AAAHHHHH - HELP ME!

[Me.and.my.two.boys]

Aaaahhh - I am struggling!

The last month has been great - we weaned (cold turkey) the swaddle/dummy and moses basket all at once and C learned to self settle and fall asleep on his own He never slept longer than an hour and usually 40 mins but at least there was no screaming and he was getting some sleep.

Over the last week, things has fallen apart! He has stopped falling asleep on his own, he wont nap in his pram, he sometimes naps in the car but nothing is consistant! We are out a lot so we usually only get the chance to do one nap at home per day and he just screams

I do the same wind down, sometimes he starts crying as soon as I put his sleep sack on, other times its when I put him in his cot! I tried shh/pat and pu/pd but I always worry that his teeth are bothering him and stop before he is asleep! I have medicated for the teeth! When I lift him out to do pu/pd he tries to nurse!

Im at a loss - should I just pick either shh/pat or pu/pd and just stick with it? (soooo hard with DS1 around too) or should I just ride out this rough patch and hope that tooth pops through soon and that he might get back to normal??

Im at a loss - Its hard

[amayzie]

Do you want to pop up your EASY so we can have a look at it? He is at an age where he could be heading for a transition and that could be messing some things up!

[Me.and.my.two.boys]

Hmmm... We dont really have one - every day is different because of his super short naps and school runs etc etc!

Heres a very rough one!

WU & E (bf) - 7pm
8am - breakfast (fruit or toast) he doesnt tend to actually eat much, he just likes to play with it
S - 9.15 - 10 (he used to go down great but recently lots of crying. Ive tried to increase and reduce A times but he seems to be the same
E - 10.30 bf
S - 12 - 1 (in car doing school run and dropping dp at work)
E - 1.30 bf
S - nap around 3ish but time totally varies because he fights it and i struggle to get him down
E - 4.30 bf then 5pm veggies
E - bottle neocate 8oz at bt
S - any time between 6.15 and 7 depending on when he last napped!!

Its a bit crazy

[Me.and.my.two.boys]

forgot to say the last 2 days he has refused that last nap point blank (even when i tried to apop in pram and car!!) he has gone to bed at 6.30ish (after about a 4.5-5hr a time) and sttn 12 hours!! He just crashes at night but I dont want it to get t the point where he is waking through the night due to OT!

What should his A time be at 5mo??

[amayzie]

Ok- I think for a start try getting those A times up- push push push!! I think you are starting the 3-2 transition- especially with that last nap refusal. Have a read of this and see what you think:

All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months

[Me.and.my.two.boys]

Oh no surely he can't cope on 2 naps when he's only sleeping for 40 mins at a time?

Ok - just getting up now, he slept for 12.5 hours how long A should we be at? 2.5 hr?

[ZacsMumme]

God Kelly he is like Z was! Forever ago I had a similar post at this age.

So, I think he needs an A increase like katy says. Maybe try 2.5 for first A, and if you can resettle? If you can, he may given you a good morning nap.  - or is this usually on the school run?

Problem is though, your right, he can't do with 2 40 min naps. I isn't enough I guess the alt is a longer first A, then if short naps pull the next As forward and do 3 x 40 min naps. You will need to work out the A between though. I suspect he wold need 20 mins shaved off each A, but maybe not the A to BT
Ie
WU
A 2.5
40 min nap
A  2hrs10
40 min nap
A 1hr50
40 min nap
A 1hr45 (maybe ) if he does a long night don't be afraid to do EBT.

Fwiw we have more fighting us for naps and BT too. Part of our problem is APOP but they do get more independent at this age and want to be awake, and on you

[Me.and.my.two.boys]

He does well with a long A before bed, maybe only because he falls asleep on us though

I will do 2.5 A this morn. Should I take him up 10 mins before just to do wind down (ours is very short because he cries) and hope he settles? I really miss the naps where I just put him down and leave! Grrr!

I would love for him to have longer naps and then we could work it out but he just doesn't seem able to. Also, fitting in E between short naps and longer A times is tough too

[amayzie]

The longer A time should really help to push the nap times longer. Remember as Sara says- if you have a shorter nap then you can shorten the A time after it. Try starting the day with the 2.5 hour A time and then see how you go. I think i tended to only push up the first A time to start- then work on the others- but then i think i possibly could have been braver with it!!

You'll also find it helps to stretch your day out. by pushing the A time up at the start of the day and through the other A times then you;ll have less time at the end of the day...

[Me.and.my.two.boys]

Ok - DP took him up at 9.50am (after 2hr 20min) and he put him down and left and C went to sleep

[amayzie]

Winning!! Fingers crossed it's a little longer! BUT at the same itme- i always counted an easy put down as a win even if it was a shorter nap overall. A win is a win!

[Me.and.my.two.boys]

OK so he slept for 45 mins but TBH, the fact that he went down easily is great because he has been fighting it so much recently.

I was out over lunchtime taking L to nursery and DP to work but I put the dvd player on in the car to distract C and he stayed awake the whole time I just put him down at 2 hr 20 mins again and he went down great but hasnt gone to sleep and hes starting to shout now Im going to have to go to him but I think I will try and settle him in his cot, hopefully thats all he will need? Maybe he is OT?

[ZacsMumme]

He's prob OT from full A after 45 min nap maybe? - good luck Hun. Great start though

We started st last night ... It's so awful. I hate hearing T cry!

[Me.and.my.two.boys]

Pah! I'm rubbish at this! He cried and cried and I ended up nursing him to sleep! I'm on my phone now so can't write much but I really hope I wake up in a more positive mood tomorrow!

[Me.and.my.two.boys]

OK so yesterday was a weird one

WU 7.30
E 7.45 & again at 8.15 (never took much at 7.45)
S 9.50 - 10.35 went down great
E 11.30
E 1.30
S 1.30 - 2.30 screamed and wouldnt settle for this nap, ended up nursing to sleep
E 4.00
S 4.45 - 4.55 needed to go collect L at 4.30 and I hoped c would sleep for 30 mins in his carseat but he only slept of 10 mins
E 5.20 pureed veggies
E 6.15 He was so tired I needed to feed him and get him to bed
S 6.15 - 6.45am

Today has gone very similar
WU 6.45
E 7.00
E 8.00 fruit puree
S 9.15 - 10.30 went down great and slept for 1hr 15mins
E 10.45
E 12.15 was trying to nurse and when he did he seemed to feed well so must have been hungry
S 1.30 he went down ok but started shouting like yesterday. When he started crying I went up and tried shh/hold. I put my hand on his tummy and shh/hum/sing but nothing would work! I lifted him but he really wouldnt settle so we left his room and he calmed down. When we went back into his room he fell asleep on me and I put him down This nap is causing problems!!

Ill let you know when he wakes up! Im going to use this thread to write my EASY for a few days and see whats happening! I think by the 2nd nap he is OT so I might try a shorter A time, what do you think?