Sleep is for the Weak! we got too big?!!??!?!!??

[cruisemum1]

can you believe that?! we got too big?
we should surely get an award from Mumsnet?

Meant to add, if he's 'due' a nap around 5 (ie quite close to bedtime) then I don't bother trying to get him in cot (as this can take time), just bung in pram and take for a walk so he can doze off if he wants to. So actually I might do that today as I need to pick up his new emollients from chemists anyway.

cheers meg, am wondering whether i'm letting her nap too late sometimes. she only used to sleep for 30 min bursts, but now shes older shes having more substantial naps of 90 mins. she woke at 12.15pm and is still going now. only prob is, i can see her wanting to nap at 5ish then wont want to go to sleep til late have to try and hold her out hope you find something that suits your poor lo soon. its the pits for them, dd was lucky and had it very mildly by comparison. she appears to have outgrown it too.

How old is your LO, Tibsy? And when did she start napping more than 30 mins? Would be nice if DS would too, but he rarely gets past that first sleep cycle even though he often still seems a bit tired.

meg, dd is 9 1/2 mths old and has only been recently i'm afraid tried everything beforehand, following ncss ideas and they worked sometimes. but generally, she'd have her 30 mins and her little eyes would ping open and that was it!!!!

Tibs and Meg - I find this one hard to get right. Like Meg's LO, mine tends to need a nap about 1.5hours after waking, and normally only makes 30mins. The exception to this is lunchtime, when I can resettle her most days if she's not in the buggy. For some reason at lunch she'll go for hours, and I've found that if I let her go too long, she won't have another nap before bedtime, leading an opera of overtiredness (LO starring as the soprano). As such I've taken to waking her if she's still asleep after 2 hours the past couple of days - and it kills me to wake her when I think of what bother I have getting her to sleep. Last nap is ideally between 4-5. I'd love to have her in a routine, but she much prefers chaos (smile).

oh and yes, dd was often still tired after her 30 mins too. would infuriate me sometimes i guess that even sleeping is something babies have to learn how to do properly

bags, dd is a lover of chaos too i think she thinks of it as the element of surprise thanks for that dd!!!

Tibsy, it's hard to say at this end about naps but yesterday she slept until 4.45 and was a nightmare at 7.30 so today I made sure she was awake about 4 ish. I really haven't got to grips with it yet, I mean sleep is meant to equal sleep right? still haven't decided if thats true either but I do like her to be up a good 3 hrs before bed. If she'd woken at 12.30 I'd try and get her to nap again about 3 -3.30? Better to have a cat nap. (Mine is about the same age)

Meg, mine always has napped for only 30 mins exactly. At your lo's age we were having constant battery recharging every 1 1/2 to 2 hours. She has also, of her own accord, started to nap for a bit longer but that is all down to her. I've done nothing. Another reason why I say up yours to those books!! She started doing it all on her own, all be it much later than I'd have liked!!

And mine too likes the mental torture of sleep deprivation. Still irritates me that she wakes up tired. Well if you will decide it's time to get up......

ginger, she seems to be going to bed later and later cos of late naps now today, she had almost 2 1/2 hrs this a.m and 30 mins this afternoon. contrary little monkey
whatever happens, will be dosing her up with calpol before bed as shes been really mardy today with her teeth for me and for her!!!

hope you have a good night

Well, DS ended up having a meganap on me this afternoon (2.30 til 4.30)... we took him to the chemists all awake and jolly in the pram... then he fell asleep on the way home (5.45)! Woke him up soon as we got home (6) although he was sound-o. Hopefully it won't stop him falling asleep tonight!

Anyway good luck for putting your LOs to bed tonight! [sends sleepy vibes to all SIFTW babies]

i hate the 30 min naps, where they wake up still rubbing their eyes. we had that yesterday when we went out to lunch for DH's birthday and tried to get him to sleep in his cot.

tibs, about the nap timing thing, i've actually found having set nap times has really helped. it helps me know how to plan the day and when to put him to bed, and i think it helps LO know what is happening to. i seem to have found the right timesto put him to bed, so hewill go to sleep quite easily 9 times out of 10 (if we are at home).

anyway, i took my cues from weissbluth's book (ah the horror!), but i think he is quite sensible about naps. i put LO to bed around 8.30/9 and 12 and then have a flexible afternoon nap starting between 3 and 5. theoretically the afternoon nap should be the one they drop first, and keep 2 naps for a while, with the midday one pushing out to around 1pm or something. then eventually the morning nap goes and the midday one stays for a bit longer.

i still try and take cues, but will also keep LO up until the proper naptime, even if we have to fight a little tiredness.

remind me your LO's age, and i can look what weissbluth says for that age ifyou want.

