What else can I try?? I need something that works!!

[Olive]

if you try the blankie pop it between you and her when you feed for a few days so she gets used to it,
i really hope it works as well for you as it does for us

[sloane]

i was going to suggest the same as olive. i am trying to find something for DS that he can use to comfort him & he's loving his maz taggie blanket so now i put that between us when i'm feeding him to sleep. he reaches out & plays with it while he's feeding so i'm hoping that brings a nice calming, sleep association for him. i know you're not feeding to sleep for her day sleeps but if you still are at night time, maybe if you do it for those feeds for a while?

do you use music as well? i started feeding to sleep because DS doesn't seem to have an 'off' button & if we just put him down he either screams or just rolls over & starts crawling around & thinks it's playtime. but he's drifted off in DP's arms to music (a piano version of metallica songs of all things ) twice in the last week so we're going to try playing that in his room (when i get him out of our bed!) at sleep times...might be something that helps your DD to relax a bit?

sorry - not a lot of advice from me...i'm trailing along a few months behind you with similar sleep issues!

[Heaven]

Ren- that's what I do if I want DD to have one day sleep, just keep her up a bit longer and then she has a longer sleep and sleeps better at night too. She's transitioning, sometimes (like now when she's teething) she REALLY needs 2 sleeps, and then a couple of days a week she only needs 1 sleep.

[Beautitude]

So perhaps she may be transitioning from 2 day sleeps down to 1.... if she is, then I will just need to go with the flow..... however let's say she falls asleep around 10am (she's rubbing her eyes, getting cranky etc so i put her in bed and she falls asleep next to me) but then wakes again by say 11:30am.... she'll definitely need another sleep that arvo!!![/I]

Its diff for every baby but this is my experience. Ds dropped to 1 day sleep at around 11 months. He always seems really sleepy in the morning so will be up for 2-2 & 1/2 hours max in the morning and then will have a 1.5 hour-2hours sleep at around 9/10ish (depending on when he wakes up) and that is it for the day. Iv tried to put him down for a sleep in the arvo on occasions but he just wont go to sleep. If i try and stretch him to lunch time he will only sleep for about 45 minutes and it makes for a very difficult day. He will then go to bed around 6:30 7ish for the night.

[Cassius2]

when DD transitioned from two to one sleep a day we did hold her off until 11.30 at the earliest. once she was in that pattern we found that she naturally progressed until just after a 'normal' lunch time (we used to give her lunch before her 11.30am sleep) so she didnt wake up because she was hungry but woke up because she was rested IYKWIM.

[Shanti]

Ok.... so I look like a liar today!! DD was getting tired so I lay in bed with her just before and she had a feed as she was begging for it, kept saying "boo boo" and pulling at my top (how could i say no?!?! ) so she fed and i read her a book (part of the new day time sleep routine thing!) and had our new 'blankie' between us and she played with it and then drifted off to sleep!! took 5mins!! Easy!!! Why can't every sleep be like that?!?! haha
She rarely feeds herself to sleep so she must be tired.
We did have a restless night tho last night (like most nights!).

I'm guessing she will sleep for 1.5hrs now as she usually does this time of day.

In relation to the transitioning to 1 day sleep. I do feel she is transitioning and has been for a few weeks now.... If she has a good 2hr-3hr sleep in the morning say 11am-2pm then she is well rested and doesn't need another sleep. But if say she only sleeps for 1.5hrs now, i know that by this afternoon she will be soooooo tired and want to go to bed around 5pm!!! But then it won't be easy to get her into bed that time anyway and i wouldnt want to. (too late).

Cassius- you're right in what you say about giving them lunch before their big sleep of the day to fill them up so they aren't waking up too early due to hunger. That's why i'd love DD to have her 1 sleep of the day hopefully around 12-3 that would be ideal i could give her lunch before hand. But like you said... i think they just gradually fall into that time slot of when it happens i guess.

I've never been one to force my DD to sleep at a certain time so I guess i just have to keep going with the flow while she transitions.

[Heaven]

Oh awesome!! Hope she keeps it up!

[Shanti]

Oh hun it sounds crap!

