PU/PD and WTS not working for 4.5 month old's naps

[laurencopenhaver]

Is the sleep-sac and aussie blanket the same thing?  I have just a swaddle blanket that velcros and it's never really worked.  He always manages to get his arms out/up and every which way.  So I will definitely get whichever you think he needs.

I put him to sleep at 6 b/c I knew how exhausted he was.  And I knew b/c yesterday was so awful, the night would be bad too.  And it was.  He was up at 10:30, 12:30-1:30, 3 (ate 7 oz), and awoke several times going back to sleep somewhat-crying until 6:00 when he wanted to get up.  But he's awake happy so I'm going to roll with it and see how today goes.

Another question-yesterday morning he only slept for 35 min.  What kind of awake time do you think he can handle after that?  I tried to put back to sleep but he wouldn't.

[Zoey]

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=1439.msg573283#msg573283 - here is the aussie swaddle, you use a bigger blanket, or sheet.  There are pictures in the link.

A gro bag is a wearable banket - like a sleeping bag with arm holes - it doesn't hold the arms at all.

Zoey

[laurencopenhaver]

Do I get both of these.  The aussie swaddle for his arms and the grobag for when he can be weened?

[laurencopenhaver]

Never mind the blankets, I just purchased a swaddleze or something.  It's a 2 in 1 swaddle plus sleep sac.  So I'm all set I think.

So Stacy-he got up at 6 and I put him to sleep by 7:45.  He went down great, didn't fuss, went to sleep w/in 5 min.  Woke 30 min later, I waited 15 min to see if he'd go back to sleep, then he was very happy  so I got him up.

Then 1 hr 40 min later I put him back to sleep.  he slept for 45 min the as soon as he woke up I went up there to try to put him back to sleep b/c his first nap was only 30 min and I figured he was real tired, especially after the day we had yesterday.  I know Tracy says not to go to them until they cry out for you, but I've done it a couple times in the past and seemed to work so I tried it again.  And after 5 min he was back to sleep and slept for another 45 min.  Is this okay to do?  I know she says not to but at some point you have to do what works for your child and if this works, isn't that okay.  Or am I inadvertantly teaching  him to wake and I'll put him back to sleep?

[laurencopenhaver]

I got the infant size swaddleze for  18+ lbs and 28-30 inches.  He's about 17 lbs and 27 in.

He just went down now 1 hr. 40 min awake time.  He was really tired too.  More so than the 35 min nap.  (His last nap was 1.5 hrs.)  But maybe he's just real tired still from yesterday.

[laurencopenhaver]

Another thing...just recently, every night and occasional napping has he come out of his swaddle.  Both arms are completely out.  Does this mean he doesn't want it or he's ready to be weened, or is this just because he's a wiggle worm?

He napped from 4:15-5:00 PM.  Then by 5:30 he was rubbing his eyes and pulling at his ear so hard they were both beat red.  So I thought he was really tired.  But I put him in bed at 6 and he talked and blew bubbles for an hour.  Why would he rub his eyes so much if he wasn't tired?  Is it just an end of the day thing or what?  B/c he's done this before.  Rubbed his eyes w/in an hour of waking from the late afternoon nap but when I put him down, he's happy as can be, wide awake, and not tired one bit.  He confuses me.  What do you think Stacy?

[laurencopenhaver]

Yeah he's getting really strong.  Last night I had to hold his arms down until he fell asleep b/c of that plus he's getting too big for this swaddle.  Any ideas why he's rubbing his eyes so much after that late nap?  Next time just figure putting to bed 1 hr 45 min later?

[laurencopenhaver]

Hopefully this new swaddleze will be big and durable enough.  He's only sleeping 35-45 min naps today.  So I put him down 1 hr. 40-50 min after awake.  So he ends up having 4-5 naps a day.  Will this get his body thrown off even more and make it hard to convert back to the 3 a day routine?

[Zoey]

Owen rubs his eyes when he is bored outta his mind.

I think if 4-5naps works for now, that's what to focus on.  What happens a month - months from now, no one can tell so no sense in worrying    Cross that bridge when you come to it.  Owen had no trouble getting into a 3 nap a day routine after his stent of many 45m naps.

Im not Stacy, but that's my opinion anyhow!    Good Luck.
Zoey

[laurencopenhaver]

Okay.  His second nap he woke after 45 min and I went right up there (this morning I didn't) and we closed his eyes right away and went back to sleep for another hour.  I'm so tempted to do this every time b/c it seems to be working.  But still I shouldn't do it right?  If I keep doing this will he NOT learn to sleep past 45 min.  Every time I wait more that 5 min. he's wide awake and won't fall asleep again.  The problem here is that he will sit up there and mantra for an hour and won't really cry.  And by then there's definitely no going back to sleep.  Rarely does he wake and actually cry.  What do you suggest?

