Author Topic: 3 month old EASY gone wonky... help! (Read 5291 times)

ladyboz · « **on:** April 19, 2016, 21:51:32 pm »

an someone please help my with my 3 month olds EASY routine? She's been on the 3 hour since coming home from the hospital. We had some hiccups around 6 ish weeks with early morning wakeups but I increased her awake time and that seemed to help. However now we're dealing with 45 minute to an hour naps. And she won't settle. She'll wake and be content but then instead of falling asleep she'll stay awake and eventually get frustrated and start crying. Last night she also woke about an hour after falling asleep for the evening. My dh popped her paci back in and she must have laid awake for a good 40 minutes before falling back asleep. She woke again at 1:30. She hadn't been doing that so again, my dh popped her paci back in and she went right to sleep. Woke at her usual time at 4:30 to nurse and went back to sleep and I woke her at 7am to start our day. Here's what our days have been like and the last one is how it's been going the past few days...

7am wake/eat
8:15 asleep
10:00wake/eat
11:15 asleep
1pm wake/eat
2:15 asleep
4pm wake/eat
5:15 sleep
6:10 wake
6:30bath/bedtime routine
7:00 nurse and lay down for the night. She's out by 7:20 the latest!
4am she wakes to eat and goes right back to sleep

Here's how it's been going the past few days

7:00 wake up/eat (she won't eat well since she ate at 4:30)
8:15 swaddle and lay down.
10:00 awake time and eat
11:15 swaddle and lay down
12:15 awake and have to give her paci. She ended up not falling asleep and just laid in her crib
1pm awake and eat
2:15 swaddle and lay down
3:10 awake. She did not go back to sleep. I gave her a paci. Picked up and layer her down. She didn't want to sleep.
4pm got her up and she was all smiles and coos. But was very cranky by 5pm. Fought her catnap and I ended up just rocking her to sleep and laid her down. But then she only slept for 30 minutes and was wide awake.

Is it possible that she's ready for the 4 hour EASY since she's waking early from her naps and isn't eating much every 3 hours? She's also EBF. She also fights the last feed of the night (7pm). Advice please, would really like to avoid habits if possible. She had been napping so well!

Lindsay27 · « **Reply #1 on:** April 19, 2016, 23:33:10 pm »

Is definitely bump her A time, I think she's a bit UT. It looks like your A times are about 1hr 15mins if I am reading your EASY correctly? So I'd work towards pushing to 1.5hrs and that should help. If she can't make the jump all at once just increase by 5-10mins every 2-3 days.

ladyboz · « **Reply #2 on:** April 20, 2016, 00:54:21 am »

Thanks for the quick reply and yes she's at 1hr 15 minutes of awake time. I'll try upping her awake time. What will the rest of the EASY routine look like? If she wakes at 7am and goes to sleep at 8:30 do I wake her at 10 still or 10:30? Also, how much time should I spend trying to get her back to sleep if she wakes? And if she never goes back to sleep, when does the awake time start?

Lindsay27 · « **Reply #3 on:** April 20, 2016, 01:03:20 am »

So if her regular WU time is 7am her EASY would hopefully look like:

E 7am
A
S 8:30-10

Ideally she would have 3 x 1.5hr naps, but if a nap goes longer that's fine. If she wakes from a nap early I usually don't dedicate more than 10-15mins resettling or you will drive yourself crazy lol. If she doesn't resettle, reduce the next A by 10-15mins to hopefully avoid OT.

ladyboz · « **Reply #4 on:** April 20, 2016, 01:10:09 am »

Thank you! I'll be giving this a go tomorrow. I almost went insane today trying to resettle her naps. I have a 3 year old dd who needs my attention too. I feel like all I did was hush her and say that sister is trying to sleep. Ugh... lol Hopefully tomorrow goes better.

Lindsay27 · « **Reply #5 on:** April 20, 2016, 01:20:50 am »

I know it all too well! You absolutely feel like you are trapped in a room shh/patting all day long while your other LO is doing god knows what! My DS goes to preschool 3 x a week so on those days I would try to dedicate myself to resettling naps if I could. Do what you can handle without driving yourself mad

ladyboz · « **Reply #6 on:** May 18, 2016, 21:44:33 pm »

I'm back. lol We had several great weeks using the advice given. My LO just turned 4 months over the weekend and I've been noticing shorter naps about 45 minutes and her evening catnap is at most 15 to 30 minutes tops! She's also been waking at 11:30pm and 2pm but isnt hungry. DH just pops her paci in. Between 4 and 5am I go and nurse her to keep her from an early waking (she usually sleeps nurse or if awakes goes right back to sleep.). Could we be ready for the 4 hour EASY? And if so can we just dive in and do it immediately? I already know she can handle a 2 hour awake period as shes been fine with it before when we've been out and about or running errands. Just dont know how naps will go. Heres what our EASY has been like the past week....

