everythings gone haywire - help!

[deemum]

over the last few days my dd's habits  have changed little by little. At first i noticed a problem with feeds which i've already posted at the breastfeeding board but as one thing affects the next it now seems like a whole easy problem! she is 11 weeks and was on a good 3hr routine though her naps tended to be short (1hr on average) she went down easily, with her dummy which she spat out before sleep, fed well and we had two full nights sleep just before all this. Yesterday she fussed didn't seem hungry after 3 hrs and her feeds seemded short and last night she woke at four, because i ended up feeding her at 5 ish this morning - she was hungry, her feeds have been off all day and her naps are gone to 30 mins today. i tried toping her up before a feed earlier but it didn't help and i'm afraid she'll start snacking. everythings gone haywire - help!

[shimzy]

I believe I read in another post 30 min naps usually means the lo is overtired.
What is her awake time?

Can you post a sample schedule?

[deemum]

hi shimzy,
this is it - roughly, its been varing by about 15 mins here and there

7am - up & feed E
7.30 - activity A
8.30 - nap S

10am - up & feed E
10.30 - activity A
11.30 - nap

1am - feed E
1.30 - activity A
2.30 - nap S

4pm - feed E
4.30 - activity A
5pm - short nap S

6pm - feed E
6.30 - bath A
6.45 pm - top up E
7pm - jammies A
7.15ish - bed S
i'm afraid that ive started the 30 min thing by going in too quick once or twice lately, could it happen that quickly?

[shimzy]

Do you swaddle?
Do you use props? (pacifiers, nurse to sleep, rocking etc)

I found the typical awake time for 11wk old is about 1-1.25 hrs.. but not 1.5 hours. Im not expert by any means but could you try laying her down a little earlier? What are her sleep cues? Does she settle into her nap quickly or take time to settle? What do you do to settle her?

[deemum]

she doesn't seem to have sleep cues, i've been trying to watch but she doesn't yawn or look sleepy, i'd say your right because her wind down is very short, i wrap her up, close the curtains and sit with her on my lap with some lullabies on, she takes her dummy but usually spits it out in the cot. she only sits on my lap lately for about 3 mins when her eyes are rolling. i used to put her down after 1 hr but she used to fight all her naps and we had an awful time.

[shimzy]

You can try posting in the Naps forum for Stacy to input her help too. She is the Nap Moderator and has wonderful experience and advice. Her lo is spirited too and I believe is hard to read sleep cues.

I do believe your lo is a bit overtired though. Could try putting her down 15 minutes sooner, or even starting the winddown routine earlier and see if that makes a difference.

Is she waking up to be replugged with her pacifier? That was one of our issues a bit back ago, we weaned cold turkey and it helped with naps - not with night wakings though.

[* Paula *]

Deemum,

From reading your post, I am wondering if your lo might be ready to transition to the 3.5 hour easy.  From what you are saying, she is not really interested in a feed after 3 hours and her nap times are short.

Have a look at this link and see if it describes your lo.

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=63161.0

It might be worth a try.  Let us know how you get on.

Paula x

[deemum]

thanks for the advice guys, for her first nap today i put her down after about 70 mins a time and she slept for an hour and 15 mins. she woke at 9.30 and i fed her at 10, she went down for her next nap around 10.30 and is asleep since! this is a great improvement, i think i need to find her balance through trial and error since she doesn't seem to have sleep cues, 1 hr of a is too short, an hour and a half is pushing it. as you say paula she may be on her way to a 3.5 hr easy, she sounds alot like that link you sent me. i will watch her for now and see how we go.
thanks,
Dee

[* Paula *]

Dee,

That is great news.  Keep us posted on how your day is getting on.

Paula x

[deemum]

all day yesterday her naps went really well, she even took a cat nap at 5 and was in much better form than usual for her bath. she  slept the night again too! this morning she woke with a bit of a sniffle so i have put karvol in a bowl in her room and she went down well for her nap again, we're just approaching the hour mark and the dogs are barking outside! i'll flatten them! fingers crossed for today,
Dee

[* Paula *]

Dee

That is fantastic news.

Please keep us posted.

Paula x

[deemum]

great day again, i've never had two days of naps and night sleep go so well! the one thing i'm a little confused about is bedtime. obviously she is due both bed and boob at 7pm, i've tried giving feed at 6 then bath then bed to seperated the bed and boob but she wasn't too interested by 6. tonight i did
6pm - bath, 6.30 feed, 7pm bed
and unusually for her she had a little trouble settling, nothing major. i wondered if she was getting close to over tired as she had been awake since a little after 5.
any thoughts?
Dee

[* Paula *]

The 6pm bath, 6:30 feed and 7 pm bed sounds fine.

She may have just been getting to the point of being over tired.  Did you give her her last feed in a dark quiet room?

I would monitor and see how she goes.  It may have been that she was just a little out of sorts.

Paula x

[deemum]

thanks Paula, I hadn't darkened the room actually, will try this,
Dee

[* Paula *]

Might help her settle and associate the dark room with going to sleep.

Keep us posted.

Paula x

[deemum]

on friday night she went back to waking at 5, tried not to feed her but she got really upset which is not like her. the only thing i had changed on friday was i had just found out that ur not supposed to cluster feed past 8 weeks so i didn't give a top up after the bath. Saturday we had a wedding which she was very good for, again i didn't cluster and she woke at 5. i thought it might be habitual and tried not to feed but her little tummy was rumbling so i did. she had a very cross day sunday with hardly any naps so i tried the cluster again and she slept through. today again she seems over tried and had two 45 min naps. when she woke very upset from the last one i fed her, did 15 mins of a and put her back down, has gone the hour this time. hope this sorts her out, its very unfair on her that we keep having weddings and things to go to, hope it calms down for a few weeks now!
Dee

[* Paula *]

Dee,

If the clusterfeeding is working for you I would not stop this.

A lot of lo's still cluster feed when they are 7 - 8 months old, some even older - it just enables them to tank up more in the evening.  You will know when this is affecting her intake when she starts to take less of her morning bottle as she is not hungry.

Try putting her down a few minutes earlier for each nap today to see if you can help her catch up on a bit of sleep.

Keep us posted on how you get on.

Paula x