'll wait what happens. 



Didn't fall back to sleep - she was talking for 20 mins and at 10.55 started crying so I picked her up and BF. She is fine now... There weren't any distractions, she didn't poop, maybe she got hungry, but she didn't cry at first so I doubt that was the reason for wakening.
I talk to many mothers with babies the same age and they sleep very little during the day (they don't use BW method) and they cope.

[Lollipop86]

We went out and came in, ate a little bit of solids, then BF, change of nappy and after 4 hours of A time still not sleepy! In the stroller she was gone just 3-4 mins in the end. I don't know if it was a power nap for her or she is overtired (but I don't believe because she was not fussy at any time). I tried to wind her down and put her in the crib for nap time but she was only playing so I picked her up. Now she is playing with my slipper...

She was fussy in the morning and I really struggled to keep her up 3h but now she seems to be fine!



Fell asleep after 5h. I put her down as soon as she started fussing. I left her if she would self settle but she didn't. After 5 mins she started crying for help and after 2x PU/PD she fell asleep instantly.

[Lollipop86]

Today's EAS

A 7am
E 7.10 am
S 10 am - 10.40 am (+20 mins in the crib chatting)
E 11 am
A 10.40 am - 3.30 pm!
E 1.30 solids, 2 pm BF
S 3.30 pm - 4.05 pm (10 mins resettling) 4.15 pm - 4.35 pm
E 6.45 pm
S 7.10 pm

When she woke up in the afternoon she cried a lot for half an hour. My hubby recorded her (I wasn't at home) and it sounded very OT...
Should I force her to sleep even if she is looking OK and she is chatting and playing???

[katie80]

It actually sounds to me like the first nap might have been OS.  It could have been UT, but if she was getting fussy before the nap and you struggled to keep her up til 10, I wonder if it wasn't OS and then she just woke straight and needed to get that out a bit.  Since you just stretched to 3hr A, I'd keep there for a few more days and see what happens.  One day doesn't offer much in terms of sleep patterns.

Yes, she was likely quite OT after the pm nap as she had a HUGE A time after not a very long nap in the morning.  She might not have looked tired, because those 3-4min in the stroller made a difference for her.  Or, she might have gotten her 'second wind' and was more 'happy tired', i.e. OT.

Should I force her to sleep even if she is looking OK and she is chatting and playing???

You never can really force a LO to sleep, but the beauty of Tracy's methodology is that you know your baby, so you keep an eye on the clock and an eye on her cues.  You knew she had only a short morning nap, so with an average A of 3hr, she was probably ready for a nap again about 2-2.5hr later (likely when you were out for your walk).  The more you BW, the more you'll know what different things 'look like'; what she is like when she's well rested and content, what she's like when she's tired and needing a nap, and what she's like when she's OT and seems happy and playing, but is really a bit over-happy.  But, don't feel bad, we all miss it sometimes and even when we know all that we still make mistakes.  It'll rarely be perfect, but you'll figure more and more things out as you go along.

[Lollipop86]

Maybe I moved her A time too quickly from 2.45 to 3h. I think I didn't stimulate her much - I put her pn my bed in the end and I put away clean clothes and talked to her. I carried her around the apartment.

But, don't feel bad, we all miss it sometimes and even when we know all that we still make mistakes.  It'll rarely be perfect, but you'll figure more and more things out as you go along.

Thank you!

I'm sorry, I feel really bad because I'm so annoying! (my topic has 2nd most replies!) Maybe I complicate things too much.

P.S.: I thought this night would be awful because of OT but it was OK. She just had an early waking (6 am) because BT was at 7 pm last night. I noticed 11 hours is enough for her BT.
And update - 6am BF, didn't go back to sleep, 7am picked up, 8.45 very fussy and went to her bedroom, 8.50 fell asleep, woke up 2 times (after 5 mins and 30 mins), 9.45 awake and OK (well, maybe hungry - 10 am BF a lot)

[katie80]

I'm sorry, I feel really bad because I'm so annoying! (my topic has 2nd most replies!) Maybe I complicate things too much.

Not at all!  Some situations are more tricky than others.  It's fine to have this many replies, you're working on things.

Sounds like you found the culprit for the short nap this morning.  Hope you get a better day today!

[Lollipop86]

Yes we are working on it. Still sometimes doing it wrong but I find it out when it's too late...

We are going 3-2 naps now. But I think if I make BT earlier she wakes up early. I try to keep her up longer but it doesn't work. I think then she gets OT. Because then we have problems with falling asleep and the naps are short. If she makes the first nap 1h - is that too short? Because she did it today and I tried to keep her up 3 hours and she couldn't do it. Should I put her down earlier in that case?
The next nap was also short (1h) but I think it was due to teething. She was very fussy, rubbing her nose against me, wanting to BF, and to suck my fingers. So now I think maybe she should have a short catnap.

The night was OK, she didn't even BF at 3 am - just restless sleep for a while but I managed to ressetle.