[Loz07]

Hi

I'm a new poster but have been a bit of a lurker for a while
Anyway, have a 14w DD and am after some advice/ reassurance/tips etc for a couple of sleep problems we have been having.

She is a serial 45 minute catnapper (on rare occasions I can help her 'transition' through a nap or she may do it herself, even rarer I can resettle but I usually don't try too hard at this). I wrap her for naps (unless she is in the car/sling etc) and will rock/pat or feed (if cranky/over tired) to sleep for all naps. I'm not toooo worried about this coz from what I have read, it seems catnaps are pretty normal at this stage??? What experiences do ppl have with babies eventually taking longer naps (when, tips to help?)

The bigger issue tho is getting her to settle to sleep at night (although thankfully once she falls asleep she normally sleeps all night, has woken once a night a couple of times in the last week but usually goes bak to sleep after a feed which I'm happy to do at this age).
After her bath (6pm), she is wrapped and fed to sleep. She will fall asleep, but when put in her bassinet will have 'false starts' where she wakes (10-20 mins later) and cries again. Sometimes she can be patted / rocked / held back to sleep, but normally its back to the boob. Sometimes she has some big burps when she wakes crying (I burp as she starts getting drowsy and try to keep her upright for a bit after she has finished).
This can happen a couple of times and it can take 2 hours or so post bath before she is out for the night. I don't mind feeding her to sleep (mostly because it seems to be working in that she sleeps all night.. .) but worry that as she gets older if she starts waking more during the night she is going to need to feed to settle back to sleep, and that as she is older she is still going to need help getting to sleep... Plus, coz she baths at 6, DH and I usually eat after she is asleep, which means on nights like tonight we end up having whatever can be easily scavengened from the freezer/fridge coz I can't be bothered cooking...

Anybody experienced the false starts? Tips/advice? Do they grow out of it? Also, with feeding to sleep - any experiences of people whose baby did this, and was still a good night sleeper? Or should I try to get her out of this habit now?

thanks

[MakeLoveNotBacon]

She sounds very 'normal' to me and I wouldn't worry about it too much. Congratulations on getting her to sleep all night! Don't be surprised or worried if that changes though - in the first two years they have so much going on developmentally (stages, teeth, etc) sleep patterns often change.

For some gentle sleep tips I can recommend No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley.

From memory, the cat napping slowed down around 6 mths?

[divineM]

Yes, ours was like that. woke up multiple times during the evening. this was also when I was feeding to sleep for the night. once we stopped feeding to sleep at around 4 months this improved. turns out she would come out of her sleep cycle and think "where am I? last I remember I was on the boob". I realised this was actually frightening her as she always woke up with a terrible scream.

[meggs1]

I think both things are really normal.

My cat-napper started having longer naps at about 5 months. Nothing I did before made any difference (even sleep school). I wish I hadn't wasted so much time trying to resettle him. One day he suddenly started doing it on his own.

I think it's a good idea to aim for one "proper" nap a day in the cot to give them the opportunity to sleep longer, but other than that I wouldn't worry.

Re the "false starts" my son did this for the first 3 months, then it gradually stopped on its own.

But I think you are on the right track to try to do some rocking or patting to sleep as opposed to feeding to sleep every time. My DS had a strong feed to sleep association and was waking hourly overnight for months because of it. It didn't resolve until I night-weaned him.

[Natttmumm]

Sounds normal to me - although 2 hours of it is annoying.

Cat naps - Both mine did this after about 6 weeks old. For DD1 I managed to break the habit with a fair bit of settling and crying (which I would never do again). DD2 I tried to resettle for a few minutes if it didnt work I gave up. I had DD1 around so I couldnt resettle with her talking away anyway. DD2 self settled and fell asleep beautifully on her own so it was nothing to do with feeding to sleep etc.

Both mine did do the false starts too - the only thing I remember was that it stopped around 7-8 months approx. It didnt take 2 hours though it was more like they would sleep 40 mins and wake up but still be really tired (i always putit down to overtiredness)and I would have to do an extra top up feed. After that DD2 would sleep all night - bliss and worth the mucking around. DD1 would do the 40 mins too and then feed back to sleep and then be ok until around midnight then wake up 10 times before the morning.


I think you are doing well - maybe you could try putting her down a bit later and cook while she is up

[Loz07]

Hi

Thanks for the replies. Good to know it is all pretty normal... even if annoying

I'll hang in there for the cat naps and hope they improve.

I took her off before she was completely asleep tonight, but she still woke... first time I settled with cuddles only but she wasn't fully asleep when she went back down so even with patting became cranky again... second time needed more boob before she fell asleep. But at least it was only an hour of this post bath tonight...

divineM - how long did it take to wean off feeding to sleep at that age? Think I will persist with trying this - I don't want to go cold turkey or CIO tho

[littlesticky]

No advice here but letting you know you're not alone. My 6 month old is a catnapper and has many false starts over 1-2 hours. Still better than her 6 hour false start settling when she was 2 months old! We pat to sleep after bedtime routine from 5pm.

[Loz07]

Sigh. Was hoping it would be something she would grow out of by 6 months...

On a positive note, she is settling much better for day naps, with the exception of some days where she (or I!) Just won't settle without the boob.

She is still false starting in the evening, but generally isn't as cranky about it... Mind you, I am probably offering bob quicker target than letting her get worked up... Aiming to start breaking feed to sleep in the evening over the next few weeks. Fingers crossed!

[~Supernova~]

DS (9mths) has always been a catnapper, I was beginning to think he would just always be that way. About a month ago he started finally sleeping longer (2 naps of approx 2 hours), which is when he started eating a lot more solid food (could be just coincidence). He still occasionally has a catnap, but not very often any more. Night time sleeps? We won't go there...he's teething and driving me mental ALL.NIGHT.LONG *sigh*

[axiomae]

My LO has just stopped catnapping, hooray! Like the PP, it has coincided with starting solids, although that could be coincidence. It's wonderful! She is almost six months.