Lost my way with 6 mo old EASY

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Oh honey, I'm sorry you are crying along with him, been there, it is exhausting for you and sometimes it's good to let the stress hormones out in your tears. You really will get through this. xxx

It is very hard to tweak times when so much is going on, learning to crawl and teething too, it's all so disruptive. maybe have  think about where the naps are mostly broken and think about if an increase to the A's which are under 3hrs might be on the cards? (perhaps not the last one of the day before BT)  If he is finding it hard to transition it may be discomfort (teeth) or A time.  Maybe try some ibuprofen or paracetamol 20 mins before nap time to see if it helps keep the pain off to get him through the lighter sleep and transition?

...Keep reminding yourself just how well you are doing. You are supporting your baby through his hardest times x

[JennVanessa1083]

Thank you for the reassurance...it is hard but what we are getting through it. I think what you said about doing my best during his hardest time was a great reminder.

He seems to wake up 35-40 minutes during a nap. I usually resettle with APOP. Not sure if I should increase second A since first A is at 3 hours and second A is 2.75 roughly. Bedtime has rarely gone well. I aim for 2.5 but it always ends up being 2.75-3 hr A.

Bedtime is a different story. He doesn't stay asleep (wakes every 30-1 hr) until he finally passes out of exhaustion (I imagine) close to midnight!

Due to the holidays, I spent the last few days helping him catch up on sleep so hopefully tomorrow will be a fresh start back on our routine now that we are home.

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Yes perhaps try 3hrs on the second A.
Is he fighting BT then or is it just that you can't fit everything in to get him down on time?
Having a LO who always made a lot of noise in the early part of the night I do wonder is sometimes this can't be 'fixed'. Mine was in bed on time and had a short A time before BT but still continued to wake or cry out in his sleep or NW in those first hours. I generally kept myself up until midnight because I was more sympathetic and much more able to handle him if I had not been to sleep. If I slept then was woken I was a grouch and found it very hard indeed. Of course going to bed so late myself, with a 5.30am WU well, I was always tired but I never did find anythign to solve the early evening NWs. My boy dreams a lot in that part of the night, processing the day and his learning, he is also quite bright in some areas which I think some say links to poor sleep or more chance of intense dreaming.  This could all be a factor for your LO...or it could just be that he is teething, it's so hard to tell isn't it. xx

[JennVanessa1083]

It is so hard to tell with our little ones when there's so much going on at once!

I think it may be what you mentioned in terms of him still processing what he learned and dreaming in the early part of the night. He has always woken up more in the early part of the evening since 2 months old. He's pretty advanced in development and is bright in many areas. He is also very alert and observant which is why I need a good wind down to even get him to sleep as well as a constant nap and BT routine. I feel as though teething has definitely increased it. Last night he was up every 30 minutes until about 11:30 pm; then slept 3-4 hour chunks. I aim for 2.5 but he fights it and by the time he actually falls asleep it's between 2.75-3 hr A. Only once or twice has it been 2.5 A but then he still woke up. His bedtime has been later these last few days due to the holidays so I know a late BT can also cause OT and more wake ups. I guess it will be a process of elimination.

I can definitely increase the second A to 3 hours and leave A before bed to 2.5? Or should I just do an Increase to 2.75 before bed? Is it possible to have the following:

Wu
A 3hrs
S
A 3hrs
S
A 2.75-3 hrs
BT

Today he only did 30 minutes in the am then I resettled. I think it's teething though as his tooth teeth have cut through and are very slowly growing in.

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Yes you can try that.

At BT, when he is resistant, what do you feel - does he need a longer WD (so not a longer A but starting the whole process earlier) or does he need a longer A time and less WD?

If nap 1 continues to need help and starts looks like it isn't just teeth, you might increase it again, maybe 5-10 min or maybe 15 mins. He needs to be tired to nap well and sometimes they need to go over the guidance A times.

You're doing well, keep going

[JennVanessa1083]

So even with a 30 minute nap for the an nap I should extend past 2 hours bc they continue to be broken?

With BT it's hard to say. He fights BT if I lay him in the crib and start patting. He rolls around and gets into crawl stance then starts getting agitated if I continue trying to put him to sleep. Even rocking him he will push off of me and look around etc. I even have tried nursing but he has only fallen asleep when he has been very tired but it still surpasses 2.5. Last night he did about 2.5 and had a very restless night (waking up every 30-2 1/2 hours) including a long NW. He tossed and turned a whole lot so not sure if his teeth hurt a lot (tried Motrin tonight but seems in affective)

I try to give him a 30 minute windows but perhaps I can try more before extending the A. My husband will try to help but I do think his presence is very stimulating for DS especially when DH starts to play around with him. I can try to remove him from the wind down and see if that helps?

