Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?

[kGo]

greetings everyone again... I'm wondering if we shouldn't mention when our babies have good nights/naps... seems like our babies might hear us and decide to prove us wrong!!

last night after I mentioned nights were ok, we had our worse night to date! What happened?! up every hour or two... I was able to settle her back down each time fairly quickly (one feeding at 3.30am), but can't believe how sleep deprived I am!

Perhaps it's the 6 week growth spurt? (Although, she actually seems to be eating a little less yesterday and today... she's bottlefed) I am noticing she is getting out her swaddle more and the fabric is up around her mouth or even eyes when she was waking last night. Any suggestions?

again, hope everyone is having good days/night! kat.

[tigris]

Hi Kat. I agree, it sometimes seem like Daniel can sense when I talk about him being a good boy: he immediately changes his mind:).  He is a textbook baby some spirited and angel touches, and will celebreate his 3 months "brthday" next week. He had growthspurts very much like you describe, wanting to eat often (especially at night), but not taking more then usual each time, sometimes even less. I think it is the frequency of meals that keeps them going better and also increaes your milk supply.
We had ath swaddle-problem too, and for us the Kiddopotamus Swaddle-me worked great. It is like a pouh with wings, and you use large velcro areas to fasten the swaddle. Daniel liked it, and most of the time could not undo it. The "best" he could manage was to get arms and legs out, but he never ended up with fabric piling up dangerously near his head. I found the fleece one worked best for us, but other have said that they prefer the lightweight cotton. Anyone else used this product? Comments?

Kristina

[kGo]

Kristina,

Yes! We have 3 swaddle me's... she's still a bit too small so I have to compensate (she's 6 weeks old) so I really worry about it... we are actually adding some soft velcro to the back to help make it tighter so she can't get out as easily. I think they are great though... we probably should've gotten the preemie size. Maybe we still will. We are using the lightweight ones which are great!

Naps and sleep times are going a lot better, but who knows next sleep time?! Crazy babies!! 

[Nikki~Nathan&Danielle]

Judy, yes the DF did take a while and a bit of tooing and froing on my part too out of frustration.  Of course when I finally decided after 4 nights of no results to give it up she started waking before midnight so I put it back in and that's when it started to kick in.  It took about a week to stablilise where she was consistently on one wake up only after the DF and then last night she even went from 10-pm till 5.30am which was great (of course I was awake at 4am and kept hearing the odd noise so never actually went to sleep until she woke for that feed). :roll:   

How about you get them both into their bedroom at the tired signs of the first one (or an hour maximum) and have gently quiet play with the second one but encouraging her to go to sleep too?  Do Sarah and Zoe let you spend any time in their room while putting them to sleep - Nathan doesn't but fortunately Danielle rarely needs much pat/shsh.

We still seem to have 2 short naps (45-1hr) in the morning then a long 2hr nap in the afternoon the same as Nathan and then another 2 short naps before bedtime.  Not EASY, but works for us since things are so on the go.

[Bella Leigh's Mom]

My daughter is almost 13 weeks old and we are having some challenges.  A month ago I implemented the Four S's from Tracy's new book and the swaddling and shh pat worked like a charm.  However, two weeks ago she started fussing more and more around nap time.  I have gone back and forth on the swaddling and, after much consideration, decided not to do it anymore as she is finding her fingers, she cries more when swaddled, and she always gets out within five minutes.  I recently started the PU/PD method with her and it is working okay.  However, what I have noticed is that she is consistently waking up after 45 minutes from naps (at night she goes to bed at 7:00, DF at 11:00, and wakes up around 2 or 3 to eat, then sleeps till 7:00).  Tracy's new book talks about transitioning to a four hour schedule during the fourth month and that a sign of this is the 45 minute naps.  My question is, has anyone transitioned their child to a four hour schedule and, is it okay to do it even though she is just turning three months now?  Also, is anyone else having any luck with the PU/PD?  How long did it take before baby was able to transition to sleep more smoothly?

[Nikki~Nathan&Danielle]

BL's mom - I think it may be a little eary to transition to the 4hr EASY for  a few reasons.  She would need to be able to stay awake for a longer period of time which she may or may not be ready for and also she'd need to be happy about only feeding 4hrly - to do so may mean that you have night wakings - so you could give it a go if you thought it would work.

