17 weeks old NW and short naps...help!

[AllyW2015]

Hello! My LO is 17 weeks old. For the past few weeks she has been waking up several times at night and she seems to have a hard time taking naps as well. She is on the 4 month routine, I'll post our typical day below...

7am wake up, eat
7:30-9 activity
9 nap
9:45/10 wakes up and is cranky, needs more seep but will only sleep if I hold her
11 wake up and eat
11:30-1 activity
1 sleep
1:45/2 wakes up and is cranky again, will only seep of I hold/Rock her
3 wakes up and eats
3:30-5 activity
5 catnap
5:45-6:30 activity
6:30 bath
7 eat and sleep
1 wakes up, snacks, takes a while to sleep 30 min sometimes longer
4 "dream" feed otherwise she wakes up at 6 to eat and wants to start the day!
6am wake up, paci then she usually goes back to sleep, sometimes not

A little more background, she was sleeping/napping SO well. Sleeping through the night from 7pm-4am until about 3-4 weeks ago. Then all of a sudden she's waking up more frequently. I think it may be in part her development, but I'm not sure what to do. She is cranky and fussy when she doesn't sleep well and I start work in a few weeks and would love some help!

[FPT23]

Hi! Sorry for the troubles! 4mths is a tricky time!

What she is going through sounds very normal. Around 4mths their sleep changes! It is developmental. They also begin to make sleep associations. So however they are falling to sleep, they expect it when they wake and go through their sleep cycles. During this time, their sleep changes to more like "adult" sleep. If they do not know how to sleep independently, they will wake and need help. Mine did the same thing... Used to sleep so well then around 4mths it changed and we needed to find new ways. Fun. Haha! He's now 22 weeks and we survived ....still with some bumps though along the way haha

Now, I can try to help out by suggesting a few things with her EASY. I do see her naps she wakes after 45 mins... Again, could be developmental OR she may need a push in her A time. She might not be tired enough. Here is a link worth looking into about typical A times:

Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!

If you notice.. Your reaching closer to 5 mths so by now I would try increasing from 2hrs to about 2.10/2.15 (whatever best she can handle) ...and slowly increase over the course of a few days.

Now is also a good time to identify sleep associations to try and help her learn to sleep independently soon. It helps loads. Gradually and gently you can help her as these next weeks pass by.

One other thing to consider, at this time there is a growth spurt... So try a feed! I know around 4mths my little one began to wake around 12-1 and then 4-5 also... It's pretty common to see! So hope that helps ease your mind and know it will pass.

Hope this helps! Sorry it took a bit to get a response to your post!

Xo

[AllyW2015]

Thank you so very much for your reply! I thoughtful might be developmental, it was just odd that it started weeks ago! It may help to push her naps back as well. I'll give that a try. Night waking a are still rough. I've increased her nursing during the day, she is exclusively breastfed, so when I try to nurse her at the 12/1 waking she doesn't really nurse much. She only eats for 2-3 minutes, sort of using me as a paci I think. I guess it's just a learning curve for all around! 😂 Whew, momma is tired though! Thank you so very much. I'll try all your suggestions. Praying something works here soon!!

[FPT23]

It's a tough time and very tricky! Hang in there and hope the tips help!

[AllyW2015]

Hello!

I've been trying all your suggestions! Some  days she can handle 2 hr 10/15 minutes A time and others not so much. It depends on how well she slept at night. As for her night waking a I find that, again, some nights she's hungry and others she's just using me as a paci. So confusing! I've checked myself and stopped rushing in when she's fussing. I only go in when she starts to cry. Some nights she'll go back to sleep after about 30 minutes to an hour of fussing. Other nights she cries and won't go to sleep until she eats a little snack then goes to sleep. Whew! I have found that if she eats well during the day, her nights go better. However some days it's a struggle to get her to eat (she's exclusively breastfed). I just keep offering as much as she'll take but some days she just eats better than others. ☺️

[FPT23]

Totally am in the same boat with breastfeeding. It's hard at times just knowing. My LO is almost 6 months and I feel he's constantly on the breast!

A times will vary depending on the previous naps etc... Don't expect every day to be the same with A times because it just won't. But more or less around the same times.

If she short naps, her next A time would be shorter- makes sense right? Put her down 10/15 mins earlier the next A time if she had a short nap. If it was long then keep A times the same.

When you wrote the post she was 17 but she's reaching 5 mths soon. A times tend to change rapidly after this time... Keep in mind!