After a great day of napping (two 90-minute naps plus the "optional" 45 minute nap in the late afternoon--just what the Sleep Lady ordered) and another easy bedtime (fussed for 15 minutes then out--no hysterics), our sleep training experienced a slight setback in the way of a few nighttime awakenings. The first was about 15 minutes after I closed my eyes so I was asleep, but not yet in deep. I went in and opted to nurse her instead of continue sleep training. I don't know why I did that. There was a voice in my head that said "maybe she napped so much today that she didn't get enough to eat and if I feed her now, she'll sleep the rest of the way through the night." Well, she wasn't starved at all, she hardly swallowed anything, mostly just suckled. So I was doofed on that one, oh well. I managed to unlatch her and get her back in her bed and most of the way to dream town within about 15 minutes. Of course then I was wide awake and had a bit of trouble knocking back off, but no biggie. UNTIL, about 1:00....or maybe it was 2:00? She woke up again and showed no signs of putting herself back to sleep. This time the voice mentioned above knew better than to open its mouth. I stuck with the Sleep Lady's instructions and didn't pick Hannah up, just stood by her crib and patted her rump and whispered reassuring words. I was back in bed within about 10 minutes this time and sleeping soundly UNTIL about 4:00. This time the voice spoke up again and I, for some unknown reason that can probably be attributed to sheer exhaustion, gave in and picked Hannah up. I then decided that since she was screaming so much, I might as well change her diaper. Then she was REALLY screaming so I figured I should nurse her or risk being up till daybreak. Again, she didn't really eat much, just suckled which means that again, I was doofed. The books--and the Sleep Lady--are right, a healthy 5- 6-month-old really is quite capable of making it through a 10-11 hour night without eating (unless experiencing a growth spurt or sick of course). Anyway, I was back in bed again within about 20 minutes. She slept till 7:30 which is usual for her and good because it gave us today as an opportunity to get back on schedule.
So I need to get myself pumped up for tonight. The whole reason I took this week off work was so that I could focus on sleep training her which I knew would mean that I had to sacrifice some sleep at odd hours of the night. I went into this fully intending to maintain my consistency even at 4:00 a.m. knowing that since I'm off work, I can catch up with a nap when Hannah naps.
Her napping today is a little off though. She woke up after about 45 minutes from her morning nap, but rolled herself over on her back and miraculously went back to sleep. That's the first time she's ever done that. She's up from her second nap now after only about 30 minutes and it doesn't sound like she'll be putting herself back to sleep this time....gotta go.
Sounds like she sleeps to much during the day.In child care the little ones I had only took naps at 1-3 than played until parents came. And had on their applications in bed by 8:30ish and slept all night. It sounds like she sleeps alot during the day. Just concerned...
ReplyDeleteI wish!! No, she takes a 30 minute catnap every 2 hours or so. AT 5 months, from what I read, she shouldn't be up for more than about 2 hours at a time. I watch her though for signs of tired. She usually starts rubbing her eyes after being up for about 60-90 minutes but I try to keep her up a bit longer. The Sleep Lady recommends one 90-minute morning nap and one 90-minute afternoon nap for babies 6-8 months. There is an optional 45-minute nap in the late afternoon/early evening depending on how long the baby slept during at the last nap. We had to give it to Hannah yesterday because she woke up from her "afternoon" nap at 2:30 and I knew there was no way she was going to make it until 7:00/7:30 without another nap. She'd be getting the cortisol release and the second wind by then and I'd have a heck of a time getting her to sleep at bedtime. In the evenings (after her last nap), I keep her up for about 3 hours, no longer than 4.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm using the 6-8 month sleep schedule, but she is still only 5 months so she made need even more than what I wrote above. I just figured since she was pretty close to 6 months, I'd use that.
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