Hey Hollye - our routine for B is bath/shower at 1730 - bottle after, than she sits in her bouncer with us until her next feed around 2100 (lately its been around 2030). When we give her, her last feed we don't interact with her what so ever, once she is done she is burped than wrapped and put too bed, sometimes with dummy somtimes without, i only go into her when she is kicking her legs and whinging, which means she needs another burb or if she is whinging cause dummy has fallen out or the music on her mobile has stopped, if she is quietly talking to herself or playing i ignore her! and when i do go in, once again its no eye contact or chit chat, its strictly business so to say!
Its hard but it works - these days she is sound asleep within 30mins!
I remember she went through a stage where she would just want to play and despite my best efforts wouldn't go to sleep at a 'normal' time so I just went with the flow and after trying for a reasonable amount of time would just get her up again because she didn't cry once she was up again.
So I reckon, try a few things - either the bed earlier or bed later and see what works best for you but just don't stress too much. As someone else said, it's really early days yet in the whole scheme of things so don't make bedtime a battle.
Oh, and by the way, DD is a fantastic sleeper now so she certainly didn't develop any bad habits.
Hollye - I feel your pain. DD changed her sleeping patterns around that time also and it took me about 3-4 weeks to cotton on to what she was doing.. However the good news was that she was changing all her sleeps around and is now sleeping through (about 9.30pm till about 6am, then dream feed and sleeping till about 9am)
I'm with the other girls on asking if she is over stimulated. Going from 3pm till 9pm at 10 weeks is far too long without a sleep so I'd say that is the issue, overtired and just wanted to fight it as you mentioned. DD even now will stay awake for about 40 minutes to 2 hours at a time. The fact she is kicking and playing can still mean she is tired. Even now DD cracks up literally with a chuckle when I lay her on the wrap and wrap her up but I pop her in bed and she instantly closes her eyes and goes to sleep. It's almost like I flick a switch and off she goes to sleepy land.
If she is throwing your bedtime routine out of whack then you'll need to adjust the order you are trying. DD used to wake around the same time you mentioned in the afternoon from her nap and I'd then feed, bath and have a little play and then she was back in bed by 6pm. She soon changed that and soon wasn't even making it to the end of her bath without screaming her head off for sleep. When that happened she started going for a nap (1 cycle) around 6pm, waking around 7pm and then staying awake till around 9/9.30pm. I soon figured out that at that time (4pm) a feed AND Bath and PLAY was all too much so i changed it to just a feed and little play and back to bed. At first I was fighting to get her back to sleep but as soon as I worked out it wasn't going to happen and just got her up, unwrapped her and put her on her mat to play, she let all the energy out, wanted another feed, and then off to bed. Her longest time awake now is between her last nap around dinner time and when she goes to bed. I moved her bath time from after her afternoon nap to after her 6/7pm nap to space it out and not get her over stimulated. So now... She has her 4pm nap, will wake around 5pm. She has a feed and maybe a little play, back to bed around 6pm, up about 7pm. Has a bath and another feed and then awake till bed time. It seems to be working well, so far..
I'd try some different options, maybe put her down for a nap at the very first sign of being tired. I know when DD is ready as she goes from a happy baby who talks and gurgles to making stronger more sharper noises and gets her arms really swinging up and down. I also found that if she could see the TV it was over stimulating so I'd make it that she'd play with toys (no noisy ones to over stimulate) and turn her away from watching TV..
Also wondering if the shower is overstimulating for her with the water on her skin. Maybe try a calm bath where she can just lay and relax and play a little.
Unfortunately when they go through these routine changes it's hard to work it out straight away so may take a little trial and error to work out what she wants to do.
Have you tried seeing what happens if you don't wake her for the 11pm feed? I used to do the same thing as DD wouldn't dream feed (would get about 20ml in before working out "hey there is a bottle in my mouth, I might wake up") so i stopped doing it and just demand fed and she soon dropped that feed altogether.
I'm not that far ahead of you in terms of bubba's age but shows how much things can change. Hope things settles down soon for you.
Last edited by snowchickie79; December 30th, 2008 at 10:19 PM.
Being awake and partying is a classic sign of overtiredness (who woulda thunk?) !
She is staying awake too long and at this stage routines should (hate that word!) be based around her clock not the one on the wall iykwim? Awake for 60-90min then back down again. HTH xoxoxoxoxoxo
thanks heaps girls. Im going to follow all the advice today and try and get her nice and settled for night time.
Belinda - if i dont wake her for her 11pm feed she usually still sleeps till 6-7am but that was when he feeds are at 9:30pm. So coz im trying to get her down by like 7-7:30 she gets another one about 11.. tho lastnight it was nearly midnight and she drank.. burped and went straight back to sleep till 7. Tho she was tossing and turning from about 4 so shes asleep atm.. which is usual for her.. she has her big sleep in the morning usually 8-11am (shes been that way since the day she was born).
This is going to sound dumb but... do you pick her up and rock her at all? Or try a rocker? For Jazz, being patted (is that a word LOL) and 'shhhh'd just makes her more alert, as does eye contact. We need to pick her up and rock her, or put our hand on her belly and rock her (using a rocker was what we had to do to start with though, then in our arms, then in bed).
