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

[lindsaysmom]

Bianca, thank you for your encouragement about dreamfeed, we are working on it.  Now my problem seems to be frequent night wakings!  Here is what's going on:  prior to the past few days, she will wake at night once or twice other than for feeding generally because her swaddling blanket came undone and once rewrapped, she falls back asleep.  Past few days, however, even when we reswaddle her, she would be awake and fighting, fussing, or sometimes just quiet but won't fall asleep.  During the day, naps are better some days and worse others. 

For example, on Wednesday, she was very easy to put down for naps and slept 1 1/2 hour each time for the three day time naps and 50 minutes for the catnap.  Putting her down for bed at night was also a breeze.  I tried to do DF at 11, just could not get her to suckle.  I didn't want to wake her up (thunderstorm was going on outside the window, didn't want to risk not having her go back to sleep) so gave up.  That night she woke up 4-5 times after 3 o'clock, moving, restless, and even after falling asleep, she never seemed to get to the deep sleep stage and would start tossing and turning again, eventually waking herself.  Yesterday she was difficult to put down for naps or stay asleep past 40 minutes, again very restless through the 40 minutes she is asleep.  Last night when I walked in to do DF at 10:40, surprise, she was awake which never happened at this hour before.  I fed her, and at 2am she started tossing and turning.  Went to check, she was actually awake but not fussing or crying, just awake and moving.  Tried sh/pat to get her back to sleep for an hour to no avail.  Then she was crying and rooting, so I fed her.  Still, after that, she seemed not able to sleep more than 20 minutes without tossing and turning and had several more awakenings.  I'm exhausted just recounting the expereience! 

Any ideas why this is happening?

[Nikki~Nathan&Danielle]

Judybaby:  I also think that overtiredness could definitely be causing some of your problems.  Most babies at 3mths will still be only doing about 1.5hrs of activity at this age (although we are getting closer to 2hrs ourselves)- which makes it difficult with your 4hrly feeds, so perhaps start a winddown at 1.5hrs and pop him into bed without rocking and work on him getting to sleep on his own in his crib (once you've sorted out the overtiredness then gradually extend the activity time out to 2hrs again).  You may need to use pu/pd to help you do this since you'll be changing the way he's used to falling asleep.  Once he's doing this, you'll also need to do it when he wakes early from his naps.

That's really my only suggestion at this stage, but I think working on independent sleep is one of the main things you need to do.  Do you have the new book, there is quite a big section in there on pu/pd and particularly for babies that haven't been sleeping independently.

Good luck.

[JudeBaby]

Yeah, he's still in a cradle in our room.  I know he's getting too big for it because he holds onto the spindles.  It's kinda funny.    *Sniff*Sniff*  I can't believe he's growing up.  We'll try naps in there on Monday to begin the transition.

Nik...what do you think about this.  I mentioned we started an earlier bedtime.  7:30.  He used to go to bed around 8:30.  We'd lay him in there and he'd be out for the night.  Well, since we started the earlier time, he'd wake up, and wake up, and it wasn't until about 8:30 when he'd stop waking up.  I also mentioned that he used to get up at 8 until this all started.  This morning, he started getting restless around 5,6...and was about to wake at 6:30 until I got him to go back to sleep.  Well, I decided to get him to sleep until 8 to see what would happen.  Get this:

I finally got to wake him up for once.  (at   He was cheerful, ate well, and stayed awake until 9:30 before he started to fuss.  SO, I started to sigh.  I swaddled him up, and before I got back to the bedroom, he was almost out.  I walked him around the room, but just for a minute and he's still sleeping as we speek.  It was like he was back to his old easy going self.  Could getting up later, and going back to his old bedtime put things back in order?

I do have her latest book and am trying to find time to read it.  Either way, we are starting on the independent sleep Monday when we can be consistent with it.  Thank you so much for you thoughts.

[mickymuscles]

hello all!  Today I took a risk and tried keeping my 14 wk DS (100% spirited)up for an extended activity period to try and switch him to the 4 hour EASY.  He seemed to tolerate it okay as long as the scenery kept changing.  We were having difficulties with him not wanting to eat every 3 hrs and lately waking several times a night and not interested in eating.  We'll see how tonight goes.

[Nikki~Nathan&Danielle]

Judebaby, well it's really hard to say, but maybe that's his own personal body clock times?  I'd stick with what works for you both and it sounds like the later bedtime and wakeup suits him better.

