The Big Snooze (Sleep Thread)

spinsoffresonance

I got DD to fall asleep without nursing to sleep again last night. However she woke up 30min later screaming and I nursed to sleep. Baby steps...

kat8805

My nipples are going to fall off with this round the clock nursing. This has to end soon, right? Is infant induced sleep anxiety a thing?

spinsoffresonance

So I thought we had a really good night last night. I woke up thinking it was morning and DD had only been up 5 times in the night. Then I checked the clock. It was 1.30am. Damn!

Emmagk

DS just put himself to sleep!!!! He fussed for 15 mins, no crying and then went to sleep. This is way better than yesterdays 30 min screaming

finny1019

Hi M14!
My name is Theresa and I'm just joining this post. Or I'm just doing it the right way haha I'm a stay at home mother of one. My daughter Rose is 4 months old! I used to be a nanny so I'm loving this stay at home business, and my husband is a cop works at night. These are just something's that brought me to this post. I'm so glad I can be part of this BMB and hope I can get some help and maybe help you all as well.

Anyway, thanks for the welcomes and advice I have already gotten!

-Theresa and little Rosie :-h

KBowen715

Late to the game, but- after two nights out of the swaddle we are SLEEPING IN PJS. It's been about two weeks so I'm comfortable reporting it.

Also, I've slept him with a light blankie (I know....) and humidifier, and he STTN. Maybe it was coincidence but I am damn superstitious now, always using the exact same blankie and humidifier in the exact same spot.

spinsoffresonance

@finny1019‌ welcome to M14! This sleep regression is a bitch, we're still up every 1-2hours at night, going on 6 weeks now. This week I am trying to find ways to get DD to fall asleep without nursing to sleep. I'm hoping if she learns to put herself to sleep she might sleep a little more at night. I need sleep!!!

hbird0723

My LO put herself to sleep last night as well 2nd time. I decided not to use the magic suit because she has almost rolled over in it a couple times which really surprised me. I thought for sure it would be a while for that so I figured might as well start breaking her now. We are not back to sleeping as well as we did before anyway! I put her in her pjs and sleep sack and she woke after putting her down for the second time so I left the room to see what she would do expecting to have to go back in and she rolled to her side sucked her fist and passed put. She then did this again a couple hours later. Poor girl wants to sleep on her side and couldn't. She did end up back in the suit at 2:30 because it was the closest thing to the changing table and she had managed to move to the end if the bed and kick her aquarium which then played music and turned the bright light on in her face. She also peed through so had to change her. I will be continuing the pjs and sleep sack because she seems to put herself back to sleep better.

@KBowen715‌ I have put a breathable Aden and anais blanket on her before too and she's really good at pulling things away from her face now but it still makes me nervous! She likes to snuggle them though and looks for one in the middle of the night when she's trying to go back to sleep. She ends up grabbing her foot part of her pjs and tries to pull in to her lol silly girl. I'm the sane way though when something works I keep doing it the exact same way!

Sorry for the novel!

finny1019

It sure is! We jus had two days of 30 min naps and waking every hour at night. Thankfully last night was great!! She only woke twice! I basically made her nap for an hour while I held her, maybe that helped her get over the over tired hump. Worth a try, Hopefully that was the end of it, we have been going through this for 4 weeks now!

@lica001 hang in there!

QOTR

one step forward, two steps back? 

LO slept for six hours last night - the first time he's done that in over a month.  Unfortunately, it was in the swing.      After another evening of fighting for over 2 hours to get him to sleep, we put him in the swing as a last resort.  I never intended for him to stay in it that long.  So I was conflicted:   Happy that he had got the sleep he needed and guilty that he had been in the swing so long.

Like the night before, his long sleep was followed by being wide awake for over 2 hours.    I normally get up to start my day at 6, but he didn't fall asleep in my arms until 615.  I held him until 7:20 to make sure he got some sleep time in the bank.  He went on to sleep another hour in the crib (surprise!), but I was late to log into work.   He's now fighting nap time with the nanny again, so the cycle is starting all over again.  So that is my brain dump on sleep issues for the day! 

TLDR:    I know I'm not alone and that some days are going to be worse than others, but like all of you, I am so ready for this phase to work itself out.   I can put up with lack of sleep, but the endless worrying about whether I'm creating bad habits really wears me down.  

ns1

DS slept for 9 hours straight last night!!! Longest stretch ever. DH gave him a pumped bottle and put him to bed because I took DD to gymnastics....coincidence? Idk, but DS might be getting pumped bottles before bed now.

And DD apprently woke once...but she DID NOT pee on the floor...ah, small victories!

