Author Topic: HELP - 7m/o suddenly stopped self soothing and napping  (Read 24262 times)

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Offline Lindsay27

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Re: HELP - 7m/o suddenly stopped self soothing and napping
« Reply #15 on: August 15, 2016, 12:04:27 pm »
Hi hun, sorry I've been away!  It sounds like she's just OT now hun and is fighting the naps.  How have the last few days been?  What A time are you working with?  If nursing is the only thing that is working right now then I would do that and after you put her down continue patting or holding if you can, but I understand that might be difficult with other LOs and you can't spend all day trying to pat her to sleep.  Sometimes it helps to just reset, so if she'll sleep in the car maybe plan a day out and get her some sleep that way so she's a little caught up yk?  Then you can kind of start from scratch.



Offline sueyloo

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Re: HELP - 7m/o suddenly stopped self soothing and napping
« Reply #16 on: August 15, 2016, 19:54:12 pm »
Hi Lindsay
Thanks for that. Hope you had a nice break.
You're right about her being OT.
Today she's done really well. I rocked/held her to sleep for her first nap. I don't think she even managed a 3hr A time but I could see she was tired so I rocked her and she eventually fell asleep.
She had a short nap, maybe just over an hour.
She had a shorter A time this time around, probably 2 hours and did a short settle and left her to it. She fell asleep on her own. Not even a sound or a fuss. And this time she had about a 2 hour nap.
I'm going to see how the night goes but hopefully she would go down easily. The last few nights it's taken me over 2 hours to put her down so I'm really praying she builds up on this afternoon's success  :D

Offline Lindsay27

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Re: HELP - 7m/o suddenly stopped self soothing and napping
« Reply #17 on: August 16, 2016, 00:55:54 am »
Fantastic!! You are right, sometimes all it takes is 1 good day to kind of reset everything.  I hope you have a good night!



Offline sueyloo

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Re: HELP - 7m/o suddenly stopped self soothing and napping
« Reply #18 on: August 25, 2016, 19:30:46 pm »
Hi Lindsay
I've just got a quick question. When I'm putting LO to bed and she's OT, what can I try?
So I sometimes let her fall asleep while I'm holding her, but when I try putting her in her cot she starts crying. If I try just putting my hand on her back to reassure her that I'm still here she still cries. She would only stop if I pick her up (and sometimes she wouldn't even stop for a long time). What can I do?


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Re: HELP - 7m/o suddenly stopped self soothing and napping
« Reply #19 on: August 26, 2016, 07:36:08 am »
Hi there
Lindsay might not be able to get on for a few days so I wanted to stop by with some support.

I had a bit of a read through your thread, it seems your biggest concern is if your LO will be able to get back to self settling, all the threads I've seen with LOs who can self settle they return to it just as soon as they can, that was my experience with my own DS too.  If he needed help he got it whilst I tried to work out if there was something else going on (teething, routine tweak needed, developmental leap etc).  It's hard work in the mean time but try not to worry too much about hte self settlign aspect, she'll do it :)

Would you like to post your recent EAS times?  Sometimes OT can be confused with UT and an UT LO can really resist BT, it looks very similar to OT with the crying.  I'll have a look if you like?


Offline sueyloo

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Re: HELP - 7m/o suddenly stopped self soothing and napping
« Reply #20 on: August 26, 2016, 10:24:22 am »
Hi creations
Thanks for getting back to me. LO has been so poorly so everything has been thrown completely off. She had hives from having scrambled eggs then she had what seemed like q viral infection which she's still recovering from. I'm giving her all the help she needs but still I sometimes wonder if I can do more or if I'm doing the right thing.
Right now she's been up for over 5 hours but is resisting going down. I'm holding her for ages. Like 10 minutes so she's happy and settled. Put her in cot and she cries. Yesterday she managed to go down for her nap on her own but today not sure what's happening.

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Re: HELP - 7m/o suddenly stopped self soothing and napping
« Reply #21 on: August 26, 2016, 18:42:12 pm »
Oh dear. Sorry to hear she's been so poorly and there is so much sleep disturbance.

During illness or recovery from illness, honestly, do not worry about how much help you give. I know it's exhausting and you'd rather she went down easily, totally understand that!  But don't add to the stress and frustration of it by worrying about bad habits.  Really, trust that she will still return to self settling when she can and/or that it will be a relatively easy wean if any prop/habits persist.  You wouldn't believe how much time I've spent helping my DS through certain phases or illnesses, and he is *very* independent when he sleeps.

Maybe try to hold her in a laying position rather than up to your shoulder so the positioning is more similar to laying in her cot.  Then when you put her down keep your hands on her firmly, even under her so in effect you are still holding but inside the cot.  You can rest your hands and her weigh ton the mattress.  This might be more comforting for her than going from upright and held to in the cot in one move.  From this position it may also be possible if she fusses to lift just slightly, like a few cm off the mattress to give a little movement, even a small rocking, and again rest your hands back down, you can even use your firm hands to give a little rocking in the cot if she finds this soothing.  You might have more luck doing this a little...the aim is the same to get her sleeping in her cot of course.