Independent sleep should help with the multiple wake up and the inability to self settle again.  Good luck.

[mickymuscles]

well, we did the switch to 4hr EASY cold turkey....I think he had been giving me clues the last couple days by fighting naps and waking several times in the night.  Yesterday was the first time we did the 4 hr routine and he was much easier to feed not so fussy.  We put him down for the night at 6:45 and he woke up at 9:20 so I fed him and he went right back to sleep (nice cause then I didn't have to do the DF) until 4:30 when he wanted to eat again.  The one difficulty I am having is that the first feed of the day at 6:45 is tricky because he's not very hungry since he ate at 4:30.  So I don't know how to add in more ounces during the day so that he'll stop eating at 4:30.  Any suggestions??

[BiancaB]

HELLO GIRLS 
I have been away over the weekend so my routine was a little topsy turvy as my Mum was doing a lot of caring for Sienna while I was participating in a horse-riding clinic! She is a great Mum I know!!

Anyway I tried to keep Si on her 4 hr routine but due to extra stimulation her wake-up times were shorter so her feeds came earlier but she is doing well most of the time.

Nikki her nights have been really predictable lately, she is having a 10:30pm DF and sleeps through to 4-5am. I can cope with that okay but if Danielle sleeps through all night again I am going to be really jealous :!:  :lol:

LindsaysMum,
Reading through your post a couple of things came to mind that may be the cause...
1. A Developmental Leap- Your little one must be close to 12wks old now(sorry I'm just guessing) and this is around the age when they really start growing and restlessness can be one of the signs of this.
It sounds like Lindsay isn't waking from hunger, as even after you have fed her she is waking again...I would still try to up her intake of BM during the day and maybe even try feeding her more than once a night for no more than 2 nights as this is usually all it takes to increase your milk supply and will help you determine if she is having a growth spurt.
 I can tell when Sienna is growing as she becomes more restless and gets really hungry :shock:  Its like a wave, they go through it then they get nice and chubby and placid again and then they go through another burst of growth...and so on.
Are you using a paci? Because around now they can also start becoming more dependent on a prop to get back to sleep ie paci, you rocking them etc. Which can also cause more frequent wakings.
 This is the time they really need to learn how to self soothe, this age is in my opinion when sleep training really starts...If you have set the pattern early it definitely helps, but I found that Sienna still needed help learning how to go to sleep independently at this age (10-14wks) even though I had been following BW routine from when she was 2 days old.
The reason they may need to be helped all over again is because of there increasing awareness and attachment to you.

The tossing and turning sounds like she may be trying to settle herself particularly if she is a light sleeper, but it may also be a digestive issue.
Sienna suffered terribly from wind pain for quite awhile and she used to toss and turn and snort(like a little pig) for ages sometimes for 2 hrs before she went into a deep sleep. I know this because she is still in her bassinet in our room and it was me resettling her over and over again! :cry: It can be a hard road at 2am and beyond can't it :wink: 
(It was me eating choclate or having a coffee that also upset her)

Let me know how Lindsay is doing now and I hope some of this very long post will help. Remember when it feels like its all going crazy it doesn't last long and they have moved into another phase.

Take care
Bianca

[Jayri]

Well my dd is doing good, I don't think that she likes any more than a 15min feed, at night she is doing fairly well. I put her to bed at about 9:30 and she wole for a feed at around 2 and the again at 6. It is an improvment as she used to wake every couple of hours after 2. I think I am going to try her on something between a 3 hr and a 3 1/2hr routine. It seems to be too short of a time on a 3 hr, but I know she isn't ready for a 4 hr routine yet.
Well I have to run,  Riley has just realised she is hungry,  and in need of a big snuggling :wink:

[mrayohler]

Mickymuscles - I switched my daughter, Payton, to the 4 hr routine cold turkey last Saturday, June 25th too.  She is also doing great - hungrier at feeds, great long naps and nice awake times.  Our issue is the same as yours - she still wakes at about 4am for a feed.  I try to keep it short.  As soon as she stops swallowing and starts suckling I detach her and put her to bed.  I'm usually back in bed about 15 minutes after she wakes so I know she doesn't need a full feed.  We don't do a dream feed though so I'm nervous about trying to extend her sleep when its already about 8 or 8.5 hrs.  She goes down at 7:30 or 8 each night, wakes at about 4 then sleeps until 6:30 or 7am.

