2 month old starting EaSY with pacifier/ short naps

[SassyJs]

I am starting EASY with my 2 month old. The E part is more or less established with 2.5 a 3hour feeds (though it's tough with short naps!) but I have yet to get a hang of the S and absolutely no Y.

Some issues:

1) is it OK to use the paci w/o it being a prop? I wind LO down swaddled with the paci.

2) we are getting short naps from 20, 30 & 45 minutes. One of the longest was 1 hour. She won't settle after these naps and mostly screams hysterically. How long should I try to resettle? It's unnerving for her to wail loudly, think I have a Touchy baby.

3) he recently is trying to self soothe by sucking her fists but get frustrated when she fails. How do I help her learn this faster?

[Scottishmummy]

Hi
It's hard when they don't take long naps.  My DS was the same, another touchy one.

Personally, I would say yes to pacifier at this age, if it helps to get her to sleep.

I never tried to resettle for more than 10 mins or so, especially if baby is crying a lot.  Sometimes it just works them up more to keep trying & they stop crying as soon as you take them to another room. I usually would just try again for another nap later if mine don't resettle easily.

I'm not sure if you can help her learn fist/thumb sucking faster, I think they have to get there themselves when the fine motor coordination develops. Pack might help until then though.

Do you want to post your routine in EASY format & see if we can help with those short naps?  e.g.
E7am
A:1hr15
S:8.15-8.45
Etc

[SassyJs]

 Wake up 7am
E 7.10am
A
S 815am to 855am

I can't get her to resettle after that. Sometimes she is happy sometimes she is upset.
The day goes downhill thereafter with lots of short naps. Is it how it is supposed tobe.

A 855am - 1020am
E 945am

[Scottishmummy]

Hi
That start to the day looks ok, about 1hr15 awake is around average for a 2month old. I have never managed to get either of mine to take a long first nap but others have.  You could try 2 things-
1) if 40 mins is her typical nap. Try going into her at around 30 mins and shh-ing and holding her in cot & replacing pacifier if necessary as soon as she stirs. That helps to enable transition to next sleep cycle giving a longer nap.
2) how many weeks old is she? You could try a slight increase of A time e.g. To 1hr20-25 to see if that gave you a longer nap/ easier resettle.

Could you post the rest of your day until bedtime?

[SassyJs]

She ins 8 weeks this week.

E 7.10am wake up 7am
A 7am - 815am
S 815am - 855am
A
E 945am (fed earlier as she was crying badly)
S 1025am - 1105am
A
S 12.20pm - 1.10pm (I carried her to sleep out of exhaustion)
E 1.10pm
A
S 2.30pm - 3.30pm
A
E 4pm
A
S 5.10pm - 610pm
A bath
E 6.50pm
A
S 8.05pm (woke before DF at 945pm)

Frequent night wakings thereafter with her struggling out of swaddle and sucking fists. She seems frustrated. Should I leave one arm out? But it unsettles her.

Also I noticed she doesn't spit out the paci every time. Is that ok or is it going to be prop? Should I remove it for her?

[Jmbdeg520]

I feel like I wrote this post, I am going through the EXACT same thing!

[Scottishmummy]

Despite much trying, I have never been able to get either of my 2 to take a dummy (pacifier) so I'm sorry I can't help with your question about it...I wonder whether someone else can?

I think short naps are fairly common at this age-babies are coming out of newborn sleepiness but can't transition easily between sleep cycles (typical sleep cycle is 40 mins but can be a little less or more) so they wake after first sleep cycle but have had enough sleep to knock off some tiredness and not go back to sleep.

With that in mind, the first part of your day looks pretty typical. Average A time at 2mo is 1hr15-20 and your baby is settling to sleep at almost exactly that. Other than trying to get in to her before she starts stirring & start trying to resettling then I'm not sure what else to suggest.

Your A times get much longer toward the end of the day though- 1hr40 from 3.30-5.10 & almost 2hrs 6.10-8pm bedtime. What's happening to lengthen them there? I wonder if some of her NWs could be due to a bit of over tiredness? Or could be some other tiny baby thing e.g. Wind, hunger, comfort, etc!

