Check in: naps, nighttime feedings, and sleeping(long)

hlz128 · April 2016

DS will be five months tomorrow and we've been working on some new things and we've had some issues so I thought I'd check in and see where everyone was.
Naps we have been trying to do about three a day. He's up for the day around 7 or 8 then naps around 9:30-10, 11:30-12, and then around 2-3ish. He will nap for about 30-45mins but will only nap on the boob. If I lay him down he wakes up within 5mins and refuses to go back down. I've tried laying him down full and tired and letting him cry himself out but I hate it so much!
As for nighttime feedings he is still up 2 or 3 times a night. Does that sound about right for everyone else? We do bedtime at 6 and nurse for about an hour to an hour and a half so he's in bed by 7-7:30. He currently sleeps in his RNP but I've been trying to transition to his crib with little success.. I can get him in it for maybe the first two hours of the night and then he's up and wakes up every single time I lay him back down in it and it's an all night battle until I cave and put him back in the RNP. Any advice or tips for the transition? How's everyone else's little ones doing?

VexedMommy · April 2016

Bridget is like your little guy, up 3 times a night still to eat. However, we've managed to transition to the crib from the swing for night time. I put her down drowsy/asleep (If she's asleep, she wakes up enough to be drowsy when I lay her down.) and then let her roll/talk/fuss until she's asleep. I do let her fuss it out, but not cry it out. Once it escalates to crying, I pick her up. It helps to have music in the room and I have a little projector thing that shows stars on the ceiling and changes color. Sometimes she stares at that.

Peanut1128 · April 2016

My son is 19weeks today. He wakes up around 6:30am and usually naps 2-3 times per day. 3rd nap is always short and usually in a swing or I have to hold him. He goes to bed at 7:30, and wakes up to eat between 1am-3am but also will wake up 1-4 other times just to cry.
We are working on a modified CIO at his pediatriciana suggestion. She said to let him cry for up to 10 minutes and then try and soothe him without picking him up for 1-2 minutes. This will help him learn to self soothe. He actually puts himself to sleep after less than 5 minutes of crying at bedtime but he still wakes up throughout the night.

AmoLovesAud · April 2016

LO is 20 weeks. 1 to 2 feeds per night. Always at 4 or 5am, but sometimes we throw in another one sometime around 1-3am. Depends how the day went. That's not to say she sleeps through the night, though. We're in the throws of a sleep regression so she's up a lot, grouchy but not hungry. We're working on doing all we can to soothe her without picking her up first. If you catch her before she's up all the way and offer a binky or rub her tummy, she usually nods back off without much trouble.

Naps are all over the place. 3 a day, but they vary widly. She'll sleep for a good hour or 2 on my lap, but I'm trying to break that habit. Never lasts more than 20 minutes in the crib, and we have to put her down asleep, she won't fall asleep on her own in the crib. Will do about 30 mins in the car or swing or a wrap. If more than 1 nap is over an hour, particularly the last nap of the day, night time gets rough. I've at least broken the need to nurse to sleep for naps, but we still nurse to sleep for bedtime. I'm okay with that habit and leaving it for now.

SJFTCA · April 2016

LO will be five months old in six days. He wakes at 7, naps at 9 and 1 for an hour and a half to two hours each. He may or may not take a late afternoon or evening catnap around 5. Both long naps are in the crib, as is nighttime sleep. The evening catnap, if it happens, is usually in car seat/stroller while being walked or out and about in the car, or occasionally while being held (only for the evening catnap). For naps and bedtime, I read LO a book and then rock briefly, but he goes into crib before he is fully asleep. He's accustomed to this now.

