4 month old trouble with A time

[Azurose]

I wish she could replug the paci now, I had to try and help her along with falling asleep on her own because she had trouble sleeping without it and I was unable to keep waking to do it for her. she does very well self soothing though now.

I have read a lot on pacifier use and I was ok with using it as long as she needed it but it became too much for me. IF it makes you guys happy I'd agree using it is ok. if all else fails you can explain later on to them why they would no longer need it.

Im not sure if she was waking frequently in the night for almost a week now because of the wonder week or because I also started her on Lactulose for constipation around that time too. She's broken out in her first rashes and has some bad reflux now I stopped the meds the day before yesterday and she actually slept over the first time she usually wakes so far. Fingers crossed, I hope she feels better soon.

Yes you have helped me a lot!

[Bella89]

Poor baby I hope everything will settle down soon!
This is how it is unfortunately. One problem down and million to go:(

I hope it will go that way. I could explain to him that he doesn't need it anymore or that he should give it away for his little sister I don't have the heart to listen to him cry when I know he will nap for 2h with it It doesn't make me love waking up 2-3 times/night for repluging though:/

[Azurose]

Well she has been sleeping better now at night anyways. I guess that was the problem. Her poor tummy was upset

Yes, it's not supposed to become an issue for a few years so it's ok by then he could understand I'm sure. Yeah, I couldn't wake at night so much. Now that he can replug it himself Mayne you can try peppering the bed with pacifiers or show him a corner where you place a few that he can find and do it himself?  I also found that tidbit while I was looking around for info

Today I only had 4 hours of sleep and was an angry gibberish spewing zombie lol I told my husband our daughter didn't have her usual 22 hour nap... in which I meant 2 hour first nap that I also usually nap on.

[Bella89]

Yes, I think I will add 1 more paci to his crib as the one just gets lost sometimes;]

I know what you mean. Sometimes, when you just need your sleep the most they just refuse to nap i.e. New Years day;]

[Azurose]

Lol so true

[Bella89]

How are you doing over there?

[Azurose]

Not too well for a while now, her first nap regardless of my attempts at tweaking her awake time or trying wake to sleep has been a consistent 30-35 minutes.  She won't sleep with her pacifier now either, she pulls it out and plays with it.

She is able to go to sleep herself and does every time, shouldn't she be able to get through the transition herself? Or is she somehow stuck? I leave her 15 minutes or more to see if she'll go back to sleep, she plays or fusses and if she does get to sleep she sleeps only a couple minutes.

[Bella89]

There are kids that just don't need much sleep and won't no metter what you do:/

Please, right down her EASY as for right now and maybe we can figure it out.

With the transition, we always have to help them. By putting them down at the right time or with extra routine built around going to bed. If she doesn't want pacifier - that's wonderful! Let's forget it right now before she is 1yo and will demand it

She seems UT to me, but again. I don't know what time that is.
I will try to look at it:)

[Azurose]

Well I tried laying her on her tummy with pacifier, I had to help her a bit and keep her from pulling it out still but she finally had an afternoon nap of 2 hours and 30 minutes.

I bet she's just stuck at the transition and has trouble by herself :/ I don't know how to help her figure it out. I would love to keep her from needing the pacifier, but isn't sleep more important for development? I'm torn

My mother is trying to push her losing the paci, she took ours away at 3 months. But she used a bottle in the crib to make us sleep up until a year old or so. Isn't it like using a pacifier essentially? Or is it easier to wean by just putting water and we gave it up apparently. However my sisters baby is still using a bottle in bed and he's 17 months old wanting it regardless of having milk or not.

A a few minutes after wakeup, she's a bit refluxy so has trouble playing on a full stomach
E she wakes between 600 and 630 but i have been so tired lately I haven't caught the exact time. She eats at 700, 6oz
S if I dont catch the time I lay her down at 800, shes napping at 817.
Y watching to see if she wakes or trying ways to help her sleep longer

The dr said to try feeding her less more frequently for the reflux so I've been feeding her 6 in the morning and night then feeding 5 for the middle feedings every 3 to 3.5 hours. She doesn't often seem excessively hungry because her food takes forever to digest. I know that's not great for getting through to longer naps but I don't know what else to do for the reflux besides getting her medication. I've been trying a little colic calm to help some.

