Struggling with sleep for a 4 month old

[Gillian C]

That's a good idea for milk first.  I think when he ate so much, I hadn't nursed him first.  Makes sense!  We'll play with things a bit.

So both days this weekend were a little off schedule - it's hard to maintain good naps with a 3-year-old in tow!  But, short morning naps and lots of A time led to good long afternoon naps, so that's good?  Last night, he slept through, but tonight he's already been howling for over an hour...  DH just took over so I can take a break.  Here's hoping that with a good week of dedicated nap work, he'll be doing better and better.

Is there any recommended way to move from shh-pat or PUPD to falling asleep independently?  I know there's an argument that these are not props, but I'd like to start teaching him (once he's doing better with the sleeping!) to fall asleep independently.  Any thoughts for that too?

Thanks again for your help.  It is so helpful to be able to reach out!
Gillian

[trimbler]

Hope you don't mind me answering this with a couple of links...

Shush-pat - How to
Can a baby be too old for sh-pat?
How to PU/PD (inc age adaptations)

Have a read and let me know if you still have any questions

[Gillian C]

Great info in the links - I've read them all at some point or another, but I had forgotten about the age adaptation one.  Thanks!

So quick update - we've successfully lengthened the A times all around, they're between 2.5 - 3hrs each.  Day 1, both naps were almost 2 hrs (with a resettle after 30 mins for the second).  Day 2, first nap was long, 2nd nap was 30 mins, 3rd nap was 30 mins.  Day 3, first nap 30 mins, 2nd was 2hrs 50 mins(!).  Today, his first nap was 30 mins, and he's just down for his second.  (If you want me to post the EASY I can.)  So we're getting more longer naps, but no consistency yet.  We'll keep at it!  Nights are definitely improving - we've had a couple of solid nights, and any wake ups are shorter and MUCH easier to resettle.

Now to start again with food and hope it doesn't get bad again.

Thanks!
Gillian

[trimbler]

Well done sounds like progress I'd just say try to be really consistent with the first A time if you can, the others will vary a bit depending on how the previous nap went, that's ok.

What will you try food-wise this time? What did you try last time? With tummies that seem a bit sensitive I like to just give one type of food to start, preferably early on in the day, and a small amount ie after milk and don't offer too much all at once to begin with, one teaspoon is plenty for now. Once you know he's handling it well, move on to other foods and gradually increase quantities if he wants, but just stick to one meal for now, remember there's no rush, and "before 1, it's mostly for fun" ie don't worry about it too much he has plenty of time to work it all out

[Gillian C]

We definitely have progress!  Thanks!  His schedule is still inconsistent (wake ups between 6:00 and 7:00), and kinda random lengths of naps, but we'll work on that, and keep trying.  Thanks again for all your help with that.

We started with avocado last time.  Yesterday, he had sweet potato for breakfast after his big morning feed, and he enjoyed it but definitely didn't eat too much.  It didn't seem to affect his sleep, so I think breakfast is what we'll stick with for now.  Squash next, and then we'll see.  I have some prunes prepared just in case.

I really appreciate all your support.  It was very discouraging to be right back to where we had been several months ago, and still struggling with naps.  Now, things are looking brighter!

Gillian

[trimbler]

Yay so glad to hear that, thanks for sharing don't forget you're welcome to pop back and update any time, although you might want to start another thread at some point since you're not really at 4mo any more