LO goes to bed at 8. He's been in his crib and on some sort of schedule since he was three weeks old. While I know this is unpopular here, he has been STTN since two months, so I'm pleased. For his four month regression (at least I guess that's what it was), he would wake up around 4 or 5 and fuss off and on for a bit, but we basically let him CIO. He always gives me a big grin when I go to get him up in the mornings and after his naps, so I think he's fine :-). Our pedi said that the regression is a totally normal part of growth and development and no amount of extra feeding/soothing will really "fix" it; he pretty much said to just ride it out. LO is such a sweet, happy, and thriving baby that I haven't regretted our choices to put him in the crib and on a schedule for a single second. Even for those who disagree w scheduling so early, I hope that you may consider some type of schedule now that LO is older; it really has made life easier for everyone involved (LO, husband, babysitters (grandparents)).

snowflake143 · April 2016

Has anyone successfully adjusted bedtime for their LO? He goes to sleep for the night at 11ish, and doesn't get up for the day until 10:30ish, with several wake ups through the night. It's my natural sleep cycle too so I'm ok with it being fairly late but I'd really prefer his schedule to be like 9pm - 9am. Any suggestions?

kdoak2015 · April 2016

snowflake143 said:

Has anyone successfully adjusted bedtime for their LO? He goes to sleep for the night at 11ish, and doesn't get up for the day until 10:30ish, with several wake ups through the night. It's my natural sleep cycle too so I'm ok with it being fairly late but I'd really prefer his schedule to be like 9pm - 9am. Any suggestions?

We just moved ours, as long as you continue with the same bedtime routine you should be ok. She's 7-7 or 8-8 depending on last nap of the day.

rachswi · April 2016

@hlaverett88 our kiddos are so similar. Although Zeke has been in his crib since 2 months, naps in the last few weeks are terrible. If we're lucky, he gets 3 45 minute naps in, but lately they've been more like 2-3 30 minute naps after almost an hour of trying to put him down each time (and generally a string of expletives running through my mind and occasionally out loud).

He had been sleeping 7-7 with only 2 wake ups to eat but the last few days he's been waking up 4-7 times and wanting to eat each time. I think he may be experiencing a growth spurt. That or his teeth are bothering him since he hasn't cut them yet.

Im really glad to know I'm not alone. As annoying and difficult as it is, I'm glad others are facing sleep troubles and crap nappers. I've been so tempted to let Zeke CIO (I would let him fuss if he didn't immediately get to blood curdling screams). I just keep reminding myself that this too shall pass, and eventually he'll sleep. It may not be till he's a teenager but he'll sleep.

ShianeNicole · April 2016

My LO sleeps about 1030/11 to 8 straight through. She hasn't eaten in the middle of the night for about 2 months. ( working on a earlier bedtime ) However, she DOES not do well with naps. We've been trying to have her take naps in her crib to make the transition to the crib, at 6 months, easier. Well she does not go for that. She sleeps about 20 to 30 mins and still rubs her eyes and screams when she gets up. She also is not at the point where she can have 2 or 3 naps. She sleeps every hour and a half still. I wish we could get to the point where age does 3 two hour naps. But I am NOT complaining. She does awesome at night, I know we're blessed.

mrsgabus · April 2016

Anna is almost 4 1/2 months and sleeps approx 10pm-8am.

Her naps depended on the day but usually consist of two short 30 minutes naps and one 2 hour nap. Shorter naps can be done in her crib or floor or pretty much anywhere. The longer one tends to happen in her swing

I'd rather get 3 one hour naps but she's fairly good at night so I won't com

doodleoodle · April 2016

LO is 5 months. She recently has started waking up between 6-6:45 AM regardless of when bedtime is, prior to that she was sleeping 8PM-8AM. To accommodate her I've started her bedtime routine at about 6 PM so that she is *hopefully* asleep by 6:30 PM. She usually wakes around 12:30-2 to eat and sometimes again around 4. Naps are terrible. I would LOVE to have a schedule and I would LOVE for her to sleep in her crib ever, but she's not ready. She starts getting sleepy about after 1-1.5 hours of wake time. We follow bedtime routine for naps and she will sleep for about 30-45 minutes. If when trying to get her to nap she starts really crying and getting upset, or if it has been 45 minutes and she is still awake, I'll put her in the wrap and then she'll nap 1-2 hours usually.

