Help with 4 mo now having numerous nap/night sleep issues

[arabesque]

Hi everyone

Dd is 19 weeks. We had a lovely little routine going, and at 17 weeks she had a fever which led to herbeing super sleepy, and she slept through for a week. It was divine ...she was calm and quiet during the day, took perfect 1.5/2 hr naps etv.

Then she got better!

And everything had gone pear shaped since! Naps got shorter, she started waking again for a night feed, then she started rolling in bed. We unswaddled and she seemed to prefer both arms out so we've gone cold turkey....it's been 48 hours.

Now...we pat her to sleep as she was *almost* self settling prior to the rolling/arms out, but isn't now. She's a tummy sleeper. I just need help...I'm so tired. Pleasesje suggestions on how I can stop the ot that has arrived.

E 7am
S 8:45/50 wake at. 45 or 1hr, I pat to resettle
E 10:30
S 12:25/20/whoever I finally let her off
E 2;15
S 4:10/whenever she finally goes down
E 5ish when she wakes
Bath
E 6:30
Bed round 7
DF 10:30
Nw...last night was 2:50, the night before 4:15
Ew is pretty common...dh currently trying to resettle at 6:00am

[arabesque]

She doesn't seem happy anymore. Cries a lot, whinges if put down out of our arms:(

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Our last 24 hours.

Clearly us patting is a prop...but otherwise there's no sleep to be had at all...please help me, feeling desperate! Every time we go in she's rolled and can't sleep on her back.

Woke 6:27
E 7am
8:55-9:27
Woke and talked, I held off resettling to see if she'd go bavk off...she started crying, I re swaddled with.arms back in, never went back to sleep
E 10:30
11:57-12:33, I resettled, slept til 2:20
4:08-4:35
Bed 7, patted off at 7:15
DF 10:30
Nw 2, m resettled
Nw 3:30, fed at 3:45
Nw 5:30, wet through so changed then resettled, again at 6
Up 7

[katie80]

Hi there, sorry you haven't gotten a response yet.

Just want to make sure I'm getting the problem right... she's having trouble sleeping full naps, she's now rolling (both ways? or just fron to back?) and unswaddled, and has picked up a NW again. Is that right?

I don't know that we can say patting is really an issue, because you've just dropped the swaddle cold turkey and it's normal to have to pat for a bit again to help her learn how to settle a new way. So, don't worry about that just yet.

My first guess is that there is often a GS and developmental leap at 4 mo, so after being ill she's likely had a jump in A time and possibly needs to make up for some feeds as well. I think you need to push to 2hr A, in general, because when she's doing less she's waking at 45min/1hr and you're having to resettle and when she did have a short nap like the last EASY you posted, she did a full 2hr A afterward and did a monster nap (yes, she was likely OT and needed to be resettled, but I think that shows overall she can probably handle a bit more A time than you're giving her). The EW would also support that theory.

Otherwise, I hate to say it, but I think you just have to give it some time. It's quite a big thing for some to lose the swaddle and it might be too much to expect anything more than she's doing only 48hrs in. Some babies sleep only 30min naps for a few days after dropping the swaddle, so I'd say overall she's not doing bad at all.

(((Hugs))), transitions are tough. Hang in there.

[arabesque]

Hey katie80, thanks

Yes, all those things...rolling tummy to back, which is hard as she's tummy sleeper, crazy short naps (varying between 15 mins and 45 mins, sometimes I can extend with a good 20-30 mind of patting...my poor other kids are being neglected), losing the swaddle and numerous nw! Lol it's safe to say I'm really enjoying this phase..not! (Side note, it's school holidays here in aust...3 kids and no chance of naps!)

Thanks for your reply...I figured the answer would be to ride it out...but tiredness makes me a tall two year old and I JUST DONT WANT TO why isn't there a magic wand?! I really appreciate your reply

[weaver]

Agree with Katie that dropping the swaddle cold turkey is going to cause disturbance - so if you want to stick with unswaddled, yes you will need to just deal with consequences for now! 19 weeks is quite young to be completely unswaddled.  You might need to hold through the jolts for naps.  Babies generally have a transition from light to deep sleep around 15-20 minutes into a nap, and they jolt, sometimes they jolt themselves awake!  This is something swaddling helps with, but if you can put light pressure on her arms to minimise the jolt, you might help her stay asleep.   She might jolt less if in a sling?

Otherwise starting to roll and having a NF sound like a developmental leap and maybe a bit of a growth spurt - again this will cause disturbance which should subside with time.  You might want to look out for an increase in A times when she seems more or less back to herself, they often go with developmental leaps.