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

[kate585]

All this excitement to catch up on! 
Traci, I was thinking maybe you could turn down your monitor, if you have one.  I do that at night, so I won't hear Ryan stirring or up and down throughout the night.  As soon as I hear him, I can't go back to sleep until I know that he is sleeping.  I keep it just low enough so I can hear any really big cries. 
Ryan is doing well with eating, napping, and sleeping...although he has started a lot of whining.   :roll:   Not sure if it's really whining or just trying out his vocal chords.  He's also doing a lot of fake coughing.  It scared us at first, but then we caught on.  Now, he'll start to laugh in the middle of the fake coughing when we tell him we know what he's doing.  He's getting closer and closer to sitting up.  He can do it, when well propped, for 10 seconds or so.  (Who else but you moms would be excited about that?    )
Hope you all ahve a great Wednesday!!!

[Colesmom]

i turned off the monitor mid-way through the first night we moved him into his crib at 4 months.  it was driving me nuts.  so his door is pulled closed (not shut) and ours is open...it's a small house so i can hear him if he needs me.

btw, i just helped him from 1hr 15 to the 2 hr point for his afternoon nap.(one hand on back, one hand on bum)..i left just before two hours...he let out a sound and kept sleeping!

I'll wake him at 2hr 15 if he doesn't wake himself.  Hopefully this will help the night issue if he's more rested.  And his bedtime will be more reasonable than last night too (6:10pm!)

Traci

[kq]

Way to go Judy and Traci!!! Sounds like you are all heading in the right direction.

Well Sam is bucking the trend and waking twice a night to feed. I do not dream feed so i feed him on first waking. Last night, tried to shush/pat him back to sleep on second waking and he got so MAD!!! I finally gave in and fed him. The thing is, when I feed him at night, I put him back into his cot awake and he settles himself. Is this a bad habit or is he really hungry?!!! IS there a growth spurt at 4+ months? He did not have one that I know of at 3 months..He seems to be distracted during day feeds and only feeds for 6-7 minutes despite being on 4 hour routine. At night, it is more like 15!! Shouldn't a growth spurt mean that they are hungry both day and night? :?

 Judy, when you pat your girls back to sleep, do their cries get louder then gradually settle? Sam's cries just intensify and after 10 minutes, I give up. In the still of the night, cries sound so much LOUDER!!! this feels like we are going BACKWARDS!!! :cry:

Wow! It felt good to vent! Thanks for listening.

Little Bear's mum, yesterday was not too bad with 2 arms unswaddled...he was a little unsettled but settled easily with shush/pat. Wondering if I should start unswaddling while we are having all these night wakings...will think about trying one arm out tonight.

Take care,
Karen

[Little Bear's Mum]

Wow, I just have to say I had a much better night last night, and morning. DS slept from 7pm until 4am, when he started sucking noises. I went in at 4.50am when the sucking had progressed to calling out, to nearly crying. I fed him one side only then put him back to bed. I guess he went back to sleep. We didn't hear from him again until at 7.10am DH went in to find him lying awake. He had got his arm out by the 4.50am feed, so I left it out. Maybe that helped keep him happy, who knows. But at least I know he can do it. Now, to replicate this again tonight. Maybe it was because he was tuckered out too, he was awake from 2.15pm yesterday until bed at 7pm. Wasn't interested in sleeping when we put him down.

Thismorning I mucked up because I missed his tired cue. He's now been awake 1 hour past when he should have been asleep. Just won't go down now. I tried everything except b/feeding to get him to sleep, then after 45 mins gave in. He's still not asleep though. Might have to finish him off on the breast. B@gger! My own fault. Better go, here's hoping for another good night.

[FrasersMum]

Hi Everyone,

It's hard to keep up with everything going on in this thread.  It's great to hear that some of you are having "wins" and keep up to everyone who is not quite there yet.  It's the stories of the "wins" that keep us going right?

