Author Topic: Multiple unpredictable wakings from the start  (Read 1072 times)

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Offline lamcg

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Multiple unpredictable wakings from the start
« on: August 28, 2005, 04:29:42 am »
Hi--

Our sweet little guy is now almost 4 and a half months old and wakes multiple times (2-3 times between midnight and 7 am) in the night. He has never consistently slept through, and there seem to be so many possiblilities of why this is happening right now that we just can't figure out where to start and wonder if we should just wait it out. Would love your input!

Here are the basics:

* We've been doing shush/pat and PU/PD for well over a month now and had the going to sleep thing down to about five mintues a few weeks ago. Now we're back to at least 20 minutes and lots of work, often crying. From the start, we have never really been able to leave the room and have him fall asleep on his own.
* He naps well in the day-- about 4 1/2 to 5 hours total most days. We have aimed for a bedtime of 7/7:30 pm, but lately, he's been going to bed later because he doesn't seem tired and becomes really upset at the earlier time.
* We use a bundle and a binkie. This has worked well until now, when he is fighting the bundle more and more and often spits the binkie out multiple times and then wants it back. If we unbundle him, his little hands are up in his face and flailing around, always messing with the binkie if it's in.
* When he wakes at night, he will often fall back asleep if we give him the binkie, but he has a hard time doing it on his own.
* I feed him once in the night between 12 and 7 and this can be at any one of the wakings, of which there are 2-3 in that time span. I listen for the coughing cry and look for when he will not take the binkie and fall back asleep. Sometimes he takes almost a full feeding, other times he takes very little.
* He got his first two teeth at 13 weeks and is exhibiting multiple, but inconsistent signs of further teething.
* We recently got back from vacation-- we were away for two weeks, and in that time, our son probably slept in 10 different locations.

If anyone could assist us in prioritizing the issues or lending some insight, we would greatly appreciate it!

Lauren

Offline SandyGal

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Multiple unpredictable wakings from the start
« Reply #1 on: August 30, 2005, 18:52:12 pm »
You do seem to have a lot going on. Okay, I would say the thing to tackle first if the prop dependency... you and the paci. First, get him used to falling alseep without the paci and then without you. At his age, he is ready for PU/PD as the method of acheiving that goal. I can not stress enough the need for consistency when you go to teach him independent sleep. I know that when tiredness is a factor, all you really want is sleep and are willing to do anything to get it. If you invest in doing PU/PD consistently and not falling back on props to get some sleep, you will enjoy much more sleep in the long run :D

If you are done traveling and things are settling down, then pick a weekend and start PU/PD to get ds sleeping independently. It is the best thing because: 1) your family gets more sleep and 2) you can tell when there really is a problem when your lo is sleeping routinely and suddenly stops. When sleep is hit or miss, you have to guess a lot at what is going on.

Teething could be a temporary set back. What remedies have you used to help him to be comfortable during the first two? You definately want him to be comfortable (not in pain) when trying to make the transition to independent sleep. If you can see that teeth are about to pop, you may want to wait until they have poked through to start.

I hope that this helps. Encouraging independent sleep can make a huge difference in how a baby and parents sleep!
Sandy-Mom to Kyra (1-7-04) and Kylan (9-20-05)