45min naps can creep in any time, my dd started them from 5wks of age, and I know it definitely wasn't from going into her room at the slightest peep and me disrupting her transitioning into the next sleep cycle and she really wasn't capable of being kept awake when she wanted to sleep - they are still too touchy at this age as far as getting into an overtired and overstimulated state if kept up too long.  Tracy also acknowledges that some babies just only like to take shorter naps.  There are several strategies you can try: pu/pd to extend the naps, pat/shsh prior to her waking (ie go into the room before the wake up time and help her transition that way), or just go with the flow and wait until she's about 5-6mths and ready to go to two naps - this seems to cure most 45min nappers.  If you check out the naps forum there is a big thread in there dedicated to 45min nappers - I haven't read it myself, but I'm sure it'll give you plenty of ideas.

[tigris]

Hi Bella.
Daniel is 12 weeks, almost exactly the age of your little one. He started to put himself on a 3.5h EASY about 2 weeks ago, and now he is extending to 4h. I know this is supposed to be too early, so I take the risk of being shouted at (as I was on the YOU posting recently), but it seems to be what my sons needs. I saw this not because of shortened naps, but becasue he simply was not hungry after 3 hours - he would suckle a little, pop off the breast and play, then suck a little more and stop alltogether. If I waited 3.5 (and now 4h), he would take a really nice long calm happy feed. I was initially afraid of going to 4h since it means he will get one less feeding during the day and needs to compensate that with taking more each time. But in fact that is exactly what he does, and it works good for us. He goes now pretty regularly from his DF at 11 until 6-7 in the morning.
His first nap in the late morning is usually the best one - 1.5-2h, while the ones later in the day are more unpredictable and often those on-the-minute-45min ones, but I do not worry too much about that.
Kristina

[kGo]

judy... oh gosh, sounds like craziness!!

Being a total new mom, I don't think I can help you figure out what's happening with your babies (I'm with you on wondering whether it's gas or growth spurt or just not happy with where they were!),

but I CAN say that I do understand wanting to get out of current stage/phases (even if they are just a couple of hours or half a day!) so you don't feel crazy!

It seems to me that the whole baby thing is dependent on being able to keep a clear view that "this too shall pass" ... HARD to do when you've been listening to crying for a couple of hours and haven't eaten or slept!

Best of luck to you, and vent anytime!! kat.

[Bella Leigh's Mom]

Thanks for your reply.  I'm going to try the shh pat method to extend her naps.  I'll let you know if it works!

[Nikki~Nathan&Danielle]

Grrr, just lost my big reply.... :evil:

Judy, I really don't know what to offer for advice - the girls could have been unsettled by any of those things you mentioned - I really had no idea about growth spurts until after the fact and even now I don't really know if it was a fussy day or wanting to eat.  You could try an elimination diet on possible stuff, especially if you don't usually eat the crisps it could have been a trigger.  I'm cutting some foods at the moment as well to figure out our odd fussy day.

As far as bedtime.  Once Danielle was a week old we started putting her to bed the same time as Nathan at 7pm.  She fell into it pretty well and only had the odd 4-5am wake up and party (not incl. feeds).  Now she sleeps till 6-7.30am.  I found it brought some sort of normality back into our evenings to at least have both kids tucked up in bed for a few solid hours before I knew D would be up and Nathan was going through a 3-5 wakings a night stage. 

Well we got another 7hr stretch out of Danielle last night after the DF, so I'm finally seeing the results of it, I'm just worried how to get past the 5am waking if it doesn't shift and she's showing that she doesn't need it, I know Nathan had a bit of trouble and we used the dummy to hold him off since he wasn't really hungry, but since Danielle hasn't had a dummy so far, I'm a bit loath to introduce one now - although she may not notice it if it's only for that time of the morning - any thoughts anyone?

[Bella Leigh's Mom]

Judy

I have gotten Bella to sleep at 7 pm for about a month now.  Funnily enough, this is the easiest time to get her to sleep, much easier than nap times.  She usually wakes up around the dream feed time and then goes right back to sleep until around 3 am to eat and then right back to sleep until 7 am.  I started out doing cluster feeds at 7 and 9 pm and then at 6 and 8 pm and then slowly consolidated those into one feed at 7 and then bedtime.  I also do a bedtime ritual:  feed, bath (only twice a week), diaper change with plenty of diaper cream, massage, book (Goodnight Moon), turn off light, sit quietly in chair (as much as she will stand), and then bed.  She doesn't go right to sleep.  She does still take the paci and often requires some shh pat.  I can't imagine trying to do it with two, though.

I talked to a friend of mine last night after being very frustrated about Bella's short naps and difficulty going down for naps.  She kind of gave me some perspective.  She encouraged me to stop thinking so much and to try to enjoy my daughter because she is only young once.  She said I should try to go with the flow more, so I am trying to work on that today.
This site has also helped me recognize that I am not alone.  Thanks!