My EASY has been haywire for a while as I try and fix her first nap. Usually if its 30 minutes she'll be ready for a nap 1 hr and 40 mins later or 2 hours but she seems awful cranky by then if its too late. I've been resorting to holding her with her paci for 1 nap if I must to let her have at least 3 hours a day of rest. 30 mins 4 times a day doesn't cut it for her and she has a rough time at bed even with an earlier bedtime.

I just tried laying her on her tummy without her paci for her morning nap. She's asleep but for how long who knows. She always sleeps on her back at night, she does well at night if not overtired, but I'm hoping it'll help her tummy. Supposedly on the belly is good for reflux?

Sorry for the long winded reply lol

[Bella89]

I am so sorry It's not going the easy way for you Hugs

I think I start to understand what you mean. She is pulling the paci out, but cannot fall asleep without it... Loosing the paci at young age is wonderful (I wish I was able to do it with DS - he is 1y and still falls asleep with it), but It's not always possible if we're not persistent enough (like me). The longer you use it, the stronger the attachment to it is in my opinion. But some moms hope they can explain it to their LOs later.
This is just my personal opinion, but I think PACIFIER is way BETTER than bottle to sleep. You will appreciate it more when your DD will have teeth and you will need to worry about bottle cavities:/ Also, you can teach DD to have control over paci while she is not in control of her milk yet:) That is my reasoning.

I would strongly advise against bottle. Rather, try using something else as a dummy. Some kids like it - diaper cloth against her cheek, a blanky. Maybe she would like it better than pacifier.

With belly sleeping position you have to be careful, because especially with reflux babies there is a choking hazard. Ask your doctor's opinion about it. But I understand, that if she likes it, you are less hesitant about it. Can she roll over to her back yet? Have you tried upward positions? Raising a matress a little? Srry, too many questions:)

Yes, her medication is importnant. Doctor's opinion is the most important here.

Please post you whole day routine if you have time along with night feeds. I know you are tired I feel for you...

With her first nap, I would still try to push it, but slowly. Maybe in 10 min increments. I know it seems hard, but it will bring results.

I hope it helped a little.
Hang in there!

[Kellyjs]

Just popping in for some extra support. Bella has given you fantastic advice so far 

Would be great to find out how the last day or two went in real time, so if you could post an easy for us, we can take it from there. Is she on meds for reflux?

One thing i will say is I'm absolutely against having a bottle to go to sleep at night. Milk is far worse for their teeth than a dummy ever will be. If you want to work on getting rid of the dummy, there are ways of doing it, but replacing it with something else, i think would be counterproductive. It's totally up to you though. Have you introduced a lovey at all? Now would be a good time. Even if it's just a muslin square? xx

[Azurose]

I agree that a pacifier is better than a bottle for all those reasons. I had read about such issues and said to her it's like a bottle without milk and she's still is against it. But that's OK because how we raise our DD is up to my husband and I.

I gave her a thin muslin swaddle blanket and her stuffed elephant just now for her Nap with a bit of fussing she went to sleep for 30 minutes of course but without a pacifier. She's awake but calmly playing with the little blanket.

I have a video monitor and watch her closely as she naps just in case it covers her face or when i had put her on her tummy to warch for spit up or her nose being covered. I do not put anything in bed at night time with her.

Today she isn't too keen on tummy sleep lol ever changing. No she cannot roll over yet but not from lack of trying, she almost got herself from front to back but her arm gets in the way. We practice everyday and I think she is really close now.

I'm afraid she will roll down if I put the mattress up some, she moves a lot even on her back lol

Thank you for all of your help Bella

Kelly thank you for your input as well! As soon as this day ends I'll write the EASY on here. No she is not on meds, just trying some of his suggested alternatives for a bit.