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So even with a 30 minute nap for the an nap I should extend past 2 hours bc they continue to be broken?

Sorry, not sure what you are asking here. Can you re-phrase it please?

[JennVanessa1083]

Sorry!

I meant to ask: should I extend first A even with an AM nap of 30 minutes? Today it was 28 minutes. His NW are getting worse. They are more often throughout the night and there are still long ones where he is restless and wired. Not sure if it progressively gets worse as the teeth are growing in or is it accumulated OT?

It's worrying me that he isn't resting well. His naps are horrible too waking up between 25-40 minutes before I APOP the rest.

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My guess is teeth, I would suggest not to increase the A but to help him with W2S or APOP as necessary to help him get some sleep.  He may well get OT with teething pain but tr not to worry too much, it isn't going to harm him to have a spell of poor sleep.
Teething is horrible

[JennVanessa1083]

Happy new Year!!!!

Ok so I think I'm going to continue to aim for the following since teeth are growing in and I can't tell if routine needs tweaking:

WU
A 3hrs
S
A 3hrs
S
A 2.5
BT

I tried 2.75 tonight and he was wired rolling around but rubbing his eyes constantly. He would literally shake off the tiredness lol 

Today was an ok nap day. On the plus side his teeth grew more so I'm hoping within a week it will all be over and we can all get some rest. At what point do they stop feeling pain from the teeth generally?
Is it ok that I'm medicating every night? I'm scared it's going to be harmful. I'm also wondering when to start retraining in independent sleep?

So we are still in the process of helping him stay asleep. He has been this far (it's almost 2 am), waking up every 20-45 minutes wide awake unless we are holding him while he sleeps and even then every 45 minutes he moves around. He only fusses and cries if we try to put him back to sleep. Could this still be the teething? Or could this also be routine related? Maybe he's in a UT/OT loop? He also fought bedtime but I managed to finally get him asleep after 3 hrs A. I feel like he was wired though and fidgety. Or maybe I need to shorten A times a bit since he's teething?

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What you describe certainly could be teething, we had some really rough nights here.  I also felt like I was medicating all the time.

Unless you really feel the routine is not working for him I'd hold on a few more days and see what comes out at the end of that.  I understand the thought of reducing A times to help if he is in pain, if you did decide to try it see if you get a better nap, if not I would return to what you are currently doing. Thing is if he needs more sleep he can take it in his nap, it's not like you are waking him all the time so he does have a chance to sleep longer if that's what he wants.

Here teething just seemed to go on and on but for sure there were 3 or 4 days when it was even worse then it would ease up again.

[JennVanessa1083]

ok that oddly makes me feel better since it was starting to feel like I needed to change the routine. I tried a shorter A in the am and it made no difference haha still a 1:10-1:15 nap with a resettling at the 33 minute mark. I think you're right and its the discomfort. They are slowly pushing through so it would make sense that it would cause such rough nights. Last night it was 1-2 hours of NW but very restless sleep for half the night then 2-3 hour chunks in the early morning; probably just due to exhaustion...poor baby.

So I tried a 2.5 A and ended up with a shortened nap so the plan is next A I'll go for 2.5-2.75 A then a 2.5 A to bed...hopefully it works out. Tomorrow I'll go back to the two first A times of 3 hrs then 2.5 to BT.

Hopefully this passes soon...you were right teething is absolutely awful!

[creations]

Have you tried some pain meds just before nap time? I know you are unlikely to be able to use for each nap due to the timing and limits and needing to keep a dose or two for the night but it might be worth one trial.

hugs

[JennVanessa1083]

I have done homeopathic before naps but not anything else. I might give it a try.

[JennVanessa1083]

Hi creations:

I have a quick question: if I want to get back to the regular A times do I just go ahead and do it or do I have to build back up to the A times. I tried shortened A times for the last two days with ok results except for two nights of 1.5-2.5 NW which I'm thinking the shortened A times had something to do with that... so I want to back to:

WU
A 3 hrs
S
A 3 hrs
S
A 2.5
S

It was a horrid crudest for 2.5 hours last night which partly was teething but I also think he may not have had enough A during the day resulting in a UT/OT situation.