Tibs: we've been trying to get a nap routine as well, based on DS's sleepy signs. Seems to be about 10 an about 2 atm. Timing also depends on who's in charge - I try and tick closely to these times but DH is a bit more lax [wik]. We try not to let him nap after 4 (bedtime routine startd around 6:30) but that sometimes shifts. Yesterday he didn't nap till 4 and woke at 5:45.

Nights still variable for us, with the first part being much better (2-3 hours between wake-up/feeds). Now need to get the 3-6am bit sorted...

Morning all - any good nights to be had out there?

Slim - glad things are improving, albeit slowly.

Meg - is your LO's eczema any better?

Tibs - hope the Calpol worked a treat!

Funny night here. LO was very unsettled til 8, then slept. She was up 5 or 6 times in the night from midnight, but only wanted her dummy, rather than a feed, and settled quickly each time. She didn't feed until 6am . Now if I can just come up with some sort of headgear to keep that wretched dummy in place.....

hi bags,

[shyly admits we had a good night]

dream feed at 9.15, woke for 2am feed, woke at 5.30 but self settled (i stayed in bed - yay!) and then up at 7.15. feel like a new woman. assembled the highchair today. yikes, am scared of this whole solid food trip we're about to embark on. 6 months comes around fast doesn't it.

well everyone always said i should feed LO so that he sleeps better. i'll report on what difference it makes (likely none, or worse!)

think we might head to borough markets in the afternoon, looking forward to it. MIL and FIL are here from OS and DH is off work this week.

Yay Amber!

And good luck for the weaning - sounds like fun.

Have you always done a dream feed? I am tempted myself, but LO sleeps quite lightly and I'm not confident that I won't disturb her. Does your DS stay asleep most times?

hi bags, i just started the dream feed this week actually and it seems to be buying me a few hours extra sleep. i'm lucky as i have a super fast let down, so i stick my finger in his mouth and he starts sucking, and then i transfer him to the breast, it sometimes takes a few tries, but has been successful 4 times now.
he doesn't wake up, just basically eats in his sleep.

morning ladies and thanks for info re naps

amber - for your good night and dd is 9 1/2 mths, would love for you to look up reference to naps in book please.

bags, alas the calpol failed

slim - dp is the same!! great news about the start of your nights tho

we had a dreadful night i'm afraid with dd awake for 3 hours on and off between 12ish onwards she just would not settle despite feeding, walking around and calpol i had to get dp to take over in the end as i started swearing ...never a good sign
no longer do i dream of rampant marathon sex sessions with johnny depp (sorry, i meant dp of course ) but of one nights uninterrupted sleep. please, let it be soon [desperation emoticon]

ah well, i guess all good things come to those who wait.....i'm expecting nothing short of miraculously fantastic after this wait tam, you get one step up again for waiting 16 mths

ahhh, so thats what a dream feed is [duhhhh emoticon] or will cover it?!

Morning and Amber and for your night.

Not too shabby here, fed at 1ish and 4ish, woke a couple more times but quickly resettled with help of dummy. Then in bed with us from 5.30 to 8

Off to see our GP in a bit cos he has to arrange hopital referral for eczema.

Oh and Tibsy, DH knows when it's time to take over when I start swearing under my breath...

meg, good luck with the docs.
am off to work to find my inner hippy, its deeply hidden atm
we're having our photos taken doing a baby yoga session for the new brochures. dd never been before, but am sure she'll lurvvve it
see you all later

morning all (well it's nearly lunchtime!)
mixed night here. ds went to bed at 7 and slept so soundly until 2am. not a peep not even a twitch of his big toe! he had some milk at 2 then slept until 4.30am. well then he decided it was time to get up
no way buddy! brought him in with us and he poked my face, kicked, sang, laughed for an hour 1/2! eventually about 6 he went back to sleep and we all got up at 8.30. don't feel too bad but then that could be the coffee.

yeah, the idea of the dream feed, is that you give it before you go to bed, so you get the maximum stretch of sleep before next feed. i really think it depends on the reasons your LO is waking up whether it works or not. i didn't expect it to work with LO, but it has shifted his first waking from 12 to 2, so is good!

Gah! Need a quick rant. DD has gone Dummy ker-azy. Has woken every 20mins at lunchtime nap to be "replugged". She was pretty bad last night too. Can't even think about going cold turkey as DH's shifts are insane this month (no days off at all until 15th July). Not looking forward to tonight.....

Thanks for listening.