Author Topic: First time mom, first time to the BW website- need NAP help  (Read 1228 times)

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Offline meghan

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First time mom, first time to the BW website- need NAP help
« on: August 19, 2005, 20:47:10 pm »
HI! I am a new mom and am new to this site. I think it looks great and am so glad there are other moms out there to offer advice! :D

My little one is 3 1/2 months. I just read Tracy's newest book (solves all your problems) and am trying to transition from the 3 hour EASY to the 4 hour EASY. We are on a 3 1/2 hour schedule now.

My questions are regarding SLEEP. Lauren has never been a long napper, but she is always tired when she gets up. She goes down very well after our little routine, but is usually up within 45-60 minutes. Her paci has become a prop for her and she needs it to fall asleep. Q #1: At this age, when she wakes up after 45 min. do I do the sush/pat or the P.U./P.D.??(In the past, I have tried to settle her back to sleep, but usually resort to putting her in her swing to get her to sleep another 30 min. or so.) Tracy says in the book that the P.U/P.D is for after 4 months, but she is only a few weeks shy of 4 months.

Also, when she wakes up and eats at 7 am, she is usually tired again by 8:15. I know I should be trying to get her to stay up until 9 for the 4 hour EASY schedule. So, my Q #2 is, do I keep her up until 9 even though she is tired and ready for bed at 8:15? Will she become overttired and then not sleep well if I wait until 9 to put her down for her first nap?

She is a textbook/touchy baby, but I think a lot of her fussiness is due to poor naps. Please help!

Offline branwen

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First time mom, first time to the BW website- need NAP help
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2005, 21:24:01 pm »
Hi!

In the book there is a detailed transition on how to get the baby to the 4 hr schedule by extending their awake time in 15 min intervals.  Honestly this didn't work for me, but PUPD at 3 1/2 months did!  I can't really offer anything on the 4 hr schedule because we haven't made it quite yet. :oops: (due to the morning awake time).  But I can comment on the 45 min nap thing.  My baby is also touchy and ensuring her naps was the best thing ever.  I know a lot of mom's have success with pat/shhh too.  For my dd though this was too stimulating as I found I needed to block out all stimualtion for my dd (dark room, dull bedding, no toys in crib, etc).  At that time my dd was always waking after 45 min, I used PUPD to extend her naps and teach her to nap in her crib (which she hadn't done previously).  You can check the PUPD board and if you decide to try the technique you can search under my name- I posted a lot of stuff about PUPD at 4 months. :D
Branwen
Mama to Eirwen 1/22/05


Offline Meg's Mom

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First time mom, first time to the BW website- need NAP help
« Reply #2 on: August 20, 2005, 14:12:02 pm »
Hi and welcome you have come to the right place!

For that 1st nap, it common that they will have a shorter awake period.  So if she could never make it to 9, start w/ 8.30.  Then as she gets a bit older and you see is isn't as tired...move it another 15min.  That does mean though that you will have some A time after she wakes before the next feed.

I would recommend you try a few things for the 45-min napper:
-start w/ shh/pat when she wakes to help her resettle.  Don't give up it usually took me 20-30min to get her back to sleep.
-if that doesn't work you could try pu/pd (have a look at branwen's post as she recommended).
-You could also go in before the 45min (Wake to sleep)
This worked about 50% of the time for us while breaking the 45min habit.  Here are two options:
Jane (one of the nap moderators) did this w/ success for her king of short naps.  I set my timer, in case I got busy. When it near the time, I oh-so quietly crept into his bedroom, once he stirred, I placed one hand on his back and one of his thigh. I didn't say anything, make any sound. Just as subtle as possible. I stayed like that until he returned to deep sleep, and slowly lightened the pressure of my hands.

I also set my timer (for 30min if your LO wakes then) and crept into her room.  I had a drawer full of paci's so I didn't have to dig in the crib for it.  As soon as she stired, I lightly put the paci to her lips.  She took it, i would move out of sight and sometimes she would right back to sleep.  If she opened her eyes and saw me, forget it.  I would have to do shh/pat for 15-30mins to get her back to sleep.

Hope this helps.