Maternity/night nanny needed in London, recs please?

[westlondonmumof2]

I am thinking about engaging a night nanny/maternity nurse to help get my 4 month old into a decent routine and sort out day sleeps WITGHOUT using CC/CIO -- not sure this is possible, but would like to speak to a few experts to get their opinions on what/if it can be done and when best age to attempt.

Grateful for any responses from NNs/mat nurses on here, or for recs of good ones you have used.

DD is brilliant at night and is almost there in terms of routine, but her naps are a mess and that is throwing the rest out of whack a bit.thanks.

what is her daytime routine?

Most of my clients like the Gina Ford approach and it can work but it is not for all babies and it can be restricting. I know from my own experience ds would never sleep for two hours at lunchtime.

You know your baby better than anyone else and if she is sleeping well at night you have done a great job already.

Since very early on she's been on a solid 7am/10am/1pm/4pm/7pm feeding schedule and feeds once in the night - usually around 1-3am and sleeps till 7am. She feeds then has awake then naps, at 16 weeks can only manage about 1.5 hours awake time before ready to sleep again. NOt following any particular "baby book" but I suppose it is not disimilar to Babywhisperer type routines.

Am trying to move towards 4 hour feed cycle as she is showing signs of being ready, but her naps have become really short (45mins) and this is a) challenging from pov of moving to 4 hours and b) making my once happy-smiley baby rather grouchy. Some occasions she wakes up and clearly has had enough sleep but more often than not she wakes grumpy and is rubbing her eyes and yawning once up.

She was sleeping really well for naps but at about 5 weeks every once in a while there would be a 45 min nap, and by about 12 weeks all her naps were 45 mins.

Would be really grateful for your thoughts, sailorsgal. thanks.

The 45min sleep cycle is perfectly normal but I understand that she will still be tired.

To be honest if she is awake at 7am I would try to keep awake until at least 8.45 and let her have 45mins and get her up by 10am. Try to extend her feed till 10.30. Obviously if she is very hungry feed her. Keep awake till approx 11.45 and then put her down. This should be the long sleep and can be tricky. Can you take her for a walk if she only has slept 45 mins or get someone to take her out. Just a thought and she will probably go back off.

Feed again 2/2.30 and again she may want to sleep around 4ish. You may find she will only sleep 45 mins but with feed and bathtime you can stretch it out till 7pm.

Remember this is only my opinion. None of it is set in stone so the "easy" method is a good one.

Thanks, will try extending awake time. She does tend to get a bit overtired but am guessing she will get used to longer awake spells over time.

Is this 45 min cycle something she will naturally outgrow? And if so, when might that happen? If its soonish perhaps I just have to ride it out, but if we are talking a year or more... arrgghhh! I know its not for everyone, but I am a much more confident/relaxed mum when i have a good routine in place.

thanks for your suggestions

Sleep patterns change as we get older.

I know ds got more tired when he started crawling around 7/8 months and then would have a longer nap but though he dropped the early morning nap it was a struggle to get him to wait till lunchtime.

I agree, routines do definitely suit some mums but you have to have some flexibilty and not stress too much if it goes haywire. If you are stressed its very likely baby will get stressed and thats not good.

Just a thought when your dd wakes after 45 mins does she really cry or is she just stirring? Try leaving her for a few mins and see if she settles herself. If she is crying then obviously it is better to pick her up and try to resettle.

how does she normally get to sleep?

How well does she sleep at night?

Have you tried offering her diluted milk or cooled water instead of a full feed?

How much milk does she drink in a 24 hour period?

TBH, 4 months is a common time for babies to be unsettled which is why a lot of babies are put on solids at this stage. (Don't think about that until your baby is at least 17 weeks though)

Yeah, it is a proper cry after a minute or two. I think I rushed in to her at the early stages and helped perpetuate this waking.

You are right that I do need to relax a bit -- we are going away next week which will force me just to go with the flow a bit. I am sure it will do us all good.

thanks again for your advice.

Madusa, she settles herself to sleep now, and sleeps very well at night. Wakes once around 2/3am and resettles herself from quite awake at that stage. Its hard to tell how much she eats as she is BF but she is gaining weight well and such. Think we will ride it out for a spell, and hopefully as you say going onto solids later may well do the trick.

thanks.

Babies of this age especially bf babies do not need water and as for solids I would try to wait until six months unless you are advised to by HCP. Food is no guarantee of a baby sleeping better, this is a bit of a myth.

You are not doing anything wrong by the way. She is just been a baby.

Enjoy your holiday Westlondonmumof2.