Author Topic: Arggg - I am too tired to formulate a plan!!! Please help.  (Read 839 times)

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Offline Beata

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Arggg - I am too tired to formulate a plan!!! Please help.
« on: January 04, 2006, 13:48:11 pm »
DD, Cate, has been sick, but is not on the mend. She is also getting another tooth, so I know some of the night wakings are a by-product of all this BUT...

She usually wakes 1/2 hour to 1 hour after going to sleep. I will pu/pd and shush her back to sleep (usually takes 1 hour) Then she wakes about every 3- 4 hours after that.  I was not feeding her for 8 hour stretches before the cold and that helped her SOME nights. But now we are at 6 hours as she hardly ate when she was sick. The main problem is at about 1 or 2 am she wakes, cries for me, and then PLAYS. She's standing up, so she stands (giggling) I put her down andthen process goes on until she starts to stay down for a little. Then I walk out, but she cries. I try to wait a few minutes before goingin (it's not always a "real" cry. Uggg. So the last 2 nights I just feed her to sleep (but then she's up around 5 again).

Days:
8 wake bf (used to be 7, and if she would sleep most of the night I would move it back)
9 breakfast (she also is not crazy about solids)
10:30-11 - nap (getting back to 1-2 hours after cold)
12 wake, lunch, bf
3 nap
4bf
6 dinner, bf
7 bf, bed (hoping all the milk at night will keep her full longer.)

PLEASE, any advice out there. I know there is a lot going on, but I am back to being exhausted, and can't think straight about where to go.

Beata



FrasersMum

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Arggg - I am too tired to formulate a plan!!! Please help.
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2006, 23:40:13 pm »
Hi Beata

I have a couple of thoughts and some questions

Firstly, does Cate sleep all the way through until 4pm at her second nap?  Wakings so soon after going down for the night is often a sign of overtiredness at bedtime.  When did you drop the catnap?

How is she falling asleep at the beginning of the night?  How long does that take? 

When Cate wakes at 2am-ish - are you turning lights on?  I would think that you need to keep this time as boring for her as possible, no lights, no talking etc.  What happens if you walk in, lay her down and say your night phrase ie "it's night time Cate, sleep tight" or whatever you say and then leave the room?  Does she cry straight away or does she play for a bit?  Some babies wake and chat and play by themselves during the night and then fall back to sleep.  My suggestion with this wake up is that you need to be as boring as possible so Cate picks up that it is not worth waking up at this time because no one is going to play with her anyway.

You said for the past 2 nights you have fed Cate at this wake up?  Did you try and settle first or feed straight away?  Did she seem genuinely hungry and take a big feed?

Let me know and I'll check back in
Jo

Offline Beata

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Arggg - I am too tired to formulate a plan!!! Please help.
« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2006, 15:21:46 pm »
Hi Jo - Thanks for helping.

I am finally realizing she just does not know how to fall asleep on her own. So last night was the first night I put her to be fully awake. It only took 4-5 pd until she fell asleep (I've been really trying to be consistant about her nap time too, pd until she falls asleep), but...

Her naps have been terrible since she was sick. The last 2 weeks, the max we get is 40 minutes...we'll see what today brings. So I too suspect that the early wakings are a sign of being overtired. But on the dot she wakes one hour after bed, then one hour after that. Last night all I had to do was put her down once (she stands) and she drifted back off) but at 10:15, she woke AGAIN. That took one hour of put down and leave the room and come back, etc. Then she was up 4 more times in the night. I fed her at 1:30 and 5:30 (and no they were not good feeds). I am HOPING this is the really bad night before things get better.

I interact not at all with her at night. I might change her diaper once, but all I go is pu/pd, and lately just pd. I NEED to stop feeding her, but it's soooo hard that time of night. I definitely think it's a habit, but also a little hungry since she is used to eating at night.

She used to wake and want to play at about 3-5 (and would cry when I left the room), but now I think she is soo tired, she just cries.

So it's looking like I need to trudge along with no sleep and pd (with the occasional pu/pd) until she gets it.



FrasersMum

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Arggg - I am too tired to formulate a plan!!! Please help.
« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2006, 23:44:02 pm »
Hi Beata,

OK, so it sounds like you've got a plan to go on with for a bit.  That falling asleep independently is so important isn't it!  It really seems to be the key. 

The lovely people in the Nap board or Getting Back on Track board might be able to help you get those short naps nipped, which would probably help with those early night wake ups.

Good luck and let us know if you need help
Cheers!
Jo