At End of Rope - 6.5 Month Old Sleep

[Lindsay27]

Yes so the 5am WU was likely a result of the late nap the day before plus being probably on the high end of day sleep, and I'm thinking the screaming at BT sounds like OT behavior (though in all honesty could be developmental given all the new skills).  I also aim to do errands in between naps and I try (if I can) to go as soon as she wakes from that morning nap otherwise she's also dozing off in the car.  But hey it happens, it's just life!  I personally don't put my DD down for a nap any later than 3pm and I cap that to a max of an hour, but generally I aim for the PM nap to be somewhere around 2-2:30ish with her waking up at about 3:30, giving a 3.5hr A to bed.

Is the screaming at BT a regular thing or just kind of a 1-off because the PM naps were wonky?

[FrankiesMom12]

I also try to do errands/get out of the house after the first nap, but we live 30 minutes from anything, so she inevitably falls asleep in the car.  Today I decided to try our ride home with naptime to see if she would get a 30 minute afternoon nap at least, bUT she only slept 15 minutes and it's 8:40 pm and we're going through the night time insanity.  I feel at this point that the intense screaming at night is NOT a one-off and it's been at least a week that it happens.  I think I'm getting an ulcer from it.  Just kidding.  Kind of.

Here's how today went:

6:30 - wakeup
9:45 - pd for nap/screaming until I nursed her (she was not due to nurse at all)
10:00 - asleep nursing
11:35 - awake
3:15 - 3:30 - asleep in car seat
6:30 - nurse and fell asleep nuring
7:50 - awake screaming
7:50 - 8:45 - tried various times to hold her, put her down, etc. And she's still awake.  She us desperately tired, but the minute I put her down SCREAMS and ends up standing in bed.  At this point I'm doing whatever I can to get her to fall asleep and stay asleep.

[FrankiesMom12]

Hi Lindsay - tonight is shaping up to be another rough evening.  We FINALLY got Catie down to sleep last night at around 9:15.  She nursed once around 2:30 am (totally normal for her), and she was up for the day at 5:30.  (REALLY?!)

Today, went like this:
5:30 - awake
9:00 - 10:40 - nap 1
1:45 - 2:30 - asleep in stroller
4:05 - 4:15 - asleep in car seat
6:30 - asleep for the night (ha, ha)
7:40 - awake and screaming/standing in bed
7:45 - pu / held to sleep
8:00 - pd

[Lindsay27]

Sorry Hun, my 2 gave me a run for my money today! Yeesh!  Ugh I know the 5:30am WUs all too well unfortunately.  Okay so, great first nap! I think the 2nd nap was probably UT but sounds/looks like you were out and about and probably couldn't have avoided that.  I'm really wondering if the standing and screaming is developmental and/or pain related (any teeth on the move?) since prior to this she was settling fine at BT - correct?  The other thing is it could be separation anxiety, I know a lot of ladies in the birth club mentioned it around this age (my DD has always been so bad for this so this would be nothing new for us ).  So I'm thinking for now maybe you can do a gradual Withdrawl approach to BT? If you lay her down and just sit beside the crib with a hand on her, do you think that would work?

[FrankiesMom12]

Hi Lindsay - Back again, only this time teething is most definitely the culprit.  I was hoping to just get some quick advice regarding OT and incredibly early WU due to teething.  Catie is waking up at least 2 - 3 times a night (I can usually get her back down pretty quickly), and then waking up for the day anytime between 4 - 5:30.  Yes, that's right...4 am.  I'm not sure what time to do her first nap when this happens.  There is NO WAY we can power through to 9 or 9:30.  Any advice on what time to aim for in terms of first nap?  Thanks!!!

[Lindsay27]

Best thing to do is (if you can) firstly try to treat the WU as a NW (I realize you probably tried that lol) and if you can't get her back down, then literally push that first nap out as far as you can make it.  If you have to stand in front of her and do a dance to keep her awake, do it.  She may nap 30mins but you have more of a chance to resettle her with an OT nap, or she'll just crash and take a good nap.  The problem with having a nap too early is that it will perpetuate the EW.  So just push as long as she can possibly make it, and keep doing it for the next few days until you get back to a 9ish am nap.

Are you medicating for teeth at all? I personally find the ibprophen/Advil works the best. 

[FrankiesMom12]

Thanks Lindsay!  Of course I put her down at 7 am this morning, when I probably could have tried to push her a little longer.  She was up at 4 am today (kill me), though.  Yes, I definitely treat the early WU as a NW.  I put her back in her crib, etc. but she's having none of it.  Even though she was awake at 4 today, I didn't get her up until after 5.  Do you think I should I cap the morning nap, or just let her go as long as needs?

[Lindsay27]

I would maybe cap at 2hrs, so that she gets a good nap but hopefully it wouldn't be treated as night sleep.  The day is going to be wonky regardless, and you are likely going to need to maybe AP a CN later in the day to get her through to BT.

[FrankiesMom12]

Hi Lindsay - we're back to bedtime being a bit of a struggle against, and I was hoping to get your advice on whether I'm letting her afternoon nap go too long?  Catie is now 8.5 months old.  She still has 1 or 2 early wakings a week, but generally sleeps until 5:45 or 6.  I'll type up her routine from yesterday morning wakeup.

6:00 - awake
9:20 - 10:50 - nap 1
2:25 - 3:30 - nap 2
6:30 - bedtime routine
8:05 - asleep finally

5:00 - awake for the day
8:15 - 10:00 - nap 1
1:55 - 3:45 - nap 2
6:45 - bedtime routine
7:25 - still not asleep

Thanks!!!

P.S. based on the fact that she just bit me twice while nursing, she's probably got a 4th tooth coming in.

[Lindsay27]

So I'm the first day I think perhaps she needed a bit longer A to bed.  It is similar to our routine and we try to keep bed at 7ish.  Actually the second day too, given she had 2 x 1.45hr naps she was probably UT at bedtime.  I usually try to cap day sleep at 3hrs otherwise we get EWs or bedtime shenanigans. 

[FrankiesMom12]

Thanks, Lindsay!  I'll make sure to cap her naps to a max 3 hoirs.  What time do you recommend making sure she doesn't sleep past in the afternoon?  I was letting her go until 3:45, but maybe that's too late?  The goal is to have her asleep and in bed by 7.

[Lindsay27]

3:45 is probably fine, I usually end up capping the PM nap so we aren't getting too much day sleep and so she has a good A to bed.  If you want to you can try pushing that first A to 3.5hrs, we've started having to do that this week to get a good morning nap.  I think by doing that and capping day sleep to 3hrs that might also help your EW.

We are something like:

WU 6:30
Nap 10-11:30
Nap 3-4
BT 7:15

Realllly starting to approach 2-1 territory.  Yikes!

[FrankiesMom12]

I can't even think about 2-1 territory!  My son has preschool 3 days a week in the autumn from 12:30 - 3:30.  I have no idea how I'm going to handle Catie's maps, especially since she falls asleep in her car seat anytime after 2.5 hours wake time!!

[creations]

Just stopping by to say hi.  Lindsay might not be on for a few days, I haven't read through your thread but wanted you to know I'm keeping an eye out
From the last couple of posts it looks like you're trying out a tweak so probably need a few days to settle in and see how that works out anyway.  Good luck with it.
Shout out if you need support.