Author Topic: Using every prop imaginable, and still not sleeping! 15 week old  (Read 1398 times)

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Offline Elauriel

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So I posted in the nap forum because nights were fine but naps fell apart, but now nights are awful as well. My baby is 15 weeks. I have tried 1hr 30min and 1hr 45min A time and neither is giving me a good nap. Up until I posted, I was swaddling with white noise, nursing to sleep, bouncing on a ball, and laying baby in the swing after he's asleep (nights in crib but naps in swing). I have an older son that didn't sleep well so I brought out all the props with this one to get him to sleep. After posting in the nap forum, I have stopped nursing to sleep for naps. I stopped bouncing to sleep and now bounce to calm and then shush/pat to sleep and then lay baby in the swing. After several OT naps baby would want to sleep on me at about 6, and would wake up and nurse and fall back asleep until 8 when he was out for the night. I can not get him to sleep off of me at this time, but hubby is home so it's not so bad. Wake to feed at 1ish and 5ish. Up for the day at 7ish.

NOW - as of 4 days ago baby is waking 15 minutes after going down, then 30 minutes later, then every 2 hours until morning, with a few other wakings here and there that I just rock him for a minute and he goes to sleep. I didn't want to feed him at first, but I could hear his little tummy rumbling, and, honestly, I just wanted to sleep and nursing is easy. I started cosleeping so everyone could sleep better and that's been going well. For 3 days now we haven't used the swing, so I think I'm going to cut that out and go right to the crib for naps. He will nap textbook naps if I'm laying with him/let him nurse when he wakes up, but if I don't he's up.

THEN last night he rolled over in his swaddle onto his face. Sooo...now the swaddle is out, and the swing is out, the ball is in briefly, nursing to sleep is out, but nursing to settle is back in? Ugh, I'm a mess.

I was guessing this is just the 4 month sleep regression, coupled with a growth spurt, (and the ability to roll) and my motto with my first was "do whatever it takes to sleep and work it out later". So, should I try to tweak things now, or wait until he seems back to normal and then work on things? He will take perfect naps on me, but is still waking up very frequently at night (6-8 times). I'm ready to just let him take bad 40 minute naps because I know nights are going to be bad no matter what but at least I won't be laying in a dark room all day long :/

Offline LaraAndrea

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Re: Using every prop imaginable, and still not sleeping! 15 week old
« Reply #1 on: October 31, 2017, 21:20:50 pm »
Ultimately it comes down to what you are comfortable with. But... With the 4 month regression and rolling over (happended together for my LO as well) seems like as good time as any to shake things up. You were bound to have some bad naps/nights anyways.

What is your ultimate goal? I am sure we can help you get there.

Offline Elauriel

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Re: Using every prop imaginable, and still not sleeping! 15 week old
« Reply #2 on: November 01, 2017, 13:59:03 pm »
Thanks for your response! I guess I was reaching out to see if I should try to change things during a regression or wait until it's over. You make a good point - as long as I'm already having bad naps/nights it's probably the best time to try. He had less wakings last night, and had 2 good stretches at the beginning, so things are already getting better. I'm not crazy enough to think that his regression is ending already (it lasted a month with son #1), but he napped better yesterday, so that may be the cause.

Cosleeping has actually been awesome. He has been up 7-9 times a night since this started and within 4 minutes of nursing him I'm asleep and he is shortly after, so I think I've gotten more sleep these past few days than I have since we had him. The con is that I'm camping out on the nursery floor, so...not really a long-lasting plan (although hubby is loving the uninterrupted sleep and I'm loving not having to physically get up at all).

My ultimate goal? 3 - 2 hour naps and sleeping through the night, haha.

But seriously, I want 2 things. #1) I really want him to resettle himself. Having to go in after 10 minutes and then again after 40 minutes takes as much time as his whole nap, but it's way more annoying than if I just let him nap on me (which is what I resorted to this past weekend). I've played with awake times in both directions for the past 2-3 weeks without good results, UNTIL yesterday I said "whatever" and just went with his sleep cues. He took a 2 hour nap (1 resettle) and a 2.5 hour nap with me interrupting him to put him in the carrier to get son #1 at school. He was awake and chatting and then asleep in the carrier 10 minutes later and slept for another 1.5 hours. I couldn't believe it. I'm going to wing it again today and record the times.

#2) Since birth he's pretty much slept on me from about 4:30 until bedtime. I get a 45 or so minute chunk around 5:20 in which I can make/inhale dinner and say hi to hubby before I go back up for the night, around 6. He falls asleep for the night at 8, so between 6 and 8 he sleeps on me. Won't let me put him down. Looks for the nipple in his sleep and whines, but otherwise just lays there and sleeps.

I would go into my schedule, but it's more of a nap thing, and I'm already working with Creations for options in the nap forum. I just wanted to post here seeing if I should change things up or not, and I think I will. I'll be so happy if we're done with the swing since I can't recreate that outside the home. The swaddle is going to be rough. He loves that thing. It all had to go eventually I guess. Thanks again for your help!

Offline LaraAndrea

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Re: Using every prop imaginable, and still not sleeping! 15 week old
« Reply #3 on: November 01, 2017, 23:25:04 pm »
No problem!
Creations helped me out many times, so you are in good hands!!