Offline Lindsay27

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Re: HELP - 7m/o suddenly stopped self soothing and napping
« Reply #22 on: August 27, 2016, 11:11:50 am »
I agree during any illness it is hard to expect anything to be what it was.  My DD is just getting over a viscous cold and similarly after a horrendous night she refuses to nap the next day, I resorted to sleeping with her in my bed she was so OT and couldn't settle at all.  Creations have given some good suggestions, things will return back to normal hun!

What kind of routine are you working with/aiming for right now?



Offline sueyloo

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Re: HELP - 7m/o suddenly stopped self soothing and napping
« Reply #23 on: August 31, 2016, 21:27:48 pm »
Hi Lindsay and Creations
You guys have both been amazing. She's finally well now. I've got zero routine at present. Out of town driving and funerals to attend so no routine at all. I tried putting her down just now. Nursed her to sleep and then after some time transferred her to her cot. Boy, you should hear the wailing. Like how dare you do that mommy?!!!  ??? So much so half an hour later I'm still trying to settle her down.
I will get back to trying a four hour easy like the one you had suggested initially Lindsay. Once school is back and things more settled. I'm sure I'd be reaching out for more help very soon.
Thanks creations I'll definitely just do whatever gets her to sleep. Your ideas sound fantastic.

Offline Lindsay27

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Re: HELP - 7m/o suddenly stopped self soothing and napping
« Reply #24 on: September 02, 2016, 01:59:50 am »
My DD was just sick so I completely get where you are coming from, 2 weeks later and now all naps are 30mins ::). It's SO hard to get back on track!  And yes, lots of crying and not self settling here too, which I think is just because we AP so much when they are sick that when you stop they are like...uhhhh, you aren't going to just hold me to sleep anymore!? Lol

Do reach out with your routine once things have settled, always happy to help if I can!



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Re: HELP - 7m/o suddenly stopped self soothing and napping
« Reply #25 on: September 02, 2016, 07:35:04 am »
Sorry to hear you're both suffering with off track routines (hugs).


Offline sueyloo

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Re: HELP - 7m/o suddenly stopped self soothing and napping
« Reply #26 on: September 02, 2016, 15:48:12 pm »
I think I may have created a monster 😱
She's not even wanting to play independently. The dummy I offer her seems to stimulate her more. She starts jabbering away. Nothing is working except nursing for comfort and everything else in between.
As a family, we have had lots of grieving and so much has been going on so that doesn't help at all. I'm praying for strength and patience until things settle. In the meantime DD is definitely in princess mode and I have no choice but to oblige her 😩

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Re: HELP - 7m/o suddenly stopped self soothing and napping
« Reply #27 on: September 02, 2016, 18:06:21 pm »
Ah, hugs. You haven't created a monster. But understandably this is a really difficult time for everyone.
Take care of yourself.  Whatever habits might creep in can be sorted out.  We're here x


Offline Lindsay27

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Re: HELP - 7m/o suddenly stopped self soothing and napping
« Reply #28 on: September 04, 2016, 23:47:59 pm »
Yes there is nothing that can't be undone!

If you want you can post your EASY/what you are trying right now, even if it is rough, something might jump out.  Routines are changing constantly so it often feels like the second you have something figured out it all goes to pot and you are left trying to figure it out all over ::)



Offline sueyloo

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Re: HELP - 7m/o suddenly stopped self soothing and napping
« Reply #29 on: September 17, 2016, 06:39:10 am »
Hiya ladies
I am hoping to start getting my DD back on track next week and would love some help please.

Ideally this is what I would like to work towards achieving-
W/u & first feed 6:30
A - 6:45/7:45
E - breakfast with all DC 7:45-8
A - 8:45-9:30
S - 9:45/10-11:45

E - 11:45
A - 12:15-2:45
S - 3:30 - 4:45

E - 5:00
A - 5:30-6:45
S - (BD/BT) 7/7:15
What do yous think?

I have three other DC from 2y8mths to 5 years. So I need to fit in DD's naps in between school drop offs and pick ups etc.

I'm not too fussed about specific times tbh. I just want to be able to help DD to be able to fall asleep on her own again.

I have some specific questions -
When I am trying to put her down for a nap she often resists. Sometimes it's because she's overtired but I think the main problem is that Breastfeeding is being used as a prop. Pls can you give me some ideas of how to break this habit?

The other thing is that at night I feed her while laying down. I suppose this is a form of co sleeping? I'm not sure. So when she wakes up for a feed I get her from her cot and lay her next to me while she nurses. It's the only way I can get some sleep so that I can function or be able to be alert for my other DC during the day. What I'm finding is that when I do try to put her back in her cot she sometimes resists. Again, any tips on how to help her to be able to fall asleep on her own?

I've sort of given up on the idea of her going back to self soothing. She just isn't interested and I'm ok with that. But I do want her to not need my nipple as a prop. I'd like to try something like the gentle removal plan I read on one of the threads. But anything that you have tried that works would really be helpful.