Ten Months in, still in sleep hell!

[Truly Blessed]

You know you're always welcome here V! I have a stockpile  .

LOL on my way x.

[Kellyjs]

How's it going Wendy? Xx

[WendyEH]

Hello!
Sorry, I thought I'd go for a few days with the new shape so it could settle.

Quite an up and down week - sorry for the detail, not sure how to summarise and make sure i say the relevant thing!

Monday night
Stupid mistake leaving breast pump stuff to sterilise- it melted and fumed out the flat, setting off fire alarm and waking the little one. Up for about an hour 9.30-10.30 checking no horrible ill effects and then bless her she was up EVERY ten/twenty minutes through the night, panic screaming. (Unbelievably stupid: so cross with myself. But this is the problem with tiredness right.)

Tues
WU 7.00
Nap 1 9.45- 11.15
Nap 2 2.45-4 (on the dot!)

BT tried to get her to bed 6.15 for 6.30, but actually slept at 7 (despite being KNACKERED)

Only two early evening wakes, easily soothed.
Overnight awake 6 times, soothed with voice 3 times, with hand/voice

Wed
WU 7.00
Nap 1 9.45-11.15
Nap 2 2.45-4
BT - tried to get her to bed 6.30 but she was very restless and upset. Went to sleep at 8.20.

No wakings after that. Woke up when Dream Fed, at 10.30- woke every twenty/forty mins between then and one am.
Slept 1-5, soothed, and on till 6.30.

Thurs
WU 6.30
Nap 1 9.45-11
Nap 2 (late getting home, overtired) 3.15- 4
BT - tried from 6.20, went to sleep at 7.10
No early eve wakings so far!

Improving, despite my ridiculous fire alarm ....
Thank you. We're getting somewhere.......!
x

[Kellyjs]

Ha ha, I've so done that but with the bottles! Thought I had the microwave on at my parents place and it was a combi oven thing. Melted the entire lot, so you're not alone there!

This is looking really good routine wise. Definitely gives us something to go on. I want to keep an eye on it.. It may be that that Thursday routine might the the way forward for you in a few months  xx

[WendyEH]

Its so so much better, thank you so much. the only christmas present we needed
x

[Kellyjs]

I'm so glad, pop back if you need to  xx

[WendyEH]

ELEVEN HOURS STRAIGHT THROUGH 7-6am last night!!!!!!
AMazing. Can't believe it. THANK YOU

[Kellyjs]

Woo hoo  amazing news!! So happy for you, bet that felt good!! Xx

[WendyEH]

Hello again and happy new year. I hope you had a rest from solving everyone's sleep problems Kellyjs!!

We had five glorious nights of eleven hours straight through, and then she caught a cold, we had to relocate for Christmas, FOUR teeth came through and now its all gone a strange new shape!

Not gone back to as bad as it was, but something peculiar is happening to naps and I'd massively appreciate your advice again. I hope that's ok.

NW's are on the way down, gradually. But we now have her persistently waking up early (5am this morning), and ending up really very manic at the end of the day, and really really distressed when she wakes up from her afternoon nap )usually too earlY).

Yesterday looked like this:

WU 6.30
Nap 1 10-10.50
Nap 2 3-3.40
Absolutely crazy at supper time
Asleep by 7.10
Brief wake at 9.
Up 3am very briefly. Up 5 and stayed up.

TOday
woke 5am - I did PUPD for quarter of an hour but she was wide awake so I BF her and then tried to put her down till
6
Nap 1 9.45-11
Nap 2 3-3.45 Couldn't get her back to sleep, very cross and upset
Went for an early bedtime to try to make up for the early start- 6.30, but didn't manage to get her to sleep till 7.45

Any advice would be amazing. I've been telling strangers on trains and everyone I meet with babies about this site
x

[Kellyjs]

Hi Wendy, happy new year to you too! 

Remind me how old she is now? In either case, I definitely recommend a routine tweak as those 40mins naps are UT and I think that's getting her OT by the end of the day. Remember at this age they start to want to increase their A time pretty rapidly so I'm expecting early 2-1 transition things going on here. Have a read of this link, then we'll make a plan ok? Xx

From 2 to 1 nap transition (10-12m and older)

[WendyEH]

She's very nearly a year old.
Yes this sounds like it is what's going on. Its a bit hit and miss about which one out of the two naps she takes well and which one gets squeezed. Or they are both short. She was up at 5.30 again this morning but I kept her up till 10 as she was doing fine. She went down nice and easily. Is it about trying to get a longer, incrementally later morning nap then, do you think? And then aiming for just the 40 mins later on?
Thanks Kelly! Can't bear the idea of it going backwards...

[Kellyjs]

Sorry for the late reply, it's my birthday and actually been busier than i thought 

t may go backwards a little during the transition unfortunately. Some apop may have to be used to get them down for a second nap here and there. It's not forever and it does get so much easier once they're on one nap.

Ok, so we do know she might be ok on nearly 5hrs A, that's really good to know. If she ever does have a later wu, i might be tempted to push for a one nap day on that day.

I found it much easier to keep with a longer first nap as I found i could never get the second A te right to guarantee a good pm nap. if these EW keep going on though we might have to revisit for you. Keep me posted ok? Let me know how it goes tomorrow and hopefully i'll have more time to write a decent reply  xx

[WendyEH]

Happy Happy Birthday!

Yesterday turned into an impromptu experiment.
DD woke up at 4 and didn't go back to sleep till 6 when I gave her what would usually be her wake up BF.
Slept 6-8.

So I decided to try one nap (also, I couldn't figure out what else to do!)
Nap  12-1.15
Asleep by 6.30

Stayed nice and calm all day and not too tricky to get to sleep BUT NW's at 7.30, 9, 10, 12.30 and then up from 2-5!!!!
So I think its clear I got her overtired even though it didn't look like it. Woke her up at 7.20 this morning so we don't have a re-run, and put her down for a nap at 10.30 even though that's less A than usual.

Seems like a choice between a long NW and a very very EM?!
Any thoughts would be ace.
Thank you

[Kellyjs]

Thank you!

I reckon that last A was too long. I would've tried to push the first A so much as I hate OT before BT which is obviously what you got  . Oh well, at least we know now! Tbh my DD couldn't handle 5hrs, we were doing more like 4.5hrs, but you were in a tricky spot as you didn't want the day to be too short.

I take it you went back to two naps today? Sometimes that's what we have to do for a while during the transition and alternate one and two nap days for a while. If that amazing wu happens again, i would try and push to at least 4.5 hrs ideally 5hrs if you can, as i'd much rather deal with any OT during the nap and not at night. She managed 4.5hrs after a short night the other night so i'm pretty confident she can do it.

There's something else we have to consider now too .. If she's coming up to 1yo, there's a developmental leap that either requires them to want more sleep or less for a little while (and start resisting). For mine is seems we  need more sleep around birthdays and lots less on half-birthday leaps! xx

[WendyEH]

Thanks Kelly. Yes, I think she's right on the verge of walking and she's also started speaking a bit, and seems very clingy and all the other signs that she's probably in a leap. Last few days we;ve settled into a 'least bad' pattern that looks like this:

WU 6.30
Nap 1 10.30- 12
Nap 2 resisted like CRAZY, and eventually happens around 5-6
Up for 2 1/2 hours
Asleep for 8.30
Then sleeps pretty well with only miniature wakes.
Doesn't look like a very sensible day to me, nor like she's getting long enough over night, but its worked last two nights...