Baby #3 but I still can't get it right - 6 wks and very unsettled!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Ugh its hard when there is older kids in the mix and running here and there. We would sometimes have feeds closer together, but usually 2 hrs at least. E lost the transfer ability about then too, that makes it hard. Lots of healthy vibes for you guys!  What does the day look like and what do you need to fit naps around? Perhaps we can help puzzle it out!

[shresmummy]

Heidi thanks so much for listening to me carrying on about his "routine" (or lack thereof!) I really appreciate it.

Well in terms of what a typical day looks like here's what has to happen most days:

6:30-7:30 am : wake up, get breakfast for kids 1 and 2, brush teeth, change clothes, nag them to eat etc..

7:45-8: get everyone our of the house, .load DS2 (baby 3) in car, load the car with bags, etc
8-8:10: drive to DS 1 preschool, take all kids out of car, and load
back again to go to DD school.
8:10-8:20 drive to DD school
8:20-9: arrive at school, take DD and DS 2 out of car again,  drop off DD, stay for reading circle.
9:9:10 back home usually unless need to run errands.

2:30-2:40 load DS2 in car to drive to, preschool first to pick up DS 1.(that means in and out of car)
2:40-2:50 drive to pick up,DD
2:50-3:25 wait till dismissal and load all kids back in car
3:25-3:40 drive back home.
3:45 out of car and back home.

And here is what happened to DS2 today in terms of his routine, and sleeps

Wu 6:20
S 7-7:30 in ergo during older kids breakfast
E ebm bottle at 7:30 before we left
Awake and cried whenever placed in car from 7:50-8:20 during DS1 drop off

S 8:25-9:05 during DD drop off and reading circle etc.
Cried when put from ergo back in car till we got home at 9:15
E bf at 9:20
S 10- 12:40 ( in ergo till 12:20 then I put him down in cot and he woke in .20 mins at 12:40)

E bf 12:45-1:14
Started crying 1:30, tried to get him to sleep, kept crying, fed again at 2 wouldn't settle till nearly 2:20 but woke when I transferred him to car seat at 2:30 
Cried and miserable in car all the way till 2:50
S 2:50-3:30 while waiting for DD pick up at school
Woke when transferred back to car

E bf at 3:45 when we got home
S tried to settle for sleep since 4:15, very miserable, fed again at 5:15 then finally slept
5:20- 6:15 in ergo
Woke briefly but continued to sleep in ergo.  while I bathed others.

Then I took the whole gang to bed at 6:35, he bf in his sleep while I read to others.

So essentially he went to bed at 6:35, I put him down in the cot at 7:15, he slept till 8:15 woke at bf again, and oddly has been having the best night he's ever had  it's now 10:20 pm and he stirred a bit in the middle but went back to sleep?!

What do you reckon? Poor baby these car transfers are getting him.. And he doesn't settle well for the afternoon nap somehow..

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Oh my what a busy time you have...my school run is like 5 min max! Hmm that makes it pretty tough for any routine to work until he is a little older and able to stay awake more. Will be back once I have the kids tucked in to have a better look!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Oh totally forgot to ask if anything came up at the dr appt regarding reflux?

[shresmummy]

That's half the battle! These school runs are suited to a 5 month old baby! Well, the dr said to try losec, and I have been doing that for nearly2 weeks now. I don't see any difference though and I'm also off soy and dairy. I think he just hates the car seat and screams his head off until he's picked up again at night he can self settle.. Today I laid him down awake at 8 pm and he groaned about for a bit nod actually went to sleep! I couldn't believe it., but day naps are still in sling. When do they definitively move to 2 naps and a catnap? Is it 4 months? Or older even?

[clazzat]

Mine were nearer 6 months when we dropped the cat nap, but we did a shorter morning nap then long lunchtime nap and 4pm catnap. My third was a bit older when we started having to deal with school runs, but even so it was a nuisance. Can you apop back to sleep at 6.20 so that he starts his day a bit later? That might help to get his naps a bit more in sync with the school run. The other things is can you leave him in the car seat when you are dropping off? Perhaps he will get a bit more used to being in it and be able to manage some longer sleeps.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

I agree with Clare on trying to apop the morning wake up to suit the day better. My older two dropped the catnap at 6 months or so but DD3 did it at 4 months - she is very low sleeps needs though. Is the carseat the bucket kind that you can pop in and out easy? Not that that helped us - DD3 has hated her set since she came out of the sleepy newborn phase - she still screams every time we but her in it.

