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| First Time Moms |
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Hello, I am Caitlin. I have a 4 1/2 month old daughter, Sadie. Sadie is very active during the day. We read, play, and go on walks. I even take her to friends bbq's and we have beach days. She rarely naps and when she does it's only for a half hour to an hour and a half. We used to have a start of a schedule. She would sleep at 11am until 2pm, then aghain between 4pm or 5pm until 7:30pm. Then she would go to sleep at 9 or 10pm, sometimes 11pm, and wake at 5am or 6:30am. This lasted for about a month (started at 2 1/2 months and went on until 4 months). I try everything nowadays. I take her out so she might tire out, but it doesn't seem to be working. She sleeps in her swing, that is the only way I can get her to stay asleep for long periods of time. I feed her before bed, she usually falls aslep at the breast. Now she goest to sleep around nine, wakes up at midnight, eats, then at two, again at four and then at 7am we wake up. I am trying my best to ween her off the middle of the night feedings, but it doesn't seem to help. I only got a few hours sleep last night and this morning realised that this is not going to work for the both of us. What to do? I am ready for ANY suggestions.
Thanks for reading, I appreciate it.
Caity |
| Posted by caitlin on 10/15/2007 03:17 PM
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| I have noticed on days that my daughter is particularly active, well as much as a 7 month old can be, she wants to eat more during the night. I think it is because she is burning more calories during the day. She eats at night so I don't mind getting up, it is not for play time. Maybe if you slowed your schedule a little, just stayed home together and see if she gets back into routine. My daughter only stays awake for 2 hours at a time then she seems sleepy. However yesterday she was awake for 5 hours. She was happy but it was because she was being stimulaed by a lot of people around her, she was baptised yesterday. Last night she was up 2 times to eat when she normally isn't up at all. Today we stayed home and only took a walk. We will see what tonight brings. Also I have been told for my daughter that less stimulation, lights ad TV, are better because it makes her cranky. And when she is cranky her schedule is way off. |
| posted by melissa on 10/15/2007 05:50 PM
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Slow down. It sounds like your daughter is overstimulated, which makes it hard to sleep. She also is probably getting overtired, which isn't helping.
Watch for her signals that she's tired about 2-3 hours after she wakes up. It won't always be yawning or eye rubbing. When my daughter was that age, the only way to tell was to run my finger down her nose and see how long her eyes stayed shut. ^_^ Feed her again put her down in her swing, or crib, and brace yourself for a little crying. I found if she was full and fairly stationary, mine would drift off. Repeat every 2-3 hours after waking. And make sure she's getting enough to eat. Hopefull you'll start seeing her go to sleep quicker and stay down longer. Sleep begets sleep.
As for the late night feedings, I would just pick one, grit your teeth, and sit by her crib and let her fuss it out. That's what I did, and yes, it was one of the hardest things I have done as a new mother. It wasn't easy, but eventually, she was sleeping twelve hours a night.
My mom picked me up "Good Night, Sleep Tight," a sleep training book, and while I didn't follow the program to the letter, it's been a big source of support and ideas for me. You might want to look it up.
Good luck. |
| posted by Wynn on 10/15/2007 07:32 PM
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Hi caitlin,
Have you started cereal yet? I started katie on cereal at about that age and i noticed that she wouldn't sleep as well during the day or night. Now she's doing it again at 6 months!! I'm thinking it's just a phase thing, but i agree with the other gals, try to slow down a little bit. I know it might be tough if your a very active woman, and have a very active baby, katie is very active too. When it's time for a nap try ot make everything a little quieter, and maybe put something over the window in her room. I noticed that with katie she wasn't sleeping during the day because her room was too bright. And you could go nuts trying every different thing, and that could be the problem, your trying too many different things, find a routine for naps and stick to it. hope this helps |
| posted by Amanda on 10/15/2007 07:54 PM
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thanks everybody for the tips. We are definately just going to hang around the house today and relax. she slept pretty well last night. let's hope this is a start to a schedule. thanks again!
Caity |
| posted by caitlin on 10/16/2007 01:08 PM
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