Babies: 0 - 3 Months

VENT: I've tried everything...

to get DS to sleep at night.  He is waking up every hour and I am exhausted.  We co-sleep simply cause he always hated his bassinet and we never tried the crib.  I want to put him in his room but if he sleeps this badly with mommy and daddy right there I can't even imagine putting him in his crib.  In fact I'm dreading it.  I've tried everything I can think of to get him to sleep longer at night.  We have a bedtime routine (bath, music, massage, bottle), I've swaddled him so tight he looks like a little burrito, I put the humidifier on so he doesn't get congested and has some white noise to listen to.  Yesterday I woke him up after 3 hours so that he didn't sleep all day, then kept him up until 8 although the poor baby could barely keep his eyes open.  Sure enough he was up an hour later and every hour after that until 6 this morning.  I'm totally at the end of my rope where his sleeping is concerned.

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY TRICKS THAT MIGHT WORK?

Re: VENT: I've tried everything...

  • Maybe it might be worth it to try and see if he will sleep better somewhere else.  When he is taking the long naps during the day, where is he sleeping?
  • ds started sleeping well in his glider.  we have the
    we would swaddle him and let him fall asleep on a pillow next to us.  when he was asleep, we'd move the whole pillow to the glider.  we have an apnea monitor tho, which is why i don't worry about him sleeping on a pillow.


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  • imageAmberli:
    Maybe it might be worth it to try and see if he will sleep better somewhere else.  When he is taking the long naps during the day, where is he sleeping?

    During daytime naps he sleeps on the couch cause we spend the day in the living room.  Maybe I should start putting him in the crib for naps?  It feels like I'm trying something new every day.

  • Patience, is all I can tell you.  :(  He's still so young, he's going to have days and nights mixed up for a while longer, I'm afraid.  DD got the hang of it sometime around 2 1/2 to 3 months, but there were some rough nights in there.  Are you sleeping when he sleeps during the day?  That was THE only way I could make it through wakeful nights with her, much as I hate napping during the day.  I wonder if keeping him up during the day like you mentioned might be preventing him from sleeping longer at night?  Just a thought.  Hang in there; hope your DH is doing what he can to help, too!
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  • Crank up your white noise big time. ?It should sound really, really loud. ?Don't let him stay awake for more than an hour and 15 minutes at a time-- this means you might need to wind him down to sleep after being awake for half an hour. ?I wouldn't cosleep but that's me-- I find that my son sleeps just great in his crib and has since day one. ?Maybe prop up one side of his crib-- he might not like laying flat and that might startle him. ?Maybe try gas drops or gripe water as gas might be waking him up.

    If you can't get him to sleep in the crib or your bed, try the swing or stroller. ?Better he sleeps there than nowhere. ??

  • DD was just like that (although we did not co-sleep) and we found that the ONLY thing that worked was "the miracle blanket." We ordered it online from Amazon.com. We tried other swaddlers and they never made a difference but I promise you this blanket will change your life. As soon as we started using the miracle blanket DD slept through night and has slept through the night every night since.

  • DD started sleeping longer periods once we got her out of our room. STTN 5+ hours began almost immediately, and full out 8-10 hour STTN a few weeks later.  I think we were waking each other up. :)  she'd sigh and I'd sit up and look at her, and then my movement would signal her, i guess.
  • Califrog:  I just started waking him up from naps yesterday b/c he was sleeping 5-6 hours during the day and not waking until 6.  I thought it might help not to let him sleep that long.  It didn't make any difference at all.
  • Judah i just want to hug you.  I feel so bad for all the crap you've been going through!  I feel like it's too much sleep, but Ike doesn't stay awake for more than 1 1/2 hours.  I put him to bed in his crib after a month because i could not sleep with every little noise he made in HIS sleep.  I realized that sometimes he just makes noises in his sleep and i was confusing that for him being awake, maybe that's what's happening for you too?  GL!
  • My best suggestion is to pay attention to his cues.  It is possible he's getting overtired during the day and that is messing up his night sleep.  Why do you keep him up until 8?  My DD is ready for her bedtime routine at 6:00 or 6:30 and asleep by 7:30 or so.  If he can barely keep his eyes open he's way too tired and needs an earlier bedtime.  Also, he may just need to take long naps.  Try not to worry about daytime sleep and let him sleep if he's tired.  It will probably take a few days, but if he is getting enough rest during the day his night sleeping should adjust.  GL!
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  • I did this when my little girl was around 6 weeks because I had to go back to work at 8 weeks and I couldn't handle it without sleep.  This worked for me it took a few days but sure enough it worked and she sleeps through the night now with no issues.

     She had her days and nights mixed up so during the day I'd feed her every 2 to 3 hours (she's BF) if she was napping I woke her and fed her.  It's exhausting for the few days I did this but apparently for both of us :)  After that she started sleeping at night. 

    I also kept things very bright and I wasn't quite during the day.  At night if she woke up and I had to go in I wouldn't even talk to her I would be so quiet and I would avoid all the bright lights and everything.

     I also keep her pretty active during the day and her naps and everything are always in her crib (or sleep positioner depending on where we are).

    Now she eats at 5:30, 9, 11:45, 2:30, 5:30, 7:15, and 8:45 generally.  I know you can see how often she eats at night now when I'm home from work - she cluster feeds but she's in bed by 9:15 and she sleeps straight through till 5:30. 

     I truly believe you just have to find what works for you - every one is different.  Good luck. 

  • It is pretty normal for him to wake up every hour at his age. My son is BF and has co-slept with me since day one and he was up every 1-2 hours all the way until he reached 3 months. Now he only wakes up once or twice at night to BF. Give your little guy time and he will adjust and things will get better. The first three months is the toughest time.

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  • You're keeping him up WAY to long.  The thing about babies, is that if you keep them up, they don't sleep LONGER, they sleep SHORTER periods. They get overly tired and they can't settle themselves.

     Like pp said, keep him awake only as long as you don't see a drowsy cue.  Charlie wakes up, I feed him, and within 1 hour of the time he got up, I will see either a yawn or an eye rub. I then put him RIGHT in his crib. He might eat for 30 minutes, and only be up for 15-30 more after eating. Seriously, it's that short, but he's so well rested and sleeping 12 hours at night (total).  Hang in there, you will get it. It takes time. I stopped co-sleeping and all of that about 3-4 weeks ago, and things are so much better for us.  It was tough, but it's worth it. :)

     

    And I think you need to have him in his own room at least for naps. Babies need alone time too.  It's good for him, IMO.  

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