Author Topic: 8m/o Fussy for a month now. Is my EASY right?  (Read 4441 times)

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Offline MarciaMSPT

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8m/o Fussy for a month now. Is my EASY right?
« on: February 25, 2014, 16:11:16 pm »
Hi...

My 8 month old has been very fussy and discontented for about a month now.  Nothing holds his attention for long except being held.  Not sure if my EASY is about right or if it's seperation anxiety etc.

My EASY is:

7 up and eat breastmilk solids
10 sleep (1.5-2.0 hours)
11:30 or 12 eat breastmilk solids
3 nap (1-1hr and 15 min.)  usually wake him to not mess up bedtime.  Should I just let him sleep? 
4 or 4:15 eat breastmilk solids
6:30 bath (hates getting dressed and screams for mommy if she's anywhere around which is new as of the last week)
7 bottle breastmilk
7:45ish bedtime

Any suggestions or advice?  Thanks!
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Offline MarciaMSPT

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Re: 8m/o Fussy for a month now. Is my EASY right?
« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2014, 16:12:23 pm »
He is sleeping through the night till 7 at this time but have to wake him at 7 so going to move bedtime a tad earlier so he's not sound asleep when morning time comes. Thoughts?
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Re: 8m/o Fussy for a month now. Is my EASY right?
« Reply #2 on: February 26, 2014, 22:49:00 pm »
Hi. Your EASY looks good to me and I agree with your plan to bring BT a little earlier if he is sound asleep in the morning, it may also help him if the bath time was moved earlier. The time we had grumpy bath times and crying during getting dried and dressed was when DS was too tired and just had no patience left, shifting the bath 20 min earlier helped a lot.

Perhaps he is working on something developmentally, I always found mine would be more tired and more SA when there was a leap coming.


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Re: 8m/o Fussy for a month now. Is my EASY right?
« Reply #3 on: February 28, 2014, 00:40:36 am »
I'll keep those things in mind... today was rough. I had the stomach flu all day and all last night.  My DH was home today from work so that was great but my little guy cried almost all day... notice a tooth had popped through!  Argh... wish I could think straight when I'm sick! 

He's had 4 huge ammonia smelling blowouts over the last 3 days... maybe he's fighting something?  He's not a big fan of solids right now either but was doing great with them. 

Any links to read about the leaps you talk about?  Thanks!
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Re: 8m/o Fussy for a month now. Is my EASY right?
« Reply #4 on: February 28, 2014, 09:12:29 am »
I don't think we have any specific FAQs on developmental leaps here but there are heaps of sites with average mile stone ages and many people here like to follow the Wonder Weeks. In general though whenever there is a development of some sort the sleep can be disturbed as they either work on the skill in their dreams to process all the information or physically start rolling/sitting/standing in their cot sometimes this happens whilst they sleep and then they wake unable to get themselves laying down again.  I remember quite a few disturbed phases during skill development, especially language development later on.

It does sound like he maybe poorly or teething so don't worry about solids, milk is the most important food for him and to keep his fluid intake up too.  He'll get back on with the solids when he feels better.


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Re: 8m/o Fussy for a month now. Is my EASY right?
« Reply #5 on: February 28, 2014, 14:24:04 pm »
Thank you.  I bought the Wonder Weeks app last night... helps for my own sanity!  He did pop a tooth yesterday... that was fast!  I was sick all day so didn't notice until last night!

I'll keep up the milk for now and let him putter around with solids as he feels like it.  He seems to be doing well today but then again, I'm up and feeling much better and taking care of him instead of dad who is off to work so maybe he just feels like things are more back to normal again.  Thanks for your input!
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Re: 8m/o Fussy for a month now. Is my EASY right?
« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2014, 21:03:29 pm »
:)


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Re: 8m/o Fussy for a month now. Is my EASY right?
« Reply #7 on: March 04, 2014, 20:01:11 pm »
his morning nap is shortening to about an hour (which of course throws the rest of the day OFF!)  I'm thinking that stretching morning wake time is a good idea at this time? 

I've had to play around with the 8pm bedtime and keep it in context of the day and such... sometimes 7:30 and anywhere up till 8 just depending.

I've resorted to carrying him in my baby back pack for his fussy times (he's not crawling yet) and am not sure if this is hindering him from getting tired enough for his naps? 

Just in another "what should we do?" stage...but taking it one day at a time... 

Thanks for advice or comments.
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Re: 8m/o Fussy for a month now. Is my EASY right?
« Reply #8 on: March 05, 2014, 07:59:30 am »
Sounds like a bit of separation anxiety - do you think?
During SA it's a great idea to take him around with you to reassure him and most mums find this is the quickest and calmest way through the phase. Yes he is likely not getting the same level of physical exercise if you are carrying him so it's trying to find a balance between being able to get on with your important jobs of the day by carrying him whilst also making sure he has enough time on the floor to exercise and practice rolling and crawling.  At times I was able to carry mine to the room where I needed to be to cook/clean and pop DS on a blanket on the floor with a few toys or safe items from the house to play with, so a bunch of measuring spoons and balloon whisk in the kitchen, a clean toothbrush or sponge in the bathroom - that way he felt close and had a 'new' item to explore which helped.