Well little Fraser is still pretty sick.  He started going downhill on Sunday when he started refusing feeds and he hasn't had a decent once since (it's Thursday morning here now).  We took him to the Dr Monday who diagnosed toncillitis and put him on meds.  Unfortunately things didn't get better so we went back Wednesday and Dr said things should be turning the corner.  Wednesday night was a very bad night, up every hour and refusing to sleep except on us (Agh - all that training!)  plus whimpering in his sleep, it's breaking my heart!  I ended up climbing in the cot with him and he got a bit of sleep then.  Still hasn't fed - now about 50ml in the past 18hours.  We were back at the doctor this morning and have an appointment with the paedriatician (sp) this afternoon. 

This being a mum thing is HARD  :cry:  :cry:  :cry:

Will post back and let you know how we are going.

[kq]

Fraser's mum, hang in there. Am thinking about you. Hope Fraser starts to feel better soon, poor little man!  Keep your chin up and keep us posted.
Karen

[Little Bear's Mum]

Oh Fraser's Mum, you poor thing. And I thought my problems were bad. They're nothing in comparison to having a sick child. I'm picturing you in a cot with your bubs, obviously your cot is bigger than mine. I can't imagine being in my ds cot. I hope Fraser gets better soon.

[Little Bear's Mum]

Colesmom, I read on another posting that you had lengthened your wind down with more quiet time. Is this still working for you and what has changed? Is it the getting to sleep or staying asleep that's improved?

How have your nights been going? Any better? I'm crossing my fingers for another good night tonight.

[Colesmom]

Frasersmum,  my thoughts are with you and your family.  I hope he improves soon (I haven't had a chance to read about the original illness, but i'll take the time to go back in the thread tonight)

Little Bear's Mum:  I thought I totoally blew it last night b/c it took two hours to get DS down.  I think after a 2.5 hour nap yesterday I put him down a pinch too early and he didn't like it at all.  Anyway, my longer wind down really helps him fall asleep easier (exception-last night).  I think it only applies when I hit the window or if he's a little more tired.  It worked like a charm this morning.  He woke early at 6:20 and wouldn't go back to sleep-tried for 20 min. but my back was so sore from last night I couldn't try any longer.  Anyway, I extended his A time by 10 minutes this morning to try to get him back on track for bedtime tonight (will extend each awake time).  I put him down just before 8:30 and he was out like a light.  All I did for wind down was carry him in the sling while I vacuumed for 15 minutes, put him in his sleeper, sat with him a few minutes on the glider and then put him down.  I didn't have to intervene at all.  Not a shush or pat or any reassurance (which is a huge relief because I thought for sure I was becoming a prop with my hand on him so much yesterday)

Anyway ladies...here's to a brighter day in Toronto (sleepwise-it's pouring rain)  Cole slept 9:20-3:55 and went right back down after DF at 11:00.  He woke at 6:20 and took his first nap at 8:30 and didn't make a peep until 10:00am.  phew.

Let's hope these night wakings are over.

btw...while trying to settle last night it was like he was swimming with his right arm...up down up down up down...this kid wants to crawl!

have a good one.

Traci

[Arwyn's mom]

Anyone out there experiencing this? My little one wakes up from her morning nap after 45 minutes and then is awake for 45 before she starts showing sleepy signs again. I put her down and she puts herself back to sleep for another 45! This is the second time this week (3 if you count her falling asleep during our walk).

Am I putting her to sleep too early? Or should I convince her to sleep longer in the first place? When she wakes up, she generally has two moods... if quiet and playing = enough sleep; if crying and red eyebrows = not enough sleep. Both times she woke up quiet and cheerful so... no pat/shush back to sleep.

