and the sleep issues continue...

so as i've mentioned before, we are breaking DS of the swaddle habit.

he is still waking up at night a lot, last night he woke up about 4 times between 8 and 12, then slept until 4am, took the paci, went back to sleep, and slept until 6am (normal feeding time).

he took another nap right after his feeding until 8:30, and then went down for another nap at 10:15 and he is STILL sleeping, almost 3 hours later. i feel like he is reverting back to his newborn sleep habits

my quesiton is - would you wake him after 2 hours (his normal napping time when he was being swaddled)? i get the feeling that he is catching up on his sleep during the day and that is why he is having a hard time sleeping at night. i don't mind a lot of naps during the day, that is fine, but i feel like sleeping for such long stretches is hurting his sleep at night (yesterday he took one nap but it was for four hours!).

please help, if you have any advice i will take it!!

Re: and the sleep issues continue...

I suspect the majority of people will disagree with me, but DH and I came to the conclusion that YES, you must wake them if their sleep patterns are starting to severely stray... DS was beginning to fall asleep at 5pm.... he'd wake a few times to feed, and would then wake up for the day at roughly 430AM.

DH decided to wake him at 10pm (the time he used to wake up for a 'midnight snack') and voila, his clock re-set for the most part. He still wakes at 4 to eat, but then he crashes again and wakes-up for good at closer to 8am.... MUCH better!

Re: and the sleep issues continue...

bump - i would really appreciate more advice please

Re: and the sleep issues continue...

I keep my baby (3 months) up in the evening, say from 6 pm to 10:30 pm. The only naps I let him take are little cat naps. I let him sleep whenever he wants during the day. At 10:30 (give or take) I give him his last bottle and then he's in bed between 11:00 and 11:30. He wakes up between 5 and 6 am for a bottle (usually starving)and then sleeps again until 7 or 8 am.

I think sleepng a good six hours straight at night is pretty good. But if he takes a long nap in the evening, he wants to get up for the day at 3 or 4 am!!!

Re: and the sleep issues continue...

It's a tough call...

A baby who is OVERtired is not a happy baby...and waking from naps DOES NOT MEAN they will sleep more at night...sometimes it can do just the opposite (from my own experience anyway)...

Personally I would not wake him - there are so many possible reasons for his waking in the middle of the night...and probably none of them have to do with how much he naps during the day (this of course is just IMO).

DD was doing that a lot too. The other day I just said that's it, she needs to learn to self soothe better. I was running in there at the first peep fearing it would turn into a full blown cry...Now when she stirs, of course I wake up, but I won't go in UNLESS it turns into a full blown cry...and you know what, she's STARTING to learn how to self soothe a little better...It's down to 2 x/night rather than 4...

Good luck whatever you decide!

Re: and the sleep issues continue...

How old is he now?

I personally would not wake him - he might just be going through a growth spurt and it just so happens that it's coinciding with taking away the swaddle.

Do you still swaddle him at night? If not, does he wear a sleepsack now?

I think he's still young - can I ask why you stopped swaddling him so early?

Message edited 1/9/2009 9:48:23 AM.

Re: and the sleep issues continue...

Posted by Diana1215

How old is he now?

I personally would not wake him - he might just be going through a growth spurt and it just so happens that it's coinciding with taking away the swaddle.

Do you still swaddle him at night? If not, does he wear a sleepsack now?

I think he's still young - can I ask why you stopped swaddling him so early?

Re: and the sleep issues continue...

I didnt wake dd and still dont. I found letting her sleep adventually she finds her own schedule and rhythm and all works out.

Re: and the sleep issues continue...

I don't think I would wake him either. I think his pattern will even out. He is still in adjustment from not swaddling, etc. Just be consistent in a routine (bathtime/bed).

Re: and the sleep issues continue...

I am a firm believer that a child that sleeps better during the day, will sleep better at night.
It's possible he's going through some changes and his sleep paterns are revolving around that. Just keep with the schedule you want him on.

He's not sleeping too much during the day at all. Nick will sleep about 3 hours in naps and 11-12 during the night.

Keep whatever routine you want him to fall in to and he will. Days seem like weeks now, but this will pass and he'll get back in to a routine.
Routine
Routine
Routine

That's what worked for us and still does.

Re: and the sleep issues continue...

Posted by headoverheels

Posted by Diana1215

How old is he now?

I personally would not wake him - he might just be going through a growth spurt and it just so happens that it's coinciding with taking away the swaddle.

Do you still swaddle him at night? If not, does he wear a sleepsack now?

I think he's still young - can I ask why you stopped swaddling him so early?

we had to stop swaddling him - he was breaking out of it and waking himself up.

believe me i would swaddle him until he was 10 years old if i could

we really need to stick to a more consistent schedule - i am going to try something different the next couple of nights, we'll see if it works.

thanks everyone

Re: and the sleep issues continue...

i think you should read Heallthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby. I think the key is to make sure they are napping correctly during the day. If their naps are screwed up , their night time routine is screwed up. I learned a lot from this book.

Re: and the sleep issues continue...

Posted by headoverheels

Posted by Diana1215

How old is he now?

I personally would not wake him - he might just be going through a growth spurt and it just so happens that it's coinciding with taking away the swaddle.

Do you still swaddle him at night? If not, does he wear a sleepsack now?

I think he's still young - can I ask why you stopped swaddling him so early?

we had to stop swaddling him - he was breaking out of it and waking himself up.

believe me i would swaddle him until he was 10 years old if i could

we really need to stick to a more consistent schedule - i am going to try something different the next couple of nights, we'll see if it works.

thanks everyone

Re: and the sleep issues continue...

Re: and the sleep issues continue...

Re: and the sleep issues continue...

i have gotten pretty good at letting DS fuss for a bit - i only go into his room when he is full-on crying. but that is pretty much every time he wakes up