Didn't want to have to go here, but think its time. . .

[kim&savannah]

Sami~We're kind of between the two--he absolutely can't make it to 2 hours before his first nap--my attempts to stretch that have usually totally backfired and he wakes after 30 min.  But he had recently started being able to go about 2 hours between the rest of his naps, so if I can get the 2 hour nap we're on a 4 hour easy. 

Basically, I've been aiming for at least 3.5 hours, 4 if he can make it.  Today has been 3.75-4 hours for feeding, but his naps have all been less than an hour--we had to go out this a.m., so got off sch.


So, do you think I should take the paci away now, or wait until we have the routine down really well and see how his sleep is doing at that point?  I'm just trying to figure out what order to do all these steps in. 

Oh, and I'm pretty sure that he has issues with dairy and possibly soy.  I've eliminated them both a couple different weeks in the last month and wasn't sure, but I realized that Tues night was bad and was exactly 24 hours after I'd added some dairy back in--and he's been much harder to settle and more grunting/thrashing around while sleeping--and has been spitting up a ton more, so I'm off dairy again as of today--jsut have to wait for it to clear from our systems, but I hope that some of this is because of that and will fix itself.

~Kim

[CharLie979]

Jumping in here but you mentioned increased wakings at about 4.5 months. have you considered that it may be/have been a growth spurt? Maybe tanking him up during the day will help. I totally missed the mark on my LO 18wk growth spurt, but in hindsight you can definately tell.

[kim&savannah]

I don't think that's it because he hasn't seemed particularly hungry--in fact, it seems as if he has less interest in eating lately.  I do think he had a growth spurt just before he hit 4 months--he wanted to eat more at that point.  But now he just doesn't seem comfortable--thus, why I'm eliminating dairy and soy.  But I do always wonder about the growth spurts--I haven't ever had an easy time distinguishing them with either of my kids.

~Kim

[CharLie979]

He may seem less interested because his eyesight is now so much better that the world becomes more interesting. I can barely get my LO to sit still to feed anymore and it started at that age.  I had to start super switching just to make sure she was getting a full feed. If you're considering eliminating dairy and soy you should also consider wheat and glutens. They are also highly allergenic. I hope this improves for you. I'm going through the same thing pretty much.

[momofclaire]

How's it going kim?

[kim&savannah]

OK.  Nothing great.  I have been able to extend his naps today, but he's pretty fidgety--I've had to do a lot of patting, and for a long time to get him to settle.  And the first nap, he only slept another 20 min. after that (1.5 hour nap total) which is always a little frustrating. 

Nights. . .well, I won't go there right now.  I'm giving it a few days to get the dairy out of my system and then we'll start the sleep training--I'm thinking next weekend seems good.  And I'm guessing we'll need to chuck the paci at the same time, but that is really scary to me since using it makes him go to sleep like a dream at the beginning of each nap and night.  if he would just stay asleep. . .

~Kim

[momofclaire]

Keep us posted.  Good luck. Myia

[Clairead]

Hi thought I would just jump in on this post as I'm going through exactly the same thing.  My little boy is 4mths old and is a very bad sleeper, particularly at night.  He used to sleep really well up until he was 10wks old but now wakes up at least every hour if not more during the night and I am completely shattered.  He is on a good 4hr easy with feeds and A time but I do have a battle with daytime naps. The morning nap can be 1.5hr but the lunch time nap and afternoon nap are a real struggle and it's 45mins or an hour at most and that is with patting etc to try and extend it.

I also use a dummy (I'm in the uk so paci to you if you are american) and I think it has become a prop so tonight we are starting the gentle weaning process.  He has gone down now at 7pm without it and I'm sitting here with fingers and toes crossed!!!  If he wakes I will try and soothe him without the dummy or use the suggested method of taking it out as he enters stage 2 of sleep and see what happens - it could be a long night! My dh and I have decided that we are going to stick this out for the next 3 nights, sleep or no sleep and see what happens.

One other thing we are doing is seeing an osteopath as we had a difficult birth. They believe he has suffered because of it and it has made him a very jumpy and light sleeper which is adding to our problems.  If anybody else has any suggestions then I'd be interested to hear them and I will let you know how we get on tonight.

Claire