7:00am I wake her to start day. Eat (Sometimes she doesnt eat well if she nurses at 5am)
8:30 Sleep
9:15-9:30 She wakes. I paci and she just lays there.
10:00am Eat
11:15-11:30 Sleep
12:30 She wakes and coos in crib or fusses for me to get her. I pacify till 1pm.
1:00pm Eat
2:15 Nap (best nap of day!)
4:00 I usually have to wake her. Eat
5:15 Nurse/Nap (the only way I can get her to settle and rest)
5:45 Up. She won't sleep.
6:00ish we get her up. We figure resting in her crib for a bit helps her handle bath/bath routine.
6:30 bath
7:00 nurse and sleep

11:30pm paci
2:00 sometimes have to paci

Could she be ready for the 4 hour? Right now I feel like everyhthing revolves around night sleep. I don't want to jepordize our night sleep. She needs the rest and SO do I. lol Therefore, Im trying to tread carefully. I don't want to do anything to make the night wakings worse, but I also don't want to do nothing and it get even worse. Oh, I hope Im making sense. lol

ladyboz · « **Reply #7 on:** May 18, 2016, 21:46:36 pm »

And that should read 11:30pm amd 2am night wakings for paci. Sorry! Trying to get her to take a catnap now.

Lindsay27 · « **Reply #8 on:** May 18, 2016, 23:45:54 pm »

I think she's definitely ready to move toward 4hr EASY as it does seem like she's UT for naps. Generally A times need to keep increasing slowly so you don't have to do big jumps all at once, I would try a 1.45hr A time and see how she does and go from there, but she can probably move to a 2hr A time pretty quickly. Getting her on 2 solid naps and likely a CN is actually probably going to help nights. That said, there is a pretty big sleep regression at 4 months so often nights go completely wonky regardless. My DD was doing 7pm-3/4am and then at 4 months she was waking at 1am and 5am, now at a bit over 5 months we are back to 7pm-4am.

ladyboz · « **Reply #9 on:** May 19, 2016, 01:15:49 am »

Thanks for the quick response! Funny how these little ones stay on target regarding sleep regressions ect. Lol my dd was doing so well too sleeping from 7pm-4 or 5am when I would basically rouse her a bit to nurse and go right back to sleep. I'm going to clear our schedule next week so we can devote to time to moving to the 4 hour easy. We'll just have to muscle through these next few days that are filled with appointments and busy weekend.

Oh! Also, she's ebf. Will the affect her napping if she goes 4 hours between feeds? Should I nurse her before naps?

Lindsay27 · « **Reply #10 on:** May 19, 2016, 01:31:26 am »

Sounds great! So yes, many BF babies don't fully transition to 4hrs between feeds the same way/as quickly as formula fed ones, so you may need to offer a little top up before the nap. Makes things awkward for a bit until she is fully able to go 4hrs between feeds.

ladyboz · « **Reply #11 on:** July 05, 2016, 13:48:46 pm »

Hello! Things have been going great the past two months. Thanks for the wonderful advice. I have a few questions as we're heading into her 6th month. She can handle awake times very well and is usually very content and happy. I have a 3yr old and we're very busy between playdates/classes and such. We're usually gone most mornings. I do make it a point to be home by 1pm for naps for both girls and they sleep wonderfully for 2 hours which I usually have to wake them. My question is... my almost 6month old has been fighting her catnap at 5pm. I'm assuming it's because she needs more than a 2 hr awake time? If she doesn't take her catnap she goes down for bed easily by 7pm but she's miserable the time in between as she's been awake by 3. If she does take her catnap she fights bedtime. Here's what a typical day has been looking like...
7:00am WU/E
9:00 S
10:00 /WU
11:00E
1:00S/Nurse
3:00 WU/E
5:00 CN (try too)
5:30 Solids
6:30 bedroutine
7:00nurse and asleep.
4:00 I sleep nurse her (mainly to help her gain weight as she's very tiny and to avoid early wakeups)

What should I do to help with the evenings? Is there any way I can keep her 2nd nap around the 1pm time frame as I really like that I can have some time in the afternoon to get things done while both girls nap.

ladyboz · « **Reply #12 on:** July 05, 2016, 13:52:30 pm »

I'm sorry for all the typos. I typed this pretty quick and am on my phone. Lol

Lindsay27 · « **Reply #13 on:** July 05, 2016, 14:37:46 pm »

