EASY? Or Anyother advice extremely needed!

[liljava]

This is my first time on this board and i must say i visit alot and this board seems to have a tremendous amount of support and feedback! I commend the women that take so much time helping other mothers! Ok heres my story!

My son is 4 1/2 months old, about two weeks ago we transitioned to the crib at night from bassinet, that was rough for a few nights but over all he transitioned well, after about a week of that it was time to get the naps in crib. At that point DS was only napping in swing or carseat on errands although his awake time was consistant at about every two hours, i wanted him in his crib because my mom is going to be watching him soon and she bought a crib 4 him to use. so i stayed home for a week and dedicated myself to this process, i knew the nap was not gonna be as easy as the nighttime was.
so i started just using his every two hours awake time and sure enough his cues were right on schedule.

I started by swaddling him(helped alot) snuggling for a few minutes in rocker and then layed down awake and left the room. the first few days there was alot of everyfew minutes shushing and PU/PD. But eventually it also has went pretty well and know most of the time i dont even have to go back in.

OK so nows where the real problems come in and all my questions :

He is waking at exactly 45 minutes, which i now see by the boards that is very common.
my questions are he is awake for 2 hrs inbetween naps, do you think it needs to be longer and thats cause for the short naps?
He also always wakes crying and is ovious that he is still tired?
I have thought i will definatly try the W2S, But how exactly do i do that?
And although he is on a fairly consistant schedule it does not follow EASY because my DS breastfeeds every two hours and has since birth. He will go 2-1/2 sometimes but very rarely 3.
How do i do an EASY when he eats every 2 hrs and sleeps every two hours?
I also think this is starting to give him the idea that he always get to eat before he goes back to sleep.
the last few nights he has woken at 1 and normally the pacifier would put him to sleep but he screamed till i gave him the boob!

this is our current approx schedule:
7:00 -8:00 wakes and Eats
awake time
10:00 eats
10:15 sleeps
11:00 wakes
Awake time
1:00 Eats
1:15 Sleeps
2:00 Awake
4:00 Eats
4:15 sleeps
5:00 Awake
7:00 -7:30 Eats
7:30-8 Bedtime
wakes anywhere from 3 to 5 am Eats
from here on the schedules unpredictable, sometimes he goes back to sleep easy, other days hes up on and off till 7 or so.

more questions: When he does wake at 45 min howv long do i keep trying to get him back to sleep without effecting the rest of his schedule.
How do i get him to go from 2hrs to 3or 4 like the ones posted?
also how do igert him to put himself back to sleep?

One last thing, yesterday and today he started this thing that when he wakes up cying i go and pick him up and he stiffins his whole body and frail his arms and legs as if he wants nothing to do with me. I try to swaddle him and rock him to calm him down and he just wails, normally i can calm him right down tjust by picking me up or seeing me. Last night when he woke at 1 i couldnt get him to stop unless i gave him the breast. pacifier normally works and he wont take it. what do you think is causing this behavior? Its really bad!!

I know i have so many questions and post may be confusing but please any advice, my nerves are shot and i want so bad for my son to sleep longer than 45 min for the both of us!!


thank you, misty

[liljava]

I already posted about all my DS schedule and trying to extend naps and feed times but have not gotten any responses from either of my posts and i am desperate, another day like today i will loose it!!

My other posts in this forum is: EASY? OR ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS NEEDED?
And a post under Naps.

please check out!

I am trying to get DS on EASY but have to main problems Ds eats every 2 hrs and sleeps every two hours which is causing to be nursed to sleep. He also will only nap for 45 minutes.
how do i increase times between feedings. My son  is 4 1/2 months old what EASY Should he be on?
How do i increase nap length?

our schedule is this:

E-7-8
A-8:00-10:00
E-10:00
S-10:15-11:00
A-11:00-1:00
E-1:00
S1:15-2:00
A-2:00- 4:00
E-4:00
S-4:15-5:00
A-5:00-6 awake
E-SNACK-7
A-6
E-7-7:30 Then bedtime b4 8pm
this is so not an easy schedule!!
 
PLEASE ANY SUGGESTIONS! Im going crazy with the short naps and feeding every two hours.
my other post is much more detailed i think.


misty

[corrina01]

Sorry we have missed your posts.

