Babies: 0 - 3 Months

Asleep in arms, wide awake in bed

Help! my 8 week old is usually a good sleeper but it is a struggle to get her to sleep. I've tried the CIO method twice but only for 10 mins then i'd go back in give her some love or her soother then she'd cry a few more mins and then pass out finally. (hope i don't get flamed here) it killed me both times but worked...i don't want to have to have her cry herself to sleep again.  she'll pass out in my arms with no problems but when i lay her down in her crib she wakes right up and within a few minutes she's crying.  i'll go back in and give her her soother or give her a rub or try to burp her again, then she'll fall asleep on me and then she's wide awake again when i lay her back down.  the poor girl is sooo tired. today she only slept a total of 2 hrs cause she fights her sleep.  I've tried rocking her bouncing, etc, then putting her down awake and drowsy, and it's the same thing again, wide awake and then cries. ugh.  any advice on how to help her get to sleep without crying??? plllease! thank you!

Re: Asleep in arms, wide awake in bed

  • Have you tried swaddling? My LO does the same thing, when i put her down she's flails her arms and that wakes her up.  Also, i found if she sleeps in the bouncer, i can catch her waking up sometimes and rock the bouncer to help her go to sleep.
    imageNicole Hanna 11-23-2010
    Birthday
  • Swaddling, yes!!!! Try the method in my siggy.

    Also, how long do you keep her up before she falls asleep in your arms?

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    imageimage
    imageimage
  • Loading the player...
  • imagejuliane2004:

    Swaddling, yes!!!! Try the method in my siggy.

    Also, how long do you keep her up before she falls asleep in your arms?

    My 5 week old screams for murder if she is swaddled... it wakes her up. We try to swaddle her lightly to get her to fall asleep but at the same time, it's easy for her to take apart when sleeping with a little effort. She gives us 5 hrs at nights swaddled and 3-4 during the day when she's not swaddled.

    I should note that we weren't swaddling her in the beginning because her right arm was immobile and felt bad tying it down like that. They told us it would take a year for the nerves to regenerate so we weren't worried. It took a week for her to get them moving and by week two, they were completely moving like the left arm. We are glad we didn't swaddle bc she started moving that arm in her sleep!! On the flipside, she hates swaddling now!

  • OP I'd try limiting how long she stays up. We were having the same prob a few days ago for a day and I told DH only 10 mins of play and we will work on sleeping for 20 mins... and feeding etc. It worked like a charm! She falls asleep on her own sometimes, I can just put her in her bassinet and she will close her eyes and go to sleep. At other times, she will nurse/ feed to sleep.
  • I just did the same thing with my DD.  She was sound asleep in my arms and now is wide awake in her PnP.  i had to graduate her out of the bassinet because she's too tall now.  She' never liked it anyway!  She's in there talking away having a grand old time! LOL  Probably not a laughing matter, but earlier this week I tried the CIO method and this is far better now than that.  I am going to try the method of letting her self-soothe herself back to sleep, but if she cries for 2-3 minutes, I will go in and talk with her, but not pick her up.  My LO is only 2 months old, but I am going to practice this a bit, because the CIO method just about tore my heart out.  And if it doesn't work after a few times, then I will pick her up and play because that is seemingly what she wants to do!  Isn't it amazing how quickly our babies wake up if not being held or rocked?  It's a miracle! :)
  • My DD is like this right now, too.  Eventually, I think she just gets so tired so relents and will fall asleep in her bassinet, but often times, we have to have her in our arms to get her to fall asleep.  It makes for long nights!
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • You know what I did?  I let him sleep in my arms.  They are still so young, and used to being held and kept warm and snuggled in your uterus.  Please don't make your 8 week old cry to sleep again.  Too young.

    Now that my LO is getting older, he does not need to be in my arms as much and is staying asleep when I lay him down places.  I believe it comes with time.  I guarantee I will not look back at the first two months of his life and regret holding him while he slept (we bed-share, BTW, but probably not for much longer).  Good luck. 

    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • Sometimes the shock of the cold sheets wakes up my DD.  We've been putting a heating pad in her crib to warm the sheets and then removing it right before putting her down.
  • Thanks everyone for making me feel like i'm not alone in this situation, which is how i totally was feeling!  she just fights sleep!  harleyjo i'm giving in to the letting her sleep in my arms thing instead of listening to all these sleep therapists that say do not let them sleep in my arms...you're so right, i won't ever look back and regret it, even if it becomes a habit, i can break it later when she is older!! i feel much better.  so this morning she was awake for 1/2 hr and she yawned twice and i thought i better get her to bed asap before she gets cranky...so i took her up to her room and we cuddled in our rocking chair and she screaaaaaamed and cried and hated it for the first 5 mins, and i just kept calm and sang to her and rocked her and held her...and she was out like a light! we cuddled a few more mins before i put her down and she's now been sleeping for 2 1/2 hrs!  ahhhh!

    i don't normally swaddle her cause she cried but juliane that link is wicked! i may try that and see if she likes being more secure like that.  she is swaddled right now actually...so maybe i just need to try it again!

    lets hope today is a new beginning for sleep!

  • Thanks everyone for making me feel like i'm not alone in this situation, which is how i totally was feeling!  she just fights sleep!  harleyjo i'm giving in to the letting her sleep in my arms thing instead of listening to all these sleep therapists that say do not let them sleep in my arms...you're so right, i won't ever look back and regret it, even if it becomes a habit, i can break it later when she is older!! i feel much better.  so this morning she was awake for 1/2 hr and she yawned twice and i thought i better get her to bed asap before she gets cranky...so i took her up to her room and we cuddled in our rocking chair and she screaaaaaamed and cried and hated it for the first 5 mins, and i just kept calm and sang to her and rocked her and held her...and she was out like a light! we cuddled a few more mins before i put her down and she's now been sleeping for 2 1/2 hrs!  ahhhh!

    i don't normally swaddle her cause she cried but juliane that link is wicked! i may try that and see if she likes being more secure like that.  she is swaddled right now actually...so maybe i just need to try it again!

    lets hope today is a new beginning for sleep!

This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"