SLeep Help- UPDATE

What time do/did you put your 3 month down to bed? For awhile she was going to sleep around 10ish and would sleep till 3/4, but now she's getting up more throughout the night. I try to put her to bed earlier now, but she still is getting up a lot more. Her bedtime routine is read a couple books, swaddle, sing her songs/rock her, and I put her in her crib sleepy with the mobile or crib soother on and the turtle that lights up stars on the ceiling. I either nurse her before the books or after.

We need some tips because she is constantly getting up. She used to fall back asleep after I nursed her, but now she doesnt go back to sleep as easily.

HELP!

UPDATE

Thanks for the suggestions. I think the past week or two were rough because of a growth spurt. I put her down earlier yesterday and it was better!

815 fell asleep
woke at 915 to nurse and had a poopy diaper
Slept 940-240 (YAY)
then right back to sleep until 6am!
Nursed then slept till 7

I'm going to keep up with the earlier bedtime and not having her sleep in bed with us in the morning.

Message edited 12/18/2011 1:46:54 PM.

Re: SLeep Help

DD is 3 and a half months old but we've had the same routine for 8 weeks now. We start the bedtime routine around 6:30 or 7:00 (quiet play, massage, pj's, book, nursing), and she falls asleep by about 7:45 most nights.

I find that what I do during the day makes all the difference at night. If I only nurse her 5 or 6 times, she'll wake up earlier than if I nurse her 7. So I try to get an extra feeding in during the day. It sometimes makes a difference if I feed her from both sides before bed - she often falls asleep after one. If I wake her to feed from the other, she might sleep longer at night.

Also, if I let her nap later - like, until 5:30 PM as she did today in the car - she will wake up in the middle of the night. I don't know why this happens - she'll fall asleep around 8 PM regardless of when her last nap was, but if she had a late nap, she will wake up at 2 in the morning. If her last nap ended at 4 PM, she's much more likely to STTN.

One good tip I got from the moms on this site was: when she does wake up to nurse, do as little as possible to engage her. NO EYE CONTACT, no talking, no diapering unless you smell a poop. Just pick her up, feed her, burp her, and put her back down, all in the dark if you can.

Hang in there!

Re: SLeep Help

Thanks. I usually fed her 7 times during the day (but she doesnt always eat from both sides).

Usually if she goes to bed earlier, she willl still wake up 4-5 hours after eating.

I will try starting the routine at 7 though and see if that helps.

I let her sleep whenever during the day, so she does have some late naps. I'll try to keep her up after 4pm and maybe that will help!
Thanks!

Re: SLeep Help

Did you stop using the Rock N Play? Maybe it is the change to the crib. AJ is still in the Rock N Play and STTN. When he was waking up like Dava said, I didn't talk or turn the lights on...just fed him and got him back to sleep. What if you try a binky when she wakes up? That works for AJ usually. He goes to sleep around 8:30 and he sleeps until 5:30. He wakes up and I nurse him and then he goes back to sleep until around 8.

Re: SLeep Help

Re: SLeep Help

One more suggestion and you're not going to like it... I think I remember you saying that sometimes when she's fussy early in the morning you'll bring her into bed with you. I know that works at that moment, but maybe that is why she wakes up so frequently - she is expecting to go into bed with you. I don't know, she might be too little to "expect" anything, but it might be worth a shot to cut that out for a week and see if she learns that if she wakes up in her crib/RnP, that's where she has to stay. So when she wakes up at 2:30 in the morning to scratch an itch, she doesn't cry for you and your bed. Instead, she rolls over and goes back to sleep in her crib. Again, 3 months might be too early to learn sleep habits, but it might be worth it to try.

Re: SLeep Help

We start DDs routine between 6:30-7 depending on how long shes been awake and her tired "cues" . She will then sleep until 1-2 and then until 6-7am. When she starts to fuss any earlier than that I put the paci in her mouth and she usually falls back asleep. I find the nights she does go bed later, she wakes up more often. Definitly try an earlier bed routine.

Re: SLeep Help

Re: SLeep Help

Re: SLeep Help

Oh, and for those who have a bedtime of 7ish, when does your DC take their last nap usually?

Re: SLeep Help

Her naps are a whole other issue, lol. She usually takes her last nap (starts) between 12-2 and is apx 3 hrs. If its on the earlier end she will take a late afternoon catnap apx 30 min... but like clockwork she is ready for bed 630-7. It may take a few nights for her to get use to it. If she resists going down earlier, try to do it in increments of 30 min each night.

Re: SLeep Help

So today went like this:

up at 9am

Nap 11-12

Nap 2-3

Nap 430 - ?

It's now 6pm and she's still sleeping.

SHould I wake her? Im planning on doing her bed routine at 7pm, but I dont know if her nap went too late!

We'll see

Re: SLeep Help

When you put your baby wakes up in the middle of the nigh do you feed her and change her or just feed her?

When your baby naps during the day do you put them in the crib or let them nap in a swing/bouncer seat?

Re: SLeep Help

I wouldn't stress too much about a schedule. She is still so young. She is bf also so she will naturally wake up often. It sounds more like a growth spurt than anything else. Also there is a little sleep regression that occurs just before/around 4 months. Could be the start of that? Keep doing what your doing, and hang in there. The not sleeping is so hard, but it will all fall into place eventually. I found at that age the bedtime routine was more for us than dd.

Re: SLeep Help

Re: SLeep Help

My DC is 4 months and we dont have a routine. We wing it every day, LOL. He seems to have created his own consistent schedule on his own and goes to sleep around 9 or 9:30. Of course, sometimes it is earlier or later. Last night he was bright eyed and bushy tailed at 11pm and he only napped from 9:30 - 11:30 AM so I have know clue how he was still up!

Do you have one of those Cloud 9 things? I use the white noise option and it puts him right to sleep. I highly recommend these things, my DC loves to play with it when he is taking a nap. (I will let him nap with it sometimes but never overnight.)

We keep our DC in the living room or bed with us until he starts to get tired. We are so loud between talking, the TV, toys, etc. I am not sure how my DC falls asleep but we have always been this way around him since he was a newborn. Maybe just try not having a routine?? Just play, read books, exersaucer, etc. until your DC tires out and then bring them to their crib?? Not sure if this is good advice but it works for me!

Re: SLeep Help- UPDATE

Re: SLeep Help- UPDATE

Glad it is getting better! Keep up the great work mama.