[BiancaB]

Hi to all Mums of this age group!! Ain't it FUN :shock:

Judy you are a living legend in my eyes and all I can say is your posts make me feel that I should just keep quiet and not even dare to complain about lack of sleep etc 

Anyway I need some opinions...Nikki you sound like you have established a good routine for Danielle..Here's a ??

Sienna is currently on a 3hr routine with her feeds but I have hit some rocky ground as far as her naps go... She hasn't had the consistency that Kyan had, as I have been working around a 2yr old and daily life is more hectic..So somedays(when out and about) she doesn't get a good morning nap ie 45mins and then she wants to have a long sleep during the middle of the day ie2-3hrs and then somehow I try to squeeze another 1hr nap in before her bedtime which is around 6:30-7pm.

Also I would like some ideas on awake times for this age, as she was awake for 2hrs yesterday from 4:30pm until her bedtime, and didn't seem to be overtired. I really tried to get her to have a short nap as Tracy suggests, but she was not into that at all...Is it possible that she can manage being awake that long?? Kyan never could have!(spirited/touchy) So I feel all confused as she just doesn't show really obvious tired signs and stays happy for ages..But I'm worried I'm taking advantage of her nature(angel) and letting her stay up too long!
At night I still haven't really established a DF, her current pattern is a 5-6hr stretch after bedtime E's at 12 midnight or 1am then sleeps thru until 5-6am..then another sleep until around 7:30am. Should I try again with Df??   
Thanks Bianca

[Nikki~Nathan&Danielle]

Bianca, well to be honest, your day sounds a lot like mine - not EASY! LOL. 

Danielle is probably awake 1-1.5hrs at the moment for activity and she does need that afternoon catnap - I actually do it using the frontpack to tide us through to bathtime.  I think if she doesn't seem to need it, I wouldn't try doing anything differently.  If she's content that's the main thing.  She also does a couple of short naps in the morning, then a big 2-2.5hr one over the middle of the day when Nathan sleeps and then one or two short naps in the later part of the day - probably getting 3.5-5hrs worth of naps a day.  Every day is so different and I'm finding I'm just going with the flow most of the time and just as long as I fit in the right number of feeds a day (feeds are usually between 2-3.5hrs apart) and follow her sleep cues I don't really mind when things happen as long as she's in bed at night by 7pm.  I always have A before E because of the short naps. 

I find the DF is great, so I only end up getting up once a night now, but we seem to have reverted back to barely 5hrs from DF whereas she was going up to 7hrs.  Like I said earlier on, it did take a good week for it to kick in though.  I think if you don't have a DF you could end up getting up in the night for quite a few months (fine if you don't mind that...). 

Not sure if that's helped much though.   You sound like you're doing great.  I think with a toddler (or two!) it's definitely is more difficult to stick to the plan and extend naps etc and be at home for naps.

[BiancaB]

Hello again to all...
Thanks Nikki, I can't believe how similar our days sound    Well I have started DF this week and so far she is waking earlier around 4am after a 11pm DF, I am hoping she stretches this out as she gets used to it. I am going to take it back to an earlier time eventually, aiming for around 10:30pm. Last couple of days have been fairly consistent, she always seems to want a 2hrly feed in the late afternoon so I am not doing cluster feeding before bed as of yet, example: E 1pm then E again 3pm then sleeps from 4pm until 6pm and feeds again before bed at 7pm!  Poor thing she is just trying to get enough sleep per day I think.
Naptimes vary everyday for me too.. Like you said as long as they are content life is good  :wink:

Judy, I was wondering if your twins are going through the 6 week stage, where they get overstimulated easily due to the developmental changes in there nervous systems..
I know with both mine this was the crying stage especially in the late afternoons/evenings. It was just too much overload in a day for them.
Anyway hope you can go with the flow and it passes quickly for you.

Hang in there all!
 Bianca

[Bella Leigh's Mom]

My daughter also went through some difficulties at six weeks, crying for several hours in the evening for no (apparent) reason.  I've read that the crying decreases after this time and this did happen with Bella. 

Good news!  After several days of frustration and crying (on mine and Bella's part), she seems to have gone back to napping for longer periods.  The key was to go back to the swaddling, something I have vacillated about.  When she would make the 45 minute transition between sleep cycles, she would flail her arms around, rubbing her face and waking her up.  I do still have to do the shh pat, but not for as long when she's swaddled.  I haven't had to do pu/pd for almost a week.  Halleluah!  I hated doing that.  I guess this goes to show that you have to be patient (which I definitely was not) and try different things until something works.