Sleep thread - Put it all here.

[carolyngrace]

I have a question and perhaps you do too. 

Oscar is dropping his third nap, and moving his 6pm bedtime EARLIER. Even last night when we basically forced a third nap (took 20+ minutes of crying to go down) he only slept 15 minutes and then got up super crabby and still wanted to go to sleep at 5:45pm.

Here's the schedule he's done the past few days:

6:00am - Awake
9 - 10am - Nap #1 (sometimes earlier)
12 - 1pm - Nap #2
5:30 - Bed

I would REALLY like closer to 7pm bedtime. Any suggestions on how to make this happen?? He's an absolute terror once he's tired and I can't see forcing him to stay awake. 

[sugarkissed]

No help, just following because we are dealing with the same thing.

I'm actually struggling to get her to nap at all since she's started standing up. She just stands and cries in her crib so we're back to the swing for naps.

[beersandweirs]

No advice, just commiseration, baby is doing the same thing. We mostly just try to keep her occupied until her normal bed time. We have tried to stretch out time between naps also, so there isn't such a long stretch at the end of the day for her to be awake.

[Deleted]

Feb 2, 2016 17:58:39 GMT -5 carolyngrace said:

I have a question and perhaps you do too. 

Oscar is dropping his third nap, and moving his 6pm bedtime EARLIER. Even last night when we basically forced a third nap (took 20+ minutes of crying to go down) he only slept 15 minutes and then got up super crabby and still wanted to go to sleep at 5:45pm.

Here's the schedule he's done the past few days:

6:00am - Awake
9 - 10am - Nap #1 (sometimes earlier)
12 - 1pm - Nap #2
5:30 - Bed

I would REALLY like closer to 7pm bedtime. Any suggestions on how to make this happen?? He's an absolute terror once he's tired and I can't see forcing him to stay awake. 

Maybe he is ready to push his 2nd nap back so try a 3 hour awake time between the first and 2nd nap. That way he can wake at 2 or 230 from the 2nd nap?

[belle0720]

Gianna has no schedule!

Wakes up anywhere from 7-9

If she wakes earlier she usually naps more or longer throughout the day. She usually takes 2 naps, sometimes 3.

Sometimes she falls asleep by 7 and will wake up in an hour or 2, nurse and go back to sleep. Sometimes she goes to sleep around 9.

She's unpredictable day to day. If she starts rubbing her eyes it's time for a nap.

ETA: Sorry, no advice on how to push bedtime later!

[carolyngrace]

belle0720, @jemomma, - Yeah I think you guys are right about pushing the 2nd nap later. It's easy to do that if we're on the go. However if we're at home it seems to be a combination of boredom and tiredness where he just gets so fussy after 2 hours I usually do a nap. Also, sometimes that nap is only like 45 minutes! I think if it were 12-2 it would be perfect. He would be charged up to make it to 6 (at least).

But yeah, I think that's what I'll focus on.

[carolyngrace]

belle0720, That's exactly how Oscar was until a couple of months ago. It was easier when he was more flexible and would take a 3rd nap when he needed one. Or if naps got cut short, hell, he'd take 4 of them!

[tiffbot]

DD's "average" routine is

7:30am wake up

9:30am nap

1pm nap

7:30pm bedtime (not STTN)

We haven't done a 3rd nap for a long time, I found it too hard to get in when it was hard to make her nap and H was getting home and it was supper time and also having an older sibling to keep busy by then-it just naturally disappeared and worked that her and DS would both nap at 1 then.

Good luck! I've found it easier to get into a routine having a 2 year old around already as he's in a pretty solid sleep/nap routine, so hers fell into his. I remember feeling very confused about when to get DS to sleep for a long time, he was well over a year before I felt like I could say what the normal was for us, if that makes anyone feel better! I still wouldn't say there's a normal for DD, but this is what's been working lately.

