Does "Sleeping like a Baby" cover catnapping?

[Willow]

Was thinking about buying Pinky's book but just wondered if it covered some solutions for catnapping?

[*Belle*]

Willow,

I have the book, there is not much on catnapping, however it is mentioned on page 199, 200, talking about tweaking naps, and working out if they are still tired after catnapping and working out their feeding and play routines if they are affecting their napping... It is worth getting the book I totally recommend it it was a lifesaver!.

Bel
xxx

[Michelle71]

Willow - stop playing with a good thing!!!!!! You are already doing a beautiful job - and so is DS. The CHN said so too. He will start to sleep longer but right now he is doing a great job of sleeping through the night.

However, Pinky's book is excellent. I am re-reading it in the hope of getting some sleep as opposed to the almost none at the moment Can I swap you boys for a night

[Willow]

Michelle - I knew I'd get in trouble off you for posting again today LOL! He's totally NOT sleeping through the night though!! He goes down at 6pm but he wakes 2-3 times to be fed (OK, so it's like 10 mins at a time and he goes straight back to sleep so I'm still getting plenty of sleep) and is up for the day at 7am most days. The longest stretch he does at night is 4.5 hours. But last night wasn't so crash hot.

After feeling really good about things yesterday, he's catnapped all day today and I'm getting all stressed again - BLAH! You might have to come over here and snap me out of it if this continues! LOL.

I hope Oscar settles down soon, you poor thing, you haven't done much sleeping lately!

[fionas]

Willow - this is totally and utterly normal. Repeat. Normal. There are mothers at my mothers group whose babies are in this exact pattern and their babies are, wait for it, FIVE MONTHS OLD.

You have nothing to worry about. Please stop thinking that there's something wrong and just enjoy your little boy. The more you try to 'fix' something that ain't broken, the more frustrated you will get.

Just tell yourself that you have a little genius who likes to see what's going on around him during the day rather than a problem baby who's a bad sleeper.

My baby was just the same but she is now having bigger naps. Because she decided she wanted to. It was nothing I did. I think as they get older there's more things to see and do so they just wear themselves out more and sleep in bigger blocks.

[Willow]

Fiona, I'm sorry, it's seriously getting to the point where I'm driving everyone IRL nuts and now my BB friends too! LOL.

[fionas]

Ah Willow, don't apologise sweetheart - we all know how frustrating it is having a catnapper. I just don't want you to drive YOURSELF around the twist trying to turn him into a big sleeper.

I bet you'll be back on here in a few weeks saying he's having the biggest naps ever and now you can't leave the house because you're afraid he's not getting 'proper' sleep if you take him in the car with you.

We're mums. We can't win.

But if you post anything else about catnapping, I will be jumping on a plane to Sydney and hunting you down LOL!

[Michelle71]

I'll be over in a minute - you just have to ask. If you get the book you will find he is PERFECTLY NORMAL and I would kill for 4.5 hours sleep (not literally but you get my drift )

No - Oscar is not sleeping. Never has. We have just moved from 2 hourly feeds 24/7 to 3-4 hourly but he is still awake every 1-2 hours mostly. I occasionally get a 3 hour stint (like last night but that was after he cried in his cot for an hour while I tried to comfort him without picking him up - he kept waking if he fell asleep on me and so the cycle would begin again) but that is rare. Currently teething which is not helping and solids are making him fart - which he needs to wake up and cry for before going back to sleep I have tried seeing if he will self settle but he doesn't. Just cries more and I can't do CC. But I will survive. I have made 7 months with most of my sanity intact (I think LOL) so we can do this.

Seriously - if you ever need me you just have to call. I'm not too far away to whack some sense into you

ETA - Just to make you feel better, here is our (infant led) routine. Wakes around 6-7am for a feed, up and plays for about 1.5 hours before a nap approx 8.30am (usually 30-40 minutes). Up for breakfast 9am ish, play and generally another sleep 10am. This could be one or two sleep cycles but he usually wakes hungry (3 hours like clockwork - was 2) if I don't feed him first, feeds and goes back to sleep for a nap. Up around 11am, nap 12.30, up around 1pm lunch / boobie / play until 3pm, nap again (sometimes 2 sleep cyces) up at 3.30 / 4pm for play / feed /solids around 6pm / bath / feed and maybe sleep but usually naps and wakes at 8.30 for another feed. May sleep at this stage but usually up at 11.30 for another feed if not awake before for a re-settle. Last night was then awake at 1230 (fed again to re-settle), 1250 and cried until 1.50am. Slept until 5am when he woke for a feed. We were up at 6.30.

[suse]

Fiona - LOL at "Because she decided that she wanted to". So true!

Willow darling, you are not driving everyone on BB nuts - it's YOU going nuts that we are worried about!

[Willow]

My god Michelle, if you weren't my hero before, you are now!!

How do you do it without losing your mind?? I understand that you won't use cc and I don't blame you but sheesh, I don't understand how you can function on that little sleep!

[Michelle71]

Years of shift work and the ability to nap on demand Plus a DH who gives me additional nap time when he can. I think my mind is still with me but it does go on holidays occasionally

[Willow]

Well mine must be with yours sipping ****tails on the beach in Fiji!!

[suse]

Mmmm ****tails on a beach - can my mind join yours lovely ladies!? I wonder where it left its bikini...

[Michelle71]

Ahhhh ****tails ....... beach .......... Fiji ............ can I go too, rather than my mind??? Suse - I think the only place I am wearing a bikini is in my mind The alternative is just too much to imagine!!

[suse]

hee hee Michelle - I don't think that my bikini top would contain anything any more - not without some serious reinforcement!

[Michelle71]

Yep - my cup runneth over too. I'm too scared to go swimming for fear of falling out of my top and scaring everyone Oscar needs 2 hands to reach up to hold the boobie - very cute though!!

[lilprecious75]

Hi Willow -

This thread caught my eye as I also have a NON sleeper! I would HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend "Sleeping Like a Baby" and also Elizabeth Pantley's book "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" - I have both of them and have re-read each other them at least twice when I've felt like I was going crazy!

DS is turning 2 years old next month and STILL doesn't sleep through the night. DH and I have come to the conclusion that he needs very little sleep and there isn't a thing we can do about it. We are firm in our decision NOT to do CC with him and though we have had many sleepless frustrated nights we are in a routine that works for us now and we are getting more sleep (when we choose to go to bed at a reasonable time that is).

On a REALLY good night DS will do a couple of 5-6 hours blocks of sleep. On a usual night he wakes every 2.5-3 hours. He no longer gets boobie in the middle of the night. He has a boobie feed just before bed (sometimes falls asleep on the boob but more often then not he doesn't now) then he is only offered water if he wakes in the night. Most nights he simply needs to be told to lie back down, covered up, given a pat or two and he is back to sleep. Sometimes I have to pick him up and cuddle him before he will lie back down. Once in awhile, like last night, I will let him lie down in bed with me for 15-20 minutes and when he falls asleep I move him back into his cot. He still sleeps in our bedroom so all this causes very little disruption to me and I'm usually able to go back to sleep straight away.

So essentially I feel like I'm rambling and I don't know if any of this is helpful or not, but I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone and there are many of us out there living on the bare minimum of sleep. Considering that BEFORE I had children I HAD to have a MINIMUM of 8 hours of sleep to be civil to anyone, I'm amazed at what I'm capable of now!!

Hang in there, do what feels right for you and your family, and know that we are hear to listen and offer suggestions and support!