liba526 · April 2016

Mine still wajes up every 2-3 hrs to feed. He goes to sleep 7:30 am and wakes up around 6; he used to wake up at 7 but last couple of nights it's 6- I usually have to change him at this time cause he pees through his clothes. Naps r not great, he always take 1 hr nap in the morning, and sometimes 45 minutes bsp in the afternoon. He usually fights the third one. The problem is we are usually not home in the afternoons and he has a hard time sleeping in the car, but we're trying to make them more consistent. I would love to have a schedule and tried to leave him to fuss but he mainly wakes up screaming at night, and he always feeds. I don't feel comfortable w the CIO with him yet even though I did a modified CIO w my younger son. But I might try it in a month if he still wakes up several times at night.

hlz128 · April 2016

@AmoLovesAud how did you go about breaking the nurse to nap habit? The only time he ever falls asleep without nursing is if we are in the car, carrier, or stroller.
@SJFTCA I've been doing a lot of reading into sleep training and that's what we've been working now towards. I'm glad it's worked so well for you.
@rachswi you're definitely not alone! Valkin is a screamer too most of the time when we try the CIO. I've been trying the wait 2mins go soothe, wait 5mins go soothe..then 8 then 10 and if after 10 he's still mad I get him. It's extremely hard and I've only done it a few time but every time it's awful!

SJFTCA · April 2016

@hlaverett88 I should mention that LO is FF, so I know that helps some with his sleep, but I have a friend who followed the same schedules, and whose LO is BF, and she had the same success. LO was sleep trained and nap trained. If you can get through 3-5 days of either, hopefully LO will adapt.

@snowflake143 I have only moved LO's bedtime 30 mins at a time, so I would suggest possibly doing it gradually, esp if you're trying to adjust to two hours earlier. I would try to make sure that LO doesn't nap too late in the evening or too close to his/her bedtime. My LO goes to sleep by 8, and his last nap is around 5, at the latest, and is only a catnap of 30 mins or so (some days he doesn't even take it, which means his last nap ends at 3). We follow an hour long bedtime routine of bath, PJs and diaper change, singing, reading, bottle, and then sleep sack, white noise, brief rocking, and down in crib.

Elyse1384 · April 2016

DD sleeps about 7:30/8 - 6 without waking most nights. This week she has been waking up once in the middle of the night as we are transitioning her to the crib and she isn't the biggest fan. Luckily for the past week or so she has made great strides in falling asleep on her own. It's about 50/50 at this point. Once she escalates to crying, we spring to the rescue (I personally don't believe in CIO). Her naps on the other hand??? Crap. Some days she takes 4 30min long naps throughout the day. Other days she takes a couple of very long naps. Some days she fights sleep completely. I honestly don't mind and can't bitch about it because she sleeps so well at night.

DS on the other hand was a shit sleeper. Around this age he was up every 3 hours to eat during the night and needed lots of help falling asleep until 6-7 months. Since around 6-7 months he became a champion sleeper.

We don't treat DD any differently than we did DS in terms of routine at night. Just goes to show every baby is different and has different needs. No one size fits all approach so no one should beat themselves up if naps or nighttime sleep prove a challenge. This too shall pass everyone!

poupoule · April 2016

I am glad this post appears it will save me to create another one. Ariane was sleeping throught the night since a month and a half (and started 5-6 hours stretches at 5weeks). From 9 to 8am. She is exclusively fed with breastmilk, but during the day I am at work so it is a bottle instead of my breast.
Weight gain is/was great: at her 4 month check up she was 17.5lbs and 26.5in. She is now 19 weeks.
For the past 3 weeks she first started to move up her bedtime toward 7-8pm, she started waking up once, then twice and now 3 times per night, at 1 3 and 5 am, sometimes even 7. She is hungry, she just eats for 20 min both breasts every time and falls asleep right away.... Because at the same time, during the day, she now barely eats at the bottle, yesterday she took 5oz between 9am and 4pm and today only 3oz !!!! Has it happened to anyone ? Any suggestions? I ordered another kind of bottle if the solutions is that easy but I am quite perplexed....

Ceridwen77 · April 2016

DD was recently sick and waking 6+ times a night. She's feeling better now and is back to waking 2-3x a night. She's awake only long enough to eat and falls asleep very easily. She typically goes down between 7-8pm and can wake anywhere between 6:30-9am.

