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Hi Emma,
Thank you for your reply. I apologise for mistakes and strange formatting. Typing on my phone while baby sleeping.
Night Wakings
She occasionally wakes between 3:00–5:00
- I just put her in a sling and walk around. Once gasses are out (upright position helps) she calms down and falls asleep. Then I wake her up at 6.30. I do not feed her if she is upset and woke up just a couple of hours after feeding. I will feed her if it is less than an hour before her wake up time. Then we just start the day a bit early.
- Not very often, but it can be several days in a row. Might be three nights in a row nand then 5 days nothing. We tired to track what causes gasses and established that it must be all the pulses: beans, peas and lentils. I like vegetarian cuisine, so this was one of the things I was excited to come back to (during pregnancy, my stomach did not handle them well). I will forgo them for some time and will try again after a month or two. I think, this change will reduce these wakings a lot.
Bedtime
You mentioned that your husband does the pyramid at night if she doesn’t fall asleep during the final feed.
- When he does the pyramid, sometimes it is enough just shushing and patting. Sometimes picking up is needed. It is very common for her to fall asleep, then wake up after 5 mins. It can be several such small wake up calls. I stay awake for 20 mins and shush her back to sleep. I think after feeding she is so relaxed that this method is working.
Bedtime and Nap Routines
Could you describe what her nap and bedtime routines currently look?
- Bedtime – feed, change and shower, feed and lullaby. Put her to bed asleep or very drowsy.
- Nap in a sling – put her in sling in day room. Dance a bit to some children music. Climb starts to the bedroom and start the lullaby. Close curtains or turn of the light and walk around while singing. When her breathing deepens I sit in a chair and check my phone. Sometimes I need to do something, then I leave the dark room.
- Nap in a crib – put her in a sleeping sack (she always wants to get her hands out, so were trying to introduce a sleeping sack). Dance around to some children songs in a bright room. Once her eyes gets completely glassy and she is relaxed, climb up to the bedroom and start singing the lullaby. Then turn off the light ( she usually starts fussing at this point). Then try to walk around and calm her down, put in her crib. At this point she usually gets super upset. It takes many times to pick her up and try placing her down. It takes more time to settle her to sleep than she sleeps in the crib. After her nap in a crib, she wakes up cranky or even so upset that she screams immediately. She somehow remembers that she was upset.
- Yes, most of her naps are in a sling. 1 in a pram and 1 in crib (but that one we suspended for a time being, it just became so stressful and baby seemed very stressed).
White noise
At present we do not use white noise machine. Our household is small so it is easy to keep it quiet if needed. Plus, in Scandinavia there are no recommendations about the white noise. There are concerns that this can lead to dependency. It might make strong association and the baby will not sleep without it.
Pacifier
She does not take it any more. Now she uses her right hand to suck and self soothe. She has a mild torticollis and has preferred to suck this one hand since her birth. She always sleeps in a sling with her head turned towards the right hand. She is improving with physiotherapy, but sucking just her right hand seems to stick around.
I hope, I have touched the right points.
All the best,
Rita