N/W support for spirited babies.

[sherry lynn]

I know exactly what you mean. We've been having rough nap days as well. The last three nights it has been rough getting him down to bed   Sigh.....

[campbellchick]

Hi Cat, I am in the same boat at the moment too.  Usually I know 1hr naps indicate dd is ready for more A time, but I definitely know that she isn't with this last bout of 1hr naps.  She has been taking only 1hr naps for the last 3 days no matter her A time (and we've only just stretched to 2.5hrs).  However as she has been sick with a cold lately and still isn't quite recovered, I've been wondering if she is waking from hunger.  I think since she wasn't eating much when she was really congested, my milk has dropped, now she wants to eat more, but there isn't enough there.  I think I am going to pump for a few days and bottle feed her so I know she is getting enough.  Anyway, that is another issue, but she is also waking up at 1hr wide awake and smiling, only to be tired 30 mins or an hour later.  It is just a never ending story trying to work out their naps isn't it. 

[newmum27]

Hi all,

Even at nearly 11 months and I can still count on one hand the amount of times our DS has slept through the whole night. I think I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that he is not like most babies and he is not a good sleeper. Naps lately for us have been a challenge with DS yesterday having only 1.25 hrs of naps in the whole day.    Some days he only takes 45 min naps and even with extending the A time, it still happens. this week he learned to take his first steps  so I think that may also have something to do with it. On top of all the things we have to tackle at the moment we are also dealing with molars coming through. 

I think we never stop trying things out and learning new things....but sometimes I also wish just every now and again that we had the kind of baby that sleeps anywhere, anytime. I'm hoping that when he is a teenager he will be much easier to handle 'cause we've gone through all the grief as a baby.

Ruth

[A pair of Charlies]

Hi Ruth

WOW!!!! First steps! Must have been amazing.

Reckon you're right with the spirited babies: once you get one thing sorted, something else crops up. In the last week and a half DS has taken 3 x 1 1/2 hour naps  . Never has before - he's a persistent 40 / 45 min napper. Hoping that my persistence may be paying off. I've been staying with him while he naps (i grab a kip on the bet) and when he first comes out of sleep I was quickly putting my hand on his, or really gently on his cheek or head. And he'd nod back off without too much fuss. Since his first winning nap I've pretty much left him to it alone and only go back when he wakes crying.

Now if only I could get his bizzare wail-feeding and habitual 5 am wakings sorted....

Hugs - first steps must have felt great!

Charlotte

[newmum27]

WOW!!!! First steps! Must have been amazing.

Yep...amazing and scary all at the same time. Now he can reach things he never could before. A friend of mine described it as moving to Defcon 4 and advised us to move all things above hip height. This morning he managed to pull one of my perfume bottles off the dresser and gave himself a black eye.    At least he smelled pretty. 

Ruth

[campbellchick]

Ouch about the black eye - Wow, that is so early to be walking too!  How cool, but I totally understand what you mean by scary.  My dd has been trying to crawl for the last few weeks, so I am already scared about that if she takes off.  I am not sure how I am going to chase after 2 of them on the go...

Most of our days are now down to about 2hrs sleep  so everything is such a challenge.  Do you find that your routine is not the same each day or is it just me?  I wonder if I am doing something wrong as we have never had more than about 2 days of the same times/naps/routine in a row since I started BW with dd at around 9 weeks    There seems to be always something to contend with.  Since I had an angel/textbook baby the first time around - this is a totally new experience to me (apart from the NW's, my angel baby had colic, then a prop addiction, so didn't sleep through until just recently at 20 months old).  DD seems so much more high maintenance than ds ever was and he would sleep anywhere - whereas dd barely ever sleeps when out of the house (and some days even in the house  ).  It is just hard work, especially with lack of sleep through the night...  But all worth it of course when that little personality of spirited babies shines through 

[newmum27]

Dear Kerrie,

Your LOs are very cute. Bet you're glad you got the angel baby first. People keep asking us when we are going to have another one and I simply say I'm not sure I will survive this one. Now that your DD is nearly crawling is a good time to baby-proof everything. You definitely won't have time once she's on the move with two of them to contend with. I really can't imagine what it's like to have two of them around. You're very brave. One is more that enough at the moment. A friend of mine is convinced that since the first one was an angel baby the second will be a terror.

Yes I definitely find that with a Spirited LO no two days are ever the same. We aim for an ideal routine, but rarely achieve it.

Hope you all had a good night and that today's napping is good too.

