Getting on a sleep schedule

DD will be 11 weeks old on Monday. I am going back to work on the day she will be 14 weeks old. I'd like to get her on a more consistent sleep schedule. Right now our big issue is naps. I feel like I'm "not doing it right".

A typical day with her goes something like this (and in case its relevant, she is exclusively fed breast milk from a bottle)...

Wakes up at 5am for a feed. Back to sleep about 5:30am.

Back up around 8:30am for a feed. Takes about 20-30min to feed her. She plays for 20-30min and then she is back to sleep.

At about 9:30am she is back down for usually 3.5-4 hours.

About 1pm-1:30pm she is awake and eats. This is where the wheels start to fall off. From this point she is up for several hours. She probably doesn't get back down for a nap until 5pm MAYBE. Sometimes she will continue to be awake until maybe 10pm with little 20 minute naps once or twice during this stretch. She'll eat around 4pm, 6pm, 8pm and then we dream feed her at like 10:30pm. Sometimes she'll even eat very slowly every 30 minutes during this time. Regardless of what happens, she is usually very cranky between 7pm and 9pm. She has SERIOUS gas which is definitely the cause of the crankiness (I know this because she'll be crying while she is farting up a storm like crazy).

I feel like I don't know how to put her down for a nap in the afternoon. I put her in her swing or her rock and play (she sleeps in her room in her rock and play at night - she does not sleep in her crib yet because she HATES being on her back) when I want her to nap or think she is tired but she'll cry or, as mentioned above, will fall asleep for 20 minutes and then wake up crying. I'm under the impression she is too young to "cry it out" so I haven't let her stay until she goes to sleep.

Because of how things go in the afternoon there are times where her entire nighttime schedule is thrown off. I feel like I really need to get this under control before I go back to work. I really don't do well with sleep deprivation!!!
I'd love some advice on how to really get her on more of a schedule.

Message edited 6/7/2013 1:41:26 PM.

Re: Getting on a sleep schedule

Can you wake her up from her midday nap earlier? She is staying up so long because she is getting so much sleep in that one chunk. Maybe only let her sleep 2-3 hours so that she is drowsier for you in the late afternoon and will take a longer nap then. To help with the gas have you tried the gas drops? Also, a nighttime routine at a certain time each night might also help her realize that now it is time to go to sleep for the night. I hope some of this works! It is so hard when we are sleep deprived!

Re: Getting on a sleep schedule

it seems like that long morning nap is what the problem is. i agree with the pp about waking DD earlier. my LO doesnt go 5 hours suring the day without a feeding - maybe try waking her and feeing her around noon? then the rest of the day will shift.
all kids are different but the fact that shes getting such along nap in the morning is probably why she wont take an afternoon nap.

also - if you are concerned with returning to work what time would you need to leave DD in the morning? if its before 830 you can try to shift your schedule that way...get her up whatever time you will need to get her up when your return to work and see if that changes her schedule

good luck

edit - im just re-reading your post, is there any reason you think you need to get on a different sleep schedule? it seems DD is on one...which just consists of a long AM nap but in terms of nighttime she seems to be doing ok (10pm-5am). if the crankiness in the evening is strictly from gas and not being over tired i wouldnt necessarily try to change anything.
try gas drops in her bottles that may help
my dd is not a good napper but there is nothing i can do about it - i cant force her to sleep

Message edited 6/7/2013 2:14:18 PM.

Getting on a sleep schedule

IMO you can't force a schedule on them. 11 weeks is still so early for them to be on a consistent schedule.

I know it sticks to go to work sleep deprived but there is no special cure to get a baby to sleep. Soem do right from the start others won't for the first year.

Re: Getting on a sleep schedule

I agree with the PP. At 11 weeks, 10pm-5am is STTN and I wouldn't try to change that part. Also, the fact that you say a "typical" day means that your DD is already on some sort of schedule.

What I really think you need is more consistency during the day. Have you tried Eat-Play-Sleep?

A few pointers...

After her 8:30 feeding, can she stay up longer? Her next feeding should be somewhere around 11:30/12. Try to keep her up until 10:30 and then down for an hour nap. NOT a 3.5-4 hour nap. During the day you should consistently be feeding her every 3-4 hours, depending on how hungry she gets. If she needs a 4 hour nap, maybe she needs to go to bed earlier at night as that nap is still part of her "night sleep."

8:30-1:30 - 5 hours is too long between feedings during the day. See above.

She's getting to be too old for cluster feeding - 4pm, 6pm, 8pm. She's probably tired and that's manifesting at hunger.

Cranky at night is pretty typical. It could be her witching hour. It could be she's overtired. Does a bath calm her down?

She is too young for CIO, but she's not too young to cry for 5 minutes. DS will fight naps when he's exhausted, but I put him down (usually in the swing) and he will cry for 2 mins and then pass out.

Try a few things and see what works. A routine of Eat-Play-Sleep should help though.

Re: Getting on a sleep schedule

Message edited 6/7/2013 4:43:59 PM.

Re: Getting on a sleep schedule

Re: Getting on a sleep schedule

Since you are saying she's fussy from 7-9, have you tried 7pm has her bedtime? Both of my kids (now almost 6 and 3) have had 7pm bedtimes forever.

I think in order for that to succeed though, the morning nap has to be 2 hours, max.

Getting on a sleep schedule

i remember feeling the same was as u before i went back to work. dh works nights so if we are having a bad night, i am sleep deprived and still have to work. the first 2 months were rough. when she got older like now, it is way more consistent and better. 10-5 IMO is GREAT already. def agree that the early nap needs to be shorter-more like 2 hrs,
i did a schedule of eat play sleep also, and dd after being awake for 2 hours i would always know she was tired and put her in the swing or rock n play for a nap. then she would sleep for awhile, wake up, and start again. keep at it though~ now she goes to sleep at 7 and sleeps til 6.