She has a stuffed elephant that she naps with. I'm going to look for or make a muslin cloth.

if she doesn't get enough hours during the day she gets extremely overtired and won't sleep at night. so I have started holding her for at least one nap a day. It allows me to keep my sanity as I am prone to have problems with lack of sleep.

This was yesterday
E wakeup at 6:30 eat at 7:00
A
S 8:20 wake at 9:20 or so with interventions trying to extend it
Y

E 10:30
A
S 11:48 wake 12:22
Y

E 1:30
A
S 2:58 wake 4:38 I know it's supposed to be a catnap but I was playing catch up to squeeze in a bit more sleep by holding her
Y

E 5:00
A
S lay down at 7:03 sleep by 7:15 she doesn't use a paci at bedtime so sleeps well if she gets enough nap time. I dream feed her at 10:00 before I go to bed.
Y


This is today
E wake at 7:05 will eat around every 3.5 hours
A
S 9:04 wake at 9:35 or 9:45 I'm not sure I accidentally fell asleep.
Y

E
A
S 11:30 wake periodically until I got her up at 1:00, trying to gently help her nap without paci by taking it out when shes drowsy
Y

E
A
S 3:26 wake 4:10 slept without paci and no wake ups at 30 mins!
Y

E
A
S 6:50
Y

[Kellyjs]

As Bella said, elevating the mattress can help some LO's with reflux... just something to consider?

So she's actually 5mo now isn't she? I wonder if we should just start right at the beginning and try and extend that first nap of the day, wdyt?

You're currently working off 2hrs A. Let's see if adding 15mins onto that first A makes a difference? She may get cranky at the 2hrs mark, but if you can do some low-key A, it'll really help. Even a change of scenery can work wonders too. Dyt you could try that for me and let me know how it goes?

The reason for my thinking is that you managed to get a good sleep later on in the day after 2.5hrs A and that was after a short nap both times, so I think she'll be more than capable of 2hrs 15mins first one xx

[Bella89]

Sending you lots of support!

I really think Kelly is righ. I know it might seem impossible right now, but it is doable and it will work on your benefit. After a week or two (most likely) everything will settle. I know I've been exactly where you are right now. Look at the bigger picture here. Change takes time. Improvement takes time.

I elevated my DS matress first 2 months (but he wasn't moving by then:/) and it helped a lot with reflux.

[Azurose]

Yes I will definitely try elevating her mattress during the day to see how she fares during naps She is 5 months now yes.

Currently she can barely make it to a 2 hour A time in the morning, she appears tired way before then but it does mess up the other naps if she isn't close to 2 hours.

One place I read that sometimes the morning nap is the shortest A time, an hour to fifteen minutes less than usual. Baby sleepsite I think? Could that be part of the case? Is she actually overtired? But as Bella said before it would maker more sense to have a longer wake time in the morning after a long sleep.

Thank you for your support!

She is capable of sleep by herself with little fussing, she is not very intense. Even when she wakes up from a nap sometimes I don't know she is actually awake lol I saw that around 5.5 to 6 months most babies start putting together naps more easily. Since she is still unable to make it to the next sleep cycle without her paci even when I hold her I'll put her in her crib for all her naps. Though I do enjoy her snuggles all in good time!

Edit: Question, would extending awake time make things worse now that she is getting even less sleep because I'm not aiding her? She woke up twice in the night and stayed up for over an hour this last time because she only got 2 hours of day sleep today with 4 30 min naps. Isn't it bad for her development to sleep so much less than average should I wait out the whole deal or try ways to help her sleep such as trying anything but the pacifier like the swing or carrying her in a sling? I feel awful and am afraid she will continue in a loop of over tiredness, being stuck on 30 min forever. Another site says don't use a pacifier as a first resort, rather to use after attempts to resettle. That would still make her dependent on it to transition cycles though right? What should I do?

Ok this morning she seemed really tired of course, I lay her on her crib after only a single hour and she slept for 2 hours... I know that probably won't work again tomorrow if shes better well rested but it does mean if I get timing just right she can on fact make it through transitions with ease.