Ever since the four month sleep regression hit its been taking anywhere from 1 to 5 hours to get DD to sleep every single night. She's 5 months old now so this has been going on for over a month. Every night I try putting her down for her last nap of the day, which takes 1 or 2 hours. When she inevitably skips that nap or sleeps for like 20 minutes its usually time to put her to sleep. So what started out as putting her down for a nap turns into 2 or 3 or 5 hours of putting her down to sleep. Tonight I tried everything for 2 hours. We walked, bounced, sat in the swing, got a baby massage, rocked, sang, EVERYTHING! If I put her down she would scream like a velociraptor or bawl like her fingernails were being pulled out.
So my question is..at what point do I just give up and let her scream? She's literally just passing out from exhaustion every night. Nothing I'm doing is having any effect. Luckily once she's down she sleeps all night with only one or two wake ups.
HELP ME!!!!!
Re: At what point do I admit defeat?
You're a way more patient woman than I am. I couldn't do that for two hours.
Tonight I rocked DD to sleep and tried to put her in her crib once and she woke up. I was too tired to go back and forth all night, so she's currently asleep on my lap in the family room. I think the longest I've ever tried to go back and forth to get her to sleep is maybe 20 minutes. I have zero patience with that stuff!
GL!
Normally I wouldn't consider CIO, but honestly she's crying herself to sleep anyway so...
I'm going to make a pedi appt. good idea. There are sleep trainers in the DC area that you can hire. I might go that route.
That's what we said with DD1, too. What you're describing was pretty much our experience with her. It. was. awful.
I decided to give Ferber a try, with a "if I can't handle it, we're stopping after a few days" mentality. The first night I think she cried 6 minutes, the second maybe 3. Compared to the hours she spent screaming in our arms, it was a miracle. That was at 6 months. It didn't work at all for naps until she was 7 months old, though.
BFP1: DD1 born April 2011 at 34w1d via unplanned c/s due to HELLP, DVT 1 week PP
BFP3: DD2 born Feb 2013 at 38w4d via unplanned RCS due to uterine dehiscence
DS1 was like that. It was awful. With DS2, I stopped. If he isn't going to sleep, I stopped trying to put him to sleep. It's not worth 2 hours of rocking and shushing and crying to me. He eventually falls asleep when he decides to. It's been a lot less stressful all around to not have a schedule/bedtime. If he seems happy enough, I leave it be. Although, if they are overtired and screaming (which might be what you are saying), then, yeah, that's super stressful. That's how my DS1 was. The only good news I have is that he eventually quit that. We had to do some sleep training with him too. I like the Sleep Lady Shuffle because I didn't want to do CIO.
Honestly,
I believe the emotional trauma of letting her cry for a couple of nights is nothing compared to the damage you're doing to yourself right now. She will get over it. She will forget. And after a few good nights sleep, she will THANK YOU for it. You're no good to each other overtired and cranky. Think of what you both could be doing with those 2-5 hours every night?! She could be sleeping and you could be... I dunno, eating oreos (sorry, a recent post really got me craving them).
But it is ultimately your call.
You have gotten lots of good advice, so I am only going to suggest me more idea. Have you tried putting her down earlier than usual? With DD2, if I waited until it was clear she was tired, it was too late. She would fight it. But, if I out her down a little earlier at the very cirst indication that she is wearing down, she will play for a few minutes and then go to sleep. It is worth a try. Good luck!!
I second this.
I also second talking to your pedi.
The only time DD ever did that was when she had bad gas from my oversupply and foremilk imbalance. But I don't really have a bedtime for her. We both go to sleep when she shows me her sleepy cues. If she doesn't go to sleep right away I get up and play with her until she cries from tiredness. She goes to sleep after that.
When she's had a super busy day and is over tired it takes longer but the usual stuff eventually works. If over-tied is your problem and the usual stuff isn't working you have to try something different, find a sleep training method.
I think an earlier bedtime is def worth a try, especially if she is skipping that last nap of the day.
Just wanted to offer one more suggestion. When DS is irate like that, the only thing that calms him down is the vacuum cleaner. We keep it in his room now! That way it is accessable whenever we need it. Sometimes it takes a few minutes before he quiets down but usually as soon as he hears it, he stops crying and falls asleep pretty much immediately.
Good luck
"You reach deeper until you can find the strength. That's all life is, one big fight after another."
Angel babies: 9/19/07, 10/08/09, 1/05/11
This is ultimately why we decided sleep training wasn't evil. J was crying himself to sleep in our arms and then waking when we put him down which just lead to more crying. Overall he probably cried less with CIO.
I'm pretty sure she's overtired. She usually screams when she's overtired or overstimulated. So she starts with the scream and then eventually the screaming turns into sobbing (maybe within an hour). I can put her down, but usually only for a few minutes. If she's at the sobbing stage I can't put her down at all. However, she is basically crying herself to sleep in my arms in the end.
She does this with some naps too. This morning I think she woke up before she was fully rested because she started screaming almost immediately. I finally got her to bed at 12:30--she woke up at 9:00. So she screamed/cried intermittently for 3 1/2 hours.
I've tried putting her down earlier and later and no dice. I'm going to lose it if she keeps this up.
My LO had about 6 weeks of screaming himself to sleep (even though I was holding him, trying to get him to sleep) for every nap and bedtime. It was A-W-F-U-L Then it stopped. I know its hard and sucks. It will stop. You are doing great momma!