She takes 3 naps a day. First two are while I'm at work and are typically 30min to maybe 1hr if they're lucky. Last nap is with me when I pick her up (either falls asleep on car ride home or shortly after we get home). This nap is typically longer, around an hour, but can last 2+hrs

bellie1223 · April 2016

Mine is not on much of a schedule, usually takes a short mid morning nap, then a longer one (1-2 hours) about noon, and another short one in the late afternoon. We aim to start bedtime routine around 6:30 and put her down in the crib. Sometime's she'll sleep 4-6 hours that first stretch and sometimes it's only two. I usually move her to the pnp when I go to sleep, she's only been waking up once in the middle of the night to eat but then she's up for the day between 5-6am, wish she'd sleep in a little later!! I want to start transitioning her to sleeping full time in her crib now that she's not getting up as often to eat, but I'm a little nervous those first few nights will be awful.

AmoLovesAud · April 2016

@hlaverett88 a combination of pacifier (I hold her the same way I would to nurse, just pop that in instead), a teething necklace for me (holding on to something attached to me seemed to help), and a designated nap blanket (might not have use now but I'm hoping if I'm consistent it'll be the magic toddler nap blanket someday. Though keeping kiddo a little extra warm seems to help bring on and keep sleep). It was hard, but we needed to do it bc 1 she was in a bad habit of 'snack nursing' for a few mins every 90 mins all day, never getting totally hungry or full but expecting food all the time, and 2 she started getting pissed off when she'd finish eating and was still awake, bc she barely knew any other way to fall asleep. Now she actually eats at every nursing session, every 3 hours or so.

Peanut1128 · April 2016

@poupoule I have heard of this happening when BFing moms return to work. It's called reverse cycling.

https://kellymom.com/bf/normal/reverse-cycling/

poupoule · April 2016

@Peanut1128 indeed... 2.5 oz only today

my freezer will explode

Ceridwen77 · April 2016

poupoule said:

@Peanut1128 indeed... 2.5 oz only today my freezer will explode

This happened to us. DD was only eating 2-5oz a day for about 2 months. She was waking to have full nursing sessions 4-6x a night. I didn't do anything to change this, just went with the flow even though nights were tough. Well over the last two weeks she's made the change herself. Today at daycare she ate 20oz!! I too thought my freezer would overflow but now I have the opposite problem. It will work itself out in time. Good luck.

poupoule · April 2016

@Ceridwen77 thanks, glad to see you survived ahah ! Will ride it out too, I enjoy the cuddles I will admit, and at least she is fast asleep!

jdal1206 · April 2016

LO had been sleeping through the night 9pm till about 9am until we moved him into the other room (he is too big for his cosleeper!) and I started a new job...now he is in bed by 7pm and up at least twice to eat and at least 1 time because he has rolled onto his tummy and has "forgotten" how to roll back over. Once he eats he usually goes back to sleep and the times between waking is usually about 4hrs so I'm getting a little sleep but boy do I miss those long sleep filled nights. LO usually gets up at 6am which during the week is fine since I have to be at work by 8 so I'm able to BF once before we leave and then I'm pumping once or twice while at work. To the PP who posted about reverse cycling in terms of BFing thank you, LO has taken the bottle ok but I don't think he's eating as much as he normally would which probably explains the more frequent feeds at night! Oh and napping now stinks during the day, my DH is now a SAHD and he is working on better naps for LO during the day but most days he can only get him to nap for 30min twice...hopefully they can figure that out!

Sorry that went on for a bit!

ShianeNicole · April 2016

@snowflake143our LO goes to bed around 11 every night and sleep until 8am, eats, then goes right back to sleep until 10 or so. My husband works afternoons and gets off at 11. Hed do her last feeding then put her down for bed. Thats what she got used ro. I have been trying to move her bedtime for weeks now. I tried to put her to bed at 830/9 and she is NOT having it. She wakes up 3 or 4 times until 11 o'clock. Then I feed her again and she goes to sleep until 8. Let me know how it goes! We're still trying over here!

lanire · April 2016

I start the bedtime routine around 6:30 and he's usually asleep in the RNP around 7 - 7:30. Then he proceeds to wake up 3-8 times between 7 and 1am, but just needs a pacifier, shush, or some hand holding. Feeds between 1 and 3 and usually sleeps till 4. Another feed there. After that all sorts of fun starts. He'll wake up every 30 minutes, need pacifier checks or more feeds or other things. Sometimes we get to sleep till 7am with lots of interruptions and sometimes he's not going back to sleep after 5:30-6.

