I am completely at a loss here. I used Tracey's methods with my first child and they worked great, but my 5 month old doesn't give any of the signs that would help me help him sleep! Naps are sometimes 2 hours, sometimes an hour, 45 minutes, or even as little as 20 (as was the case today). Although he stopped having milk in the middle of the night at 3 months (still exclusively BF), he still has to be settled back to sleep at some point in the night, and always wakes crying for a "dream feed" between 9:30 and 10. A lot of nights he wakes before that, as well.
He's on a 4 hour EASY, generally awake for 2 hours at a time, and many times getting a small catnap. But after the catnap he is extremely fussy and we can't usually get him to last much longer than 5:45/6pm before he demands milk and bed.
A lot of the time he wakes from these naps by rolling over, which he's been doing both ways for quite awhile. He sleeps on his tummy, so routinely flipped onto his back and got stuck there upset until he learned to go back the other way. Now that that's behind us, we have this mess to deal with, where he is just so aware and will simply look at us and smile if we try to shush/pat.
Here's an example of his routine:
Wake 6-615am and is shushed/patted back to sleep until approx 7
E - 7am
A - 7:30 - 9
S - 9 -11(depending on when actual wake time was)
First nap is typically his best but varies on a day to day basis
E - 11am
A - 11:30am - 1
S - 1-2/2:30 (this nap has been rough lately)
E - 3pm
A - 3:30-4:30ish
S - catnap hopefully after 2 hours awake but wakes cranky
A - as long as he will last
E - 6-6:15 if he makes it that long
S - 6:30/6:45
DF - 10pm or so
He wakes at erratic times and we can usually get him back to sleep through a combination of shush/pat (although he prefers shush/vigorous booty rocking), PU/PD, which can take up to 45 minutes.
I'm a big researcher and also really need a schedule for my sanity, so this is really getting to me! Please someone, anyone, help!
