Two weeks ago I decided...enough is enough. Logan was approaching 5 months old, and was still waking me up at least 3 times a night, and demanding a 3-4am feeding! I was tired, I was dragging and I needed something to help me get this boy to sleep longer!
I remembered that I had done a "babywise" method with my first kid. I wasn't too strict with it because both my girls were great sleepers and eaters. They just kinda created their own schedule. Logan has been totally different. I have had some serious "tweaking" to do. According to the book "Babywise", creating a daily schedule of Wake & Feed, Wake-time, Nap; your baby will regulate their nights and sleep longer. I have done research, and everything I've read says a Five month old baby should be sleeping around 10 hours in the night and about 15 hours total. I won't go into too many details, but Logan was just doing whatever, whenever. I was just following "his lead". So I started a schedule.
I pretty much stay in the house all day, every day. If I make a trip to the grocery store, it is a quick trip during his longest wake time. So far (up until daylight savings yesterday), Logan has been sleeping from 8ish to 7:30 without a bottle. He will wake me up just one time for his pacifier. Hallelujah! Now this is where I need some advice from any BABYWISE mom.
Logan is pretty grumpy during the day :( I'm pretty sure its because I am making him be awake longer than he wants. I have been letting him nap two hours in the morning, 1 1/2 hours mid-day, and another 1 1/2 hours in the afternoon, limiting him to 5 to 5 1/2 hours in the day so that he'll give me 11 hours at night. This is the schedule I have been following:
7:30-Wake & Feed
9:30-Nap
11:30-Wake & Feed
1:00- Nap
2:30-Wake & Feed
4:00-Nap
5:30-Wake & Feed
8:15-8:30-Feed & Sleep
Logan likes to "cat nap", so I'm trying to break that cycle by making him go back to sleep when he wakes up during his naps. Thsi morning I could not keep him awake from 7:30 to 9:30. He was so fussy after one hour of being awake, I just put him to bed. So much for my "strict schedule". I just don't know why he is so grumpy during the day...I know he wants some "cat naps", I just don't want him to sleep his day away and then not give me sleep in the middle of the night. What do I do??
Just give it time. I wouldn't worry about putting him down for his nap early, just be sure to continue feeding him at the same times.
ReplyDeleteMitzi
Great job! I need to try something like this. I have been such a lazy mom with my 3rd - which seems ridiculous because it makes my life so much harder - so maybe I'll copy you... I'll return and report :)
ReplyDeleteLandon is the same way, he is soo grumpy if he doesn't get all of his sleep. If I woke him up it threw everything off schedule for that day AND the next! So I just let him sleep whenever and however long and he's pretty much slept through the night since. However, I know every baby is different... this is just what worked for him. He still takes 1-2 hour naps 4 times a day and then sleeps about 11 hours a night!
ReplyDeleteI think the sleeping schedule is so rough...Maddix was a terrible sleeper so I have no advice just sympathy! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteEvery baby is different and I'm no expert at all, our schedule is similar except Ashlyn goes to bed around 7:30 p.m. and sleeps 11 or 12 hours. She naps around 9 or 9:30for about 2 hours. Then from 11:00or 11:30 when she wakes up, I keep her up until 2:00 and put her down for a nap then. She'll sleep until 4 or 4:30 and then be awake until bed time. That's my attempt to get her what she needs but also be able to do things. Alyssa hs a lot of city rec activites around 9:30, so I'm okay if Ashlyn falls asleep in the car for those, so she'll nap an hour or two while I run errands etc. while Alyssa is at her activity. Ashlyn has her grumpy moments, but I can see her outgrowing them every day, as she gets more and more used to her schedule. So I'd say, whatever schedule you want to be on, just give it time. Before you know it he'll be a year old and you'll have a new problem to worry about. :)
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