Predictable Unpredictability - Please help us!

[labrodyk]

aaaaand we're back to 30 minutes this morning.

last night she fell asleep at 8.10.
NF: 2.30
WU: 6.53, OOB at 7.00
Nap1: 9.15, asleep 9.25-10.02. Was tired and cranky before nap but woke chatting and trying to roll over. After 10 minutes she's now upset.

Just when I think I'm getting somewhere with the long naps, typical.

She's still in a Love to Dream swaddle as she loves sucking her hands but if I put her in a sleeping bag she screams and can't settle even though she has access to her hands.

[labrodyk]

Took her out of her love to dream swaddle this afternoon and tonight and put a bonds zippy suit with the hand mittens on....

WU: 6.53
Nap1: 9.15;9.25-10.02
Nap2: 12.44; 12.45-3.30
BT: 5.50; 6.00-6.20. Laying awake. Whinged a bit but mostly tossed and turned and fell back to sleep at 7.00!

Too late BT? I could hardly go for any earlier! Morning nap was a bit of a disaster and she actually seemed OT before we'd even started wind down. Should I pull the morning A back to 2hrs and push the second one with a good nap or 2hrs again with a short nap? I really need that second nap to finish at 3.30 or later but it's a massive crossing of fingers for it to happen. .

[becj86]

Maybe try PD a little earlier on the first nap, just with the aim of asleep by 2:15 rather than PD at 2:15. Its a subtle difference but might help :-/

[labrodyk]

Do you mean 9.15 asleep by rather than 2.15?

This is what we did today...I'm so confused with no idea what to do!

NF: 11.30
NF: 5.30. Perhaps I should have resettled here rather than feed as she wasn't really hungry crying. Fell back to sleep at 6.00
WU: 7.30
E: wouldn't drink until close to 9
S: 9.40; 9.45-10.32. Lay awake until 11 when she started to whinge and get cranky.
Arms out of swaddle with bonds zippy suit.
E: had to force a bottle for hours from 11.30, completely disinterested
S: 12.50; 1.00/1.05-1.43
~ laying awake, kicking her legs until 2.20.
Mantra crying and trying to settle. Rolled onto side and played with lovey/comforter from 2.40 before getting really cranky so I got her up at 2.50.
E: 3.20. Had to feed her in the dark and hold her arms down so she'd drink properly!
A:
S: 4.37; rolling and crying, had to roll her back to back just before 5.00-5.20. Rolling around.
A
E: wouldn't drinking here either...
S: 6.45; crying and rolled from back to tummy constantly had to roll over. She eventually fell asleep on her tummy after I'd rolled her back countless times but not until 7.28!

[becj86]

She's not usually that disinterested in the bottle is she? It could just be the NF at 5:30... could be teeth.

Why are you rolling her back over onto her back? Can she roll both ways on her own?

[labrodyk]

No, I've always had to practically force her to drink though.

She can't roll both ways yet but we've been practicing!

Her sleeps are all 30 or 40 minutes and 20 minutes I'm lucky in the car but most of the time she just screams...

[becj86]

Did we discuss reflux?

[labrodyk]

Yes she has reflux and still spits up quite a lot but I don't feel it's causing the sleep issues. When she wakes she's all happy but quickly miserable but I have NO chance getting her back to sleep.

This morning she was awake from at least 6.30, and took a lot of shush and rocking the cot to get her to sleep around 8.50-9.30 she was crying.
Nap2: 12.10/15-12.43 in the pram
Nap3: ?? What do I do?


I think the issue with the car is that if she goes in UT she finds it difficult to fall asleep once sleep time rolls around so then as the time ticks by and she gets more OT she loses it and can't settle. The other day I put her in about 10 mins before sleep time and she drifted off with a little whinge in about 20 minutes but then only sleeps 20 minutes

[labrodyk]

So we're at my parents and Audrey's decided to sleep through both nights! The first morning she went back down after 2hr A and slept for over 2 hours. Today however she's short napped despite being tired and falling asleep quickly... I'm also failing with the second and third nap of the day and can't get another long nap in - just two crappy short sleeps.

