7 Month old & Inconsistant Wakings

[bheemeryck]

I haven't been here in awhile... my girl has significantly improved her sleeping, but we still have the odd 2a.m. party, and I'm trying to figure out what to do about it?!

DD has 2 naps most days, here's our basic routine:

7:00 am wake and 5 oz bottle
7:30 solid food
9:00 am first nap
10:15 wake
11:00 6 oz bottle
12:00 solid food
1:00 second nap
3:00 wake and 5-6 oz bottle
5:00 solid food
6:15 bath, stories, bottle
7:00 bedtime
If she seems really tired or doesn't have a good afternoon nap she still sometimes has  a third nap.

She falls asleep really well on her own, she does use a soother for sleeping, I have two in her crib so she has a better chance of finding one. We have tried to cut out night feedings in the last month, as she does not really seem to be eating when I do offer her bm at night. However... when she does wake at 2 am, it's an almost guaranteed 1.5-2 hours before she'll go back to sleep, and most nights after listening to her for 90 minutes the little voice in my head says 'just feed her so she'll go to sleep'... and she always goes back to sleep after that. I suppose it may be an accidental parenting thing... however whether I feed her or not, she's awake at least 90 minutes. Not really crying, she plays for the first half hour, sings to herself, then starts to fuss a little, and it eventually escalates to a full out cry. I used to try going in to soothe her, it honestly just made her madder, so my husband and I chose to use the CIO method... either way she still cries. I've tried going in to resettle her as soon as she wakes, and leaving her totally... not matter what 'method' I try, she's still just 'awake' and can;t seem to resettle until 1.5 hours has passed.

Now this is not a problem we have everynight anymore, but it is at least a few times a week... and sometimes I think it's worse than everynight, because I'm on edge all night still, waiting for her to wake up, and not sleeping well anyway because I'm expecting the worst !! Is it something we're just going to have to outwait, or does anyone have any suggestions as to what we can change? I can almost see the sleep.... almost, and my weary brain wants more so badly!!

[Colin Macs Mom]

Well, the nighttime parties are normal in the sense that most LOs go through a phase like what you're describing. Not so much fun, I know!

I do think that you could use an adjustment in your routine since the last A time is quite long. I'd suggest moving nap #1 forward a bit to 9:30, and adjusting the other times accordingly. I think that would help balance the day a little more.

You probably already know that BW does not support CIO. I truly hope that you have not continued that method or are still thinking of it as an option.

[bheemeryck]

I do think that you could use an adjustment in your routine since the last A time is quite long. I'd suggest moving nap #1 forward a bit to 9:30, and adjusting the other times accordingly. I think that would help balance the day a little more.

I have played around with her A time for the first morning stretch, and she has a much longer morning nap if I put her down as soon as she seems tired. The last stretch is long, but she seems very content in the evenings for the most part, if she is very fussy I will put her down before 7:00, I think that her A times will be a bit of a balancing act for a bit since we just dropped the 3rd nap. I will continue to try to push her to stay awake longer, I remember this being a problem with my first baby too!!

[/quote]You probably already know that BW does not support CIO. I truly hope that you have not continued that method or are still thinking of it as an option. [/quote]

I know it's not a BW friendly method, but I tried for four months using BW techniques, and everytime I went into her room she would scream, and cry even harder when I left. I'm completely exasperated as nothing seems to work anyway... sometimes when you are sleep deprived you will try anything...

[Colin Macs Mom]

I have played around with her A time for the first morning stretch, and she has a much longer morning nap if I put her down as soon as she seems tired. The last stretch is long, but she seems very content in the evenings for the most part, if she is very fussy I will put her down before 7:00, I think that her A times will be a bit of a balancing act for a bit since we just dropped the 3rd nap. I will continue to try to push her to stay awake longer, I remember this being a problem with my first baby too!!

The transition from 3 - 2 naps is tough, for sure. So definitely keep trying to extend the A time a bit. Ideally, you want the morning nap to be the shorter one since it's an extension of night sleep. You want the pm nap to be longer because that's what really sustains LO through the day. But if she's doing well in the evenings despite the long A time that's great!

I know it's not a BW friendly method, but I tried for four months using BW techniques, and everytime I went into her room she would scream, and cry even harder when I left. I'm completely exasperated as nothing seems to work anyway... sometimes when you are sleep deprived you will try anything...

BW does require time, patience, persistence and consistency. All hard things to do! I understand the depth of sleep deprivation, believe me, but CIO doesn't teach LO anything except that you won't be there when he or she needs you. There's a gentler way, it's just a matter of figuring things out.