Ruth

[campbellchick]

Thanks Ruth, I have to admit, if I had dd first, I would have been very reluctant to go back for a second - definitely not so quickly too.  I don't blame you for waiting to see if you will survive your ds first!!  I wish I had known about that theory of the first being good and the second being a terror...  Maybe it will work the oppostie for you - you will get an angel baby the second time around - fingers crossed.

Thanks for letting me know about your days not ever being the same too - that helps me to know that it is normal with spirited LO's.  I feel like I really contribute heavily to it, but don't know how to prevent it.  I feel like I am always problem solving, overthinking, adjusting routines etc. etc. to try and get an ideal - but I can rarely achieve it.  I don't feel soo bad now anyway! 

So far, not great on last night nor on the napping today, but we'll see how the rest of the day goes - it's only lunchtime! 

I hope you and everyone else also have a great day/night too - sending good sleeping vibes.

[A pair of Charlies]

Hi all

Thought I'd pipe in... doesn't matter how good a 'routine' day we have here, no two days seem the same. Sometimes the shifts are really small - the afternoon nap in the pram is 20 mins or 50 or a scream fest.  In the last two weeks we've had a couple of 1hr and 1 1/2 hr naps which have been amazing. But each day for his home naps, I put him down at exactly the same amount of time so that he's in bed and ready to go to sleep within 1.40 mins of awake for first nap, 1.50 for the next, in the pram by 4.30 for the avo nap...so reason why he'd nap more one day than the next. But at least both he and I know now that he CAN do it! 

So yeh, no two days alike.

I keep getting asked the same about when's the next one coming and say once I can get it right with this one I'll think about it! Not that I'm sure I can now anyway, but that's another saga and best avoided.

Perhaps spirited means that we, as mothers, have to work that bit harder but to to me that makes the rewards all the better!

On the walking front I heard that it can be genetic traits. I was walking at 9 months, running within a few weeks of that (didn't talk for years though!). My siblings all walked under a year, and all their children have been on their feet and off by 11 months. I keep looking around our stalled DIY project of a home and don't where the hell to start. DH isn't getting my panic yet but I keep trying to point out the majors...no skirting boards for one, driveway that goes straight onto a major road (no gate)!

Happy nap and sleep vibes to all!

Charlotte

[sanrega]

I also have a spirited baby boy, he is 5 month and 1 week old.
So far i had only 1 good night from 11 to 4 am, otherwise is maxim 2 hours in a row.
But for the past few weeks (MANY) he sleeps from 7:30 to 11pm which is really good!!!
then is up every hour till 5 am and the problem is that I work full time with my LO
hanging around. I think my lo has troubles with wind (I don't know if possible this problem should be over by now).
I am so tired!!!
Like all of you.
Let's keep our spirit up

[campbellchick]

Hi Sanrega, your situation sounds very familiar!!!  My dd also used to have a lot of trouble with wind, which would wake her up most of the night, but as I was breast feeding, I cut things out of my diet and discovered she suffers from a lactose overload.  Are you breastfeeding at all?  Has your LO always suffered from wind from birth? 

I really feel for you having to work on top of this - I am heading back to work soon and really really want the NW's to be gone by then (well, most of them anyway).  Too hopeful??

I agree with keeping our spirit up - at least we all have each other for support.

[A pair of Charlies]

My nipper struggled with wind initally. I started using infracol (for wind & colic) and I've been using it since at every feed. I swear by it. The screaming stopped and he settled. Also took him for a few sessions at a cranial osteopath around the same time and I think that helped him a lot too.

Got a 1hr 45 nap this morning. I felt so giddy nearly cried!!

[campbellchick]

Congratulations Charlotte on the 1hr 45 min nap - that is fantastic      Lets hope it continues

[sherry lynn]

YAY Charotte on the nap. That is great.

sanrega - sounds like you need to do some sleep training   It's so hard with these LO, we'll try to be here for you if you need it. My spirited LO also used to be up every hour in the night. Had to do some massive sleep training. What do you do with your LO when he wakes in the night? I agree 7:30 - 11 is great. Maybe we can help you improve the every hour after that

[A pair of Charlies]

Tears of giddiness turns into tears of frustration! His next nap was 30 mins & he couldn't settle for more than 10 mins after that. OT OT OT. But same A times as before. grrrrr.

I think he was picking up on my being tense. Mother-in-law visit this avo. And friends are all trying to convince me to leave him with a sitter (MIL) tomorrow night for a 40th party. Not convinced that if he wakes, seeing a strange face is the way to go. He rarely sees her and didn't recognise her today. Horrid feeling I'll be undoing the 'Mummy's there, just out of sight' trust I've built up.

OR I could be being daft. Anyone with similar first babysitter experiences?