Do you go by his tired signs?

Have you just started EASY?

You would want to start him out at a 3.5hr or 4 hr EASY

I think he is overtired that is why he is having short naps.

What type of baby is he?

2hrs 15mins is a long time for him to be awake on short naps.

I will have a look at the other post on EASY.

[corrina01]

I have merged the two topics.

I will reply to the first one later on tonight, when I put my DD to bed.

[liljava]

I thought i would answer your questions that may help you.
Do you go by his tired signs?
He doesnt get fussy at all until around that two hr mark then he eats and goes down fairly easy most the time.
Have you just started EASY?
Havent really started it because my son eats every 2 hrs, so i dont know how to transition. But thought i would start with the 3 hr,I Think the 4 would be impossible for him right now.

You would want to start him out at a 3.5hr or 4 hr EASY

I think he is overtired that is why he is having short naps.

What type of baby is he?
Textbook but a little stubborn

2hrs 15mins is a long time for him to be awake on short naps. I Will try putting him down earlier but im worried if i miss the 2 hr feeding he will wake up shortly anyway cause hungry.


thanks so much for responding to my post, look forward to your advice.
today i will try earlier naptime and W2S. WISH ME LUCK!!

[liljava]

One more thing; he napped fine on this schedule for 1 1/2 at a time in his swing before the crib transition 2 weeks ago.

thanks

[corrina01]

A few more questions

Does he cry to be fed before going down for naps?

Is he okay going to bed?

Do you have a winddown routine?

Have you got any of the Baby Whisperer books?  I would recommend you get the book The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems.

He is waking at exactly 45 minutes, which i now see by the boards that is very common.
my questions are he is awake for 2 hrs inbetween naps, do you think it needs to be longer and thats cause for the short naps?

Put him down right on the 2hr mark in his crib.  You will have to stop feeding him before his nap, it will be hard.  As you are waiting for him to get fussy and then feeding, he is getting overtired and I think that is why he is having short naps.  Do shush/pat or PU/PD (there is a forum dedicated to doing this and how to do it).

When they have not got enough sleep, they will wake crying.

When he does wake at 45 min howv long do i keep trying to get him back to sleep without effecting the rest of his schedule

I afraid keep doing it until next feed time.

also how do igert him to put himself back to sleep?

I think you would have to do shush/pat in the beginning, you make a sssshhing noise close to his ear and pat his back (if he is a tummy or side sleeper) or shoulder or tummy (gently) if he is a back sleep.

The sleep cycle is 40/45 mins long then they come out of the deep sleep and 20 mins later they go into a deep sleep again.

So you want to start on a  3hr EASY.

What you want to do is set up a wake time for him, say like 7am, wake him at this time everyday.  This will set his inner clock.

You will want to feed him every 3.5hrs exactly.  I am afraid your DS is a snacker. You will want to break the habit.  I was going to suggest a 3hr EASY but, he can be awake for 2hrs so I am afraid that it will be a little bit difficult to put him on a 3hr. 

You will want to feed at 7am   10.30am, 1pm, 4.30pm and then just before bed, at 7pm.

You will want to put him to bed 2hrs after wake up not any later, and don't feed him.  This will be extremely hard, but you have to break this habit, you will be in for a rough few days.  You will be in for some short naps to break this habit, once the feeding every 2hrs is over and done with and he is feeding every 3.5hrs then you can work on the sleep. 

Do shush/pat or PU/PD (see above).

You can do this, I know you can.

One more thing; he napped fine on this schedule for 1 1/2 at a time in his swing before the crib transition 2 weeks ago.

One thing, that helped me and my DD, is to play in his crib during awake times only for about 10mins every awake time, now my DD looks forward to going to bed and wants to sleep.  Try doing this, so he knows it is okay to go into the crib.

Sorry this is so long.

HTH

[liljava]

Corrina thank you so much for your response!

I wanted answer the rest of your questions and tell you how our day went today.

Does he cry to be fed before going down for naps? He doesnt always cry but always grabs onto shirt and turns head into me and sucks on my arm when getting him ready for naps. Plus he just has never went very long without eating since birth.

Is he okay going to bed? He goes to bed great. sometimes a little fuss but very easy to get him calmed and usually falls asleep very fast.