QOTR

Just a generic sleep question, unrelated to this 4MW bullshit:

Does anyone else have a LO that won't fall asleep in your arms?    My LO will fall asleep while nursing and sleep on his nursing pillow/me for hours.   I've successfully used the 5 S's to get him to fall asleep a handful of times.  He enjoys quiet time in my lap, playing with my fingers, but he will never fall asleep sitting in my lap or laying his head on my shoulder.  I've even tried to recline where we're almost horizontal and he won't fall asleep this way.    I remember my nieces falling asleep while I held them, so I don't know how strange it might be that he won't do it?   Since he won't relax and fall asleep this way, simply cuddling him or walking him until he falls asleep isn't an option for us.  

THD7580

I put DS down at his normal bed time at 615 and then changed him at 930 and gave him 4 oz and he slept til 745! Woohoo! Naps are shit so I will take all of it!

delatl

@QOTR‌: my LO only sleeps in my arms when I'm bouncing her. Never just sitting still. She's just always been a very alert baby and squirmy. I've really envied everyone whose babies slept on them.

ns1

@QOTR now that DS won't take a paci it's realllly hard to get him to fall asleep in my arms or on me. He likes to flail and flip his head around when tired, so usually I just have to put him down and let him talk himself to sleep. Sometimes in the early morning when he won't go back down in the crib though he will fall asleep while nursing and I can hold him and get a little more sleep then.

spinsoffresonance

@QOTR‌ DD will fall asleep while nursing or walking around babywearing. I have never managed to get her to sleep by rocking in my arms or over the shoulder.

stina76

I'm so with you on the worrying about creating bad habits.  My little guy will be 5 mo next week and I worry about what I do or don't do every night!!  He still likes to eat quite a bit in the middle of the night.  Usually 3-4 hours after he first goes down for the night he will eat 4-6 oz.  Everyone keeps telling me that I need to try to fill him up more during the day, but I can't feed him anymore than I already am!  He's eating like a champ!!  But the second wake up, again usually 3-4 hours later, is what I am more worried about.  He doesn't seem to be starving then, but usually to get him to go back to sleep quicker, I do give him the bottle. He takes 1-2 oz and he's back out.  I've tried to paci and he doesn't care for it.  I've tried just patting his back and that doesn't work.  I'm thinking of trying to let him cry a little.  It's going to be so hard because he really gets himself worked up, but maybe if I can wean him off the second waking, then eventually it will work for the first wake up??  Who knows!!  I get the "he's STILL not sleeping through the night" from at least one person every day.  Really, that doesn't help!!!       

spinsoffresonance

DD2 has been asleep one hour and already woke up screaming twice. This is not good.

gutsysneakers

Up until a week or so ago, DD would sleep from 7:30pm - 5:30am without waking up. This was perfect - I was able to nurse her, hand her of to DH, and get ready for work. She got sick on Saturday and had trouble falling asleep and would wake up repeatedly because she had a hard time breathing through her nose. She's almost 100% better, but now she wakes up at 3am, eats and falls back asleep by 3:30. I then have to wake her up before we leave so I can nurse her at 6:45am. 

What gives? Is this the 4 month wakeful period? Or do you think she just wants to eat and cuddle? Everything I've read from the rest of M14 is that LOs are waking up every few hours or even every hour. This is like she reverted back to being a NB. DH is driving me up a wall - wanting to let her cry and complaining that she should be sleeping through the night. Well, technically she is - she's getting a solid chunk of sleep in before she wakes, but she wakes up with a very wet diaper so clearly she's uncomfortable. Ugh. This was more of a vent than a question, but any insight would be appreciated. 

gutsysneakers

athn64 said:

@holidayeve19 DD is like that with what I think is her 4MW. She was STTN to begin with and then  we started getting one 3 am wake-up for a few days. Then I got a couple days of her waking up every 3 hours. Now we're back to one MOTN wake-up and feed. Maybe your LO  is following the same schedule.

Thanks for commiseration. Hoping she goes back to the full 10 hours soon

hbird0723

@holidayeve19‌ mine was like that after being sick. The doctor did being such will mess up their sleep schedule. It took about a week then she had shots and that messed her up.

Bootsie327

Has anyone gotten 2 rounds of 4MWs? A couple weeks ago, he went from 7 hours in the first stretch of the night to up every 90 mins. Last week we were back to 4-5 hours in the first stretch, but then that lessened every night, and last night we were up every 90 mins again! I feel like he's too young for CIO, and he does still eat during a couple of the wake-ups, so I'm thinking he's going through a growth spurt. I swaddle with one arm out now so he can self soothe, but he will fight sleep and kick his feet until he's fully awake. I don't know what to do!

yogasailmomma

usernameedit said:

I have a question - DS has started preferring to sleep on his side - I put him down on his back and he rolls over - our pediatrician said that's fine as long as I start him on his back.

The problem:  As he falls a sleep and his body settles, he inevitably rolls back onto his back - this wakes him up and he rolls back onto his side - this happens for at least an hour and often ends up in him crying because he gets frustrated.

Any advice?

I know this isn't for everyone but I have a tightly rolled receiving blanket that I taped so it won't come undone and I tuck it behind her back below her shoulder blades because we were having the same problem. It helps keep her on her side which she prefers and doesn't wake herself up rolling over.

