July and August '04 Babies - Part 2

[littlerach]

Has anyone noticed this new one????

Evie has an hour in the morning and hour in the afternoon. Gives me some time on here and with DD1!!

Jess has decided 2 sleeps is for babies i think! She is now having one long sleep over lunch time of about 1.5-2hrs and thats her til 8pm! Wish she would go back to 2 sleeps though, used to be heaven!

Oh well, better get used to it, ill have a newborn as well soon!

two sleeps of an hour each I wish!!!

Abbie has between 20 mins in her pram and an hou if I'm lucky all day, she does sleep 12 hours at night so I'm not that bothered and she is very good during the day but I would love an hour off.

Evie has an hour at nursery in the mornings - somtimes she will have another hour in the afternoon, sometimes not, like tonight!
However, no sleep in the afternoon = early night, like tonight

I know how lucky I am, DD1 only ever had half hour naps! But she is getting to the stage where she only needs one a day, but it is too hard to co ordinate, so if she goes down late in the afternoon, I wake her after 20 mins so she is still ready for bed at 6.30, 7pm ish. When DD1 starts school I think it will all change anyway, but that's another story!!

Harry has 2 sleeps a day still, about 3 hours in total and he goes to bed between 7.30 and 8pm and sleeps through until abut 7.30 or even later most mornings. Clearly I'm very lucky.
This is when he's at home with the nanny though. At weekends and when we were on holiday he slept less in the day as he's more excited to be with us and out of his normal routine.
His nanny comments on how much he always sleeps on a Monday as he's exhausted himself over the weekend.

I am trying to get out the morning nap and reduce the time, as sometimes my lo is waking up during the lunchtime nap early. I like him to have at least 2 hours at lunch time. But find that he wakes at 6.30am and it is a long day to go through to 12.00 ish so I have been trying to put him back down for a 20 min. nap in the morning, however, I let him have about 40 min this morning and paid for it by him waking up at 1pm ish and not wanting to go back to sleep, it meant a 6pm bedtime and him being absolutely shattered. Think being tired and teething is causing him to have a restless night. He normally goes to bed at about 6.30pm.

What does everyone else do with naps in the morning, should I be missing them out completely now. He is nearly 12 months ???

Get the impression i am completely on my own with terrible evening pattern.
I just cannot get her to go to sleep at a set time. I have tried controlled crying, laying back down, soothing, leaving a cup of water in her cot she just screams and screams and screams to the point of making herself sick
It's got to the stage now where i just let her fall asleep when she's ready, which i know i shouldn't but i just don't know what to do. I have tried all of the above for the last 4 months and it gets me no-where.

Some nights she will fall asleep at 6.30, other she is still awake at 10pm.

Anyone got any other suggestions? Did you struggle getting them into a routine? My HV just looks down her nose at me and tells me to persivere (sp?)

Ignore the HV!!!!

Does she have set sleeps during th day?
Does she have a bed time routine?

For example, Evie goes to bed at 6.30pm, asleep by 7pm, usually on her own.
Wakes at 6.30am, hopefully!
Sleeps at 9.30am for 45 mins, sometimes I wake her.
Sleeps at 2pm, ususally for 1 hr, if she goes later, at 2.30pm say, then I wake her after 45 mins. If she didn't sleep til 3pm, I'd only let her have half an hour.
So I know she's ready for a sleep at 6.30pm.

It is hard to establish a routine, especially as everything's a phase! It is up to you what works, DD1 fell asleep on a bottle until she was a year, it was easier. DD2 has always been put down awake, as we had 2 to deal with. But I think the sleep has to be looked at over a 24 hr period rather than the night.

I've been lucky Abbie has been having an hour each afternoon thing is so have I

She's been getting better the last few days she goes to bed at 8.30pm every night has a little cry then goes to sleep thats her to between 5-6am when she comes in with us until between 8-9am. This suits us right now though.

Springchicken, you poor thing. It must be so frustrating for you and obviously the HV isn't any help.

