Author Topic: 7 month old awake times after iron defiency  (Read 3928 times)

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Offline Emily13th

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7 month old awake times after iron defiency
« on: May 21, 2014, 02:14:56 am »
So my boy is 7 months, born 5 weeks prem, and had low iron levels which caused him to only be able to stay awake for an hour max at a time and then he would sleep for 2 hours, sometimes more during the day.  His iron levels are now back in a normal range, but I'm having trouble with how long he can now stay awake for and short naps.  Here is an example of our day -

E - 7am BF
A - 7.15
E - 7.45 solids
S - 8am
A - 8.45
S - 9.45
And so on, BF every 3-4 hours depending on his naps, until 6pm bedtime.  With 2 night feeds.  He is also good at self settling.

I'm wondering if the first short nap is because he isn't tired enough, as he wakes up cooing, not crying.  I wait for him to resettle, but usually it turns into a I'm bored cry.  If I try and resettle him he is wide awake!  When I put him down at 8, he has usually been yawning or rubbing his eyes and getting cranky.  Could this be 'learned' tiredness from when he had low iron, or are they signs of boredom?!

I'm getting fed up of the 4 -5 short naps a day, would be great to consolidate them into 2 - 3 longer ones!
Should I just go cold turkey and keep him up for longer, even if he gets super cranky?

Offline ZacsMumme

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Re: 7 month old awake times after iron defiency
« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2014, 00:35:22 am »
Is the first E also his WU for the day.
At 7 mths most A times are around the 3 hr mark with two naps through the day and BT approx 11-13 hrs after WU.  (All child dependent ;) )

So yes, I do think it's ut :) I also think you need to bump those A times up at least 2 hrs before that first nap. He may act tired as he is used to going down but go out, distract him, or give him some food and do a puzzle when he usually would go down to distract him and I think you will see a big change in his sleep habits once those a As are pushed out.

I'm going to move you to EASY though if that's ok as they can help you with a plan for your/his day so you can work out solids/milk feeds between the naps too :-*
***Sara***
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DS1 - Our sensitive soul. Silent reflux.

DS2 Our cheeky chipmunk. Reflux, MSPI.

Offline Emily13th

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Re: 7 month old awake times after iron defiency
« Reply #2 on: May 22, 2014, 01:08:46 am »
Thanks ZacsMumme, you have been a great help, all good to move this thread!  Yup that first E is his wake up for the day.  I'll try and stretch out his A times, I tried today for the first one, got to 1.5 hours and he was getting ridiculous, and ended up with a short nap again!  Have the day free tomorrow so will take him for a long and interesting walk in the morning once he gets to the crazy stage!

Offline ZacsMumme

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Re: 7 month old awake times after iron defiency
« Reply #3 on: May 22, 2014, 02:09:56 am »
It is hard, just remember it's his body clock adjusting not real tired signs ;)
***Sara***
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DS1 - Our sensitive soul. Silent reflux.

DS2 Our cheeky chipmunk. Reflux, MSPI.

Offline Buttonbobs

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Re: 7 month old awake times after iron defiency
« Reply #4 on: May 22, 2014, 06:17:27 am »
Hiya, I've has a quick read through and do agree that A times probably need a shift. I agree with Sara that distraction and extra snacks will help you through the grotty phase. It will take a few days at least to get him used to not sleeping at that time but will be worth the effort.

Can you post your last couple of days in EAS format so we can keep an eye on you and spot any helpful tweaks.
~ Naomi ~




Offline Emily13th

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Re: 7 month old awake times after iron defiency
« Reply #5 on: May 22, 2014, 09:31:08 am »
Hi Buttonbobs
Here is today, we had to go out in the afternoon, so not the best example day!  I'll post tomorrow as well, Wed was not a good day, was recovering from a stomach bug so had no energy to be resettling.
BT 6pm
2 NW for BF, 10pm and 3am (always will wake at least once, but never the same time and always takes a full feed so I assume he is definitely hungry)
E/WU 6.30am BF
E - solids
S - 8am (settled in 5 mins)
A - 8.45 (talking to himself so left him until he started crying, about 15 mins, tried to settle him for 30 mins but he was wide awake, happy and very active)
E - 10am BF
S - 10.45 (this nap was a good one!)
A - 12.30pm
E - 1.30 BF
We went out to the baby clinic until 2.30pm
E - 2.30 finger food snack (doesn't eat that much unless banana is involved!  More for fun and learning)
S - 3pm
A - 3.35 (crying straight away, tried to resettle, failed!)
E - 5.00 BF
E - 5.30 solids
bath then S - 6.15pm

As you can see we are a bit all over the place!  He is really good at self settling for naps and bedtime.  This morning he was rubbing his eyes and yawning within 45mins of waking up so I pushed as far as I could to 8am, and by this point he was going nuts!  When he was younger he was pretty easy to resettle, but now he's like 'yipee!! Mum's here, get me outta this cot and let's play!', and when I don't he gets very worked up and pu/pd just seems to wind him up even more.
Thanks so much in advance!

Offline Buttonbobs

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Re: 7 month old awake times after iron defiency
« Reply #6 on: May 22, 2014, 12:17:11 pm »
Hey, sorry to hear you've been unwell, hope you're feeling much better soon.

