Not sure where to start!

[mary_s]

Ok, so this is my 3rd baby, and yet again, I am not sure where to begin, it seems as though things are not going well for us!  J is 5 months old and we have been on a routine since day one.  He has rarely been difficult to settle, but loves his pacifier.  On occasion, he will fall asleep without it, but he usually uses it for a bit while winding down and then in the crib to fall asleep.  We are currently fighting 2 challenges.  First, 45 minute naps.  Wow, they are getting old.  We've had them for a few months now.  I have tried increasing A time, but now I think he might be OT?  I don't know!  Second, because of the 45 minute naps, the day ends up coming to a crashing end around 6:15.  This isn't terrible, but I have 2 other kids and dinner on the table. It would be great if he could wait until 7!  Plus, he's still not sleeping through the night.  I am tired and feel like my brain isn't rested enough to come up with a sensible solution!
So, here's  a typical day:
5:15 Wake (nightwaking)
I feed him back to sleep in bed with me.  We live in a teeny house and I CANNOT have the 5 year old and 3 year old up at this time too.  Which is what happens if I do anything other than feed.  Plus, he is hungry!
6:30-7:00 Wake
7:00 Feed
8:30-8:45 Down for nap (we are currently aiming for 2-2.25 hrs A time)
9:30 Wake (45 after he goes to sleep)
10:00 Feed
11:45-12:00 Down for nap, sleep
Wake 12:30-12:45 (45 after going to sleep)
Feed 1:00
Sleep 2:00 ish (it really doesn't matter, because by now, he is tired but will only sleep 45 minutes still)
Wake and eat sometime around 3-4

No nap between the last wake and bed. (honestly, I am just done at this point each day, plus the other kids have activities that take us out of the house and he doesn't sleep in the car or carrier...
E- 6:00 before passing out for bed around 6:30

He usually wakes around 10, 2, and then 5.

I am exhausted.  He is on the same schedule he has been since about 4 weeks.
We've tried not feeding at night.  It is awful.  I can't wake the other kids with his crying, which gets loud quickly if he isn't fed.


Any thoughts??? I know quite a few things should change, but I'm not sure how to go about it!

[becj86]

Hi

5:15 Wake (nightwaking)I feed him back to sleep in bed with me.  We live in a teeny house and I CANNOT have the 5 year old and 3 year old up at this time too.  Which is what happens if I do anything other than feed.  Plus, he is hungry!

Perfectly normal and perfectly acceptable - baby is hungry, feed him.

Ok, so he probably needs a bit more A time, I'd be shooting for min. 2:15, more like 2:30 A time at 5 months. 45min naps are classically UT and I think that's what you're seeing here, then with no restorative nap in the day, he's crashing early in the evening.

I would imagine something like this might work for him:
7 - wake, feed
9:30 - nap
11 - wake, feed
1:30 - nap
3 - wake, feed
5:15 - catnap while out and about/on the way home? til 6
7:30 - asleep in bed for the night

Would that have any chance of working with the other kids?

[mary_s]

Thank you so much for the advice!  I think I am so tired that I can't even reason and come up with a plan!

We tried this on Saturday and Sunday.  I am not sure if it was better or not.  I think you're totally right, and we keep on getting OT.  We aimed for 4 hours feeding, which worked out great.  Saturday, he did take a very long nap from 9:30-12:00.  Unfortunately, he still took a cat nap from 3:00-3:45 and then went to bed at his normal 6:30 time, although we tried to keep him up later! 

He still woke up at 10, 1:30, and 4:00 at night.  I fed him all 3x. 

Sunday was pretty similar, feeds at 7, 11:30, 2:30 except that he did not have a single long nap.  He took 3 naps.  All were 40 minutes.  He was extremely cranky all day.  He woke up a bunch at night, but I fed him at 10 (dreamfeed) 1:30 (short feed, one side), 4:30 (marathon feed, lasted half hour, both sides).

Is he waking up because we have a feeding problem?  Or, is he just not sleeping well because he is OT??

 We really struggle with that last cat nap of the day.  He fights it so much, and there is so much to do at that time!  (dinner, daddy getting home)  I will focus on getting that last cat nap in for the next couple of days and see if it helps! 

[becj86]

When is he waking at night? All wakings - that gives us an idea of what's causing it, though that can be a bit tough when the whole day is out of whack too.

Its actually really ordinary for LO to be feeding 3x in the night at this age. I really don't think you need to worry about that too much at this stage - his feeds are pretty well spaced out.

Unfortunately, he still took a cat nap from 3:00-3:45 and then went to bed at his normal 6:30 time, although we tried to keep him up later! 

That's still a really long A time off a short nap and I'd not be surprised is he woke a lot early in the evening.