As Littlerach said, set sleeps during the day and a bedtime routine can be very useful. Sometimes babies refuse to go to sleep because they are too tired and can't wind down.
Thomas has a favourite bear that never leaves his cot. So when it's bedtime he immediately looks round for his cuddly friend and his dummy. Those two things are only allowed in bed so he's quite content when he gets to lie down and have them.

Our evening routine:
dinner at 5.45
bath at 6.20
3 oz of milk while being dried off/new nappy
(6.45 quick trip to train station to pick up mum)
7 teeth brushing
7.05 in bed, lights out, bear, dummy, story

Obviously all babies are different and you can't expect everything to change overnight but maybe it helps knowing what works for other babies at this stage. Good luck.

Poppy, I am trying to phase out morning naps but it is proving difficult. I'm trying because he only has one sleep at nursery so I would like every day to be the same for him. However, this morning I had to put him down for a nap at 9.30 because he was just too tired. Sometimes he manages just fine and sometimes he crashes.
I found the same happened when he was going from 3 sleeps to 2. For quite a while he was in between, sometimes being fine on 2 and sometimes needing an extra little nap in the afternoon. So for now I try and skip the morning nap but I don't see the use of keeping him up another 2 and a half hours if he's too tired.

thanks for your replies.
Evie is at nursery in the mornings and has an hour sleep at about 10.30. I then pick her up at 1pm and she usually sleeps for about 45 minutes at about 2.30. She is ina really good routing with this and does it virtually every day, however night times are a whole different story.

She has dinner between 5.30 and 6.30, bath between 6.30 and 7. she has a beaker of milk which she sips when she gets out of the bath and then goes to bed with it at 7.30. If i am extremely lucky, she sometimes crashes out by 8 but most nights she is still crying a 9.30.
She is so exhausted every single time but will not give in, she gets red puffy eyes and rubs them constantly but will just not go to sleep.

do you think she is getting overtired ?

I don't know what to suggest SC as Abbie gets up at 9 most days she doesn't have a morning nap only an afternoon one (I don't let her sleep past 4.30pm though) so I know she will be knackered at 8.30pm. We do the routine thing as well, beaker, jammies/bath, brush teeth. She has several "nite nite" teddies she only gets at bedtime so she knows it's sleep time. We get about 5 mins of crying then she's gone.

Maybe cut her afternoon nap ans see if that helps. It's even worse now as they are standing up in their cots trying to get out too.

Ok, presuming she is up by 7.30am, she goes about 3 hrs before a nap, then another 2 1/2 - 3 hrs before her next, then almost 4 hrs until bedtime. Maybe tea at 5.30, then bath at 6pm, then bed by 6.45pm, story then sleep. This means she is only going the 3 ish hrs again.

Is she walking?
Even crawling, you can physically knacker her out, help her climb the stairs before bath, she'll be tired!

What does she eat at tea time? Make it a carb tea, pasta, potato stuff. Not as much protein. Yoghurt for pudding?

Does she have a dummy? If possible, only give it to her as she gets into her cot. Ue it as a sleep cue.

Does she sleep in her cot in the afternoon?
Make sure there are no distractions, no toys that she'll want to play with. Are the curtains thick? Is she in a sleeping bag?

Can try gradual withdrawal, worked with DD1 at about 12 - 14 months. Stay beside her cot, don't make eye contact etc. As she gets used to you being there, move fiurther away each night. Keep lying her back down, and say "sshhhhhh" if she gabbles!

It is so hard, worst thing about babies really. And what works for one doesn't necessarily work for another. Even worse, when you move them to a bad you may have to start again!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks LR, find these things really useful!
I answer to your questions :
I have to wake her at 7.20 every morning to get her to nursery, she usually sleeps til 8.30 at the weekends.

She is she walking but still aided, pushing he buggy or holding hands. She crawls like a mad woman, on a mission
Tea Times usually consists of chicken pie and mash, shepherds pie, chicken veg and potatoes etc. Always has a much bunch fromage frais for pudding in the evenings.