[jillywilly]

We've been on mostly a two nap schedule for a while now also, and his naps have gotten longer since sticking with it. I would also suggest pushing that second nap back, so he goes about 2 hours awake in the morning, then 3 hours, and then 4 before bed. So our schedule is wake between 6 and 7, 1st nap around 8:30/9, and second nap around 1 or 2. Bedtime around 7. Even if he has a crap nap or wakes early/late I try to keep the nap times fairly consistent so he's used to sleeping at certain times of the day.

[periwinkledaydreams]

I probably couldn't tell you when Jazz napped TODAY, let alone what is typical or normal for her, but I guess that's because our days really vary that much one to the next? Or I just haven't pinned it down. Wake up between 4 n 5am, bottle and right back to sleep. I don't count this as a nap though, I count it as part of still nighttime. She doesn't go to bed til 7 or more often 8PM and does not STTN by any stretch of the imagination, so 4am is too early to be morning. After that she usually goes back to sleep til 7ish, but like today she woke up at 7 but fell back asleep again til 8:15 so the morning is all thrown off from the jump.. but who's complaining? She was up all night! She happened to fall asleep from about 10:15-11, napped in the car two times for half an hour each from about 1:30-2 and 4-4:30, ate dinner with us at 6, and started going to bed at like 7:45. I clearly can't give any advice out about schedules, I just want to give major kudos to all of yall who somehow manage to maintain some semblance of one!

[heartofglass]

We are averaging 3-4 a day based solely on his cues.
Wake between 5:30-6:30
Nap 1 around 8-9
Nap 2 around 12
Nap 3 around 4

He's also randomly started throwing in a fake bedtime. Sometimes around 7 he is super tired, nurses to sleep and seems like he's out for the night. Then he wakes up in 30 minutes and it's playtime until about 8:30.

[musicfrk2002]

Feb 2, 2016 18:55:29 GMT -5 carolyngrace said:

belle0720 , @jemomma , - Yeah I think you guys are right about pushing the 2nd nap later. It's easy to do that if we're on the go. However if we're at home it seems to be a combination of boredom and tiredness where he just gets so fussy after 2 hours I usually do a nap. Also, sometimes that nap is only like 45 minutes! I think if it were 12-2 it would be perfect. He would be charged up to make it to 6 (at least).

But yeah, I think that's what I'll focus on.

Just wondering what (if anything) you've tried to push that 2nd nap back a bit.  I've noticed with J lately that while he is starting to get tired, a majority of his complaining seems to be that he is bored. So, I've been trying to play in different areas rather than just the living room, sit him in his high chair with some puffs and/or food, give him a bath, etc.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  

Our schedule *normally* lately is
wake up around 7 am
nap from 9-11ish
nap again 2-3 (we have to leave to get to daycare by 3:10)
then he is up until bedtime, around 7 or 730.  Sometimes he takes a small nap at daycare, depends on the amount of activity that day, today there were a lot of older (louder) kids
    

[baytosa2013]

Feb 2, 2016 18:41:51 GMT -5 @jemomma said:

carolyngrace is it possible to move the second nap to 1 instead of 12? At this point babies should be able to stay awake for longer than 2 hours at a time, but it might take some practice for him to get used to it.

Here's our "schedule"
Anywhere between 5:30-6:30 wake up

First nap happens 3 hours after wake up (usually around 8:20/9)

Second nap happens 3 hours after wake up, no matter the time (usually around 1/2ish)

Bedtime happens 4 hours after wake up (usually between 6:30/7)

I've been using this schedule for a few months now and her naps have become longer (1.5-2 hrs) and she seems to go down much easier also.

This is pretty much C's schedule too. I was also going to suggest trying to stretch the time between naps to get closer to 6:30/7:00

Eta: except the 2 hour naps...we get 30 mins if we're lucky.

We also do the same routine every night except bath night (twice a week or so). Get home from work by 5:30, C gets solids around 6, we play till 7, upstairs to get in jammies and then she gets her bottle. We do the same exact routine with turning out the lights, etc and she's usually passed out by the time she finishes her bottle. A few nights recently she woke back up but we leave her in there. She messed around, stands up, plays with her feet and eventually lays down and goes to sleep. It's keeps her awake longer if I go in and she sees me.

