Experiences with ebt at 5/6 months

[*Liz*]

Thanks Fleur. Its tricky to figure out isn't it?? Unless the super long NWings were nothing to do with UT and were just one of those total random things.

There isn't much danger of nap 1 being too early when I have the school kids to sort out first and TBH I find it completely frustrating that he wants to nap before they leave for school - he hasn't done that since he was a few weeks old  .

Its impossible to reverse the OT on a 4.50am EW isn't it?? Because the day will end up far too long no matter how well he naps. Again he isn't going to bed at 4.50pm!!!!

An enforced CN resulting in 4 naps would completely backfire at this age, right??!!

[newkidontheblock]

The solution would only be an extra nap or some nice, long naps to catch up. Easier said than done, I know. It is a very tricky situation because even an extra CN lengthens the day even more! And while 4.50 BT isn't feasible - it will have to be earlier than normal. Long naps is the only answer I can see but no help with how to get them

Eris did these horrible 4.50am WUs two weeks ago for the first time ever. Horrible week. On some days I could get her back to sleep but mostly, she would sleep/doze as long as my hand was rubbing her back/patting her etc. The moment that stopped, she was up. I finally committed to keeping her calm and at least lying down. I did not count any of that 'down time' as part of WU. These only stopped once I kept her this way till normal WU time and then was very dramatic about WU. But I don't know if this is at all relevant or helpful for a 5mo.

[lily_layne]

An enforced CN resulting in 4 naps would completely backfire at this age, right??!!

I think it actually might work just to get you to a decent BT. If you could force a 4th (I know it's tricky with the other 2 around) and get a later BT between 7 and 8 it might get you a decent wake up the next day (even if it's a 10 hr OT night - does he do those?) and then you can work from there. Kind of like a reset.

Unless the super long NWings were nothing to do with UT and were just one of those total random things.

Reid just came out of a stretch of long NWs so it could just be a developmental blip.

Would he go back to sleep if you fed him? I know it messes with his eating schedule for the rest of the day but would it be worth a shot just to get to a decent WU?

We've been in a bit of a 3-2 mess lately and I've been doing a lot of thinking and reading (ok, more like obsessing) about how to handle it. Since T is body-clock oriented I am thinking maybe to just jump in with set naps on a day you get a decent WU and stick to it for a few days to see if things sort themselves out. Things got messy with DD with the 3-2 and she short-napped for ages after and, looking back, I think set naps would have helped. When reading old threads, I came across this schedule for average sleep needs 5 month olds that another BWer found worked really well:
WU: 7
S: 9-10:30
S: 1-2:30
BT: 7
She said she was reluctant to try it and kept adapting it (longer A time between naps and shorter A time to bed) but kept getting short naps. Once she followed it properly it worked really well. Once they are 6 months, the schedule is 9:30-11 and 1:30-3 with 7 WU and BT. Would either of those fit your life? I think the routines are from a book called Dream Baby. I also downloaded some schedules from another website and they were very similar - I can send them to you if you pm me your email. I think the idea is that the long A time to BT teaches them to take a longer pm nap and because that A is longer, they are ready for an am nap after a shorter A time. In the short term, if he's really OT you could probably use EBT along with those nap times to help him catch up.

I am thinking of aiming to follow that routine. Wanna hold hands?

[*Liz*]

Those sort of routines would basically work great for me - its just whether he can handle that very long A to bed isn't it? I am pretty sure the days where I get 2 short naps and then a long final nap are not helping though - whether the little fella is OT or not.

Here was yesterday

Awake 4.45am - fed at 5am but didn't help - kept in the dark and low key until 6.45am
Nap 1 8.25-9.45am (woke hungry - refused top up before nap)
Nap 2 11.40-12.10 (in carrier - I had to go out!)
Nap 3 14.15-15.00 (humph - ?UT ?windy as fed him before to try and get a long nap  )

Was basically asleep on bottle at 6.15pm - I had him in the carrier between 4.45 and 5.15pm but he didn't sleep and eventually got p**d off. Enjoyed his bath but had a big cry getting dressed  .

However the night wasn't too bad - he slept until 3am then fed 6oz and took until 4.15am to fall back asleep but then slept until 6.20am  .

I pushed him to 9am for his first nap (he obviously started thinking it was a good idea at 8.25am  .

I guess if the second nap is decent I will do 2 naps, but if it is rubbish will (try to) enforce a CN.

I usually do feed him at NWings, but a bottle feed doesn't seem to come with magic sleepy dust in the same way a BF does. I'm pretty sure I would have used the boob to deal with these EWs with the previous 2 kids

Thinking back, chaos was more often a need to change than OT with my other 2. But of course the details are a little lost on me now as it has been a while  .

[Kfro]

Just popping in to say that we are in the exact same boat with the 3-2....and it is driving me crazy!! The set naps does sound very appealing!