Since about the 13 week point, I've never gotten longer than 4.5-5 hour stretches. And those stretches are RARE!! Common is 3-3.5. I just don't know what to do! She's great about sleeping 7-7 or 8-8...9-9 however the 12 hours fall. Waking, eating and immediately going back to sleep isn't the problem. Staying asleep for the long haul is!! We've explored a couple different methods. Most helpful is pumping like crazy and giving her a bottle for either her last night feed or first middle of the night feed. But even that only gets me the 4-4.5 hours. I'm at a loss as to how this sleeping through the night is ever going to happen.
@john5111 Yes!I think her entire week 12 she woke up every 2 hours. I ended up googling it and many people had the same issue. I think it's a growth spurt and leap all on one week. It gets better! She's back to 6-7 hour stretch at the start and then 3-4 second stretch.
This past week Jaxon has been waking up every 4 hours and it's killing me! I've been so exhausted at work. I can't count the number of times I've yawned. He will be 15 weeks on Monday. Hopefully he's going through his 4 month regression a little early. That fussy thang.
Yes @setosh I think we are going through it early too.
We still manage to have K sleep through the night but days are crazy, he won't nap unless in someone's arms. If we put him down he wakes and proceeds to scream. He never did this before so Im not sure what to do. He's exhausting himself but continuously fighting the sleep. I'm super grateful that we still get a full night though. I feel for you mommas dealing with MOTN feeds!
Does anyone have any tips for getting LO to nap in their crib? We don't keep her in her own room yet, but I'd like the option to have some me time during the day! I tried all last week and it didn't go well. I gave up every time.
@schaze We followed the Sleep Sense PDF. It helped to have something in writing and structured to follow. Up until that point we were just trying to wing it and it was unsuccessful and I ended up having Rowan nap in my arms a lot. It was a little rough at first but each day we made progress. Rowan now sleeps and naps in his crib. Naps are inconsistent in length but he has no issues falling asleep and being in there. It does say in the article naps may be short in the beginning but will get longer as baby gets used to the nap schedule (and being in the crib).
Forgive me, I cannot remember who recommended this program and posted the link. But it was someone here.
Yep. We are, too. Back to waking at 1am, 3am, 5am. Last night we were up til 12:30 after a day of sleeping no more than an hour all day. It was brutal. He was only content if I was standing/walking, bouncing him, patting his back firmly, AND talking to him.
We were up at 1 and 4 last night, I thought we escaped the sleep regression but maybe last night was the beginning. I hope not, I forgot how brutal the waking every few hours thing was.
Married 6/1/13
BFP #1 7/2013 MMC 9/17/13
BFP #2 5/2014 MC 6/15/14
BFP #3 11/13/14 (Found in ER with ruptured cyst) Diagnosed MC 11/15/14
BFP #4 4/2015 MC 7/1/15
BFP #5 10/21/15 EDD 7/3/16 Praying for our rainbow!
Yep. We are, too. Back to waking at 1am, 3am, 5am. Last night we were up til 12:30 after a day of sleeping no more than an hour all day. It was brutal. He was only content if I was standing/walking, bouncing him, patting his back firmly, AND talking to him.
@Racso12 I am reading the sleep-sense link you provided. While I don't have a huge problem with LO at the moment (he goes down at around 6:30pm with a common nightly routine) but is up a few times some nights and doesn't nap in his crib during the day at all. I still implement "props" such as a paci or a bottle. I hope to try her methods to get LO on track and not depend on me for a paci. Fingers crossed! Thanks for posting!
@Racso12 we successfully used sleep-sense to get her to bed, but for whatever reason it's just not working for naps. Maybe I just need to give it more time?
I use babywise, which echoes so much of the sleep sense! Naps are HARD. It takes longer, but I found working on her naps first helped her sleep through the night again during her regression. She still has her good days and bad days though.
Dude - nap challenged days are just the worst. Has anyone even tried starting bedtime at 5 on bad nap days? I don't know what else to do on days like this. This fuss is endless. Walking didn't work, fighting the swing and definitely doesn't want to do play mat time. I can walk around with her all afternoon but my arm can only handle so many hours of that!!
@TiffRox81 Kid's been awake since 11am...no naps here either!! He wasn't really fussy, just whiny if I wasn't holding him or playing with him, so no work got done today! Gonna be up all night catching up...