You have been given some awesome advice, but I wonder if perhaps you gave yourself a holiday from thinking and trying things. What happens if you just do what you want and dd has to fit around? So she may not sleep in the day and that might improve the night, or she may have one sleep or she may go to bed later.

then in a few days reassess and see if you can see a new pattern...

You're such a great mummy!! Squishy hugs to you!

Anna, sorry i missed your post!
Do you mean just let DD stay awake ALL day and not sleep? I dont think i could do that as a) I'm so tired from the previous night wakings and need my rest away from her and b) she would be sooooo cranky all day with no sleep!

Did you do this with your DD? What happened?

[mbear]

She sounds really active lil girl....what do you do to fill your days ?? i.e maybe she's one of those kids that needs to get out, that needs to be running around a park, going for walks, visits to play centres etc....maybe you need to tire her out more /.......I know she is up 2hrly...and yeah, i agree with you, how can she survive on what she is surviving on, but she sounds like one of those kids that just has so much energy... - she needs to burn it off.

My girls went off #2 sleeps around 12 months, although Dd#3 was 8 months, but that was because we were always in and out and she just never got to fit two sleeps in...

We usually did 1230ish till 330ish...never before 1130am, and never after 4pm...

GL....its been a long journey for you hasnt it ????

[Cassius2]

Cassius- you're right in what you say about giving them lunch before their big sleep of the day to fill them up so they aren't waking up too early due to hunger. That's why i'd love DD to have her 1 sleep of the day hopefully around 12-3 that would be ideal i could give her lunch before hand. But like you said... i think they just gradually fall into that time slot of when it happens i guess.

yeah it was a bit quirky at first having her have lunch so early (like 11ish), but somehow it works and they do naturally progress (as they get more used to spending time awake and happy) to a more normal sleep time of say 1-3pm...

[onthefly]

When we first transitioned to 1 sleep I had to keep DS up a bit longer, as he wanted to go to sleep at 9am, but woudl be shattered and miserable by mid afternoon (but refusing to sleep again, of course). I gave him lunch aruond 10:30-11 and he had his nap around 11-11:30. Oh, but then he would have a second lunch too...
It was a struggle for a while, as he would ocasionally fall asleep earlier (like in the stroller or car if we went out), but over time he's been able to stay up longer so will generally go to sleep anywhere from 11 to 1pm (or not at all... but you know...). I try to avoid later arvo sleeps if we can as he then stays up later at night.

From this time he reverted to feeding to sleep for day naps - he was knackered and really needed 2 sleeps, but refused, and so would fall asleep very quickly at the breast.
We also found that around this time, he started to have a longer day sleep (1.5hrs or longer) which was a nice change from 30-40 minutes!

[BekZ]

I haven't read everything but I would look at moving from 2 sleeps to 1. When I did this with my girls at around 12 months I brought their lunch forward to 11.30/12 and then put them straight to bed. I found that they both settled easier and slept for 2 to 3 hours.

When you do this you will still have to set up a wind down routine like book and lie down/pat etc. If she starts acting up I would keep telling that it is time to sleep and I would leave the room. I found by staying in the room my 2 wanted to play and muck up too.

You might find that DD gets a big grumpy in the arvos but she may go down better and earlier for you at night. hth...and hugs

[Olive]

oohhh how long did she sleep for???

DD plays with her blankie too!

[Shanti]

She slept for 2hrs....! She normally does sleep about 1.5hrs in the mornings but I have noticed the last few weeks actually her morning sleeps getting longer... so perhaps that's a sign she is ready for 1 sleep? She may have slept a bit longer than 2hrs but we had to go out at 1pm today and I was being a bit loud in the kitchen so she'd stir and she woke happy so i think she'd had enough sleep anyway!

Yeah DD quite often falls asleep in the car in the mornings if we are out around say 930am she'll fall asleep for 40mins if in the car.... so that makes it hard if we are out that day to try and make her wait until later for one big sleep!! but I guess with time that will change she won't sleep as much in the car in the morning and will wait....

