4M old Daniel is crying through his afternoon nap

[janasalnikova]

Hi,

My son Daniel is 20.5 weeks old - he will be 5 months on the 19th of November. So far Daniel has been quite a good sleeper. I have always tried to make sure he gets enough sleep in the 24 hours as per the age recommendations. When he was 3 months old we started to put him to sleep on his tummy and in 3 days he started to sleep through the night for 11 - 12h without any feedings. Once he turned 4 months things changed. It was really hard to get him to sleep at night and during the day so we started giving him a dummy. He did fall asleep better with it but then again started to wake up 4-5 times per night as he needed it to fall back to sleep again. Really regret having given it to him in the first place #-o

My friend recommended I read about the GNS cure. So I did. I really liked the idea and it all made such a perfect sense to me. Even before reading the book we had a schedule in place that worked quite well for us. Having read the book I pretty much kept it the same apart from introducing slight changes.

As Daniel is attending 3 different classes during the week (Tuesdays 11:15 - 12:00, Wednesdays 13:00-14:00 and Thursdays 11:00-12:00) the schedule I came up with is as follows:

Night: 19:30 - 7:30 (12h)
Breastfeed: 7:30-8:00
Nap: 9:15-10:00 (45min)
Breastfeed: 10:00-10:30
Nap 12:00-12:45 (45min)
Breastfeed 14:00-14:30
Nap 14:45 - 16:45 (2h)
Breastfeed: 17:00-17:30
Top-up: 19:00-19:30

I have started with GNS cure for Daniel this Thursday the 9th of November. So far everything has been good. It does take Daniel some time to fall asleep when I put him down for his night sleep and naps. On night 1 and 2 he fell asleep in about 25-30min. On the third night which is today he fell asleep in 15min. On day 1 and 2 he fell asleep for his morning and noon naps in about 7-9 minutes.

The nap I am really worried about is the afternoon nap which is the longest. Before the cure he slept this nap in his buggy and I rocked him to sleep. On some days he woke up only once during the nap, on the others he kept on waking up for up to 4-5 times and I had to give him the dummy again and again each time plus even rock him once in a while.

On the first day of the GNS cure Daniel slept his afternoon nap in the buggy as well. He fell asleep in 10min of rocking and jingling and slept well for the first 35min. After that he was screaming in his sleep so I had to rock him and jingle. As soon as I rocked him he calmed down but when I stopped and started to jingle he started crying again. He woke up bout 3-4 times and it wasn't easy to get him to calm down. Once we woke him up at 16:45 we felt that he started to lose his voice. As he is sleeping this nap outside I decided that from today he will sleep it in his cot as I don't want him to lose his voice screaming in the cold air. On the second day during the afternoon nap he slept for about 40min in total. He was screaming the house down. I tried to buff him as little as possible and focused more on the jingle as it was recommended in the book.
He fell asleep after 35min of positioning,buffing, fanning and jingling. Then slept for 30mins and screamed in his sleep for the rest of the nap while having only 10mins of quiet sleep during which he was sobbing and seemed to be really sad

Could you please help me to get Daniel to sleep peacefully through his afternoon nap. Any help and suggestions are really much appreciated. Please pardon if the description is too long and includes irrelevant and/or is missing any important information. I am more than happy to provide additional information if needed.

Thank you so much,
Jana

[TorsMamma]

Hi Jana and welcome!

So I can tell you right off hand 2 major issues that I find. But first a question, why do you have these classes at these times? Is it possible to change them or something?

First, the schedule time should be 12 hour night and then 45 min fm nap 2 hour (5+6 months 1,5 hour) midday nap and then 45 in afternoon nap. Id you do like you did and put the long nap before the night it is like asking for trouble.

Second, he needs solid food! ALOT! breastfeed will not do it any more. Please try to fit in 2-3 real meals, snack and if you wish breastfeeding but do it WITH the food either before or straight after.