Do you have a winddown routine?
I usually swaddle him and sit with him in the rocker and snuggle with him for a few minutes in his room but always put him down awake.

Have you got any of the Baby Whisperer books? NO

well today i thought i would work on the 3 hr EASY and the W2S and see how it went.
It went pretty well, i kept my expectations low and was more focused on getting him to eat every three hours than the naps. so heres our schedule.

8am wake (normally hes up earlier but think hes coming down with a cold so i let him sleep.)
8:15 EAT
8-9:30 awake Time
9:30 started getting fussy so i put him down a little earlier than usual (again Cold)
9:30 -9:45 fussed and i did shushing and lightly jiggled him(dont know how to explain)but worked well and went right out.
10:15 i went in to wait for the w2s, i put my hand on him and as soon as i seen him starting to budge i put a little pressure on arms and legs, he opened his eyes(no crying like usual!!) and then dozed back off
11:05 darn dog woke him up, so i did get him back to sleep with the jiggle until about 11:15 then he woke, i figured he did good so i got him up. so that was a total of 1hr 20mins!! Beats 30-40!!
totally up be 11:20
11:20 Eat (15 MINUTES)Yah made it 3HRS!!
11:20-1:20 Awake
1:30-200 Nap time, went down well but i missed the W2S by seconds and i knew it was almost feeding time so i got him up.
2:15 Eat (15 minutes) read on another post about trying breast compressions and did, i think it worked well cause i could really hear him gulping again after i did them.!
2:30-3:15 naped in car on errands.
3:15- 4:45 at park
4:45-5:05 little catnap in car
5:15 Eat 50Z EBM
5:15-7:15 AWAKE
7:15 GET READY FOR BED AND DADDY TIME. Bottle 5oz
8bedtime

I think i will keep the two feeds at night close so he doesnt need to cluster feed and i dont do a DF, he wakes anywhere from 330-5:00 feeds and back to sleep till 7 or so.

so althought this is by far a perfect EASY i think he did very well, plus my eerands got in the way. So i am very please with the one good nap and he ate only every three hours! you dont know how great this was for me! I think i will definatly work on getting him to the 3.5 EASY but feel i needed to start him on the three even if it is for a week.

so what do you think?
do you think while im doing the 3hr i should put him down earlier than the 2hr? maybe 1-1/2 or 1-3/4?
what is typical for this age. I Just cant imagine him doing the 4 hr one! But ill work on the 3.5 then 4

It does seem like once he does wake from his nap the shushing/pat PU/PD it calms him but as soon as i put him down or stop its back at the crying. Im hoping that w2s is my answer! I really dont know how exactly to do it but i think what i did, did work once!

thanks again for your help. Hope my schedule is not to confusing.

misty

[corrina01]

Misty, you are doing an excellent job 

do you think while im doing the 3hr i should put him down earlier than the 2hr? maybe 1-1/2 or 1-3/4?

If you are doing a 3hr EASY I would put him down at the 1hr 30mins mark and then see if he goes to sleep at that stage, try this for 2 days, if he doesn't want to go down at that time try 1hr 45mins.  But bear in mind, you don't want to do this more than about 2-3 weeks as he can stay awake for at least 1hr 30mins -1hr 45mins.

what is typical for this age. I Just cant imagine him doing the 4 hr one! But ill work on the 3.5 then 4

My DD was on a 3.5hr EASY until the age of 6 months as she could only stay awake for 1hr 30mins - 1hr 40mins.  Then when she stay awake for 2hrs I then moved her to a 4hr EASY.  I think if babies can stay happily awake for 2hrs + then they can be transitioned on to a 4hr EASY

10:15 i went in to wait for the w2s, i put my hand on him and as soon as i seen him starting to budge i put a little pressure on arms and legs, he opened his eyes(no crying like usual!!) and then dozed back off

That is good, this is not wake 2 sleep.  What you doing is sending him back to sleep again, this is what I done with my DD.  Stay with him until he falls asleep, then have about 35mins of you time, then go back to his room, when you see him come out of deep sleep, start to stir then put your hands on his arms and legs, till he goes back to sleep, like you have done.


You will want to aim for at least 1hr 30mins each sleep.