So tired...

mcatmay

The sleep issues continue. Per you ladies' advice, I got the girl on a good nap/sleep schedule. For two golden weeks, she was sleeping at night 6-8 hours at a stretch, waking up to nurse, then sleeping another three to four hours. It was glorious.

Then...the two month vaccines came and all hell broke loose. She had a reaction to the rotavirus vaccine, had diarrhea for a week, but was still sleeping OK. Week 2, though, all of a sudden, she started waking up every couple of hours. We've now been going a solid week of going to bed at eight, waking up at midnight, then 2am, 4am, 5am, 6am and refusing to sleep past 6:30am (used to sleep till 7:30-8!!!!). At first, i thought she was hitting her 12 week growth spurt early but she's not really nursing. She wakes up, fusses, can't seem to self-soothe anymore and nurses for two seconds, falls back asleep until two hours later. Sleep and repeat.

Mom is exhausted. The night before last, since we're both getting crap sleep anyways, i decided to transition her from the RnP to her crib. She's done that flawlessly well - the sleep schedule remains unchanged. She's still napping fine during the day. 

What am i doing wrong? What HAVE i done wrong? Desperate for any suggestions - my lovely, wonderfully sleeping child is gone and mom is getting cranky.

AgrippaRidesAgain

For the first, oh, six months to a year, every time you think you get a nice sleeping pattern going, they change it up on you. My guess is that she is hitting a developmental milestone of some kind. I would just keep working on the drowsy but awake thing. Rock, nurse, whatever, until drowsy, then put her in bed. Wash, rinse, repeat until it sticks. It generally took both of my kids 3-5 tries each waking until it worked. I also waited about 5 minutes before leaping out of bed to see if they could sort it out on their own, as long as they weren't wailing.

QueSrah

It doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong.  Infants are exasperating in that sleep schedules go to pot for no apparent reason.  She might be working on some milestone, she may not quite feel right... it's hard to tell in a baby so little.  If she was on a good sleep schedule for a while, it's possible she'll go back to that on her own when she works through whatever she's working on learning now.

I wasn't blessed with a good sleeper, so from my (jealous) perspective, it often seems like moms of early good sleepers get that good sleep back relatively quickly - within weeks rather than months.

tomandcourt

I just wanted to echo pp and say that *you* are doing nothing wrong. It's tough to hear but at two months, babies' sleep schedules are still in flux.

She's two months two weeks right now, but wasn't she a week or two past her due date? In terms of milestones, that would probably put her right around the 12-week growth spurt, which could explain why everything's gone to pot. The waking up without needing to nurse definitely sounds like a growth spurt.

Sometimes a pacifier helped us with those wakeups since it meant J was soothed and fell asleep pretty quickly (but that was also at the age before he could put it back in by himself, so I don't know if you want to try that or not).

Good luck! It seems like they're neverending but growth spurts do end, usually in a few days to a few weeks at most. And I bet you'll get your good sleeper back!

 

Sofka

you are not doing anything wrong! 6hrs at this age is amazing!! mine didn't do that until 10.5mo (DD) and 14mo (DS) so I think your DD is actually sleeping really well. And waking up at 6:30 is very normal. On weekends my kids will often wake up before 6am and I can see it just getting worse w/ the upcoming time change.

Just take care of her needs and it's possible she'll get back on schedule soon. The 1st 6mos are really really exhausting. Try to nap when she naps (I never could but maybe you can).

 

mcatmay

Thank you all for the encouragement - i think i just got spoiled and now am tired after going back to the previous schedule. You all mentioned the developmental milestones - she HAS been absolutely determined to try and sit up over the past week (not that she's REMOTELY close, mind you - but whenever she's lying at an angle in my lap, she does 'baby crunches' and insists until you sit her up so that she can look around) - maybe that has something to do with it. She's otherwise bright and cheerful when she wakes up so i guess i should just coast with it and see where it brings me.

 I didn't realize that babies transitioned in and out of good sleep pattern - i think that's what was so discouraging! Hopefully she'll find her old (good) sleeping pattern back again. Hopefully sooner rather than later ;-)

Sofka, I'm like you - i can't seem to nap when she naps - i look at the house and see a million and one things to do which can be done quickly when she naps... Maybe one day i'll get to a point where i can but so far, no dice.