Author Topic: Help: Shh pat to fall asleep but unable to stay asleep! Exhausted.  (Read 1447 times)

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Offline needasleepingangel

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DD is turning 10 weeks on Sunday. She has been doing well at BT and at night for more than a week now. I am able to put her down drowsy but awake, and then pat her to sleep. She doesn't like shhing, so I just pat. She is able to self-sooth at night during the sleep cycles and always goes back to sleep after NF.

However, things are so different at all the naps. She is unable to sleep in crib and always sleeps in our arms or carriers. But it is hot these days and she gets a lot of heat rash, so I have to put her down to sleep.

I have been doing shh-pat for her first morning nap for over a week now. Slow progress.

Yesterday and today I have been doing shh-pat for the first two naps. I was able to pat her to sleep, but she always only stayed asleep for 20min and then woke up. After that she was still sleepy and OT, sometimes eyes closed, but always open in a minute or two. After doing this for another 30min or so, she would start cry full on and was unable to resettle.

The question is I didn't stop patting when she woke up at the 20 min mark. I don't understand why she was able to fall asleep but unable to stay asleep, my hands were still patting. I really want to know if this is the process to success or am I doing it wrong? Any advice is welcome. Many thanks in advance.

Each nap I do shh-pat, I always pat for more than an hour nonstop. It is quite exhausting, with one hand putting on her thighs, and the other one patting on her shoulder. But it is worth all the pain and effort if DD is able to sleep in the crib.


Offline Scottishmummy

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Re: Help: Shh pat to fall asleep but unable to stay asleep! Exhausted.
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2016, 19:40:50 pm »
Well done on getting the night sleep..at least you know she can self settle and sh-pat will work for her.

The waking after 20-30 mins could be OT  or OS - what's her EASY routine looking like? Does she have a wind down before her naps?

Or she could still be getting jolts at those points, which is developmental and still typical for her age. Is she swaddled that can help with jolts?

Other option is to just hold rather than pat when she's asleep and at the times of jolts & see if that helps.

Can you stop patting when she is asleep and only hold/pat just before or at the time she typically wakes so you don't need to pat through the whole nap?

I remember having to hold DD through jolts & sleep cycle transitions at this age. I have older DS so could only go in at time jolts usually happened but could often leave the room between and after those.
"Touchy/Spirited" DS


"Textbook" DD



Offline needasleepingangel

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Re: Help: Shh pat to fall asleep but unable to stay asleep! Exhausted.
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2016, 02:49:50 am »
Thanks a lot for your reply, Scottishmummy.

For BT, shh-pat is usually easy for us. She is always swaddled and it took me only 6 min to put her to sleep tonight. I added white noise app to block out DS's noise, and it helped.

DD is swaddled for the naps we do shh-pat. We have a long wind down process for the first nap. We have done different experiments and found that a longer wind down and low key activity is helpful for her to become calm for the first nap. Otherwise the moment we brought her into the dark room, she would burst into crying.

An update is that after the two days of 20 min naps, DH used a white noise app and patted her to sleep for today's first nap. She slept from 8:45am-10:10am. We are so happy! This is our first shh-pat success. Hope this will continue and I will update. ;D


Offline Scottishmummy

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Re: Help: Shh pat to fall asleep but unable to stay asleep! Exhausted.
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2016, 06:44:56 am »
Amazing!

White noise was very helpful  for my DS too. He also needed a long WD and low key activity before his nap. He's a touchy/spirited type. Is your DD a similar temperament?

I hope the good naps continue for you

Xxx
"Touchy/Spirited" DS


"Textbook" DD