11.5 Week Old back to waking twice per night

[shoemom]

Last night was much better! After 2 short morning naps, Adam slept for 2 hours for his afternoon nap (tried W2S again and it worked). We went to my parents after that, and being such a social and alert boy, Adam wouldn't sleep until the car ride home (20 min.) He ate last at 7pm and I had planned on not doing the dreamfeed, but he woke up crying and hungry at 10:45, and ate 5 oz. Woke again at 2:15 (offered him 4 oz, and he took 3). He didn't wake until 6:45 (heard a peep from him at 5:30 but put himself back to sleep ) He also didn't seem as hungry yesterday, and took in 36 oz versus 41 (I know it's alot, but we weighed him at my parents and he's a whopping 17 lbs!)

I'm wondering now if waking him for the DF (or him waking when hungry) is a better plan for him. Has anyone heard of doing it that way? I tried waking him once before, and he then slept till 3:45am (but that was also 2 weeks ago and he wasn't in a growth spurt).

Shanlbc-how did your night go? Did the black out shades help? We also use black out drapes and a fan for white noise (our vapourizer died from overuse!)

Stacy-the conair sound machine looks like an excellent investment! Perfect for bringing on vacation and to the grandparents

[shanlbc]

Shoemom--2hr nap!  I am envious!  And 17lbs!  My 12.5 pounder is a squirt next to your guy!!!

Well last night was better...he did not take a full feed at 645pm so he woke at 923 before the DF.  But he took 4.5oz and went right back to sleep.  He woke again at 145 then again at 6am instead of 5am.  I am not sure if it was the shades or just the later middle of the night feed.  I should've just kept him up but my new nanny wasn't coming until 8am and I wanted her to see how I put him down for naps so I wanted him to be able to stay awake until she got to the house.  Well, I guess I thought he would sleep until 7am if I fed him a little.  Didn't work, he wouldn't go back to sleep and would only take 3 oz at 7am.  Our whole day has been a series of 45min naps and overtiredness and early feeds.  And I had been bragging to the new nanny about how easy he is!  Oh, well, I can't blame him for me trying to jack around with the routine.  But even when he was fussy he was so cute and she had him laughing out loud within 5 min.  It makes me feel a lot better about going back to work.

We have nature sounds on our clock radio but they are a little irritating.  I may try them again so I will still have some life in the vaporizer this winter when I really need it!

Tonight's plan--get him to take a full feed at 7pm and a full DF.  He hasn't done both on the same night in a while.

Shoemom--are you asking about actually waking him and turning the lights on at the DF instead of trying to keep him asleep?  I saw someone post on another thread that some other book recommended that...I am not sure if my LO would go back to sleep.  Which is a scary thought!

[shoemom]

Hi Shanlbc, I can't believe you're going back to work already! I live in Ontario and we get a full year off with our LO I hope everything goes well with your LO and your nanny; it sounds like they get along real well already!! At least last night was better for you too (a bit more sleep for the 2 of you!).

Yes, I was considering waking him for the DF. I wanted to skip it all together last night (on the advice of Stacy) but he woke anyway. I don't turn up the lights though; whenever I feed him in the night I turn the bathroom light on so just a little light comes in his room (cause for sure he wouldn't go back to sleep-playtime!) and I don't talk too much or make too much eye contact (again, because he's so spirited he'd be in giggles and all riled up!). Tonight I'll let him wake me up again (which I'm sure will be around 10 or 11pm). He napped very well today (2 long naps in the morning with a little help from mommy to get him past the 45 min. mark!) but isn't eating much at all. Do you recall where this thread was about waking for the DF? I'd like to see what they have to say about it.

Well, gotta go; thanks a bunch for the support and encouragement!!!

[shanlbc]

Hi Shoemom.  I can't remember where I saw the "turning the lights on" thing but I am still looking.  There was this in the March/April 2007 thread, though.

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=69789.msg888418#msg888418

If it doesn't take you right to the correct post, look at the last couple of pages and there is a really long post that someone copied about early waking.   It's really interesting!

