If someone could tell me why Tiny Boy's nap 'schedule' is erratic as it is, I'd be very grateful. Most days he takes FOUR (or even five) 40 minute naps. Which really sucks. He's not getting deep sleep he needs at this age, and I spend half my day in the rocking chair or nursing him to sleep. But then there are days--yesterday--he sleeps 3-4 hours in one stretch without much difficulty (I usually have to nurse him once in there but he's immediately back to sleep). I'd really like to shift to 2-3 normal length naps, please.
And don't even get me started about night. Let's just say it's a GOOD night for us if he's out for 2 hours. Of course, LG didn't sleep through the night until she was two (years, that is); my expectations for sleeping through the night are pretty low.
Last night I woke up around 1:00 as Tiny Boy was trying to re-latch himself; I'd fallen asleep nursing/holding him about two hours prior. He nursed so frequently I'm not even going to bother pumping this morning.
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Part of me wonders if the nurse-a-thon is a response to me being on campus all the freaking time. Yesterday I had a grad class, today I need to do committee work, tomorrow committee work and grad class, Friday some undergraduate program thingy I agreed to do. Next week looks much the same.
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I had something else to say about the lameness of one of Tiny Boy's caregivers and the awesomeness of the other, but he's sitting on my lap and now sucking on my arm, which I am taking as a not-so-subtle hint that he wants to nurse. Again. You know, because 40 minutes between feedings is a really long stretch when you're on the verge of 5 months.
Do I sound crabby? I am. But in the big scheme of things, if this is the worst thing I have going on, my life is damn good, you know?
Look up reverse cycling. Nursathons are normal.
ReplyDeleteUgh very little sleep here too. And I don't mind if baby just nurses the whole night because I can sort of sleep through that, but now that he's teething he'll wake up crying/screaming and doesn't really want to go back to sleep that easily. I'm just going to ignore that you wrote that LG only started sleeping through the night at two ;-)
ReplyDeleteWell, LG wasn't typical. She also was on amino-acid formula as primary source of nutrition until, you guessed it, 2. Once she really started eating solid food, she slept...
ReplyDeleteNandM...will do. Thanks!
Okay...don't think this is "reverse" cycling, as he eats basically every 1.5-2 hrs all day long, whether it's by bottle or breast. The hard nights, like last night, he nurses almost constantly, and that I can't sleep...
ReplyDeleteI would bring this snuggly blanket of sleep right over for both of you, the whole Gwinne house needs a breather.
ReplyDeleteI am totally mystified at this point on feeding and sleeping, but the lack of sleep I can relate to. There has to be some breakthrough, soon. Sorry I'm not much help here.
Hi! I've never commented before, but I just wanted to throw my two cents in. My daughter (who is now almost 14 months and naps like a CHAMP!) didn't start taking normal naps till she was about 8-9 months old. I had her in the middle of law school, and was assured that she would be napping fine by 3/4 months. It was beyond rough trying to take classes and study with a kid who would only nap 45 minutes at a time, and didn't sleep very well at night. I'm not sure what it was, but around 8/9 months she suddenly started taking 2, 2 hour naps and has napped great since.
ReplyDeleteI just checked my records (yes, I am that nerdy). It looks like we did two things. 1. I put her on a strict nap schedule, only allowing a variance of about an hour for each nap and 2. We started putting her down awake. She started sleeping much, much better when she learned how to put herself to sleep. That being said, it really was just months of experimenting and experimenting to figure out the tricks to get her to sleep well.
ReplyDeleteSorry that Tiny Boy's sleep is so lousy right now. I wish I had useful help for you. But remember-- every phase is short at this stage and so it will pass.
ReplyDeleteHaven't commented before either, but my daughter who is the same age also has an erratic nap schedule. It was bad at night also, she frequently nursed all night long. Last week we started feeding her solids and it seems to have helped some with the night nursing. Of course we also transitioned her from our bed to her crib at the same time. Hard to say what actually helped?
ReplyDeleteHaven't commented before either, but my daughter who is the same age also has an erratic nap schedule. It was bad at night also, she frequently nursed all night long. Last week we started feeding her solids and it seems to have helped some with the night nursing. Of course we also transitioned her from our bed to her crib at the same time. Hard to say what actually helped?
ReplyDeleteHaven't commented before either, but my daughter who is the same age also has an erratic nap schedule. It was bad at night also, she frequently nursed all night long. Last week we started feeding her solids and it seems to have helped some with the night nursing. Of course we also transitioned her from our bed to her crib at the same time. Hard to say what actually helped?
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who's daughter was like that - she just took forever to nurse. It actually ended up being faster for her to pump and feed her daughter with a bottle. I still have a hard time imagining how that could be possible, but she swears it was faster.
ReplyDeleteNot sure it's the same thing, Shannon. Tiny Boy is actually a really efficient nurser (can usually get what he needs from one breast in 5-10 minutes); I think he's comfort nursing or something in the middle of the night...
ReplyDeletetiny boy sounds just like the bean, vis-a-vis nursing and sleep. after spending most of the first year tearing my hair out, thinking it was due to some sin of commission or omission on my part, i have now come to the understanding that it's just how he is. i can't tell you how relieved i was when a mother of three and nanny of many sat for him and couldn't get over how much he ate. (likewise, it was a relief to see, via formula and solid food, that his eating all the time and never gaining weight isn't because my milk it scarce or lacking; it's because he has the metabolism of a cracked-out hummingbird.)
ReplyDeletesame story as TB re: short naps and tiny stretches of sleep at night. naps are getting better now (at 13 mo), but 45 minutes is still pretty normal. night sleep got better when we did before-midnight CIO at 6 or 7 months and all-night at 11 mo, but i don't think either would have worked much sooner, because those were the first ages where it seemed like he could possibly go that long without eating. he still gets up at an ungodly hour, but i think that is improving.
anyway, my point is that it is hard and tiring and well worth complaining about and Not Your Fault.