Married 6/1/13
BFP #1 7/2013 MMC 9/17/13
BFP #2 5/2014 MC 6/15/14
BFP #3 11/13/14 (Found in ER with ruptured cyst) Diagnosed MC 11/15/14
BFP #4 4/2015 MC 7/1/15
BFP #5 10/21/15 EDD 7/3/16 Praying for our rainbow!
@TiffRox81 we have early bedtimes some days. Normally she is in bed by 6:30 and that's normal. Today we started bedtime routine at 5:15 and she was bathed, fed and asleep by 6.
@TiffRox81 we are having the same issue!!!!!! I was literally preparing dinner last night and trying to soothe LO in the swing and walking back and forth between the kitchen and the living room! Finally DH woke up from his nap (he's not feeling well). He couldn't even soothe holding him with bottle, paci, rocking! I finally finished dinner but his fussiness and just being so tired prevented us from eating dinner so I had to put him in his crib just to eat for 10 minutes! I think the daylight saving messed up our routine. Day care also said everytime they would place him down, he'd cry or scream and was extra clingy. The stretch between 430pm and 630pm is the worst before a bath/ bedtime and I'm dreading it today already!
@Jodi1980 I agree the evening is getting worse for us too. He still sleeps no problem but getting him to drift off is a nightmare. He won't self soothe himself to sleep any more at night time. Our routine consists of- 7.30ish: Feed-Change-Bed 7.45-8.30: Crying and Fussing 8.30-9.30: Trying to soothe in my arms and attempting to put him down several times. He wakes 3/4 times before finally going down. Super frustrating.
Ok glad I'm not alone!!! Good call about DLST. Didn't even think about that. Maybe part of the sleep regression also?! I will be very happy to come out of this SOON!! LOL Today she's sleeping like a champ 7:45pm-1:30am...up at 4:30 and still sleeping now and it's 7:30.
I was also telling my husband it's getting harder and harder to "entertain" her. I think I'm going to get her one of those baby Einstein saucer things. I don't know what else is age appropriate for her right now that will really stimulate her! Any little hand toys buy me maybe 5 minutes. She's just doesn't really get the hang of them quite yet. So it's a lot of playmat, walks, play with me and swing time!
Last night was good. LO went down around 9 (took 1.5 hours to get him there though) and slept till 1:30, ate, slept til 4, ate, diaper change, slept til 6. I think DLS and him teething are really messing with him.
@tiffrox81 LoL....we have one of the Baby Einstein saucers as a hand me down. DH set it up the other night for him. LO is not quite big/strong enough to play or reach for the toys yet. I actually had to prop one of his blankets in his chair to make sure he didn't fall forward. Other than that, his swing, toys and the Baby First Station, I think he gets over stimulated. I'm gonna have to change it up when we get home from daycare....perhaps trying to get him to nap first. I think the routine at daycare changes alot too because of the other children they tend to so LO doesn't always get fed/nap at the same time. I'm gonna have to check in with them to see if this may be in part of the problem along with sleep regression! Happy almost 4 months LO, mommy is ready to rip her hair out that the biotin vitamins have been helping to grow
I've noticed that LO needs 15-30 of quiet time after daycare. He sleeps well there and is fed when he's hungry (he HATES bottles, so they ended up throwing most my hard-earned milk away using a schedule), but he is definitely over stimulated. He usually will either suck his hands or stare into space for a bit afterwards. Sometimes he'll fall asleep in his car seat on the ride home.
Napping SUCKS. We are at only three 20 minute naps a day for the last week or so and by bedtime she's just exhausted. Last night was awful, too. We were up 6 times between 11 and 6am. We think she may have been in pain from teething, but in our sleepy haze we didn't think to give her Tylenol.
@TiffRox81 we are finding it harder to keep her entertained, too! Unfortunately we don't have room for an exersaucer, so it's bouncer and play mat all day. Looking in the mirror is a new favorite, too. My child is vain :P
@schaze Yes, mirrors have become an awesome addition to our day!! I can't wait until she can sit on her own and I can prop her up there with a couple toys!
@LDSJM123 we loosely followed sleep sense in the beginning, but not so much anymore. We only give her abath 3x/week before bed. Other nights, we do pjs, nurse in bed while DH reads a book, then she goes in her P&P while still awake. It takes about 20-30 minutes total.
Kinda cheesy, but I take care of the outside body (diaper and jammies), inside body (nursing in the rocking chair, brain (book), heart (cuddles until drowsy). Kinda like Maslow's hierarchy of baby needs
I'm curious, how are Sleep Sense night time routines different from regular night time routines?