THD7580

I believe we are teething.. Shitty naps for two weeks and soaked bibs among other signs. Then tonight was it a fight to get him down. Just whining and crying til I rocked him which is not the norm. He has STTN since he was 8 weeks old and the last two nights he wakes up about 230-3 and just whines again poor guy. This mama is tired and he was up at 530 for the day today.. Sleep please get here soon!!

QOTR

Thanks @lica001‌, @ns1 & @delatl‌ . That eases my mind.

@stina76 that sounds like us. There are some MOTN feedings where I can tell he was really hungry and some that he ends up not eating much. The problem is, that he acts the same each time he wakes up. I always try to offer a pacifier first, but if he doesn't take it, I nurse, because I don't want to risk him getting too riled up to get back down.

QOTR

@Bootsie327‌ we're on our second or third round of crappy sleep. Around 3 months he started waking very frequently overnight. It got better and then returned. Now at 4 months, he's sleeping better at night but it's a 2 hour fight to get him down each night and almost every nap is preceded by hysterics. I'm going to remind him of this when he's a teenager and just wants to sleep all the time.

stina76

So I wasn't successful in Operation Sleep tonight. He went down at 6:30 (he's just started getting really tired this early.). Didn't even eat much before he was out like a light. Cried like crazy at 8:45 (of course right at the end of Scandal). Fed the rest of the bottle, out again. Up at 1:30 and ate an entire 6 oz and back out pretty quickly. Now just at 4:15 up and wiggling around and screaming. Not really crying so I waited 15 min. Then the crying started, waited 15 min and broke down and picked him up. He took the paci but not too happy about it. Now at almost 5 he's back to sleep again. So 3 wake ups again tonight all of which I picked him up. Fail!! I'm beginning to think I am adjusting to this sleep pattern. Why am I awake now??

stina76

And he was up at 6:30 for the day. This kid just doesn't have time for sleep.

QOTR

We had a better evening.  (It only took an hour to get him to sleep instead of two).  And then a huge thunderstorm came through and the thunder & lightening work him.   We can't win!

hbird0723

@QOTR‌ same here! She was going right down at night now we fight from 6-8 even though she's clearly tired and falling asleep sitting up. She will eat almost that whole time though so I'm wondering if giving her a pumped bottle then nursing her would help. Maybe worth a try?

gutsysneakers

Lissiehoya said:

I was really happy last night because we had a successful "la pause" when he was actually crying and not just whimpering. He woke up and started crying at around 10:40 while I was pumping and since I had 5 minutes of pumping left, I just left him alone. Well, he ended up rolling over and putting himself back to sleep even before I finished pumping. Yay!

I live by "la pause".

QOTR

Lissiehoya said:

....but there was a squirrel in our apartment (landlord and DH tried to get it to go out the window but it wouldn't go and DH ended up having to kill it... with a sword) ...

I kinda think this deserves its own thread.

gutsysneakers

Ahhhh. DD slept from 7:45 - 5:45. Please tell me we are back on track to 10-12 hour nights!

kendy20

DD keeps getting her leg stuck and I really don't want to use a bumper....and it's getting colder. DD hands have been like icicles when I go get her for motn feeding. I've tried the mittens but she gets them off while she's sleeping. Any suggestions?

ns1

@kendy20‌ ds' s hands are the same and I remember dd's being like that. I don't dare use mittens because they're both thumb suckers. I just let them have cold hands. It doesn't seem to bother them. But I do feel bad about it too like you so I'm curious what others say.

spinsoffresonance

@kendy20 you can use a sleepsack to prevent the legs from getting stuck. I have an Aden and Anais one (without swaddle). It will keep LO warmer as well. Cold hands are okay as long as LO feels warm when you feel down her back and stomach.

THD7580

Always feel their ears. That's how you know if their too cold or too warm.

THD7580

@SSoegaard2011‌ we went through that about two weeks ago! I would lay him down and he would fall asleep and then wake up flailing everywhere screaming! He also sleeps on his tummy but wouldn't roll.. It's like he was too tired or something. So I would grab and arm and help him roll to his side. Well then he would fall asleep and roll back to his back and scream. Finally I did what you did and just put him on his stomach I was too exhausted. It only happened three times and now he's a pro and quick at it. So maybe that's what's going on with LO.

QOTR

I just realized yesterday that our swing has a 25 pound weight limit, so I guess I need to find a solution to LO refusing to nap in his crib sometime soon.  He was 20 pounds at his 4 month check up. 

giggler25

kittyriot said:

@giggler25 - if I am legitimately on the other side - yes. Last night, first stretch was 5.5 hours - the two nights before that though got eight hour stretches the first stretch.

I have been really holding onto hope that we will make it to the other side, but so far..... nope!  I lost count of how long we've been in the regression, but it's definitely been over a month.