Also, I know CHNs would go into panic attacks, but feeding to sleep isn't the catastrophic end of the world event they make it out to be. Try turning the lights off, lying down in your bed and bfing and giving her a bottle, and then transferring her once she's asleep if she sleeps in a cot.
We also had a horrible time, Jazz would fight a sleep from 3pm and then end up overtired and screaming by 8pm So I know what you're going through. It gets easier, she's sleeping in the afternoon now (just wish she'd sleep more through the night *yawn*).
Hollye hun I have to be quick- ds is due to wake any second- but I'd say overtired. I'm not generally a huge fan of Karitane but they have some brilliant stuff on up times/sleep times- how long bubs should be up and the tired signs.
Get a handle on this one now- it took me 9 months of chronic sleep deprivation (it was hell) to figure it out!
i agree with the overtired/overstimulated argument... we went to a class for early parenting and they told us not to keep X up for more than 60-90 mins at this age (they actually said 90 mins is more for 6mths old than 3 m.o). The number of times I've put him down even though he was wide awake and cute as a button and I feel like this awful mummy thinking am I putting him in this boring place on his own. I put him down, he's grinning, gurgling & having a soccer match for one in his cot... and i'm SO sure he won't sleep. I leave him there chatting, smiling at the roof and wriggling EVERY limb possible (on his own in the nursery btw)... then come back 5-15 mins later and he's asleep! Might be worth a try? I've definitely found that 60-90 mins guideline has been great... not all the time but definitely most of the time for us.
Also, is she actually crying? Sounds from your description like she's actually a pretty happy camper at this time?
She woke at 7am, fed, back to sleep 8, woke at 10:30am,fed, back to sleep 12, woke 1:30pm,fed 2pm, back to sleep at 2:45ish, woke 4:15, fed 5pm, shower 5:30pm, asleep for 30 mins then ALL hell breaks loose and she has been awake ever since.
I agree Hollye, you are doing great, just keep persisting.
I'm with everyone about the over-tired thing. Weird phenomenon, but seems to hold true.
Even at 6.5 months, Peter can't be up for longer than 1.5-2 hours- he NEEDS his sleep! But he doesn't like it either. Funnily enough, he can seem really tired and then you put him in his cot and- wa la- he is wide awake and giggling. Like others have said, we just leave him to play on his own and he will put himself to sleep. Obviously we go in if he gets really upset, but babbling and minor grizzling are now ignored. (and this is significant because I used to rock him to sleep everytime). It has made a HUGE difference, he is a much better sleeper. But it wasn't quick, so, yes keep persisting. And I would add that leaving him to his own devices only worked for us once he was 6 months old- before that it just didn't seem to work for a million reasons. So I guess I am saying, try the 'let her settle herself' thing (within reason, obviously), but if it doesn't work, do whatever keeps you and Mia sane and gets you some sleep and try again when she is older.
This might seem like a dumb question, but I'm sleep deprived so what the hey....
I've got an 11 week old bean, who seems to be in the same boat as hollye's little one. It just seems like he doesn't want to sleep. I'm lucky if I can get him to sleep for 30 or 40 mins (at a time) during the day, and he stays awake for hours on end. I try to put him down, when it's obvious that he won't sleep we get back up for half an hour or so and try to catch the next wave *repeat ad nauseum*.
I take the point that it takes a few days for bubs to catch on, and this may be where I'm going wrong with instituting a pattern. I guess I just get frustrated and go back to the bad habits with a short term payoff.
Anyway, my question is - if bub's isn't supposed to be awake for more than 60 mins at a time, what am I supposed to do if I have an appointment or some such and we're out for more than an hour?
Tish
x
Last edited by Tish; January 9th, 2009 at 10:14 PM.
Tish - DD1 wouldnt sleep much during the day, even as a newborn! Dont worry too much - babies can catch up on sleep whenever, in the car, in the pram - wherever they are! Yes sometimes they can get overtired, but they will go to sleep eventually and catch up
Dont worry about what they "should" be doing youre doing a great job!
I ended up going to sleep school with Annabelle when she was a little older. They taught me things I would never had thought of.
Make sure if she has toys in her bed there is only ONE speacial one. Not heaps as that makes it playtime. Also make sure you and Dp are in a really great routiene. Mia will get her habbits off you guys
Just thought I would reiterate what everyone else said too and say that we have always treated any feeds/awake time after 7 to be night time and made it as boring as possible. No lights, no talking, loads of cuddles, snuggles and feeds but no stimulation whatsoever. We give baths before this time or around 7ish and then that's it for the night. Both kids have had the same routine. James used to be wide awake after his 2 or 3am feed and I would wrap him tightly turn off all the lights after his feed and walk the house for up to an hour at times to get him to go to sleep. He got the point and doesn't bother waking now! Good luck hun and keep perservering!
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We also had a horrible time, Jazz would fight a sleep from 3pm and then end up overtired and screaming by 8pm 
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