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Why is Her Sleep Getting Worse?
Can't believe I ever complained about Jackson's sleep. Olivia continues to wake up ever 2 1/2 to 3 hours at night and is now not going to 'bed' for the night until 11p.m. She just refuses. Still up at 6:30 a.m. 'for the day'. Takes a one-hour nap in the afternoon and then just a couple of 15 to 20 minute naps throughout the day.
I realize this time is short and she'll get better but I can't help but comparing to Jackson's nighttime sleep at this point and he was going to bed at 8, up twice in the night but rigfht back to sleep and then up at 8 for the day. And his cat-napping nonsense didn't start until around 6 months old. This. sucks. so. bad.
Words of encouragement would be great! Anything I can do at this point?
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Re: Why is Her Sleep Getting Worse?
where is she napping? because 1hr in all of that time is (clearly) not enough. have you tried a swing? would naps in her crib work more?
remember the 'four month wakeful'? could be that.
Do you feed down/feed before naps?
Four months is a good time to start developing a good bedtime routine- whatever you decide stick to it and do the same thing each time.
We used a swing. Daniel never slept. That whole babies sleep all day thing infuriated me. So did the this month or that month "wakeful". He started sleeping better at 5.5 months. We did a little Ferber on him around 6.5 months and got him down to one nursing session per night. He's 9 months now and this week (fingers crossed) e seems to have dropped it and is sleeping through the night.
Did she recently get worse? Daniel started teething at 3.5 months and got a tooth at 4. Is that a possibility?
What's going on in your house that neither one of your kids sleep? Is it noise from outside? Tension at home? Try and think what you could change. Maybe temp?
Not saying things aren't great at home, but using this as an example. My SIL had this exact problem for all three of her "crappy sleepers" from day one of their lives. A few months ago Dad left. Bam from that night on all three of them sleep all night and take naps.
My point kids pick up on really strange things. So things that might not bother you like outside noise and stuff, might be keeping them up.
Jackson is no longer a crappy sleeper. We did CIO about three months ago and now he sleeps like a dream. We just didn't want to impose that onto him.
As far as the environment - We're a very happy family, both outwardly and 'for real'. We live in apartments but they are extremely well-insulated (Like, crazy) and it's very quiet. I also have noise machines for the kids. DD may have more noise issues, though, because Jackson is 15 months and does quite a bit of yelling. So that is a bit chaotic.
I do swing, bouncer (on vibrate) and swing, depending on what seems like it will work. Sometimes she wants the botttle to go to sleep and sometimes just the pacifier. I try both to see what she wants and then go with that.
Totally forgot about the 4-month wakeful and I do need to try to develop a more consistent routine with her. I've just been doing everything on demand, going with the flow but she may be close to being ready for more structure.
Some people say they don't believe in the 4 mo wakeful- and that is all good and dandy- however I know BOTH of my kids went through it. Chase was UGLY during it- I think I was up nursing him 5x at night for a month (during his 4th mo- when he would only EVER get up only 1x a night) and he was hard as hell to put down. By 5 mo everything sorted itself out- by 6 mo we had a GREAT routine.
you just have to roll with it and watch for cues and try to help her get better with napping.
For me- I have definitely seen both kids nap practically all the time for the first 3 months- and by month 4 something just flips and its like, 'whoa- hello world- lets party.... but i am really cranky' And then they need help learning how to sleep and nap and rest.
This sounds right on and I can't believe I forgot about the 4-month wakeful already. It's astonishing how quickly you forget things like that. It's also time for a bedtime routine. She's still a newborn in my eyes and I need to snap out of it!
In your case, it sounds like a combination of the 4 month wakeful and the fact that your LO needs a better nap/bedtime schedule so that she gets more sleep in during the day. As the saying goes, sleep begets sleep. The more (and longer) naps she gets, the easier it should be to get her down for the night and the better she should sleep.
I agree completely. Start the sleep routine now. Both of my babies went from sleeping all the time as newborns to wide awake all day around 4 months. Such a pain, but this is when we started sleep training and got some semblance of a schedule. Rested baby = happy baby. Good luck!
I know my DD went through the 4 month wakeful (but she also had a 5 month one, 6 month etc lol). The only advice I have is sleep begets sleep. The more she naps the more she will sleep at night. DD is 2 and still doesn't STTN every night and only started STTN when she was 15 months old.
Do anything you can to get her to nap. I know if is hard with another child but does the car lulled her sleep or the stroller? Do whatever it takes to get her to nap. Once she is less overtired you can work on a schedule. I really liked this book, read the reviews, it really helped us :
https://www.amazon.com/Sleepeasy-Solution-Exhausted-Parents-Getting/dp/0757305601
Oh, dear. I'm so glad you posted this. I remember the early days with DD2 being hell on earth from months 4-8... in retrospect, was it 4 mo wakeful? What a dolt. If I'd have recognized that, maybe I could have done something about it.
Saving this thread to pull up when DS reaches 4 mos! GL with Olivia - no advice for you, I am no sleep expert, obviously.