Sunday, February 13, 2011

My baby won't sleep!

     Before I continue on with my craft show story.....keeping you all on the edge of your seat LOL.....I need to solicit advice. Why won't my baby sleep???
     Here's the story, I think I was spoiled by her early on, so now I'm having trouble coping. When she was about 2 months old she started sleeping through the night - meaning 8pm to 8am.....yes, seriously. And yes, it was awesome. Then around 4 months she started waking up at about 4am, would nurse, and fall back to sleep until 8am. I thought she was going through a growth spurt, which she probably was, and so kept feeding her at that time thinking eventually the growth spurt would end and she'd start sleeping 12hrs again. Not so much. Instead, she started waking up at midnight too. I thought maybe it was a BIG growth spurt, and so nursed her, and got her back to sleep two times a night. Every once in a while she'd sleep through one or both of her night feedings and it'd be like Christmas morning for me. Month after month went by and nothing changed, so I started doing some serious research. I read that you should start sleep training at about 6 months since soon after that babies should be able to sleep for 11-12 hours at a time. Please correct me if I read wrong.
     So I started doing the 5, 10, 15 minute thing.....for about 2 or 3 days at a time. Some nights it worked, some nights she would scream bloody murder until I picked her up, feeling like a horrible mother, and ruining all our hard work in the process. I know, I know, they all say to try it for 2 or 3 weeks, not 2 or 3 days, but one night of her screaming at the top of her lungs for even 30 or 40 minutes straight was enough to make me stop. I can deal with crying, but I cannot deal with screaming that makes you think someone is getting a finger cut off. It was just too heartbreaking to deal with. Sigh. I knew that if I held her or nursed her until she fell asleep she'd be awake in about 4 hours, but I thought, oh whatever, just nurse her. She is now 8.5 months old, BUT, lately she's been getting up at midnight, nursing, and then not wanting to go back to sleep. WHAT HAPPENED??? The more I try and make her fall asleep on her own, the louder she screams, but if I get her to fall asleep in my arms, she wakes up crying and wanting to be held back to sleep every time she wakes up - which, last night, was 3 times in 3 hours, and 6 times total for the night. The real problem this week has been her newfound ability to roll over, crawl to the side of the crib, and pull herself up to a standing position. Ok, "cry it out" is not an option when they are STANDING UP. Which reminds me, the next thing I'm going to sew is a crib guard so she doesn't chew the rails to bits. I also read that getting your baby to bed earlier can help so we've tried that these past 2 nights. Well, I tried to get her to bed at 7 rather than 8, and instead she fell asleep at 10.
     I know this is all probably due to our inconsistencies with her bedtime routine, trying this or trying that to get her to sleep better. She's a great baby, and my husband and I say that it seems WE'RE the problem! She's fine as long as we're doing what's right, but as first time parents, that rarely happens. All I know is I keep looking for a sleep reset button but I can't find one! I also read that around 8 months babies go through a "sleep regression". Tell me please, what do I do??? I've combed through "The Baby Sleep Site" and others, but I'm against letting her scream her head off, standing or lying down. I'm also not sure how the "no cry" methods work. I can't really just lay her down and sing to her or pat her without her crying still, albeit not as loudly as when I just walk out of the room. She's a pretty feisty little one so when she gets agitated all drowsiness disappears and it's hard to calm her back down. I think another problem is that she is what our pediatrician calls a "wiggle worm". She wiggles in the tub, she wiggles on the changing pad, she wiggles standing up, sitting down, and of course, lying in the crib. She keeps awake with all the wiggling. She literally wiggles and bounces all day long. I've purposefully NOT bought her a bouncer because I don't want to encourage it. I think it may lead to her not being able to sit still later on in her life.....but I'm sure that's a'hole'nother topic we could discuss. First things first, Mama needs some sleep! Help!

6 comments:

Dianne_momstuff said...

glad to connect. Come and visit me.

Danielle said...

I wish I had some advice, my youngest was like that...and she's 3 and only just recently started sleeping through the night regularly (and now that she's night potty training she's up at night again, lol). I can't even deal with crying for a minute... I'm such a sucker, haha. Good luck!

Stopping by and following from Bloggy Moms!

-Danielle
www.flipflopreviews.blogspot.com

Christine said...

I feel your pain! My first was pretty awesome but, my second is waking up at 2 and 4 to PLAY...what the heck?? She's 7 months old. I'm for crying it out sort of but, they share a room.

Hope you get some sleep soon! Stopping by and following from Great Moms Think Alike Wednesday.

http://arichmansfamily.blogspot.com/

Mama Hen said...

Welcome to Mama's Little Nestwork! Make sure to visit our featured bloggers each week. My daughter was like that also. It is so hard and I know you need rest. Hang in there!

Mama Hen

Megan said...

I understand your pain! I think you really need to do the tough love thing. Be consistent every night with her bedtime routine. Check with your dr. about feeding more solids before bed to keep her fuller longer. If you know she is fed, clean and safe in her crib then she really doesn't need anything and right now she is just use to you coming when she cries.

I nursed both kids but I hav to say I don't believe they were as full as kids that were bottle fed. I think making sure she is full before bed is key. Maybe the nightime feeding should be from a bottle then you know for sure how much she ate.

You can do it and you will be happier if you nail this now. It will stink and there will be tears from all of you but its amazing how babies have a way of working us, don't they!

New follower from Bloggy Moms. Hope you can get over to my blog I have a fun artwork giveaway!

Megan

http://1funkywoman.blogspot.com

ThaiHoa Burroughs said...

This is too real! I went through the exact same thing! My baby is 13 months now and she finally started sleeping through the night right after she turned 12 months. It does get better. My pedi told me that getting her on a schedule and sleeping through the night at 2 months was just a fluke. She also reminded me that they do most of their growing and learning at night. They practice in their sleep. My baby also woke up at midnight around 8 months. If you are feeding her solids you should start doing this more often. My pedi recommended six small meals. Make the dinner a good dinner. Then nurse her before bedtime. Also, I have always given my daughter a bath although I know you don't have to bathe them everyday. It was ingrained in her routine and helped her with sleep. So a routine has to be definite. It is never too late to start one. Once that happens you will see her sleep getting better and better. Good luck. I am just giving suggestions. I am in no shape or means to give advice. I am a first time mother but I went through what you just described. Good seeing you on Bloggy Moms and welcome! Love your blog. Cute layout designs.

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