Wednesday 24/2
WU:
OOB: 6.50
E: 7.00
A:
S: 8.45; 8.50-11
^^ no crying.
E: 11.00
A:
S: 1.20-2.00 (car)
E: 3.00
A:
S: 3.50; 4.05-4.45
^^ no crying...
E:
A:
E:
S: 6.32; 7.18!!
^^ no crying, quiet for 20 minutes. Not sure if I stuffed this up using a sleep positioner to try and keep her on her back (and she got frustrated) or if she was UT or OT.

Thursday 25/2
WU: 6.15
OOB: 6.25
Nap1: 8.12; 8.17-10.30 (cot)
Nap2: 12.40-1.10 (car)
Nap3: 3.27-3.57 (cot), lay quietly, dozed and resettled until 4.54
BT: 6.45; 7.05/7.10

Friday 26/2
WU: 6.37
OOB: 6.45
Nap: 8.35; 8.40-9.22. ; cried briefly then resettled herself from 9.55-10.02. 10.05-10.45

She is sleeping through only on the nights we stay at my parent's place so who knows how the rest of the week will go once we're home tonight. 

[becj86]

Is there anything different at your parents' place? Is she taking more solids, does someone snore and provide white noise, is she playing outside more during the day? Its hard to pinpoint why she might sleep through there, but enjoy it!

[labrodyk]

I can't pin point it! We have a fan on both there and at home but I think the room might be quite a bit cooler which could help. She's probably outside less than at home but she does want to eat more here (all of a sudden she's taking 180ml bottles and wanting solids although I'm not sure if I should be giving them to her...)

What should her A be like now? She's 5 months in a week and a half. Just can't seem to get it right. The sleeping through isn't making it any easier. She resettled this morning after a good 1/2 hour or more for another 40 minutes of sleep. At the moment I'm finding I can get her down without all the screaming in my arms of she's in bed or asleep at the 2hr mark or thereabouts.

[becj86]

Typical A time goes from 2hr at 4 months to 2:45 - 3hr at 6 months, so an increase of 15min every 2 weeks is pretty reasonable if her cues are difficult to read.

Maybe she's having a growth spurt... extra food, more sleep, sounds like growing to me

She's probably screaming because she's UT - try bumping that A time up and see how you go. You could be close to dropping that pesky CN!

[labrodyk]

Saturday 27/2
WU: 7.00
E: 7.15 (180ml)
A:
E: solids
S: 8.50; 8.55 - before 10.30
E: 11.00 (180ml)
A:
E: solids
A:
S: 12.35; 12.40-2.00. 2.20-3.00 (resettled herself quietly)
E: 3.00 (180ml)
A:
S: 4.55; absolutely detested being put down. dozed for a while after protesting and slept 5.20-5.40.
E: solids
A:
E: 6.55 (180ml)
BT: 7.15; 7.30
NW: 3.47-5.00. Mantra cry for a little while then I patted her for some time and then she lay quietly and fell back asleep by 5, I think.

Sunday 28/2
WU: 6.45
OOB: 7.00
E: 7.00 (120ml)
A:
E: solids
S: 8.55; 9.00-9.42. 9.47-...

Just wondering if I should push just a little bit? I'm aiming for her to be ASLEEP by 2hrs at all sleeps. She is resettling well if she does wake between cycles so unsure whether to leave her to it whilst she's going down with far less fuss than she used to or push her A tad?

[becj86]

I certainly would push it, but it looks like you've dialled back a bit on the A times since we worked on the routine last, so maybe she wasn't wanting such high A times as we determined a while back?

[labrodyk]

I have dialed back and it drastically reduced the crying during wind down and helped her sleep longer. She's still asleep now at 11.00 since 9.00 and that short wake where she resettled.

When she wakes in the morning I've been counting half of the time she lays quietly or chatting as sleep so basing A time from that. If after a really good nap should I try and have her asleep by 2hrs or longer?