Author Topic: Looking for suggestions please  (Read 2317 times)

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Offline crissy_87

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Looking for suggestions please
« on: February 18, 2017, 02:51:02 am »
Baby is 6 1/2months. Up until about 4 weeks ago was a great sleeper. She used to go to bed about 630-7pm up around 2am to nurse put herself back to sleep until 630am up again to nurse then sleep until 9am or so. Then would be up until about 12, nurse/intro solids and nap until 3pm at which point I would wake her up. Bedtime routine was supper bath nurse snuggles. She was very consistent with this.

She sleeps in her own room, in crib with the head slightly elevated due to reflux. She has been inthe crib since 5 months with no problems. She is now on prevacid for reflux (switched from Zantac a week ago).

About 4 weeks ago we started a vicious cycle of 1st tooth, cold, 2nd tooth, stomach bug. This has left her reflux way out of control. Finally have her reflux under control, however now I have a baby who will not sleep.

She is up for the day at 8am, breakfast followed by play. 1st attempt at nap by 10-1030. She will usually fall asleep then be awake screaming like she was being tortured after 30 mins. I sooth and re settle but she does not go back to sleep. I will usually leave her laying in bed until this routine no longer works. She's up by 11.  The nurse play lunch. 2nd nap attempt around 130. Ends up the same as morning.  I let her chatter to herself, as well as let her cry for a bit in hopes she will settle herself. We use white noise in her room.

Bedtime routine is supper followed by bath nurse then snuggles. To have her in bed by 630-7. Similar to nap she wakes up screaming within an hour. Usually finally settled back to sleep by 9pm. Thru the night she is typically up to nurse at 2am and 5am. The 2am session she immediately settles herself back to sleep, the 5am session is hit or miss. Many times she will lay in bed talking to herself. 

Looking for any suggestions on how to eliminate the waking screaming an hour or so after being put down.

None of the screaming sessions coincide with the intro of new foods and she doesn't have any other signs of an intolerance.
Thanks for any suggestions!!!

Offline jessmum46

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Re: Looking for suggestions please
« Reply #1 on: February 18, 2017, 20:39:58 pm »
Hi there,

Just trying to make sure I understood correctly - her previous routine was:

WU 9
Nap 12-3
BT 6.30/7

And now it is more like:

WU 8
Nap 10.30-11
Nap 1.30-2
BT 6.30/7

Have I got that right?

So it looks like you have rather a sleepy baby there!  If she was previously doing a 3h nap and a 14h or so night that is a lot of sleep!!  Though more typically babies of this age would be on 2/3 naps (1 nap really only tends to come after a year of age or so) so I think you are perhaps headed the right direction, just need a bit of adjustment :)

A typical A time at 6.5 months would be about 3h, but let's assume your baby is very sleepy/got sleep to catch up on and can only manage 2.5h for now.  At that sort of A time she would really still need to have a third nap in the day, especially on days her first two naps are short.  The screaming waking 1h after bedtime is usually over tiredness, so getting an extra nap in around 4.30/5ish may really help.  Have you tried getting her down at that time?  Even a quick nap in the pram can help with getting her to bed a bit better rested. 

You may need to push her A times a bit once she has gotten over whatever sleep she has lost through illness etc, but I would maybe try a 3rd nap as a first step and then see if she evens out a bit x

Offline crissy_87

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Re: Looking for suggestions please
« Reply #2 on: February 18, 2017, 20:57:47 pm »
Thanks. The 14hr night wasnt always consistant but more normal than what we have going now. The routine looks right but she is rarely actually sleeping during the nap times. She'll go down to sleep (rock or cuddle til sleepy then into crib) then within 15 mins she's awake and screaming. I'll let her cry for a bit go in pick her up and repeat. This process will continue until it's time to get up... she might sleep a solid 45 mins during nap time.

We haven't tried to do nap time around 430/5 as that is when daddy gets home from work.

When she is awake she isn't crabby. She plays like normal, and does not show any of her usual tired signs (eye rubbing, hand holding, blanket to her ear, yawning etc). Once we go to put her down is when the fight starts, even if we start before she shows her sleepy signs.

Hopefully that makes sense

Offline jessmum46

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Re: Looking for suggestions please
« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2017, 20:13:40 pm »
Do you think you could try the 3rd catnap?  Could you also keep a log for a day or two of what actually happens (when you try for sleep, when she actually sleeps, how long for etc etc) and post it for us to take a look at?

Has she ever gone to sleep independently?

Offline crissy_87

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Re: Looking for suggestions please
« Reply #4 on: February 21, 2017, 22:43:53 pm »
Yes I can try the 3rd nap. I will keep track, our dr wants us to try to wean some of the night feedings she's been doing since sick, so hopefully that will help as well.

She used to fall asleep on her own if put down when drowsy. She will still do so but only after her night feedings, not during the day.

Offline crissy_87

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Re: Looking for suggestions please
« Reply #5 on: February 24, 2017, 13:11:57 pm »
Morning, here is our routine for the past couple of days. I suspect I was having supply issues, which was contributing to the frequent night wakings (seems to be getting better), and the crib is now flat again on the suggestion of our dr. I have not had any luck eliminating the 2nd night feed, but I am honestly too tired at this moment to try. She has been bumping the feed back later and later so I am hoping that means she is going to eliminate it on her own. I also suspect she is trying to crawl due to her daytime movements, which is contributing to some of her waking in the crib. I have been trying to get her into the crib when she is still awake, or drowsy, as opposed to her falling asleep on me. Let me know if you need more info, and thank you for all your help.