Is it possible to push both naps out by 30mins? If she's napping 1-3pm she's definitely UT for the CN and I would think about dropping it. I am wondering if you do her afterno from 1:30-3:30 and then it might make BT more manageable. And then you still have the bulk of the nap at the same time as your other DD. If you don't want to move the afternoon nap I would definitely bring bedtime forward to 6:30 at a minimum.

ladyboz · « **Reply #14 on:** July 05, 2016, 18:28:16 pm »

Thanks for the quick reply! I'll try this tomorrow as we're all trying to recoup from a late family night last night. Quick question, do you think it's ok for a 6 month old to take a short 1 hour nap in the morning and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon? It seems like not enough day rest, but she seems to be doing ok other than our bedtime ails at the moment.

Lindsay27 · « **Reply #15 on:** July 05, 2016, 19:24:47 pm »

That sounds perfectly okay! 3hrs day sleep is plenty

. My DD is almost 7 months and she does 2hrs in the morning and 45 in the afternoon. Any more day sleep and I think you would find it would rob her nights.

ladyboz · « **Reply #16 on:** July 06, 2016, 17:58:16 pm »

Things are going a bit wonky today. Her first nap was going great, but I ended up having to wake her an hour into it as we had an appt to make. She was very grumpy. I was able to keep her busy and distracted but by 12:45 she was totally ready for a nap. She fell asleep while being swaddled but woke 45 minutes into her nap crying. She was able to get herself back to sleep. But its been a very restless nap so far. She sleeps for 5-10 minutes then wakes and takes a few minutes to fall back asleep. I could go rock her, but don't want to create a habit. I just wish she was getting a restorative nap.
Also, last night we did the 6:30 bedtime as she was exhausted from being up by 3:30pm. She went down great, but woke an hour after falling asleep. Luckily we didn't have to pacify her as she drifted back to sleep on her own. But she's never woken after falling asleep at initial bedtime and I'm wondering why she did that?

Also, I think our swaddling days are over! She turned over from back to tummy several times today. Any advice on how to wean the swaddle without messing her naps and nightime sleep? Feeling a bit overwhelmed with her naps and now swaddling issue for safety...

ladyboz · « **Reply #17 on:** July 06, 2016, 18:01:40 pm »

Here's our easy so far today...
6:30am awake. Gave her a paci and she fell back asleep.
7:00am Up
9:00 E/Sleep
10:00 I woke her
12:45 E/Sleep she was exhausted
1:30 woke up crying but stopped after a minute or two, she put herself back to sleep. But the cycle has been repeating every 10 minutes or so.

Lindsay27 · « **Reply #18 on:** July 07, 2016, 02:18:39 am »

If you had to wake her to go to an appointment then I wouldn't necessarily consider anything that happened today to be normal, yk? I kind of just write those days off lol. It does sound like she was OT and just couldn't settle properly because of it, which is normal, that happens to my DD too. I would maybe try the same A time and see how she does on a full nap. Wakings early in the evening after BT are usually OT as well.

For the swaddle, my DD starting rolling at 4 months as well and I tried to wean the swaddle doing 1 arm out and it was disastrous, she was up all night long. 2 days of that and I was done and reswaddled her and tried again 2 weeks later, same thing. So 2 weeks after that we tried again (5 months) and she was totally ready and we weaned in less than a week. It is important to be aware of safety issues, but also know that it can take a bit longer. Just start with a gradual approach and leave 1 arm out and see how she does. If it is going okay then a few days later do the next arm etc.

ladyboz · « **Reply #19 on:** July 07, 2016, 14:33:19 pm »

I definitely think you're right and that she was overtired for her afternoon nap. She ended up finally sleeping and woke around 3p. Then she was very fussy/tired when 4:30 rolled around. She ended up taking a catnap at 5pm-5:30 which surprised me at hown easily she went down. But then we had an epic bedtime struggle. She didn't drift to sleep peacefully and I had to do the pu/pd from 7pm-8pm. Maybe she tricked me, but she was showing super sleepy cues by 6:30. Super red eyes, rubbing her eyes, and just a bit fussy. Once she fell asleep though she was out and slept till our usual 4am feed and went back to sleep.

I think our problem is that we're gone from home most mornings... whether it's appointments (she has pt twice a week), playdates for the 3yr old ect.

