Hi! I need some help desperately! I will warn you this is a long one so grab a nice drink and a snack and settle in!
We are having several major sleep (Mommy AND baby!). In short, DD (Mary, 6 months) will NOT sleep thru the nite – not even close, and the longest she will sleep is three hours at nite...during the day, many times her naps are only 30-40 minutes long and she needs a lot of help getting back to sleep for naps. At least at nite, it only takes a binky re-insertion and a quick pat...here is some background:
-DD (Mary) is 6 months old and is exclusively breastfed, just recently starting solids for taste but so far, no more than maybe 1 tbsp has made it past her stubborn lips.
-She is in the 75th percentile weight-wise so is getting PLENTY of milk and I have not had any issues with nursing
-She has been on EASY since she was just a few days old.
-I have a 4 year old DD who was an EASY baby (also exclusively nursed) and we had great success with her that I was determined to go the EASY route with #2.
-Mary uses a binky to sleep. We avoided it for the first few weeks but she had such a strong sucking need we gave it to her and she still uses it still...now, she only uses it in her bed at nap & bedtime but i KNOW it has become a prop (DD#1 sucked her thumb so we didn’t have to even go the binky route with her). Oh, she DOES not use one at nite after feeds (probably b/c she is so tired) but she does need it at night wakings when she does not need to be nursed.
-Her naps are lousy. Usually sleeps 35-40 minutes and wakes up unless she’s REALLY REALLY tired - then she may go 1 – 1 ˝ hours. I’ve tried “wake to sleep” and had some success but many times I end up waking her up and upsetting her. When I DO catch her in time to try wake to sleep, it did seem to work but now she’s active and rolls on her side, then grabs at her binky, my hands, anything and that seems to stimulate her more. I DO keep her room dark and her eyes shaded so she can’t see me. Then I end up patting and shushing until she falls asleep (if I stop too soon she wakes up even angrier). She may wake again and we repeat. Eventually and most times she will end up sleeping for another good stretch so she is obviously tired and DOES neep to sleep.
-We use pat/shush but I think that has become a prop as well as we pat/shush her to SLEEP, not just to quiet.
-She will not sleep without a pacifier (unless we are in the car which rarely happens during her naps as I try my hardest to me home for those times but I also have a four year old daughter so that makes being home all the time hard)
-We have a great wind down routine – lights low, change diaper, give her the binky, rock in the rocker, put her down drowsy (but, yes, sometimes I DO rock her to sleep unintentionally) and off she goes (usually) BUT then the 40 minute mark comes and she’s up and we go thru our battles once again.
Things I know it is NOT:
- hunger - she can EASILY go 3-4 hours between feeds during the day and at LEAST 6 hours at nite.
- teething – when she wakes after a short nap and during the nite, they are the ONLZY time she cries! She is so happy and content otherwise, and I know it’s b/c she is on EASY.
- growth spurt - either she is going thru a six-month-long growth spurt or that’s not it - she has been doing this way to long and way too consistently for it to be a growth spurt.
Routine:
Ok, I’m kinda stumped here b/c I thought EASY babies didn’t follow the clock yet I see lots of posts here of EASY babies WITH time schedules so
Anyway, here is a typical day:
E - Anywhere between 8 and 9am Wake, nurse for about 15 minutes
A – bouncy seat, floor play, exersaucer for about an hour to an hour and a half
S – Usually around 10-10:30am or after she’s been up for about an hour and a half, will sleep for 1-2 hours, usually waking in between at some point
E – Anywhere between Noon and 1PM. Nurse for about 15-20 minutes
A – same as above or go for a walk, run errands, etc
S – Usually around 2 or 2:30pm, will sleep for 1-2 hours, usually waking in between at some point
E - Anywhere between 3:30 and 4:30 for about 15-20 minnutes
A – same as above
S – Usually around 6, for about an hour, TOPS
E – Anywhere between 6:45 and 7:15 for about 15-20 minutes
A – same as above, when she does get a bath, this is when we do it
S – Usually goes down between 8:30 and 9pm
E – Anywhere between 10am and midnite – this is usually her best stretch of uninterrupted sleep
S – right back to sleep after E
Ok, then the fun part for me - she will typically wake up 2-3 times between 2am and 4am, is easily settle with a binky then she will wake up around 5am to nurse, goes right back to sleep until around 8am...Rinse and Repeat
I feel bad saying this but last week she was sick and slept GREAT (during the day that is) – I would put her down for a nap and she’d go 1 ˝ hour to 2 hours straight for her first two naps and is was GREAT! But now she’s better and back to her old ways. This is killing me! I manage MAYBE 2 hours of sleep at a time (napping during the day is next to impossible for various reasons) and it’s not great for my milk supply and my overall well-being. I am a stay-at-home Mom (I also have my own work-from-home part time business though) it’s ME getting up at nite, not DH since we agreed it’s more important for him to be well-rested for his very demanding full-time job...yeah, I regret that agreement!
So, to summarize, how do I get her to sleep thru the nite or even come CLOSE to that? I'd be happy with a FOUR hours stretch! How do we get rid of the binky? What the HECK went wrong with how we approached EASY with this baby? DD #1 was a snap! She fell asleep on her own, self-soothed, napped and slept thru the nite like a champ! I think she was going 11-12 hours STRAIGHT by this age
Thanks for listening and please help!!!