Feb 21
0730- awake, talking
0805- crying. bum, nurse, into bouncer
0900- solids and nurse (normally wouldn't nurse here, but had errands to run)
1000-home and play
1030- snuggles, soother, story, into bed drowsy
1130- awake, crying, nurse, play
1215- solids, play
1300- snuggles, story, nurse, into bed drowsy
1345, 1400, 1410- awake crying, soother, tummy rub-laying quiet
1430- has not re-settled, therefore up playing
1500- nurse, appointment and grandma visit
1630- home, med, play
1700-nurse, solids
1730-bath
1800-daddy home, play
1815- snuggles, nurse, walk/rock
1835- into crib drowsy
2000- awake crying, very gasey. resettled
2015-drowsey in crib
2345-awake talking
2355- bum, nurse
Feb 22-0007 bed, drowsy
0333-crying
0346-nurse
0357-crib, awake, quiet
0655-awake, talking
0710-screaming, nurse, bum, play
0850-solids, dressed, play
0930-snuggles, stories, nurse
0950-in bed, drowsy
1115-awake, talking
1136-crying, bum, play
1220-solids, nurse, play
1307-story, nurse, snuggles
1335-in bed asleep
1450-awake, talking
1510- up, bum, play, med, walk, visit with grandma
1635- nurse, nap attempted, no success
1715-solids
1800-snuggles. stories, nurse
1830-awake, quiet in bed.
Feb 23-0005- awake, talking
0015-crying, nurse
0035-in bed awake
0340- screaming, wedged in corner of crib. changed. nurse. reluctant to go back to sleep. back pats. soother. rock.
0425- in bed, drowsy
0730- awake, talking
0755-crying. bum. play
0830- solids, dressed
0900- nurse, play
0945- snuggles, stories, nurse
1000- asleep in bed
1030- crying, wedged up against crib rail. soother, cuddled. re-settled
1100- never back to sleep. so up to play
1150- solids
1250- snuggles, nurse. story, rock
1310- asleep in bed
1530- wake up, med, play
1615- nurse, play
1715- solids
1805-bath, snuggles, story, nurse
1835- in bed, fussy, soother
1855- asleep
feb 24- 0000- crying. bum, nurse. rock
0025- asleep, bed
0620-crying. bum. nurse. rock
0640- awake, bed
0715-wedged in crib corner, into snuggle with daddy
0740- up to play



Offline jessmum46

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Re: Looking for suggestions please
« Reply #6 on: February 27, 2017, 19:56:49 pm »
Sorry to take a little while to get back to you - how are things going?

Looking at what you posted I think your LO does need a bit of an A time push.  When you got nap refusal on the afternoon of the 22nd your LO had only been awake 1h45 mins after a 1h15 nap - it was probably just a bit soon to try.  And then on the 23rd after a short first A time (just over 2h) you got a short nap that you couldn't resettle - typical UT.  Yet after that short nap your LO then did a GREAT nap after 2h40 A time - just think how much time she could have handled after a good nap!

I would be tempted to try for a consistent 3h A time now and just see what happens.  Note the time she wakes in the morning, get her in bed ready to be asleep for about 3h later.  Then go for about 3h after she wakes from the first nap (slightly shorter if the first nap is very short) and again see what happens.  My 'rule' at this stage was that if second nap ended before 2pm I would definitely try for a 3rd nap (AP if needed), if it ended 3pm or later I would go for a 6pm BT or 3h A time.  If second nap ended between 2-3pm that was a bit of a grey zone...I'd try for a nap but if no joy by 5ish we would abandon in favour of a 6pm bedtime.

What do you think?


Offline crissy_87

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Re: Looking for suggestions please
« Reply #7 on: February 27, 2017, 20:09:38 pm »
Things have been going pretty good. She's been consistently going to bed/naps without much fuss. There have been a couple nap refusals despite showing signs of being tired and having been up close to the 3 hrs. I have been trying to push for the longer A times, sometimes with no success. She's been consistently up to nurse around 0000 and 0630, with bedtime between 630-730. How long should I let her nap, if she's not waking on her own?

I've figured out most of the short forms but I'm stumped on AP?

Thanks

Offline jessmum46

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Re: Looking for suggestions please
« Reply #8 on: February 27, 2017, 20:11:08 pm »
Sorry!  AP = accidental parenting - rocking, nursing, car ride etc - any 'tricks' you use to get them to sleep :D

I'm glad things have been going well for you.  Have you ever tried resettling at midnight without a feed?

Offline crissy_87

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Re: Looking for suggestions please
« Reply #9 on: February 27, 2017, 20:18:19 pm »
I've tried the soother rocking pats etc all will work for 10-15 mins then she's awake again.

Offline jessmum46

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Re: Looking for suggestions please
« Reply #10 on: March 01, 2017, 21:04:42 pm »
That ok for a catnap - I was only suggesting to use those things for the third nap of the day if needed to get you to a reasonable bedtime without a meltdown x

Offline crissy_87

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Re: Looking for suggestions please
« Reply #11 on: March 01, 2017, 23:04:56 pm »
No that's what I've tried to get her back to sleep without feeding her at midnight

Offline jessmum46

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Re: Looking for suggestions please
« Reply #12 on: March 02, 2017, 15:48:47 pm »
Ah ok, sorry.  At this stage 2 night feeds isn't unreasonable (some babies would have a dream feed and a night feed).  She may push them out on her own or you may decide to encourage things along.  I can't remember if you are bottle or breast feeding?  With one you gradually offer less, the other you nurse for less time :)

Offline crissy_87

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Re: Looking for suggestions please
« Reply #13 on: March 02, 2017, 16:15:45 pm »
Breast feeding. She goes a couple days where she pushes the 1st night feed until closer to mornings and others it's at midnight. I'm hoping that means she's going to phase 1 out on her own.

Offline jessmum46

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Re: Looking for suggestions please
« Reply #14 on: March 03, 2017, 19:47:45 pm »
Fingers crossed :)