Sleep Issues (long)

jbranden12

Over the past few weeks, Anna has started waking every hour or two at night to nurse and cuddle and I realized we have created a monster. She will NOT fall asleep unless nursing or receiving a bottle. Now that she's more aware of her surroundings, she wakes up screaming a few minutes after being put down (RNP next to the bed). In desperation, we tried cosleeping because it was quicker and easier to nurse throughout the night. It worked for a week or so, but now if I nurse her to sleep then move her over on the bed, she still cries when she realizes she's not on the boob and I can't sleep with her on the boob. 

I know it's said often, but I can't stand to hear her cry. She has been through so much, I just can't do it to her. I have read so much on the internet and books (currently reading the no-cry sleep solution) and I think my real problem is that I can't commit to anything. I try things once and if it doesn't work I go looking for something else. Prime example, last night I decided we were going to use the swing to teach her to sleep based on this webpage: https://www.troublesometots.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-sleeping-through-the-night-part-2/. It sounded great, we moved the swing to our room, but as soon as we put her down and left the room, she started screaming. The website doesn't say what to do if baby starts screaming! I let her cry for 2 minutes, praying she'd magically settle down before I gave up and made DH move the swing back to the living room. 

I ended up nursing her to sleep and then putting her in the RNP. When she realized 5 minutes later what happened, she would cry, then I would put my hand on her and rock it swiftly until she went back to sleep. She went down at 9:15P and woke up at 11:45P, 12:30P, 2:30P, 5:30A, and up for the day at 7:10A. If I could get her down to 2 wakeup/feedings a night, I'd be happy. 

But what is this magical thing where you put a baby down awake and they fall alseep? GAH! Any advice? Example bedtime routines? Part of the problem I think is we're not catching her at the right time. 

Pips09

I agree with BK.It is really, really hard, but for any method to work, you have to be committed and stick with it. We had a similar problem, where we would give up after a night or two (because of the vomit in our case), and nothing worked until we finally buckled down at 14 months old (and desperate for sleep) and committed to following the program we chose. Remember that learning to fall asleep on her own is really helping her, and that it's an important skill for her to learn.  

jbranden12

Laurendag said:

Have you tried a pacifier?

She loved her paci up until 3 months actual, then all of a sudden she refused it! I guess I should be relieved we won't have to wean her off of that, but it sure was helpful in settling her so I could get more than a couple hours of sleep!

jbranden12

Thanks, all. I think we've decided on a routine that may work for now and we'll hope for small improvements before taking things a step further.Unfortunately, Anna came down with something yesterday and is super congested so for the next few nights I'll have to suck it up and try again when she feels better!