If anyone has ideas to get more calories in her during the day or thoughts about breaking this 4am waking I'd appreciate the advice.  I'm nervous to play around with it too much for another month or so because its so good now (4hr EASY with one waking at night to feed).  After reading some other posts on this board I feel like I shouldn't complain but my older daughter was sleeping through at 8 weeks.  I really think Payton can do it its just she's learned to take those calories at night instead of day.

Thanks,
Michele

[mickymuscles]

well, I think I may have spoken to soon...sometimes he can go 2 hours awake and sometimes only 1 1/2 hours which really messes up the day....I don't know if I should be making him have two or three naps.  He doesn't seem to mind having 4 hrs between feeds and then he seems to eat a lot more but now our routine is all out of whack!!

[mrayohler]

Well, Payton still does three naps each day - and her awake times sometimes are shorter.  Especially the first one in the morning.  She's such a good, long napper though and usually the longer the nap, the longer the next awake time will be.  What also helps a lot is she's at daycare and I know she loves watching all the kids.  She seems to have no problem with longer awake times there.  At home I think she gets bored.  It is almost always a good awake time extender to go outside for a walk or just switch rooms.  I also started watching Baby Mozart with her last week and she LOVES it. 

Our day has looked like this for about 1 week now -

Awake 6:30/7
Eat 7
Nap 8:15 or 8:30 (2hrs)
Awake 10:30 or 11
Eat 11
Nap 1ish (at least 2hrs)
Eat 3
Nap 5 (45 min or 1 hr)
Eat 6
Bath 7:15
Eat 7:30
Bed 7:45 or so
Eat 4am

There's no way we'd survive on only 2 naps. 

Good luck.
Michele

[kombay]

Hi There
My DS was born on April 8th, he weighed 7 pounds.  He now weighs 19 pounds and is 30 inched long.  Lately he has started doing the 45 minute nap thing.  He use to take 2.5 hoiur naps 3 times a day like clock work.  Any of your little guys experienceing the same thing?  I think it is a growth spurt.  Also, he never eats more hten 4 ounces at a time, when can I expect him to start taking more food?  This is my first child and he is very changling.  Without his naps, he is definately a grumpy baby.  It makes it hard because I always thought my child would be happy, not the case here.  I sometimes feel like a bad parent becuase he is rarely happy.  Anyone have any ideas especially for activity time that will make him happy?  Thanks Chris

[kombay]

Hi There
My DS was born on April 8th, he weighed 7 pounds.  He now weighs 19 pounds and is 30 inched long.  Lately he has started doing the 45 minute nap thing.  He use to take 2.5 hoiur naps 3 times a day like clock work.  Any of your little guys experienceing the same thing?  I think it is a growth spurt.  Also, he never eats more hten 4 ounces at a time, when can I expect him to start taking more food?  This is my first child and he is very changling.  Without his naps, he is definately a grumpy baby.  It makes it hard because I always thought my child would be happy, not the case here.  I sometimes feel like a bad parent becuase he is rarely happy.  Anyone have any ideas especially for activity time that will make him happy?  Thanks Chris

[kombay]

Hi There
My DS was born on April 8th, he weighed 7 pounds.  He now weighs 19 pounds and is 30 inched long.  Lately he has started doing the 45 minute nap thing.  He use to take 2.5 hoiur naps 3 times a day like clock work.  Any of your little guys experienceing the same thing?  I think it is a growth spurt.  Also, he never eats more hten 4 ounces at a time, when can I expect him to start taking more food?  This is my first child and he is very changling.  Without his naps, he is definately a grumpy baby.  It makes it hard because I always thought my child would be happy, not the case here.  I sometimes feel like a bad parent becuase he is rarely happy.  Anyone have any ideas especially for activity time that will make him happy?  Thanks Chris

[kombay]

Hi There
My DS was born on April 8th, he weighed 7 pounds.  He now weighs 19 pounds and is 30 inched long.  Lately he has started doing the 45 minute nap thing.  He use to take 2.5 hoiur naps 3 times a day like clock work.  Any of your little guys experienceing the same thing?  I think it is a growth spurt.  Also, he never eats more hten 4 ounces at a time, when can I expect him to start taking more food?  This is my first child and he is very changling.  Without his naps, he is definately a grumpy baby.  It makes it hard because I always thought my child would be happy, not the case here.  I sometimes feel like a bad parent becuase he is rarely happy.  Anyone have any ideas especially for activity time that will make him happy?  Thanks Chris