[Little Bear's Mum]

Hi Arwyn's mum, I wrote a big long story on someone elses short nap problem. It may or may not apply to you. My son was the same, sometimes happy but for him mostly unhappy when he woke, so I knew he wasn't getting enough sleep. Here's the link to what was happening and what I did. (sorry it's such a long read - maybe show your little one and it might help put him to sleep!) :lol:  :lol:

http://www.babywhisperer.com/forum/success-storys-teaching-bubs-to-get-past-45min-naps-vt40622.html

Sorry, not sure how to make it LINK but that's the location. Can anyone help me with how to make it link properly??

[Arwyn's mom]

Thanks for the reply Little Bear's Mum. BTW, it did link properly.

She has at least 1h 45m awake time before she goes down for her morning nap. Sometimes she makes the 1h 30m nap, sometimes she doesn't. Her afternoon nap is usually her longest. I have given up trying to extend her naps with the exception of clearly tired signs upon waking. She seems to be happy with a total of between 3h 15m to 4h 15m total daytime sleep. (Yes, I do add it up... I am a crazed S obsessed BWing mom.)

I just noticed the strange pattern this week. Perhaps this too will pass.  :wink:

[Jayri]

So glad to see that I am not the only one who is having problems getting my lo to sleep. She used to be excellent at it, I did pat/shh with her, would put her down when I saw her eyes going and that would be that, I did the hands on her thing for a while, but then I re-read the chapter on pu/pd in the new book and realized there was more I could be doing.
I also think it doesn't help that she has had a lot go on with her in the past month. she has begun to take a bottle, has cereal, both of which are once a day at the moment. She has a new bedtime of 7pm and she is being pd a different way. She is doing good. It is just in the day, she doesn't seem to be tired after the 2hr A time like she used to. I was also reading on the pu/pd board that towards 6mths the naps should resemble 1hr and 1.5hrs with 12 hrs at night.
I know I have to wait it out, and let her adjust, but OMG, is it frustrating when i try to put her down. Today for example, she was up at 8:30am, I tried to put her down at 10:30, she finally did at 11:20. Within 1/2 hr she was WIDE awake. I tried later but she fussed in her crib, I know it wasn't crying as she smiled and kicked when I went in to reassure her. Do I keep going in when she is like that? or is it okay to leave her to mumble and what not?
Jayson is doing better, going down easier for both naps and bed, his bedtime is 7:30.
Funnt story though, he came into me this morning with a clean daiper, not on, his butt was naked. I thought Oh goodie, he is showing me his clean daiper from through the night. COMPLETELY WRONG. He had filled it through the night and took it off and gone back to sleep, instead of coming and getting a new one, so his bed was soaked this morning.
Will pop off for now, I just wanted to check in, it is son nice to see I am not the only one with sleep issues of late.
There is an upside, I put Riley down at 6:30 tonight so she would settle for her 7pm bedtime, she was out of it by 6:50pm and the only help she needed was finding a comfy position.
TA TA 4 NOW
Good work everyone

[Nikki~Nathan&Danielle]

Naomi, I think mumbling is fine (in fact is probably her mantra), Danielle will do that for some of her sleeps and me in there with her keeps her awake.  Good to hear that Jayson's new routine is working for you all. 

We've also hit quite long awake times.  I read some inconsistencies in the BW book yesterday though: some places saying they need 2 naps plus catnap right up till 8mths and in other places that only 2 naps by 6mths.  I think we're definitely in the latter category - she maybe only 50% of the time has the catnap now and will often be awake 4hrs in the afternoon.  Nathan also switched onto 2 naps at 6mths and it fits in really well.  I just manipulate NAthan's nap time depending on when Danielle needs to go down - so somewhere between 12-1pm.  Our daytime total naps is 45min in the morning and 2-2.5 in the afternoon - so about 3hrs most days give or take half hour and 12hrs at night.

We've still got a wake up in the night somewhere between 3-4am.  I'm really not looking forward to the extra chore of offering solids lol, so definitely holding out for another month here all the same.

[Little Bear's Mum]

I know the feeling about counting sleep minutes. I do the same. Sounds like our little ones are in tune. DS sleeps about the same total hours and is awake about the same.