HI Angie, Am I right to wake her from naps to help establish the routine or will this cause more problems later on?
my belief is that 3 cycles is the max i let a nap go (2hr 15min) rouding up to 2 1/2 hrs to account for resettling etc that might not have been asleep etc. Especially if you had day/night issues. you want them to get
rested in the daytime (and certainly a 2hr nap will do that) but not taking their long sleeps before bedtime - that way they do learn the difference and gradually (instinctively) icrease night sleep over time. also take into account total day sleep so i would keep an eye on letting all naps go to 2 1/2 hrs if she is waking for long periods in the night (which would in that case signal either the effct of not being tired enough at night or having missed 1 feed in the day she is hungrier at night)
Also, do any of you have babies who nap this long and if so, do they still sleep good at night?
my first was a big napper for the first 6months - she did one big nap (2-2 3/4hrs) each day and others varied from 45min - 2hrs, gradually decreasing between 3-6 months when napping went crazy and she decided she only need 2 or so hours in total from then on. even if se slept last nap until just before bedtime it never interfered with night sleep (FOR HER - every kid is different)
I notice in some of the other emails that some people have their 9 and 10 week olds sleeping through the night and on a schedule. Please tell me how you did this. Like I said before, my son was 6 months before we stopped rocking and he was on a schedule.
remember that every child is different and temperment, feeding (BF, bottle, ampunts taken, how well they retain calories...) all play into whetehr they settle intoa regular pattern early or later and when they sleep through. 9-10 weeks old woudl be considered early for both of these habits/situations. don't put any added pressure on you or lo - take one thing at a time and the routine and night sleep will all fall into line together. a BF baby will have 1-2nightfeeds for quite a few months at least and then 1 feed up to 6 months or so (depending on baby) Anytime up to 6 mo is reasonable for a baby to nightfeed and some needthem longer.
lkc: I am able to get her to fall asleep but as soon as I try to put her in the bassinet, she cries. I did get her to go down for a catnap a few times since yesterday. She woke after twenty minutes or so and I have only been successful and putting her back once. She usually cries until the next feed if I try to put her down. What else can I try?
this is why tracy advocates teaching independent sleep right from the start - if you have them fall asleepin your arms/chest and then transfer them they are confused as to where they are and also need the same scenario to get back to sleep/ get through the stages of sleep. if she falls asleep in your arms gently rouse her back to the 'awake but drowsy" state and then settle her for nap.
Should I try to only get her to sleep on her own first then really apply the EASY schedule?
you can do both - work on the independent sleep and make sure you keep the order of events E (at), A (ctivity), then S (leep). EASY is about a routine not a schedule so don't feel you have to impose a set 3 hr schedule on your lo where you are pushing for her to sleep at exact timmes and wake at exact times based on the "guide" in the book. as long as the order is right, she is not snack feeding, nor feeding to sleep, you will be establishing a good start to easy. the independent sleep is a cornerstone to success with EASY for the long run.
how long do we let her sleep if the nap just started right before the next feeding?
if you missed her tired window (a main reson it would take until next feeding to settle to sleep) then let lo have a full sleep cycle of 45 min and then wake to get "on track" - not for the reason of sticking to a schedule but in order to get enough daytime feeds in.
She's always eating her hand now, right after we just fed. She is 9 weeks, could she be teething already?
it could be her learning to soothe herself. if this is close to when sheis due for sleep she could be telling you she is tired, or if not due for sleep she could be bored and need a changeof scenery.
There is a lot of drool.
drool is quite common from now on - not necessarily a sign of teething. it takes months before they learn to handle swallowing all the extra saliva so it comes ot as drool.
Do you try to put her down for a nap to keep with your EASY schedule if she doesn't show any signs of being tired?
not showing "signs of being tired" is tricky. my sprited one never showed signs until it was too late (overtired). if she has been awake an hour and is still not yawning etc it does not necessarily mean not tired. my lo at 5 weeks coudl go hours with no tired signs we finally had to impose EASY in tyhe sense that we started offering the nap before the tired signs appeared and suddenly she started napping better because she was not overtired.
hope some of that helps you ladies and sorry for not getting to you sooner - the holidays have thrown a spanner in the works for my house too