She is hooked on he dummy - she plays fine without it but as soon as she gets sleepy, she gets crabby then wants it.
No she doens't sleep in her cot in the afternoons because we are usually out and about she will fall asleep in her buggy or the car, if we are at home i will put her down for a sleep in her cot.
Curtains are very thin......hadn't thought of this.

she has started getting tangled in her cot, got her leg so jammed last night i had to yank at it to get it out.

Typically, we have been round vitisting a friend this afternoon, she was grumpy all afternoon from not having a nap then as soon as we get in the car she is fast asleep, haven't got a hope of getting her to sleep on time tonight

I really would try an earlier bedtime, especially if you're waking her.

I usually say that Evie will go 4 hours max without a nap, best with 3. If her nap gets late in the evening, wake her, even if she's crabby, at least you are back on track.

You can buy black out lining and attach to curtains, or buy the cheat stuff which is blackout that attaches to the hooks, no need for sewing!

Good luck.xx

Thanks LR.
I will defo get ome blackout lining!

Doen't help that the last few weeks we have been soooo busy at the weekends with birthdays etc. DD just starts getting on weel and then we go and throw her out of the routine by staying at my mums or a friends, or going out for the evening.

S'pose we deserve it really, can't expect her to stick to a routine if we keep messing it about.

Jess's current routine....

Wake 6.30am-7.00am
Breakfast 7.30am
OCCASIONALLY SLEEPS 30 MINS AT ABOUT 9am
Lunch 12noon
Sleep 12.30-2.30
Tea 5.30pm
Bath 6.30pm
Bottle/Bed 8.30pm

Typical example:

Nursery let her sleep at an akward time today, she slept from 10.45 til 12.00. Because she slept so late she hasn't had a sleep this afternoon but is now starting to get grumpy
Got to try and keep her awake

If she's getting tangled in her cot have you tried a sleeping bag? Keeps them under control I find.
I would definitely go for a slightly earlier bedtime and keep as much of a strict routine as you can. All the symptoms sound like she's getting overtired and babies find it hard to get to sleep when this happens, they just get crosser and crosser.

Harry's birthday on Friday so we had a little party for him on Saturday. Just family - both sets of grandparents and two aunts and an uncle.
He got lots of new toys and he just loves them .
He's really chatting at the moment. It doesn't mean anything much to us but he's obviously trying to say something. It's so cute.
He's right on the verge of walking I think. Starting to tentatively let go of things for a second and once or twice taking a couple of wobbly steps towards me. My little man, all growing up.

We are up to 7 steps in a row before falling over now

House move looks like it's finally going to go ahead we should be in in about 2 weeks what am I going to do with all that space? Abbie will have her own room for the first time ever!!! Have already chosen her colour scheme (pink pink and more pink) and furniture.

Abbie never stops "talking" from the minute she wakes in the morning you get a running commentary on everything she is doing. If she's quiet for more than a minute I get worried. Don't know where she gets it from she's so funny now, she's so independent wants to dress herself now she goes into the washing basket and finds clothes to wear, she had on my t-shirt and DP's boxer shorts over her head the other day!!

Caught Evie with a pair of my knickers round her neck last night I was hanging the washing out and must've dropped them on the floor.

She is so tired atm i just don;t know what to do. i have given her her dinner and bath just incase she falls asleep but should i let her or try and keep her awake.

she is hilarious with the walking now, she is definitely getting more confident but not have much success as yet, however if you hold one of her hands she virtually runs !
She caught nanny out with this the other day, she was knackered by the end of it...... Nanny i mean, not Evie!

At least the knickers were clean SC - I have to hide mine from DD. She's got a hair thing going on as well, she likes taking the scrunchie out my hair and then putting it back in again (ouch) and combing my hair (ouch again).

Don't know what to suggest on the sleeping thing, Abbie's had all of 30 mins since she got up at 8.50am this morning and that will be her til 8.30pm tonight!!! She runs on Duracell that baby.