Last, if you fix the 2 things above please remove the pacifier/dummy, it is not a part of the GNS cure. He will not need it and forget about it in 3 nights if only you do.

[janasalnikova]

Hi,

Thank you so much for your prompt reply. I signed him up for these classes when he was almost 3 months old and at that time I didn't think about the schedule that I need to work out when he gets older. This is my bad as a first time mom
I will do my best to reschedule the classes to fit Daniel's schedule or will cancel them altogether - his sleep and well being are the most important things for me!

I have changed the schedule to the following:
Night: 19:30 - 7:30 (12h)
Breastfeed: 7:30-8:00
Nap: 9:15-10:00 (45min)
Breastfeed + real meal: 10:00-11:00
Nap 12:00-14:00 (2h)
Breastfeed + real meal 14:00-15:00
Nap 16:00 - 16:45 (45min)
Breastfeed + snack: 17:00-18:00
Top-up: 19:00-19:30

Regarding the above schedule I have some additional questions:
1. Does the schedule look more suitable now?
2. It's Daniel's fourth night into the GNS cure - when can I start using the new schedule, would you say right away?
3. Do you think it is okay to start Daniel on solid food when he is not sitting yet? He can't sit on his own and when we support him he is still quite wobbly.
4. So far Daniel has slept his second nap in his pram and third one in his cot. Once I swap the duration of the 2nd and 3rd nap so that the second is 2h and third one is 45mins can he then sleep his 2h nap in the cot and 45min nap in his pram?

Regarding the pacifier it has been binned on the first night of the cure. Daniel forgot about it right away. Sorry if I wasn't clear enough about it in my first message.

So far the cure is going well. On his 3rd night he fell asleep within 15mins and I had to reposition and jingle for 3 times between 1 - 2 am as he was rolling from his tummy to his back which he doesn't like to sleep on. He then rolled over one more time at 6:20 so I went in and repositioned and jingled for 4 times. Today (the 3rd day) he fell asleep in 2 minutes for his first and second nap and the third one (the longest) was horrible - he was screaming in his sleep again - hope I can apply the new schedule asap so he won't be suffering any more.

Thank you once again for your help,
Jana

[TorsMamma]

Dear Jana,

THings look MUCH better! If I just do a little picking in the schedule if I may.

Night: 19:30 - 7:30 (12h)
Breastfeed: 7:30-8:00
Nap: 9:15-10:00 (45min)
Breastfeed + real meal: 10:00-11:00 ( I would change this to 11-12 right before the long nap)
Nap 12:00-14:00 (2h)
Breastfeed + real meal 14:00-15:00 (this can preferrably be the breastfeed + snack)
Nap 16:00 - 16:45 (45min)
Breastfeed + snack: 17:00-18:00 (this would be ok 17.30 and have dinner as a family in the future (planning a head) ) Breastfeed + real meal.
Top-up: 19:00-19:30 Perfect, just don forget the laughter before bed about 15-20 min after the top up.

When it comes to the change of schedule, just do it, it is just so off anyway you might as well just do it if you wish. But we normally don't recommend it often, this is an exemption.

Regarding the food, many people have a babysitter you one of those where they half sit half lay down, this works perfect for feedings.

With regards to him turning over, you really need to practice this during the day. You put him on his back on the floor and practice for him turning back to his belly. First just with small assistance in his hand. After a while use a toy to lure him back on his belly. You do this 5 min/10 times/ day.
Also he needs to spend as much of his awake time on his stomach as well.

In the crib when he is sleeping you can take a big towel and roll upp tight, put it around the edge of the mattress under it, so it almost becomes a small dent. This will make it more difficult for him to turn over for now. Please try not to traffic the room any more now that you are so much further into the cure. The jingle needs to get its affect and do its job now.

Regarding the naps, I agree with you, the short once 45 min can be in the pram and the long one 2 hours is much better in the crib. You can also use a travel bed when you are not at home for the long nap. Just remember not to walk with the pram when he is sleeping or going to sleep.

Keep up the good job!