Mbear - Yep she sure is active!! We do LOTS of things together daily.... we do swim classes, music classes, mothers group, ocassionally playgroups, go on the swing outside, chase around the loungeroom together, lots of different stuff!! So she's definitely a well-entertained little girl!!
Yeah it has been a bit hard with DD's sleep since about 8/9mths!! Before that, she was a pretty good sleeper with night sleeps but her day sleeps were off.... then she switched around LOL

BekZ - yes i find you have to leave the room sometimes and come back otherwise she is just too giggly and wants to play!!

So DD has been up since that 2hr sleep this morning (she woke 1am, its now 6pm here) and she's so happy!!! SO i guess she only needs 1 sleep now???? Some days maybe more.
I don't know how she does it, waking often in the night time..... you'd think she'd need more!!! LOL!

I'm looking at starting night weaning soon so that may improve things at night time. The constant BF's every 2-3hrs is driving me bonkers!!

[Skyeblue]

Hey Ren! Long time no speak! Ive missed ya

Just wanted to say when we cut DD down to one sleep a day it was the best thing ever. She was a shocker until she was 14 months old. Now she is not.

She goes to bed at 11.30 and sleeps for around 2-3 hours, then we keep her up til 7pm, bedtime.

When transitioning her to the one sleep I just slowly moved the morning sleep later. I founjd that she "was" having 2x 40 mins sleeps, so when I swapped her to one, she slept longer.

Also re the night feeds.....I was giving DD night feeds til she was over 14 months, I just kept doing it, and she stopped on her own. I never thought she would, I had images of me feeding her in the night when she was 16! Lol.

Are you back on fb? Havent seen you for ages! Hope you are well x

[Shanti]

Also re the night feeds.....I was giving DD night feeds til she was over 14 months, I just kept doing it, and she stopped on her own. I never thought she would, I had images of me feeding her in the night when she was 16! Lol.

Hey Skye!! Nice to see you still posting in here!
Was your DD waking every 2hrs to feed??? It's very tiring and draining... and it's EVERY night.... and I really need more sleep so I am really thinking of this 'gentle night weaning' advice I have to try. It seems very popular around BB and other forums too.
I want to keep BF but just not between 11pm and 6am each night!! thats time for mummy to rest!!

Thanks for the tips. I think I will try and push her morning nap to 1130 instead of 11am like it was today gradually then 12pm then eventually a 1pm time would be good so she could have lunch before hand.... but i guess it all just happens gradually.

I'm feeling alot better now about all this!!!! I can see why DD was fighting her arvo sleep so much! I wasn't sure if she was ready or not but I can see now she is

eta - went to bed easily tonight again... however she is pretty good settling to sleep of an evening anyway! But she sure was tired as she's been awake since 1am!

Thanks for your help everyone.

[Arcadia]

So glad things are looking better for you ren. Re my post, i just meant I have really relaxed on the day sleeps and only put dd down if she's askng (pretty much what you described...patting boobs lol) and have found a new rhythm with one sleep and two sleeps alternating days. The days she only has one sleep make for a much better night, with seven hour stretches sometimes (I know...unbelievable)

GL with the night weaning!

[Shanti]

So glad things are looking better for you ren. Re my post, i just meant I have really relaxed on the day sleeps and only put dd down if she's askng (pretty much what you described...patting boobs lol) and have found a new rhythm with one sleep and two sleeps alternating days. The days she only has one sleep make for a much better night, with seven hour stretches sometimes (I know...unbelievable)

GL with the night weaning!

Anna that's awesome you now get 7hr stretches! Way to go. You give me and many others hope hehe
I know you haven't always had it easy with your DD's sleep at times either!

Yeah that's a good approach. I like that. Depends on the day and what is going on for them also.... sometimes they need those 2 sleeps.... other days just 1 big sleep will do them... I parent out of instinct also... not by watching a clock or anything so yeah I guess it's just a matter of continuing following DD's lead.

So for now... I'm in the mind frame that DD is probably only needing 1 big sleep (2-3hrs) out of her whole day and that's enough. But flexible in case she may need 2 some days.....!

PS! I am sooo undecided about this night weaning.... the thought of DD crying for ages puts me right off!!!! Even though I'd be with her.