Sorry, I don't think I'm being much help, I'll see if one of the mods can offer any better support xxx

[Bella89]

Hi there,
first of all good job SassyJs on such a great routine! Maybe you don't realize, but some of moms would probably kill for that one You are doing a great job with your DS, but there are things you can try to improve. Keep in mind though, that she is still little, and might not know how to fall asleep or keep sleeping yet. These things we have to teach them.

Scottishmummy, honestly I couldn't have given a better advice!

About the pacifier... I think Tracy mentioned somewhere, that nothing is a real prop until our babies reach 3mo, because it takes so little to teach them be without it (up to 3 days I think), pacifier is perfectly fine by that time if you feel like she needs it. Then, there is a window when you can teach your LO sleep without it. My DS is 1yo and sleeps with pacifier as we were never able to drop it. He just had to suck it and I preffered that over thumb. Now, I'm waiting until he understands better that he has to give it up. As you can see, if you are bothered by it and determined enough, I would suggest dropping the pacifier between 4-6 months. But this is controversial. Some moms would tell you not to use paci at all, others thats ok for sleep as long as it is for sleep only. It's really about what you feel and what you think DD can do. At 2mo - don't worry about it Sorry, that was long.

About the routine... I would personally try extending that first A time, but not by much, 15 min maybe? What do you think? Can she do it? If LOs can do longer later in the day, It's a sign they are able to do it. This can help lenghten the naps.

Also, how many NW is she having? Do you feed her every time?
Is she BF or FF?
Sorry, I asked a lot of questions

[lauradj]

Hi there!  It sounds like you're having a bit of a rough go, it's so hard when they're little and can't tell you what's going on!  I agree with PP advice so far, she's made some great suggestions.
One thing I would like to add is that at such a young age you really want to stick a 12 hour day or less.  Otherwise you run the risk of NW's due to OT.  Given that your baby is already taking short naps, let's not make her even more OT.  If she's waking at 7am, she needs to be asleep for bed by 7pm.  It may seem strange to have a CN and then put her to bed less than an hour later but that works just fine for almost every baby I've known.  They're developing so much right now, and the end of the day is the hardest time for them. 
Are you able to pop baby into the stroller or wear her and go for a walk for one of her naps?  It would be great to help her over this hurdle so she can start getting the rest she desperately needs. 
I personally have no problem with pacifiers.  Neither of my kids used them, they're thumb suckers but if the paci helps your babe to soothe, go with it.

[SassyJs]

The longer A times in the afternoons are due to me trying to resettle but having difficulty.

She can sleep longer if sleeping on me, haven't tried the stroller though. Should I aim for 1.5 hours and wake her up even if it's far from feeding time or let her sleep as much till next feeding (which could be >2 hours).

I am cool with paci for naps. It can be weaned off later

Am I right to say that a typical day will be full of short naps? Just to set expectations. And put bb to sleep when he is tired. It will get better with time?  Like how many months?

[Scottishmummy]

Thanks for stepping in Bella & Laura 

I always find the last cat nap is the hardest to get. I often (read almost always) AP that one in the sling or the buggy.

I agree with getting at least one longer nap a day in a sling or stroller.  If the rest of day has been short naps, I would give her until the next feed.  You'll find out through trial & error if it affects night sleep & how long you can give her. My DS was a chronic short napper but every so often would do 3hr catch up nap with no impact on nights.  My DD has better daytime sleep overall but I have to limit her long naps to 2hrs Max otherwise she's either wide awake in the night or up early in the morning.

Short naps are typical of this age for some babies & how long it lasts varies.  My DS took 4 short naps a day until he was 6months old then took 1 long nap after lunch and short ones morning & late afternoon. DD started doing this pattern more recently (around 4mo) but still has some short nap days (like today!)

You do all you can to get the sleep but sometimes it doesn't happen as the book says it should.  Then all you can do is go with the flow.

[SassyJs]

Thanks for the encouragement, Sometimes I just get so tired of the short naps situation. It's a vicious cycle everyday especially since resettling is tough. I have been doing EASY since she was week 5.

[SassyJs]

I am not sure if it's a fluke but for one nap she had A time of about 1 hr 30 mins and she slept for 1 hr 20mins!

[lauradj]

Short naps are brutal because you feel like you never really get a chance to recover.  That's great news about the longer nap though!  Let's hold your A time at 1.5 and see how that goes.

[SassyJs]

It's been a haywire day & night today. 
Hope it gets better soon!