If you feel his morning A time needs to go a bit longer then I would do that, increase by 15 mins and see how it goes.  Around 8 months or so the nap routine can change a little, naps can be a bit shorter or one shorter and one longer, and A times vary greatly form one LO to another. If he is ready for more than 3hrs for his first A to even up his day and keep him well rested, that's fine.


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Re: 8m/o Fussy for a month now. Is my EASY right?
« Reply #9 on: March 05, 2014, 15:56:13 pm »
Great advice...

He's dropping his morning nap to about 40 minutes now in stead of 1.5 hours... increased A time by 15 minutes for last two mornings... didn't help... may need more time? 

Growth spurt issues to consider too... 

Any thoughts on the nap situation?

Thanks!
Marcia
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Re: 8m/o Fussy for a month now. Is my EASY right?
« Reply #10 on: March 05, 2014, 19:06:28 pm »
Are his night's ok?  I think you said you were shifting BT a little based on his day but is he sleeping ok for the night?
There are some sample routines here which you might be interested to browse.
chronological EASY samples, 7-9 months
Could be your LO is just a bit ahead of himself and showing a preference for more of a 9 month old routine now. That's fine by the way so long as he is in a decent mood in the day and sleeping fine at night.  You'll see the 9 months routines can have one slightly longer and one slightly shorter nap, others have two naps equal length but a bit shorter.
It's fine to increase that morning A time to help balance the day and maintain the longer nap too. At some point the A time gets so long that naps need to be capped or BT moved later but this may not happen for many months yet.


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Re: 8m/o Fussy for a month now. Is my EASY right?
« Reply #11 on: March 06, 2014, 01:15:22 am »
Hum... I'll see what happens tomorrow... He has been fairly happy today but then again, we went out and it takes us an hour to get anywhere for groceries etc... and he loves getting out and my brother came in tonight to spend a couple days so lots of excitement.  Tomorrow will be another "boring" day at home :):)

He has not been interested in his solids for a couple days now BUT, I tasted what I was feeding him - yuck!  I had put everything together and it was awful!  So I popped open a sweet potato jar and he ate the whole thing!!!  2.5 oz plus his EBF milk.  Wondering if his decrease in solids are affecting his naps too?

i'll take a look at the EASY link you sent.  He has always seemed to be ahead of the game when it comes to schedules and such.  :)

Thanks!
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Re: 8m/o Fussy for a month now. Is my EASY right?
« Reply #12 on: March 06, 2014, 11:20:30 am »
I wouldn’t have thought that a decrease in solids would effect his sleep at this age. He gets what he needs from his milk which is still his primary food.  He might like to try some finger foods though if you don't offer them already and I found finger foods to be a great activity and stimulation.


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Re: 8m/o Fussy for a month now. Is my EASY right?
« Reply #13 on: March 06, 2014, 13:55:03 pm »
I forgot to answer your night time question.  Nights are generally fine... every once in a while he cries in the night for about 10-20 seconds and that's it... usually after a big day of going into town etc. 

I've tried finger foods with him... he doesn't seem interested but maybe I'm not "doing it right."  Usually end with finger foods, banana, I tried grapes this morning.  He digs around them but does not put them in his mouth.  Perhaps he  is full and this makes him disinterested.  Should I start with finger foods or put them in front of him during his meal, instead of when he seems to be done?

Hoping to get some good naps in this morning.  He was awake early (6:45) and only got a total of 1.5 hours of sleep yesterday vs. his normal 2-3 hours. 

He did drink a lot of EBF milk this morning (7 oz) and ended up spitting some up just now... 2 hours later.  He seems to do that when I sit him down after eating instead of putting him in something that doesn't squish his belly - like putting him in a jumper etc.

Should I post my nap issues in the nap thread if I continue having problems?  I have taken all into thought as you have advised and will wait a week or so and see what pans out.  Thanks!
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Re: 8m/o Fussy for a month now. Is my EASY right?
« Reply #14 on: March 06, 2014, 16:00:29 pm »
Should I post my nap issues in the nap thread if I continue having problems?
Feel free to post on naps if you'd like some fresh eyes :)

Is there any chance he is teething which may be putting him off his food and disturbing naps? If so then i would try meds before his first nap see if it helps (don't continue with meds if not though).  If there is no discomfort then I would prob up his morning A a bit more and do a W2S through the transition at 40 mins to help him through.
Is he happy with a short am and long pm nap?  or is he getting very fussy and OT??

I would offer the finger foods along with the meal or instead of the puree. I didn't give any purees just altered the way I cooked family meals to cut out or reduce salt and chopped veggies into larger pieces (finger sized) so we could eat the same meals.  It isn't a concern if he isn't into it just yet though.