[riuliani]

Stacy's correct!  Just recently our LO had issues getting past the 45 minute mark.  I also found (despite advice from Tracy's book) that if I could get to him within the first 3 minutes of waking I could get him back to sleep immediately.  This helped him catch up on his sleep and beat the overtiredness.  Every other day I would not go in and see what happened.  Finally one day when I didn't go in he just put himself back to sleep.  Now I leave him more often.  Most times he can get himself back to sleep but it is also easier to tell the times when I do need to rush in before he gets too awake.  Yet another one of these trial and error things.

I don't know about the eye rubbing thing but the ear pulling could be an early sign of teething.  I have been told a lot of babies will pull their ears or rub their jaws when their teeth are bugging them.  However, it could take weeks or even a couple of months for the teeth to actually appear.  Keep in mind the teeth have been working their way up since day one, so the actual appearance of teeth can take a long time.

[tanyanz]

Hi

Sorry to jump in on your query, but I am not 100% sure how to start a new post (very new to this sort of thing - bit like motherhood really).  My son is 5 1/2 months old, and until recently was on a pretty good routine (see below)

Wake between 6-7
Feed at 7am
Play from 7.30-9am
Bed at 9am
Sleep 9.15-10.45am (sometimes longer - but generally 1 1/2hrs)

Feed at 11am
Play from 11.30-1pm
Bed at 1pm
Sleep from 1.15-2.45pm

Feed at 3pm
Play from 3.30-5pm
Catnap from 5.15pm-6pm

Bath at 6pm
Feed at 6.20pm
Bed at 7pm
Asleep at 7.15pm

Dream feed at 10pm

50% of the time he would sleep through the night, others he would wake for a feed.  He is a bottle fed baby.

I recently went back to work (part time - 12hrs per week) - he is being looked after by Grandma at home.

In the past 4 days he has taken a good nap in the morning, but the afternoon nap has been cut to 45mins - and he has gotten overtired due to this short nap.  Today I tried putting him down a bit earlier, but that didn't seem to work.  Wondering if he should be staying up a bit later?  Maybe 2hrs 15mins from waking to putting down, he generally takes 5-15 mins to fall asleep in his cot. 

When he was almost 4 months he started doing the 45min nap as he was still on a 3hr EASY, keeping him up a bit longer seemed to make him more tired and thus he slept longer, could this be the same?

Have to admit I am not great at reading his tired signs, so I tend to go more on time, he does rub his eyes, so I do take that as a signal for sleep.

Would appreciate any advice as I would like to nip it in the bud, I am contemplating the W2S on the afternoon nap as I think it is starting to become a habit.  Unfortuately Grandma got him up after 45mins & didn't leave him to resettle, but have a plan to work with her on that.

Thanks

[laurencopenhaver]

Tanyanz-go to message boads, click on naps, and at the top right there's an icon for add new poll.  Create your poll and I would be happy to talk w/ you on your nap problem which is very similar to mine.  That way you don't have to jump in on this one and you can get strictly your own answers to your questions.  Just copy and paste your post so you don't have to type it all over again.

Just come back here and let me know that you posted and what it's under.

Lauren

[laurencopenhaver]

So Stacy-guess who slept until 7:05!!!  Well not technically, he was up off and on waking putting himself back to sleep every 10 min. from 4:30 until 6 then I finally went to him.  I thought oh no he's going to get up now.  But I got him back to sleep and slept until 7:05.  I know it doesn't mean anything but I'm taking it as a good sign that he's in the process of not feeling the need to get up at 5:45 anymore.  Woohoo! 

I'm getting ready to put him to sleep now 1 hr 45 min later.  We'll see how the nap goes.

[laurencopenhaver]

riuliani-Thanks so much for your input about the going in w/in 3 minutes of waking.  It's comforting to know that my kids's not the only one who's like this.  Now I don't feel like the only mom in the world that's going against Tracy's word.  It's just right now I feel that him getting sleep is more important than anything.  And maybe every other day I'll not go in, or wait a couple weeks until he's gotten real good naps and see if that has helped at all.

Your baby's just 3 weeks older than mine so maybe his naps will start getting better on his own too.  How long ago was this problem of yours fixed, or how old was he when you noticed he could do it on his own.  And for how long were you going in right when he wakes to settle him?