[hannahl201477]

The only thing consistent about Mals schedule is wake up between 5:30-6:30 and bedtime between 8-9. He typically still takes 3 naps sometimes 4 if the 3rd was short. And he normally takes 1st nap after about an 1.5-2 hours after he wakes up.

He sleeps like shit at night these days.

[holliberry28]

M's schedule was bedtime around 6/6:30, up for the day at 4. It took about 5 days and some morning crying to shift bedtime to 7:15/7:30 and now he's sleeping til about 5:45.

We still need 3 naps a day, his first one is 7:30/8 - any suggestions in getting him to take his first nap later? He gets super fussy.

2nd nap is usually 12-2, an hour to 2 hours depending on the day.

3rd nap around 3:30/4, which is a 30/45 min catnap. Otherwise he wouldn't make it past 5.

carolyngrace, we use this Russian musical cartoon as a last resort at the end of the day to make it to 7, before bath, bottle, and books. But I think the suggestion to push the 2nd nap later is the best bet. Or a 3rd small catnap, but I know we should be dropping the 3rd nap soon.

Eta: plan was as soon as he gets used to waking up at a normal time, we'd push bedtime earlier if he wanted. We're just too scared to mess with the new wonderful close to 6 wakeups.

[dmoney]

DD has a pretty set schedule,

Wakeup between 7 and 8:30 (all depends on the day before)

Nap 1 between 9:45-10:30 and can be anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours

Nap 2 around 2:30-3 and is typically about 2 hours

Bedtime is 6:45 (we start to get ready for bed at 6:45 this means upstairs for a clean diaper and into her jammies then its a bottle and bed time story usually she is asleep by 7:15. If we are giving her a bath we go upstairs between 6:15 and 6:30 to give her a bath and have some time for her to play in the tub.

[periwinkledaydreams]

For the first time EVARRRR in her life Jasmine just slept from 8-6 with one wake up at midnight, and not even a true true wake, just a 'gimme my paci back' wake. She cried for the paci twice right at midnight but once she fell back to sleep, she slept through to 6!!! Dear lord I don't know who I am. This the child of the million and one, every half hour wakings. Uhhhhh then she had a bottle and fell back asleep til 9:30......... she must like the new apartment

I almost feel like I shouldn't post this, but its way too exciting to keep to myself.  6 hours in a row??? most consecutive sleep Ive gotten since first tri. Woof.

[musicfrk2002]

Forget what I said yesterday about my kid napping. Apparently, we're just going to scream all day.

[bookninja]

Mrgle mnph. Last night sucked. We are either teething or growing or learning new things or something.
I love how exhausted-me thinks I can negotiate her into sleeping better... "Okay, I'll feed you now, but only if you give mama 3 hours after that..."
On a happier note, our naps still vary greatly in regards to when they happen, but we usually get at least two 1-2 hour naps. Compared to a couple of months ago and the 20 minute stretches, I'll take it.

[carolyngrace]

holliberry28 up until this week he would always take a catnap in the evening. Now he will cry for going on 30 minutes and not fall asleep. TV is not a bad idea to try and extend things, but usually once he's tired he doesn't give a crap about it LOL.

Not sure if you'll be able to make him wait longer for his first nap. Two hours before the first one seems to be the norm.

[wegrowsheep]

Listening to T start his evening siren song. Timer is going for interval checks until feeding time. And my distraction is a shawl I've spent at least a couple years working on...

[periwinkledaydreams]

Im so effing tired. Jasmine will not sleep for more than half hour without waking. Now its 1AM and she's just up and won't go back down at all. I've had 2 nights this week with zero hours of sleep and seems as though tonight is going in that direction. Im rocking her and just full on sobbing. Why won't my kid sleep? I do not know what to do

[heartofglass]

So sorry periwinkledaydreams, can your H help at all just to give you a couple of consecutive hours of sleep? A was like that for a while when he started teething and that's one of the main reasons we started semi co-sleeping. I hope your LO gives you a break at some point tonight and that you get some naps in tomorrow.