I AM SO ENVIOUS that you get 12 mos maternity leave!!!!!  How does that work?  Does your employer have to give you the same job back?  While I was pregnant I never thought about not wanting to go back to work but now I am really worried about missing DS.  I am very, very fortunate, though...my nanny is my ex MIL and I love her to pieces.  She took care of my 16 year old when she was a baby and so I feel like I am lucky that she is in a place where she can take care of my DS.  My ex and I have a great relationship--he is like a brother to me and his wife is one of my best friends.  They have a four year old who was a flower girl at my wedding to my new husband Feb 2006.  My own parents are both deceased and my MIL is a much better "grandmother" than my current MIL.  She doesn't even like to hold DS.

One reason I am still working is because 16 year old girls are quite expensive!  I might not go back if it wasn't for that.  But I am not "blaming" my DD.  She is a wonderful girl and I want to give her everything I can.  Also, I work from home 2 days per week and have lots of flexibility on the other days.  I really can't complain.  But in my next life I might have to move to Canada!!

Anyhow, tonight's plan is working so far.  DS took a full feed at 645pm and went to bed at 730 which is a half hour early for him...but we had a horrible nap day and he was really tired.  He fell asleep after about 15 min of shhh (no pat, he hates it!) which is pretty good for him.

Keep me posted on your night...BTW--my name is Shannon!

[shoemom]

Hi Shannon, Tell your DD I like her name- I'm Jessica too! It's nice to have family to watch your kids when you go back to work-my mom may be able to watch my DS, but not full time as her health isn't the greatest and my mil still works (and her health isn't the greatest either ) Here in Canada they pay unemployment for 12 months for maternity/paternity leave. It's not very much money, but my work (union) tops up my first 6 months off to 83% of my pay. So it's a pretty good deal, and yes I have my job when I go back!

Well, I think someone possessed my DS last night in a very good way He had dinner at 6:45, to bed by 7:30, and then didn't wake at all until 3:00 am!!! A full 8 hour stretch-that's a first! I was just going to feed him whenever he woke (so I wasn't going to wake him for the DF) and around 10pm I heard a little peep but that's it. Then some rustling around midnight, but didn't wake! He took 6oz at 3am, and then another 4 oz at 7am when he woke! Finally a breakthrough, but I shouldn't jinx myself. I know he had a couple good naps, but I honestly think skipping the DF is what helped (quite often he's gassy or spits up after eating and I'm sure that's what wakes him).

Shannon, I know it's hard to extend your Joshua's naps (it is for us too); have you tried Wake to sleep? It's not working all the time for us, but I figure he's gonna wake anyway, so I might as well try it. I go in after he makes his first stirring sounds and touch him lightly on his cheek. He stirs again, and then sometimes goes back to sleep. My guy also hates patting, and lately I don't even shhh. I find he's best if I do our winddown routine (quiet play for 15 min, they into his room with lights dimmed, quiet music on, swaddle and hold for a bit), and then I just put him down and leave. For the first couple weeks I would stay crouched over his crib, holding his legs down (he thrashes them up and down!) and covering his eyes (even with blackout drapes he can still see me) to help him sleep. But now I have a major sore back, and he seems to sleep better with less intervention. Is your LO spirited as well? Maybe this would work too? (who knows, you've gotta try every trick in the book it seems!)

Thanks for the link (I'll check it out during Adam's next nap) and talk to you soon

Jessica

[shanlbc]

Our little guys sound a lot alike.  Josh seems to want less and less intervention.  Sometimes I have to sing to him to get him to initially calm down but then he really wants to find his own way to settle.

I talked to my ex-MIL/nanny about W2S and she is all for it.  She is afraid she will be bored anyway so she said she would be more than happy to sit in his room and try to keep him from waking so I hope that she will be able to do it for both of their sakes.

I had originally done w2s but he started sleeping all the way through for at least 2 naps so I stopped.  i could always get him back down for the third one too, but he has not had a full nap in about a week.  I wish I could pinpoint why.  He goes down for naps soooo easy...we have a similar wind down and he is so in tune with it that he sometimes falls asleep before I can even get him to the crib.  He takes a bit longer to settle for bed but I think it's because he has been up for a lot longer than between naps.  His daytime A limit is 1hr 15min, maybe 1.5 hrs if you really push him by taking him outside to look around or something.  But before bed he is sometimes up 1hr 45min.  I wish he could resettle as easy when he wakes up at 45 but he is so hard to get back down.  I hope w2s will work for my nanny.

Anyway, he took a full feed at 7pm so I am hoping that by pushing the DF to 1030 he will sleep until 4am and then again til 7am.  That is my dream!

