What am I doing wrong?
MarcyIam
member
Ryan used to go down to sleep decently easy. At the beginning, I used to nurse him to sleep. But eventually, I could do the drowsy but awak-ish to sleep. He would either stay down or I would have to go in 1-2 times and put him back down. Then he'd be up every 1-3 hours after (or 30 mins, those are fun).
But for the last week it takes me FOREVER to get him down for the night (ie: it was almost 2 hours tonight). And during the night, it takes forever to get him to go back to sleep after eating (sometimes 1-2 pickups, sometimes up to 2 hours) rather than going right back down like he used to. And the crying he's doing isn't the little I'm going to whine myself to sleep cry, either.
What am I doing wrong? This is what I have tried:
- Drowsy but awake
- Rocking, bouncing or nursing to complete sleep (sometimes more)
- Swaddling with both arms
- Swaddling with 1 arm
- Swaddling with 0 arms (he loves his arms, but they are still too much of a distraction for him)
- Pick up, put down, pick up, put down....
- Don't pick up, but pat his butt, back, arm, belly....
- When I put him down, keep him close to me as I lay him down and keep my hand on him once he's down.
- We are following the same routine as the past that has worked (in bed around 7:30/8:00.
- He doesn't seem too hot/cold, etc...
There's probably more I've tried that I don't even remember. And this has been happening whether he got good naps or not during the day.
Any thoughts as to what's going on and when/if it will end and what I can do? This is beyond ridiculous!
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Re: What am I doing wrong?
I KNOW I KNOW THEY SAY DONT...
but have you tried letting him sleep on his tummy? I've been letting my little one do that since he was like 2 months old and it's been magic. It's almost the only way he'll go to sleep now. Do a test run during the day and try to let him nap on his stomach. Watch to see if and how he turns his head. I started Seth so early that he learned to lift his head high enough to turn it by himself. Now he only wakes if he realizes his paci is gone in his sleep. And if that's the case then I stick it back in and he literally just drops his head down.
I also (I KNOW I KNOW THIS IS BAD) let him sleep over one of my pillows. He loves comfy things (like mommy's giant basoomas) so I draped him over one one day and he was gone in seconds lol. Now he's gotten particular where sometimes he might need something fuzzy (like his blanket buddy) Under his head. Periodic checks make me feel better just incase he's shoved his face into it. But I've yet to have problems.
Hope this helps.
Can you put him down earlier? We put DS 2 down at 6:30 and did the same with DS 1.
We read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth, M.D.
Awe that is such a cute pic with the teacup!
Our little man is only just now getting to the point where I can put him down "sleepy" and it just takes my rubbing my forhead with my finger for a little while for him to fall asleep. Before this month he always had to nurse to sleep too
I don't think you are doing anything wrong, its just that their sleep will change as they go through developmental phases. Just because your baby STTN (for ie) or will always go to sleep when you do a, b and c doesn't mean they always will. I've realized that you constantly have to re-learn how to parent your child as their needs change.
That being said, this screams wakeful to me. It started for us at 3 mo and DD started waking more and being harder to get to sleep (usually took an hour). It lasted 6 weeks for us and when it ended, her sleep wasn't back to where it had been 6 weeks earlier, just better then it was during the wakeful.
Also, from looking back, I've realized that for us 3 mo was when DD "came awake." She was past that newborn drowsy phase and we both had to re-learn how to get her to sleep. She could no longer sleep in noisy places (stores, restaurants) or fall asleep just anywhere. Sure, I have a friend with a baby 3 weeks younger then mine who can still fall asleep in the middle of a playdate, but a lot of babies can't do this.
Just keep in nice and quiet, try not to try too many things too quickly (as we get panicked to find something that works) and it will pass. I know, easy to say from the mom of a 7 mo old who STTN. Good luck!
It doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong. A couple things to try:
Bath before bed
Make sure he eats enough during the day (one theory on the 4 month wakeful is that they get distracted and don't eat enough during the day so they wake at night because they're hungry)
Try letting him sleep in the swing
Try bed sharing
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Shawn and Larissa
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