Beyond exhausted... any advice?

[vreitsma]

So my little guy is 5 1/2 months old. We have been doing the EASY routine from the get-go. Around 3-4 months
though he stopped sleeping through the night. I have started to give him bananas and other mushy, baby-friendly food
along with breastfeeding him, assuming it may be a growth spurt. He is on the 4 hour schedule (give or take, since we read his cues).
He just started taking long morning naps (2-3 hours) but the afternoon ones are only about 45min or less.

I am going to try waking him from his nap if it goes to 2 hours, in hopes that his second nap will be longer.
It's probably about time to eliminate the catnap (my older daughter never went for a catnap either while on the EASY routine).

Basically I don't care how long or short his naps are during the day, for the past couple months
he has been up every 1-2 hours at night!  I do shh/pat and when that doesn't work, pu/pd.
Up to a certain point that no longer works and I have to feed him. But even after feeding him
he continues to wake every 2 hours. Please help!! It's very difficult to keep up with my 5 and 18 month old
while severely sleep deprived! Bless you all!

[katie80]

Hi and welcome to BW! (((Hugs))) on the NWs, they're hard enough in the first place, but even more difficult when you've got other kids to care for.

It does sound like he's maybe stuck in a funny cycle with the long morning nap and then not much for an afternoon nap. I would definitely start waking him at 2hr in the morning and then we'll take a look at your A times to see if we can get him a better afternoon nap. It may also he beneficial to read through this link, as he might be heading toward dropping the late afternoon CN... All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months. Would you please post what your routine looks like in EAS format?

So, something like this:
W/E 7am
A
S 9-11am
E 11am
A
S etc etc

Around 3-4 months
though he stopped sleeping through the night. I have started to give him bananas and other mushy, baby-friendly food
along with breastfeeding him, assuming it may be a growth spurt.

When you say he stopped sleeping through the night around 3-4mo, for how long was he sleeping through before then? What are you considering sleeping through the night... from dream feed until morning, 8hr, 10hr? I would say it was probably a GS that made him wake again as there is often one around both 3 and 4mo. It's also very common for babies this age to wake up and need a feed again even if they've slept through in the past. When did you start solids? Have you noticed any difference in the NWs since then? Bananas can sometimes be constipating at this age, do you feel he's having any discomfort tummy wise with the solids? And no other discomfort that you know of... reflux, intolerances, etc?

I do shh/pat and when that doesn't work, pu/pd.
Up to a certain point that no longer works and I have to feed him. But even after feeding him
he continues to wake every 2 hours.

Does he ever settle back to sleep with shh/pat or PUPD or do you mostly end up feeding him? If you end up feeding him after doing shh/pat and/or PUPD, they likely won't work because he's learned that he will be fed and now has that as a prop. Is he an independent sleeper during the day and at BT?

Sorry for all the questions, just wanting to get a clearer picture of why he might be waking so often.

[vreitsma]

Thank you so much for all the input!! His schedule looked something like this...

E:6-7am
A:7-9am
S:9-11 or 12
E:11 or 12
A:12-2
S:2-2:45
E: 3:30 or 4
A:4-5:30p
S:5:30-6p (catnap)
E:7:30p
A:until about 8p then bedtime

[katie80]

Ok, so routine-wise, at his age, it looks like his ideal A time is somewhere around 2.5+hr.  He's doing that well in the morning and taking a nice long nap, but then is likely not tired enough to sleep past 45min for the afternoon, so ends up OT by the end of the day with only two short naps and too much A time.

I'd shoot for something more like this...
W/E 6:30am
A
S 9-11am
E 11am
A
S 1:30/45-3:30pm
E 3:30pm
A
S either a short CN (15-20min) around 5:30 and BT at 7:30 or early BT at 6/6:30pm

If you can get that afternoon nap longer, you're right in the middle of the 3-2 nap transition and should be able to easily do two solid naps once he can manage 3hr A time.  If it stays short until you can get the A times worked out, I would start shortening the A time after a short nap, so your day doesn't end up so long on little afternoon sleep.  Most LOs this age will go down easily 2hr after a short nap, which would make your last CN around 4:45/5pm and BT no later than 7/7:30pm.

How about independent sleep?  Do you think you can commit to seeing shh/pat or PUPD through in the MOTN?  I think doing that along with the right routine would go a long way to getting better night sleep back.