Baby rubbing eyes viscioulsy and waking himself up..

[Jusiahsmom]

HI all, Me again...

So my 23 week old DS has been wean off paci for about two weeks but for the last 3 nights he has been
waking up at about 4 and rubbing eyes. I been able to pat/shh him back and calm him down but at 5 am
he start rubbing viciously and tossing and turning to the point he's waking himself up and then crying. Im not sure what it is..Hes been fed btwn 2-3 am so hes not hungry, diaper has even been changed.

Once I take him out of crib, he cries very lightly and lets out a few loud wails too and then he's just wide awake and up. I try to rock him and comfort him and he falls asleep on me and even snores but even wakes up on me and starts rubbing his eyes.
I work a fulltime time job and Im up at 6am. Losing that 1 hour these last few nights is exhausting.
I put him to bed at 640 pm last night thinking maybe if he went to bed earlier than his 7pm bedtime he would be better but no change.

I have no idea what it is..any help?suggestions? miracles lol?

Thanks to all!!

[Jusiahsmom]

Just to add

He's up for 2 hours and sleeps for 2 hours.
Do you think his A times need to maybe be extended?  It just dawned on me.

He has 2 approx 2 hour naps and a short catnap of about 45 mins

EASY since his new wake up of 5 0r 6am looks like this:

6 am -up fed
8am down for nap
10am up an fed
12 nap- sometimes 30 mins sometimes 2 hours but mostly 45 mins
12:45 up an dfed
3pm nap..--If afternoon nap was 45 mins he takes this nap for almost 2 hours
6:30 bathe
7 -7:15 bed time

[Layla]

He's 5.5 months? It could be the start of the 3-2 nap transition, where the catnap (if too late or too long) can interfere with night sleep. You would have to stretch the A times though closer to 3 hrs for him to be able to drop the CN so it will take you a while to get there but I wonder if he's having too much daytime sleep, which may be why there is not drive for him to sleep longer at night. He's sleeping 4:45hrs during the day with an expectation of 11-12hrs at night, which may be too much for him.

I've attached some links for you to look at let me know what you think

I've also attached a link to EASY samples for lo's your age. My lo is about the same age as yours and we're in the transition but I've really had to push her A's to 3hrs across the day and we also had a problem with shorter pm nap, in which case I limited her morning nap to 1.5hrs and that together with push in A time gave us a longer pm nap.
All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months
Sample EASY routines, 3-6 months

[Jusiahsmom]

Ok thanks so much. Will read n look into it tonight. It's so funny bc I feel like he just mastered the 2 hour wake time. It took is forever to get here n get those long naps. I will let u know how it goes and probably will n back with some questions

[Jusiahsmom]

So i did go over the info you sent but still a lil confuse on how to push the awake time..should it be in 10 min increments and for how long?
Also when he takes his two hour naps sometime they go into 2.5 hours and I wake him up.. should I shorten those naps as well.


The 3-2 easy scheduled I was looking at were mostly 2- 2 h our naps and 1 catnap and thats exactly what he is doing.  IS there another link to the new schedule?

oh BTW He did it again last night. Been up with him since 4 am. HE kept falling asleep and even snoring but still waking to rub eyes and nose.  Do you think it can be allergies? Just a lil strange bc it only happens at these times.  I did put him in a new crib 2 weeks ago..maybe the mattress?
I just want to sleep :/

[Layla]

Could be allergies   . My LO rubs her eyes viciously when she's really really tired.

The 2nd part of the night (especially the early hrs of the morning) consists on mainly light sleep and can be harder for the baby to settle.
The schedule is a guide only and I probably wouldn't allow a nap longer than 2 hrs. If he's sleeping 2-2hr naps then it might be time to ditch the catnap. Often when the cn is still around (with long naps such as ones your LO is doing), it leads to early morning wake ups .

Some find that the schedules (2x2hr naps and 1 catnap) plus 11-12 hrs at night is too much for a baby. If your LO wasn't waking up at night (early morning), I would probably leave the naps alone but it may just be that he is sleeping too much (either needing shorter naps or needing a transition to 2 naps).

You could either limit both am and pm nap to 1.5hrs so that there is enough time for the CN and the extra hour will tack onto night sleep or allow up to 2hrs for am and pm nap but at the same time work on stretching out the A's so that the catnap is gone.

[Jusiahsmom]

Hi there again..
SO im limiting his naps to about  1.5 and sometimes he does 1.15 mins which is good and also working on extending his A time by about 10 mins for now but he still tossing and turning at  around 4.. the rubbing of the eyes still exist but not as bad.  Hope it gets better with the next couple of days of doing so. Will keep you posted.

I just re-read your reply and you mentioned I should do one or the other..Is it too much for him to do both?
He's actually getting up earlier from his naps on his own from me keeping him up the extra few mins?
Is that ok?

[Layla]

As long as he's not getting up too early, I think it should be ok. The tossing and turning my dd does as well. Towards the morning (wake up), they are in very light sleep and he may even be doing it in his sleep. I would just leave him until he's calling out for you as you may be interfering with his sleep.

[Layla]

How are things? Any luck with increasing A times?

[Jusiahsmom]

Hi .. Well last night i couldnt do another day of it so my mother was nice enough to stay with h and said he Only hot up 2x. once she patted him and he went right back amd the other he woke up to eat. I've increase a times to 10 mins last weekend but when he's at the sitter I'm not sure she  keeps him up thru out the day only first nap. I'm working on it this weekend again n up it 15 mins. He has had shorter naps of average 1.15 each . Still on 3 naps  not able to drop last nap until his A times are more spread apart. Hoping this weekend with me I can get him on a better track bc I'm exhausted. Lets see about tonight.
Def not allergies just restless sleep as you said.

Ill let u know how my weekend goes. Thanks for checking up!!

[Layla]

Big hugs,

No, you won't be able to drop the catnap just yet or not until your A's are closer to 3 hrs. Sorry to hear about the short naps . I hope he sleeps better for you this weekend...let us know how you go.

Also, there is a 3-2 support thread, where you can continue posting and get support as you're moving towards 2 naps Anyone want to talk about the 3-2 Nap transition? Part 2

 

[Jusiahsmom]

Thanks so much!! I need all the support I can get !!
Xxxx

[Jusiahsmom]

Hi me again, just with an update and possibly another problem on my hands..it just doesnt end.

SO it took us awhile and had some set backs with DS getting a lil sick but we finally made it to the 3 hour awake time. His naps have gotten shorter though. one for 30 mins and the other for 1.5 hours, so I have not been able to cut the catnap out but his catnap his falling early in the day at about 4 which is better than 5-530. Im thinking maybe he just needs a few more days to get use to it. But just in case he doesnt do I keep the catnap to make up for 1st short nap?

Also .....he stopped the rubbing of his eyes but since he was a lil sick I offered him pacifier again to soothe him and I continue to give to him..but he his now tossing and turning and moving around his crib all night.. pacifier falling out him looking for it..
I keep taking him out of his crib bc he is hitting himself with crib bars ...throw mattress on floor and have to keep patting him to calm down until he falls asleep for about 30 mins and it starts all over again..
Do you have any idea what this is now..he is usually asleep by 715-730pm.
Any opinions..I cant seem to get a break. I thought by 6 months things would get a lot better
Thanks for your help as always!!!

[Layla]

Hi, sorry I didn't reply sooner but I also noticed you have also posted in the EASY forum and rec'd some advice. I will lock this thread so that we can keep all the advice in one place