For naps, he sleeps very well in the stroller. If I keep walking, he can sleep well over an hour. He also sleeps in the swing. That sleep varies a bit. 30-60 minutes. If I put him in RNP for his nap, he'll wake up in 20-40 minutes. Flat surface just isn't happening. He is getting 3-4 naps during most days.

This week is my first week back at work and the night schedule is just going to kill me soon.

poupoule · April 2016

Reverse cycling update... After eating 2.5oz between 9 and 4pm, she only woke up once at 5:30am to eat. Not sure if its progress, I am glad I could sleep but stressed she is not eating,I froze 18oz yesterday! i will be careful of dehydration and see how it progresses this week. Crazy how little things can make us stress! She may be teething too... Or just growing slower...

hlz128 · April 2016

@AmoLovesAud I tried the pacifier technique and it worked! He has always refused a pacifier but he took it and it worked!! Thank you! Hopefully his success continues!! Haha

ColoradoHiker · April 2016

Rhys generally does three naps a day, two in the morning/ around lunch time and one in mid afternoon.

He just discovered tummy sleeping last week, and I just can't describe how amazing the difference is. Rhys was going to bed around 7-8pm, then waking up twice. Now he'll wake up anywhere from1-3am, and up for the day around 6am. For the record, I put him down on his back every time, but he flips himself onto his side or tummy.

smnewby · April 2016

We have had a total breakdown in getting lo to bed at night. She naps fine but at night screams when we leave the room. We have tried night lights, putting her down early to make sure she isnt overly tired, we had to ditch the sleep suite when she started rolling over. The place doesnt matter either. The swing used to be our fall back but now swing,crib,bed,rnp they are all equal fails! It can take 3+hrs to get her to sleep and it is always when she has exhausted herself from screaming hysterically while we attempt all the tricks in the book to soothe her. =(. Its horrible.

kdoak2015 · April 2016

smnewby said:

We have had a total breakdown in getting lo to bed at night. She naps fine but at night screams when we leave the room. We have tried night lights, putting her down early to make sure she isnt overly tired, we had to ditch the sleep suite when she started rolling over. The place doesnt matter either. The swing used to be our fall back but now swing,crib,bed,rnp they are all equal fails! It can take 3+hrs to get her to sleep and it is always when she has exhausted herself from screaming hysterically while we attempt all the tricks in the book to soothe her. =(. Its horrible.

Can you hold her until she's in a deep sleep?

smnewby · April 2016

@kdoak2015 I am sometimes able to hold her for ~30min after she is asleep in my arms and am able to sneak her into her room. But more and more often a few minutes after laying her down I will hear her screaming. Its almost like at that first sleep transition she must wake up and realize what I did.

I work so she is bottlefed expressed milk during the day. BFing seems to be the only thing that sedates her around bedtime.

kdoak2015 · April 2016

smnewby said:

@kdoak2015 I am sometimes able to hold her for ~30min after she is asleep in my arms and am able to sneak her into her room. But more and more often a few minutes after laying her down I will hear her screaming. Its almost like at that first sleep transition she must wake up and realize what I did.

I work so she is bottlefed expressed milk during the day. BFing seems to be the only thing that sedates her around bedtime.

