Rita Razauskaite
Forum Replies Created
-
Hi Emma,
About the night time. Tonight was the same as over the weekend. She did not settle until 22.40 (placed her down 21.20). Then she woke up at 23.10. I gave up and fed her again. Then she slept until her normal feeding time at about 2.30 am. Woke up again at 5 am. I fed her and settled her. She slept for 50 min until the normal waking time 6.30. I can see that she is exhausted. She only lasted for an hour now and needed a nap.
Yes, the nurse has suggested paracetamol based medicine, and we gave it to her during the first night. However, she did not have a fever, and during the day, she looked completely fine. The is no tenderness, swelling or redness at the site of injection. Once she has her long naps in a morning, she is happy and plays well.
What time does she wake up? (From what you’ve written, it sounds like around 6:30 am.)
Yes 6.30 am, I try to keep that routine, but now I am exhausted. I tried it to settle her for a bit more sleep in the morning, but it does not work so well. She knows the waking time.
When are her naps, how long do they last, and where is she sleeping for them?
The first nap in a sling starts 2 hours after waking if it was a good night. The recent nights, it was only 90 to 60 mins of awake time before she needed a nap. She sleeps from 90 min to 2 hr. I limit her sleep when I get very tired from sitting in a dark room with a sling.
2nd nap in a slig or pram usually starts after 90 to 120 min awake window. The same deep sleep pattern. She goes to sleep easily and stays asleep, I wake her up if it is longer than 2 hr.
3rd nap in a sling or pram usually starts after 80 to 90 min awake window. Can have several wake ups, but usually can settle back to sleep with a bit of walking and shushing.
4th nap in a sling usually starts after 80 to 90 min awake window. It is harder to settle her and keep asleep. Sometimes she can nap for 1,5 hr. More likely is a short 50 – 30 min nap.
5th nap in a sling is sometimes not needed if she sleeps a long time during the previous nap. It is usually hard to settle her and we wake her up after 30 min to have some awake time before night routine.
Bedtime 9.15
Deep sleep – during good night’s when she does not fight her sleep, it takes only 15-20 min. She is asleep at 9.35. But there can be several wake ups. So it can wary from 9.35 to 11 pm.
Cheers,
Rita
-
Hi Emma,
We tried following your advice through the weekend, and here is what happened:
Bed time – regression to previous norm and even worse. Friday, she fell asleep without fuss just with a bit of settling, but she got three vaccines that day and probably was very tired. Saturday and Sunday nights sleep routine started at 20.45, she fought sleeping in bed even ⁶worse than the naps. We attempted the pyramind several times with my husband dancing aroung with her in his arms for a long time. 22.15 I fed her again both nights in hopes that she would settle. She screamed and cried for 20 more minutes, then fell asleep while shushing and patting. Both nights about 22.40, I think, it was sheer exhaustion.
Night wakes – around 3 am for feeding. Then 6am and we start morning routine.
Could it be that she sleeps too long naps? Total nap time per day is about 6hr and total night sleep is close to that. When she sleeps more than 2 hr in the pram or in a sling, I wake her up. Should I wait for her to wake up? How long is too long?
The other thought would be that she needs more milk to feel content. Should I add a bit of formula? Now she is awake for 1,5 hour before starting the sleep routine. During that time she gets fed after her nap, and then dring the sleep routine.
I am desperate for more sleep during night, but she seems very alert in a morning. She is tired in the evening and is quiet in my husband’s arms. But as soon as she is laying in her bed she starts kicking and then immediately screaming.
Naps – I am implementing nap routine in a sling every time and she falls asleep quickly and easily. This happens during the day, in the evening especially the last nap is hard, she needs a lot of settling. Saturday morning my husband tried to apply your suggested nap routine and put her in her bed. He had to give up after some time. She just screamed all the time.
Not sure what is failing here.
Cheers,
Rita
-
Hi Emma,
Please take your time.
I am happy to report that the last night was hard with strange waking hours. I had to feed her more and try the pyramid at least 4 times. The last time at 5am, she finally got it. First time ever she did not scream until falling asleep, but was able to calm herself and I could just reduce shushing, patting and stop altogether. Hopefully, tonight she will be able to remember that feeling.
Cheers,
Rita
-
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