Should I wait with the swaddle weaning till she's got her naps squared away? Also, should I do naps only and then nighttime? Agh I want me content happy baby back. Lol

Lindsay27 · « **Reply #20 on:** July 08, 2016, 12:39:35 pm »

So she was probably in a UT/OT situation at BT, she was UT from the late CN but overalls OT from the short naps if that makes sense. If you are out most mornings and she isn't taking a good solid nap, then I would aim to have a good one at home in the afternoon, but fully anticipate OT and try to resettle a short nap as much as possible. I would also aim for an EBT vs a late CN which might help with BT battles.

As for the swaddle, I mean if everything is kind of a bit jumbled anyway you might as well hair give it a go. I tried just naps at first because I figured if they went to pot at least she's sleep ok at night.

ladyboz · « **Reply #21 on:** July 08, 2016, 14:48:31 pm »

Ok. So yesterday I stayed home all day and she did great with naps. Had to really keep her occupied when we were reaching the 2.5-3hour awake mark. But she did it and had great naps and went right to sleep at bedtime and slept all night. Yeah! Now to make things work when we have to be out in the mornings. Lol I'll definitely being doing early bedtime as you mentioned.

Yesterday was the ideal perfect EASY
6:30AM awake
8:00 eat
9:30 sleep
11:15 awake/eat
2:15 sleep
4:00awake/eat
5:30 Solids
6:15 bath
6:45nurse/put down to sleep
7:00 she was out with no tears. Yeah!

Funny, I didn't think she was old enough to only be taking two naps. I forget how quickly the first year goes. From sleeping most of the day to only needing two 2 hour naps. My baby is growing up! Sniff sniff lol

I'll work on the swaddle weaning next week as we'll be out of town this weekend. Thank you so much for all the advice!!

Lindsay27 · « **Reply #22 on:** July 11, 2016, 13:54:41 pm »

Sounds great let me know how you get on!

ladyboz · « **Reply #23 on:** July 16, 2016, 13:47:46 pm »

I'm back! lol Ok, so naps and swaddle weaning have been going pretty well. Still having trouble with her falling asleep at bedtime and now she's having trouble falling asleep after the 4am feed. Here's how its been going...

7:00am Awake/Nurse
8:00 solids or nurse if she didnt nurse at 7am
9:30 Sleep (sometimes have to give her a paci 45 minutes to an hour into the nap as we're working on unswaddling, but she falls back to sleep on her own. Yay!)
11:00 I wake her/Nurse
2:00 Nap/Nurse
3:45-4:00 Awake/Nurse
5:30 Solids
6:00 Bath/bedtime routine
6:30ish Nurse

Here's where it gets a little wonky. She'll fall asleep, but then 5 or 10 minutes later she wakes up and does these short cries (all with the paci in her mouth), she'll toss for a bit and then close her eyes and it seems that she'll fall asleep, but then her eyes will pop open and she'll start fussing again. The process repeats for a good hour. Last night it was an hour and a half. I finally went in and rocked her to sleep. During that hour and a half she never cried tears or uncontrollably, they were all just fussy short cries/whines. Early this morning, she did the same thing again at 4am after I nursed her. She didnt go back to sleep till my husband picked her up. Again, they were just short little whines. We didnt want her to wake our 3 yr old dd. Not sure whats going on or what we should do. Im worried that us picking her up is making a bad habit thats now affecting her 4am feed. I know shes tired because she's not babbling, but trying to sleep. I should mention that we have not weaned from swaddling at night yet, just one arm at naps. We are going on vacation for a week tomorrow and don't want to throw too many things on her.

Should I be putting her to sleep earlier??? Are these signs of her being OT?

ladyboz · « **Reply #24 on:** July 16, 2016, 18:33:10 pm »

If she is being ot at bedtime, what time should I put her to sleep? And if it's before 6:30 will she begin waking early in the morning? Just trying to figure out what to do tonight so we have a peaceful and resrful evening for all.

Lindsay27 · « **Reply #25 on:** July 16, 2016, 23:31:27 pm »

No I think her BT is fine

I'm actually wondering if she's UT. If she's napping 9:30-11 (1.5hrs) and then 2-3:45/4pm (1.45-2hrs) that's nearly 3.5hrs of day sleep if I'm reading your routine correctly. I think both the trouble at BT and NW could be UT. How old is she now? I think I would be capping her PM nap to 1.5hrs so that she's not getting more than 3hrs of day sleep.

ladyboz · « **Reply #26 on:** July 17, 2016, 01:47:51 am »

She turned 6 months this past week. And yes, she is averaging about 3.5 to 4 hours of day sleep. Curious, today she woke at 3:30 (an hour and a half nap) by 6pm she was super fussy and tired. We bathed and got her ready for bed by. I nursed her around 6:45 and she was asleep with eyes closed. I put her down and not 5 minutes later her eyes were open and she was crying by 7pm. I did the pu/pd till 8:30. I hated doing it but after an hour I started doing the time intervals.

ladyboz · « **Reply #27 on:** July 17, 2016, 01:54:01 am »

As far as the daytime naps and daily routine for a new 6 month old does this look ok or any suggestions?
7:00 Awake
10:00 Sleep
11:30 Awake or let her sleep capping at 2hours tops
2:30 Sleep capping at 3:30

I will say that in the afternoon. It is a struggle to keep her awake until her afternoon nap. She's exhausted. Should I try keeping her awake longer in the mornings and shoot for a 10am nap?

