My baby is happy until sleep time

SarahCM

Hello! I've not posted on here in years, but I am in need of some serious advice. 

My DS is almost 5 months old (he's my third child and by far the toughest. DD = 5, DS = 3) 

He HATES sleep. He will be happy, then act sleepy (but still happy) so I swaddle him, hold him, give him his lovey, and the moment he realizes I am putting him to bed, he freaks out and won't calm down. I can't seem to get him to sleep, and then when he finally does (unfortunately with a lot of crying) it only lasts maybe 30 min. 

Any advice or help?? I'm feeling so tired and frustrated. 

Bigboobsmcgee

That does sound rough. Is this new or has he always been tough at bed time?

Are you putting him to bed at the right time? Is he overly tired by the time you put him down? Is he teething? Sick? Anything else going on?

Is he sleeping flat in a crib? RnP? Perhaps where he is sleeping is the problem?

Sorry, lots of questions.

SarahCM

He's never been that great of a sleeper. He used to sleep either in a swing or RnP in our room, with a paci, but he was waking up 5 or 6 times a night. So about two weeks ago, we got rid of the paci and have tried to get him to fall asleep on his own. He did really well at first, started sleeping better, and longer and even TTN a couple of times, but the past few days he has gotten much worse. 

He now sleeps in his room/crib at night, and in my bed for naps. with a lovey, one arm swaddle, and white noise. 

I've wondered if he is over tired. But I'm putting him down about 1.5 hour after waking. I try to watch closely for sleep signals. In his case it seems to be eye rubbing. 

Bigboobsmcgee

SarahCM said:

He's never been that great of a sleeper. He used to sleep either in a swing or RnP in our room, with a paci, but he was waking up 5 or 6 times a night. So about two weeks ago, we got rid of the paci and have tried to get him to fall asleep on his own. He did really well at first, started sleeping better, and longer and even TTN a couple of times, but the past few days he has gotten much worse. 

He now sleeps in his room/crib at night, and in my bed for naps. with a lovey, one arm swaddle, and white noise. 

I've wondered if he is over tired. But I'm putting him down about 1.5 hour after waking. I try to watch closely for sleep signals. In his case it seems to be eye rubbing. 

He could be overly tired. Don't watch the clock, watch him (sounds like you are watching for signs). Experiment with different bed times and see if that helps.

BBoyd2013

Wow! I'm not alone!! My DS does this every time it's time to sleep (naps or bedtime). I've tried everything. This week has been the worst because he's been waking up every hour or two at night again. It takes almost an hour or more just to get a small 30 minute nap. It's like he'll be so sleepy, eyes start to close, drifting off and then bam! He'll realize he's falling asleep and start crying and throwing a fit. Then he gets himself so worked up he can't get back to that sleepy stage and then gets overtired. He started doing this at about 2 months. It really stinks. Makes you feel like you're a bad mom and it hurts your heart to hear them so upset I feel your pain mama!!