Any suggestions from my Mom friends on what to do when Katelyn wakes up 45 minutes into almost EVERY nap? If I'm honest I wasn't anticipating the mental exhaustion included in the Mom role (I'm naive I know)..... let her cry it out? feed her? rock her? re-swaddle her? let her get up? give her mylicon? etc. etc. I'm welcoming your thoughts and suggestions on what worked for you!
Kristen, have you ever read the book called The Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg? She addresses this issue. We went through it as well. But one suggestion she has is to gently wake the baby up after about 30 minutes (before she would wake up on her own). Then put her right back down. It's to try to get them out of that sleep cycle that their bodies are becoming accustomed to. She also suggests another method which is the pick up/put down. And it's just like it says...pick them up when they are crying and the second they stop put them down. It may take 20 minutes of this the first time, but eventually they will get it. Just a few ideas....hopefully something will work. It's just one of those phases. But she'll outgrow it!
ReplyDeleteWIth Luke, we would go in his room, not pick him up but put our hand on his chest and kind of shake/rock him back and forth and shhh him. Usually he had also spit out his pacifier which we would replace. We kept him swaddled in the halo sleep sack until 6 months. The soothing rocking his in crib and shhh seemed to help a lot and later when older he would sooth himself back to sleep in the same way by himself in the crib. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteleighton did this as well and we pretty much did the same thing as drew and sarah. it's just a phase! she won't do it forever, i promise.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristen! I don't think I've posted here before and to be honest, I don't recall how I even found your page... maybe thru some other Wheaton friends who linked to it? (My family knows the Lindquists from Three Lakes and Wheaton).
ReplyDeleteThought I'd throw some ideas into the ring. Our son, Alec, did the same thing at three months. My greatest resource to help him move past the stage was the blog "http://www.babywisemom.com". Whether you ascribe to the 'cry-it-out' philosophy or not, she has fantastic ideas on the 45 minute intruder and other sleep issues as well.
I know you have ZERO time to read, right now, but if you find just a few minutes, these links really helped me...
45 Minute Intruder:
http://www.babywisemom.com/2008/01/45-minute-intruder.html
Sleep problems:
http://www.babywisemom.com/2009/12/index-sleep-problems.html
Specifically, what worked for us was swaddling him with the SwaddleMe blanket for naps/nighttime. Pat/shush as suggested above and giving him a full-feeding each time he ate. He would sometimes nurse himself to sleep, but he wouldn't eat enough and woke up hungry 45 min. later. Like clockwork.
He also had a LOT of gas those first few months. Is Katelyn waking up crying, pulling her legs up? Is she passing gas? The blog also recommends frequent and thorough burping. That helped Alec as well. Mylicon didn't work all that well for us and even today at 6 mos. I have to burp him VERY well for 5-8 minutes after he eats. If I don't burp, he'll only sleep 45 min. and spit up later.
Lastly, he started teething at 3.25 months. I couldn't believe it! That also added to the short nap cycle.
So sorry this is such a long post! I hope you find something that works for your little one.
Praying for a restful, sleep-filled weekend for you all!
Jill (Cain) Smith
thanks girls... this is really helpful!!
ReplyDeleteHi Kristen! Just wanted to check back with you and see how Katelyn is sleeping. Hopefully she has pushed past the 45 min. intruder!
ReplyDelete