[ZacsMumme]

Hey Hun, what is the losec dose your LO is on?

[shresmummy]

Thanks ladies today was just the limit! He cried the second he was put in the seat all the way till I reached the place and I picked him up.. He just seems to hate it! In terms of carrying him around in the car seat I used to do it up until about 6 weeks but then he just started screaming so much I had to pick him up!

In terms of getting wu time a bit later, I'm kind of doing that but it's turning out that it's almost like a super early nap. It's impossible to stop DD and DS1 from coming into our room the minute they're up, and DS1 is up around 6:30 these days (he's nap dropping, and has ew after early bt, a whole other story!) but he wants to hug the baby, kiss him, and just smother him! And he ends up waking up no natter what we try!

But what I've been doing is getting bubs up, changing his nappy and then popping him in the carrier straight away so he sleeps till 7:30 so like an extra hour then start the first feed then. He has a BF around 5:30 am. Then ebm at 7:30.

The other thing I'm finding so hard to gauge is his true A time because of all these interrupted naps. I feel like I'm carting him around in the ergo all day long! He's happy sometimes but is still sleepy, prob not sleepy enough so hie falls asleep then eyes open again in 10 mins, Hard to say what he needs!!

I should try to come up with some sort of routine to work towards, say by the time he's 3 months. By then is it mainly 3 naps? What would u suggest?

In terms of the losec he was on 1/2 tablet twice a day. I used to try and dissolve it in about 2 ml of water. Such a pain to give, he keeps spitting it up.. I have stopped it now for afew days bcos I didn't think it made a difference. What do you think? Should I start it again?

[ZacsMumme]

What is a tablet in mg I mean?
My second screamed in the car seat, he got sore tummy from his intolerances to dairy etc.

If he's in discomfort then naps maybe hard still. I think if he is happy in the carrier and you are ok with it I would keep him in there when you can. See if you can maybe get one nap in the bassinet/crib but at such a young age, with other kids to worry about I'd be doing what works for now. I'm no good with teeny tiny routines so I'll leave the easy ladies to help with that x

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

We had such wacky routines due to lsn that I am not an expert, but yes 3 naps is usual up until 6 ish months when lost drop the catnap.  If he is able to stay awake longer (even if cranky in the carseat) it will make getting one or two naps at home easier. The catnap I always used apop! Hmm tough with ew with siblings around, I am not a morning person so my older kids steer clear until I have my coffee!!

[shresmummy]

Sorry Sara! I should've said a tablet is 10 mg. so I guess he's having 5 mg twice a day? What do you reckon?

Today we had a reasonably decent day, except he was a bit unsettled this evening.

Wu 6:15
Sleep 6:40-7:40
E bf. 7:40
Interrupted am during drop off brief nap 8:40-9
Sleep 9:30-11
E bf 11
Sleep 12:20-2
E bf 2
S 3:05-3:35 (woke during transfer to car seat)
Wouldn't really resettle after we got home
E 4:30
S finally only at 5:45 was in carrier whole time, a bit unsettled
E bf while sleeping during other kids bt at 6:45
S has been sleeping since. It's 10 pm

This is probably the closest to what's manageable now for me isn't it? Any thing I can improve on this routine.?
Wish I could consolidate that morning into 1 nap after drop off!

Heidi, lol about the coffee

[ZacsMumme]

That day looks good!
It's an ok dose then but I do think it may be more effective if given all at once as 5mg at a time may not be enough to actually do anything can you see if your dr is happy for you to give the 10 mg at one dose in the morning before a feed it will probably be more effective.

[shresmummy]

Thanks Sara, I checked with my dr. He said I could try the 10 mg dose in the morning given that the 5 mg dose twice a day didn't make much of a difference. So I have started that, how long do you think it might take before I see a differenc, if any?

And in terms of naps, they're all still happening in the carrier.. I think I will start trying cot naps when he moves to 3 naps a day... Whenever that will be! It seems impossible right now to be upstairs sleep training the baby while the other 2 are unsupervised downstairs all day! I just hope when his day gets more consistent it will be easy for him to sleep in the cot. At night he sleeps for several hours at a stretch in it..

[ZacsMumme]

Hopefully you notice improvement in a few days but give it up to a week. glad your dr changed the meds around to 1 dose.

I think your plan sounds good. Before 4 mths they just do what they do anyway I think. The 4 mth sleep regression is when everything goes pear shaped so till to then you may as well do whatever works and try to just get EAS in order with appropriate A times and get through the early days with as little pain as possible x