So what do you think made him sleep the 8hrs?  My DS has only slept 6hrs twice so I really doubt if I didn't do the DF that he would get much past 1am.  And I really hate for his stretch to be while I am awake!  4am, that's all I'm asking for!

Let me know if he repeats tonight!

[shoemom]

Hi Shannon, last night didn't go as well but he did go almost 7 hours from dinner to his night feed. He woke at 1:45 for a feed, and then woke at 4;45,5:30,6:30, and finally 7:20 (gave him a soother every time). Must have been overtired from his crappy naps yesterday. Oh well, at least now without the dream feed I can go to bed earlier, and I'm thankful he goes back to sleep fairly easily! How has your Lo been sleeping and napping? Has your nanny started yet? That's nice that she wants to help in getting him to nap longer.

Well the weekend is here, we'll see how things go (my DH and I are going out Sat. night and my mom and dad are babysitting. He'll probably be hyper all night playing with them; lets see how long it takes to get him back on track!)

[shanlbc]

Hi Jessica (Shoemom)!  I have been so busy with going back to work that I am exhausted in the evenings and too tired to post!  But I have been looking through the night wakings topics to try to figure out why DS just won't sleep more than 4 hours at a time.  It has been such a challenge these past two weeks.  I know now that his 5am wakings were because of hunger but I just don't see why that first night feed (after DF) is getting earlier and earlier instead of later and later.  I have tried increasing his feeds during the day and he won't take more--as a matter or fact he is taking less at each feed!  He has taken less the past few days than ever and I don't know what to do.  He is also spitting up a bit more so I am wondering if it may be due to his refulx...

I keep tweaking one thing or another every night.  I have decided that I am not going to feed him if he wakes before 3am, just give him his paci and get him back to sleep.  That way he will sleep until at least 630am (in theory).  I do DF at 1030...surely he can go that long at 3mos!  I may start a new thread on this one because I can't seem to get him to eat any more during the day and I think that is why he is waking.

How is your DS doing with the 5am wake up?  I found the thread I was telling you about with turning the lights on at the dream feed...

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=93161.msg880677#msg880677

Let me know how it's going!

[shoemom]

Hi Shannon, sorry it's been so long;we had our computer out getting fixed. You must be exhausted with back to work and still alot of night wakings My little guy is still feeding in the night; a good night just once around 2ish (I dropped the DF and had that one really good night, but since then he keeps getting up earlier and earlier, so I started the DF again around 10:30). Last night was confusing though; Did DF at 10:45, then he was up 2 hours later! Nothing would send him back to sleep, he wasn't full out crying, but almost giggling/screeching like he does during the day (so annoying at 1 am!) So I gave in and fed him (by this time it was 1:30) and he took the full 6 oz!! ? Another growth spurt (he's 16 weeks next week). Anyway, I'm pretty much thinking I'll never get a full 8 hours sleep again, might as well just accept it

As for your LO not eating more in the day, could he need a higher dose of his reflux meds now that he's gained weight? I would check with his doctor (but my DS eats a TON-40 oz!- and is still waking for a night feed)

We've also started moving over to a 4 hour EASY; hopefully things will look better when we get there and his naps are more consistent!

Cheers, Jessica

[shanlbc]

Hi Jessica--as a matter of fact we went to the doctor last Thurs to talk about his feeding changes.  He had started fussing really bad at his afternoon feeds.  It looked like gas to me but the doc said he refulx is getting worse.  He is on the highest dose for right now so she suggested we split the dose to half in the morning and half in the evening instead of all in the evening.  She also wants to put him on a motility drug to empty out his stomach faster so he is not spitting up 1-2 hrs after hs feeds.  She said that could make him irritable so I told her we would need to wait...I am going on a business trip next Tues-Thurs.  My nanny is off because she is taking care of her granddaughter that week so DH will have DS all alone for 3 days!!!!!  We don't need any irritability issues with that coming up.

DS is a great baby so I really hate to mess that up.  The only time he is fussy is for two feeds a day--and not after the feed is over.  Hopefully splitting the dose will work well enough.

He woke up an hour early this morning so I thought I might experiment with a 3.5 hr EASY to see if that helps him eat more.  I kept him up 1hr 45min (he was mad!) and he slept 1hr 15min.  I rocked him back to sleep and he is still sleeping.  I need to go wake him up now...we'll see how it goes!