Yes, the difficulty resettling, wanting to play and then getting annoyed when you try and resettle is very much a sign of UT. Be strong and keep pushing that A time out, he may be grotty but it will pass and after a few days of doing it it will get easier and once the A time is right he'll be easier to resettle.
~ Naomi ~




Offline ZacsMumme

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Re: 7 month old awake times after iron defiency
« Reply #7 on: May 22, 2014, 23:06:40 pm »
((Hugs)) on the bug. That day looks ok too, well done on pushing A times :D see how you got a good nap off the longer A and shorter previous nap? All points to ut :-*
***Sara***
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DS1 - Our sensitive soul. Silent reflux.

DS2 Our cheeky chipmunk. Reflux, MSPI.

Offline Emily13th

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Re: 7 month old awake times after iron defiency
« Reply #8 on: May 23, 2014, 08:30:25 am »
Hello again!
So today was a little better, and thank goodness it was awesome weather for walks!  Here is our day -
 11.30pm + 5.00am NW, BF
WU/E - 7.00am BF
E - 7.45 Solids
S - 9.05 after taking him for a walk
A - 10am (woke up cooing and turned into a cry and tried to resettle)
E - 10.30 BF
E - 11.15 Solids
S - 12.30 (almost falling asleep in pram!) at 1.05 cried out for a couple of minutes but resettled himself
E - 2.10 BF
S - 3.30 was going nuts and nothing was making him happy so put him to bed, he settled instantly, but then 10 mins later woke up, started chatting and then crying, tried to resettle, failed!)
A - 4.00
S - 4.40 for 15mins but then started crying, and Dad was home and wanted to see him.
A - 5pm
E - 5.15 BF
E - 5.45 Solids
S - 6pm he was sooo happy to be put to bed!

So maybe the first A time is still a bit short, and then the second a bit long which meant he woke up at 35mins?  I struggle to know how long to keep him up after he has had a first short nap.  He settles almost straight away, so thankful for that after the first 4 months of rocking to sleep!  The afternoon went a bit wonky, maybe from putting him down too early again and him just getting a little sleep, but just enough to tide him over?

I'm going to be one healthy mumma after all this walking, and feeling much better after the bug, thank you!

Offline Emily13th

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Re: 7 month old awake times after iron defiency
« Reply #9 on: May 24, 2014, 22:56:49 pm »
And here is yesterday!
NW 10pm + 3am BF
WU/E - 7am
E - 8am Solids
S - 9.30
A/E - 11am BF
E - 12pm Solids
S - 1.30 (was falling asleep in pram again)
A - 2.10 tried to resettle but was wide awake, maybe he had a bit of a kip in the pram without me realising!
E - 2.30 BF
S - 4pm
A - 4.40
E - 5pm Solids
E - 5.30 BF
S - 6pm

Still trying to work out which way around to do solids and BF before bed.  Hope you have lovely weekends! x

Offline ZacsMumme

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Re: 7 month old awake times after iron defiency
« Reply #10 on: May 25, 2014, 07:40:46 am »
How did last night go after that short A to 6pm BT? - it will be interesting to see if that was UT :-\

The first nap looks good. :) it's just sorting out that next A time :-\
***Sara***
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DS1 - Our sensitive soul. Silent reflux.

DS2 Our cheeky chipmunk. Reflux, MSPI.

Offline Emily13th

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Re: 7 month old awake times after iron defiency
« Reply #11 on: May 25, 2014, 10:24:56 am »
Ah, I completely forgot to write that he didn't end up settling till almost 7pm last night, how funny that you picked up on that, just proves you ladies know your stuff!!  Must have forgotten to note it down and was on autopilot while I was typing!
How many days do you think it'll take him to get used to the new awake times?  Think we might have some top teeth on the way too, uh oh  :o

Offline Buttonbobs

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Re: 7 month old awake times after iron defiency
« Reply #12 on: May 25, 2014, 20:22:55 pm »
It can take more than three days to get settled ona new A time.

Oh no for the teeth, bear in mind it may be harder to shift to a new pattern if there's any discomfort and you may get NWs and EWs due to teething that make it hard to see what's going on with your easy. Let us know how you get on. X
~ Naomi ~




Offline Emily13th

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Re: 7 month old awake times after iron defiency
« Reply #13 on: May 28, 2014, 10:48:07 am »
Hiya!

Had a pretty good day today, apart from an early wake up and refusing a catnap at the end of the day.

WU/E - 5.30 BF
E - 6.45 solids
S - 8am
E - 9.30
E - 10.30 solids
S - 12.30pm (got back from mothers group late but it worked in our favour!)
E - 2pm
I then tried for a catnap at 3.30, 4 and then 4.30, but he wasn't having it. 
E - 5pm solids
E - 5.30 BF
S - 6pm and by this point he was going crazy, probably from his early wake up.

Hoping that if he wakes up as usual around 7am I won't even need to try for a catnap tomorrow.  Do you think the early wake up could be because we have changed his routine?  He isn't yawning now until about 1.5 - 2 hours awake time so he is definitely getting used to it!

Offline ZacsMumme

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Re: 7 month old awake times after iron defiency
« Reply #14 on: May 28, 2014, 11:06:16 am »
Well done! Keep pushing the As lovely. I think the ew are from the early nap. I know it's a hard one to get out of (my ds1 did this silly business between 4-7 mths) but it will come right if you keep gently nudging. You need to get up to 2.5 hrs A min.

Also keep her in the dark till 6am at the earliest if you can. Treat anything before it as a NW. So A time starts at 6 too xx
***Sara***
https://www.facebook.com/tomiandroo


DS1 - Our sensitive soul. Silent reflux.

DS2 Our cheeky chipmunk. Reflux, MSPI.