[jillywilly]

periwinkledaydreams, I'll +1 to the Tylenol or Motrin suggestion if you suspect teething. Otherwise, when we get to a low in baby sleep, what DH and I have found is we've read/heard so many different things about baby sleep, we literally pow wow and write down our strategy - are we going to cio, pick-up/put-down, use a paci or not, and are we enforcing certain intervals between feeds, etc. whatever it is, literally writing it down helps us stick to it in the middle of the night when we're dead tired, and regardless of the plan, consistency is the thing that eventually helps DS sleep better again. Regardless, I hope you wound up getting some sleep last night, and that you have some good naps in your future!

[erbear]

LO is up crying. Just gave her some Tylenol since I suspect teething is behind this and I'm nursing her again. H complained about being up. Uh...I have to work tomorrow, not you. I'm not amused right now...

[wegrowsheep]

T is crying, again. We've been trying to sleep train for a MONTH. I am ready to quit, but afraid how how much worse he may get. Like, if we quit now, will we be able to try again in a couple months, or have I ruined my chances of normal sleep forever??

I'm not trying to night wean him (I feed him twice at night), but this screaming himself to sleep every few nights fucking sucks rocks.

[jillywilly]

I think I mentioned in randoms that DS learned a new party trick of rolling in his crib, which was killing our naps. Now it killed our night sleep. I lost count after the fifth time I had to go in and flip him. Is this just one of those things I have to hope passes quickly?

[jillywilly]

@hazeldublin, thanks for the suggestion - I may try that, although right now he spends about half his night in this thing called the Daydreamer, which is kind of like a nap nanny (it's on an incline, and has high "walls" on either side if that makes sense). Kid managed to flip around in that after I put him in it trying to get some sleep, sooooo, I have a feeling he would laugh at the sheets. But I may try if things don't calm down in the next night or two. I'm kind of hoping eventually he'll just learn to like sleeping on his tummy, or stop rolling in his sleep, but till then, I guess this is where we're at. It's extra frustrating because before this weekend I could probably count on one hand the number of times he rolled - I figured he could do it, but was one of those kids just not interested in it. Nope, apparently he just now learned how fun it is.

[holliberry28]

Feb 8, 2016 0:35:20 GMT -5 wegrowsheep said:

T is crying, again. We've been trying to sleep train for a MONTH. I am ready to quit, but afraid how how much worse he may get. Like, if we quit now, will we be able to try again in a couple months, or have I ruined my chances of normal sleep forever??

I'm not trying to night wean him (I feed him twice at night), but this screaming himself to sleep every few nights fucking sucks rocks.

If it makes you feel better, I read in Ferber's book that some babies just need to cry for a bit before winding down to sleep. M cries for 2-5 min most night we put him to sleep. It sucks though to hear that every night. How long does he cry for before falling asleep?

[periwinkledaydreams]

Thanks for all the support the other day ladies. SO was out that night otherwise I was definitely at the point where I'd be waking him up to take a turn.. he came home around 1:30 and took a turn and by some magic of the twisted universe she slept for a few hours after that. She started waking again but he just hears nothing, deepest sleeper ever, and I hear everything (actual condition of my type of insomnia and migraine is magnified sounds, major noise sensitivity over here.. my GD fridge seems like a MF jet engine) and Jasmine is a light sleeper, so anyway.. her and I are so alike, we are magnificent pals and having so much fun in general but are really butting heads here when it comes to sleep. She has to basically be straight-jacketted in your arms in total darkness with white noise blasting out all other possible worldly noise as she writhes and flails and screaches and arches her back, in order to go down. Its like she is tired but she just fights it to the bitter end. This girl has MAJOR FOMO lolol. But then she passes OUT.

Oh, Hello, Miniature Me.

I'm in trouble.