Lindsay27 · « **Reply #28 on:** July 17, 2016, 11:42:21 am »

The 3-2 transition is really awkward to navigate, we had a really difficult time with it. My best advice would be to stretch that morning A as much as possible, sometimes my DD would wake at 30mins after such a long A but I was normally able to resettle. What I had to do was a long A followed by a capped nap, slightly shorter A followed by a long nap, and then a CN. We did have EWs to contend with though.

We had to push to a 3hr A and ride out the OT and then A times kind of stabilized at 3.15ish, sometimes more or less. If she can do a 3hr A you can let her do a full 2hrs:

7 Awake
Nap 10-12
Nap 2:45-3:45/4
BT 6:30/7

A little over 3hrs day sleep is probably ok, but I would go so far as to allow 3.5hrs + otherwise it will affect nights.

ladyboz · « **Reply #29 on:** August 04, 2016, 11:23:21 am »

Ok, so I've been doing the schedule you mentioned and things have been going wonderfully. But we just weaned her completely from the swaddle as shes been turning over it wasnt safe anymore. The first 3 nights she did great! However last night she was up from 12am to 3am. First she was just babbling and playing with her blanky, but then she started fussing and crying. My hubby and I alternated doing the Pu/Pd with her. Eventually she stopped crying, but just laid there for another 30 minutes before falling asleep. It was not a hunger cry, more of frustrated cry. Did we handle it ok or is there something else we can do? It just felt like forever and I dont want a repeat. lol Also, she is sleeping in this morning (I would too if I could! lol). Do I let her sleep in to catch up on the sleep she missed during the night? Or should I wake her so as to not encourage crib parties/cries in the middle of the night? Thanks!!

ladyboz · « **Reply #30 on:** August 04, 2016, 11:25:15 am »

I should also mention that we've been doing a tweaked version of the schedule
7:00am awake
10:00am Sleep
11:00Awake (I wake her)
2:00 Sleep
4:00 Awake
6:45 Asleep

Lindsay27 · « **Reply #31 on:** August 04, 2016, 11:50:32 am »

If it were me I'd probably just let her sleep in a bit, might make your day wonky though, and hope it was just a 1-off. The only thing the jumps out to me is you may be able to push BT out a bit following a good nap, but if everything seems to be working well then fantastic

ladyboz · « **Reply #32 on:** October 04, 2016, 08:48:03 am »

I'm back lol. Things have been going wonderfully. But I'm noticing that my lo is waking and babbling around 4am or won't go back to sleep quickly after I nurse her at 4am. I'll post what our routine is. She naps very well. For her morning nap I cap it at 1 hr. At bedtime she fusses for about 5 minutes, but then drifts to sleep. She use to just drift right to sleep with no fussing. Is there a transition that needs to be happening soon? She'll be 9 months on Oct. 15.

7:00 A/Nurse (sometimeshe she'll sleep to 7:15)
8:30 Solids
10:00Nap (she's VERY sleepy)
11:00 A/Nurse (I always have to wake her)
12:15 Solids
2:00 Nap
4:00 A/Nurse (she wakes, if she misses her morning nap I have to wake her)
5:30 Solids/dinner with family
6:00 Bath
6:30 wind down, read books, etc
7:00 Nurse and Sleep
4:15ish I nurse her (she's on the low end of weight)

Recently she's been waking to babble around 4am and is takes a while to fall asleep. Any advice to help the early mornings go smoother? Thanks!

Lindsay27 · « **Reply #33 on:** October 04, 2016, 12:07:24 pm »

I'd say your routine looks pretty good, nothing major is jumping out. The only thing that might be a possibility is maybe a touch of too much day sleep. At 9 months I think we were averaging around 2.5hrs, some days more some less. I wonder if she needs maybe a longer A to bed after a 2hr nap, chatty NW tend to be UT related.

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Author Topic: 3 month old EASY gone wonky... help! (Read 5291 times)