EW and shorter naps

[julz222]

So I have tried every suggestion (extending A times to as much as 3.15 for a couple days, decreasing A times back to 2.5, feeding at 4:30am and putting back in bed, leaving to play in crib until 5:30am, blackening windows...) so far, and for the past week things have even gotten worse 4:30 am wakenings....

Here is yesterday:
4:30am wake
7:15 nap-9:15am (I woke him at 2 hours)
12:15-2:30am nap
6:30 pm bedtime
10pm dreamfeed
4:45am awake for day.


He seems to consistently only need 10 hours of nighttime sleep. Does that seem right? Is this then a question of moving slowly to a later bedtime (ie 8pm) so that he wakes at 6am after 10 hours sleep? It doesnt seem like much night sleep to me for this age...

[ele]

sorry to hear you are having trouble still and sorry that there have been no responses to you yet.
Generally babies at this age sleep 12-16 hours (that is a big range though). that is divided between naps and night sleep. if your baby wakes up very happy at this hour may be it is his rhythm after all. and summer light doesn't help your cause.
 but you can try managing his overall sleep (capping nap times a little, to 2 hrs per nap for example, to see if night time extends). It is typically recommended to do so, if night time is perceived a trouble. I would be patient and take it slow, over few days one change at a time. Your baby is unique so some small change may work for him.
He didn't want to nap between 2:30 and 6:30?

[ele]

oh, also just a question (not to rush you to conclusions). I stopped dream feeding my DD long ago. I felt I was waking her up/disrupting her sleep (she was taking a while to settle), so instead I let her wake up hungry and eat when she decides. I felt that at the time it worked better and solved some sleep issues (she was younger then) and actually she started to wake less.

[newkidontheblock]

Sorry for not replying sooner, hun but I can see that you have got some great support from ele

How old is your LO now? Could you post a few more days - maybe a pattern will emerge. I do think 2.30 - 6.30 is too long a gap and he was most likely OT at BT. My gut says a lot of this is down to OT but let's see. Anything else going on that could be causing discomfort - teething/tummy issues?

[julz222]

I wanted to start by saying thanks for everyones suggestions thus far. I have had a lot of support from this site and previously have made a lot of really helpful changes with both this babe and my first.

Unfortunately we are still having problems with EMW and now also NW. Our mornings frequently begin at 4:30am. I have taken the most recent suggestions to just leave things at a consistent schedule for the past couple of weeks and was wondering if now would be the time to take a look at things again and make some more tweaks. Of note, my LO did get 6 teeth within a month, which easily could have been why the EMW and NW started, but he cut his last tooth over a week ago now and his nights havent improved. He is now 7 months old.

Here is schedule for last two days:

2:30aM - prolonged night wakening. Lots of crying. Wouldnt settle until 3:45am
6:30am wake and feed
8am solids
9:30-11am nap and bottle
noon solids
2:15-4:15 nap and then bottle
6:15 bed

4:45 wake. Fed and tried to rock for 45 min (eyes closed but not sleeping) before finally getting him up for the day at 5:30
bottle then solids at 7am
8:30-10:30 Nap then bottle
noon solids
1:30-2:45 nap then bottle
5pm: 20 min catnap
7:15pm bed (in bed at 6:30pm but playing for 45 min)
4:30 wake up

thanks for any suggestions.

[newkidontheblock]

So sorry for disappearing on you, hun. Lots going on right now. You know, it might be as simple as he is getting too much day sleep and so these are UT NWs. I especially thought this because of the 2 hours A to bed after a 2 hour nap. Seems very short to me

[ele]

Congratulations on so many teeth! What a milestone!

I would do the following (and please remember I am just a fellow mom):

I would not have his A time exceed 2.45 yet. This may help him with naturally taking less sleep during the day too.

I would see if it does reduce his day sleep and if not,I would start capping his day sleep to say 3.5 hrs (there are recommendations to curb it to 2.5 hrs, but I would feel its pushing baby too much and may be problem is solved before). I would go slow, capping 30 min every few days to see if it helps.

For this I would do this way:

If your son is a very predictable napper (he sleeps roughly same length of time each day at morning, and the second nap), I would cut morning nap. And I would be consistent, choose the length that makes sense for the second and catnap totals adding up.

If like my daughter every day is different, I would let the morning nap run it's course (up to 2 hrs though), then limit second nap so that baby is up in such a way that 1) he has time to have a last catnap of 30 min or so 2) his total daytime sleep doesn't exceed 3.5 with catnap. 3) he can be up the last stretch of time for less than 2,75 hrs. My daughter lately can get tired before, but can stay up this long. (he can be the opposite and may need to get on a tired side before night). I also feel this changes a lot for her.

I would not let him sleep long during his catnap (30 min about) and would try out if waking him by 4:30pm fits into your schedule.

This is what I wonder might be going on: a long A time leads to tiredness and too much day sleep, at times too long last nap too and close to the night. He may be also then going from OT to UT for the night. And after that he may need exactly ten hours to get rested for the play day. So much more fun!

I would want to check if he is not getting used NOW to feeding at 4:30 because he has done it for some time. (but I would do it after I made other changes). It doesn't seem so, but just to keep on the back of your mind.

Good luck and keep us posted!