I literally have to hold my DD for 45mins before I put her down, any sooner she will wake screaming and I have to pick her up and rock her again for another 20. sometimes I can sneak away after 30mins but it's rare. Hoping this passes as I don't want be stuck under my child all summer

.

rachswi · April 2016

@kdoak2015 and @smnewby - have you tried a heating pad on the crib? I've found that if I warm up the spot where LO is laying, he's much more likely to accept being laid down since he's not going from a warm body to a cold mattress. (It doesn't always work, but it's much rarer now for him to immediately wake up screaming)

SJFTCA · April 2016

I've read and been advised by my pedi to place LO down to sleep while drowsy but still awake. I totally had a hard time w it at first, but it really does make sense. If LO falls asleep in your arms and then awakes in a totally new place, he or she may be frightened and will have trouble learning to soothe himself or herself to sleep. I suppose you have to be willing for LO to possibly CIO, which is not for everyone, but IMO, it really is worth it to teach LO to self soothe. I know there are some arguments that babies can't self soothe until six months, but my pedi recommended starting this by three to four months.

And just to add, I realize that sometimes we just want baby to sleep regardless of how it happens. I totally get that. But IMO, the long game is more important. Just my two cents!

nycmommy13 · April 2016

Ours sleeps in his crib now for 10 hours from 8-6 after 20m of nursing and 10-20m of rocking. About once a week he'll wake up in the middle of the night around 3 or 4. He takes 3-4 naps that range from 30m to 2 1/2h but add up to about 4 hours. It's a lot harder to get him to nap on weekends when he's not at daycare. Basically it's either nursing him to sleep or taking him for a drive.

kdoak2015 · April 2016

rachswi said:

@kdoak2015 and @smnewby - have you tried a heating pad on the crib? I've found that if I warm up the spot where LO is laying, he's much more likely to accept being laid down since he's not going from a warm body to a cold mattress. (It doesn't always work, but it's much rarer now for him to immediately wake up screaming)

We bedshare so her space is warm
when I lie her down. She just takes a while to get into deep sleep and also had reflex so if I put her down any quicker she'll wake and spit up.

Lolo427 · April 2016

We've been struggling like woah here for sleep. We've gone to bed sharing. It used to be only at the 3-5 am wake up section we'd pull her in bed with us for a couple more hours. Last week she got a cold so we just kept her in bed from the get go, and she actually slept through the night instead of our usual every 2 or 3 hour wake ups. With sleep like that, it's so hard to fight the crib fight again. We've just kept her in bed, I'm concerned I'm not teaching her to self soothe and all that but it works. Naps are a whole other struggle too, we do usually 3 to 4 here with usually 2 or 3 45 minute ones and then 1 solid 90 minute to 2 hour nap....buttttt with me holding her the whole time.we have major sleep associations going on but I don't know how to break them. CIO is absolutely not an option as I'm not comfortable and the one time we sort to have to attempt out of necessity (crazy crazy crazy sick) she cried for a hour and a half with no signs of stopping. This week the goal is to attempt to put her down in the crib a couple times for naps, but I'm expecting a struggle. Sleep training sucks.

VexedMommy · April 2016

Lolo427 said:

We've been struggling like woah here for sleep. We've gone to bed sharing. It used to be only at the 3-5 am wake up section we'd pull her in bed with us for a couple more hours. Last week she got a cold so we just kept her in bed from the get go, and she actually slept through the night instead of our usual every 2 or 3 hour wake ups. With sleep like that, it's so hard to fight the crib fight again. We've just kept her in bed, I'm concerned I'm not teaching her to self soothe and all that but it works. Naps are a whole other struggle too, we do usually 3 to 4 here with usually 2 or 3 45 minute ones and then 1 solid 90 minute to 2 hour nap....buttttt with me holding her the whole time.we have major sleep associations going on but I don't know how to break them. CIO is absolutely not an option as I'm not comfortable and the one time we sort to have to attempt out of necessity (crazy crazy crazy sick) she cried for a hour and a half with no signs of stopping. This week the goal is to attempt to put her down in the crib a couple times for naps, but I'm expecting a struggle. Sleep training sucks.

Could you try giving her something special to hold like a lovey or stuffed animal while you're cuddling her to sleep and maybe play the same music each night? That way she can build more than one sleep association and so removing one won't remove all of her sleep associations. If she does build an association to a certain thing, buy multiples of it and switch it out every week or so!! Hell hath no fury like a tired toddler without their special items and a brand new one doesn't fool those little buggers.

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