At night I change diaper, massage while singing songs, put pajamas on, if DD2 isn't tired yet I read a few books, nurse, burp and lay her down. She often falls asleep while nursing. However, I don't nurse her to sleep for any naps, so I'm not too worried about it being a crutch.
In our night time routine we change her diaper and put her in pajamas. Then she nurses. After that we do family devotions and read her bible. She says goodnight to dad and the cats, and then I sing to her in her dark room and lay her down. At bedtime I sing multiple songs to her, but the last song is the one I also sing at naptime. She goes to sleep quickly.
Is it bad that we don't really have a bedtime routine? I still don't even bathe him often....he just doesn't get smelly and I wipe him down with baby wipes if he spits up on himself or gets anything on him during a diaper change. So I just don't think about it. Does it make it harder to start one when they're older if you don't do a routine with a baby? I have no frame of reference, totally been making this up as I go! Without you guys, I would have zero clue! I just put him to bed when he zonks out at a nighttime hour and get up if he wakes up to eat. That's seriously the extent of our bedtime routine....
ETA- Btw, I am so thankful for this group. You ladies are AWESOME and I feel so much more confident because of you. You are my only mom friends other than my actual mom and MIL...and they are pretty far removed from new mom life. None of my real life friends have kids except my best friend who is newly pregnant with her first. So thank you!!!!!!!
Married 6/1/13
BFP #1 7/2013 MMC 9/17/13
BFP #2 5/2014 MC 6/15/14
BFP #3 11/13/14 (Found in ER with ruptured cyst) Diagnosed MC 11/15/14
BFP #4 4/2015 MC 7/1/15
BFP #5 10/21/15 EDD 7/3/16 Praying for our rainbow!
Okay, ladies, need some help. How are you putting your LOs down still awake? I have successfully done it maybe 3-4 times, but normally, if he is not 100% out, then he'll open his eyes and start screaming. And he DOES NOT cry himself to sleep. He will cry for hours vs falling asleep.
@winnie1122 you do what's best for you! if no routine is working, I say stick with it. We only used one because nothing else was working. Every baby is different!
@FTM53 for us, it helps that we have a white noise machine going. Ours also has a projection, kind of like a light mobile, that she watches and it lulls her to sleep. probably not good that we have that crutch, but it worked for us!
@FTM53 my LO will only go down awake for naps. He will cry for hours if we put him down awake at night.
For our bedtime routine, we get Q bathed if necessary (we only do 2-3 times a week due to dry climate in CO) then do pajamas and nurse. After he is done nursing we swaddle and read him a book while he sucks on a pacifier. He falls asleep within 10-15 min and I know he's out because he spits out his pacifier. We also have a white noise machine going.
For naps i swaddle, give him a pacifier and lay him down in his crib with the white noise on. He goes down awake and is asleep with zero crying within a few minutes. I WISH we could do that at night.
@ldsjm123 not following sleep sense but nights we don't do baths we let him do "naked time." He absolutely loves it and giggles the whole time. This also works if he is having an awful evening and nothing is helping his meltdown. For some reason being naked is the answer for him! We put a big towel down and then stay near him with a cloth diaper to throw over if he starts to pee.
@winnie1122 I second your praise for this group. You've all helped me so much as well! I love coming here for tips and tricks because we're almost all hitting the challenges at the same time! And of course seeing the pics of the babes!
Re: Sleep Regressions/Sleep Help
We still manage to have K sleep through the night but days are crazy, he won't nap unless in someone's arms. If we put him down he wakes and proceeds to scream. He never did this before so Im not sure what to do. He's exhausting himself but continuously fighting the sleep. I'm super grateful that we still get a full night though. I feel for you mommas dealing with MOTN feeds!
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DS#1 July 2016
Baby #2 July 2018
Forgive me, I cannot remember who recommended this program and posted the link. But it was someone here.
https://academiquechic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Sleep-Sense.pdf
We've also started waking up 3+ times a night to feed.
edited: added
I finally finished dinner but his fussiness and just being so tired prevented us from eating dinner so I had to put him in his crib just to eat for 10 minutes! I think the daylight saving messed up our routine. Day care also said everytime they would place him down, he'd cry or scream and was extra clingy. The stretch between 430pm and 630pm is the worst before a bath/ bedtime and I'm dreading it today already!
7.30ish: Feed-Change-Bed
7.45-8.30: Crying and Fussing
8.30-9.30: Trying to soothe in my arms and attempting to put him down several times. He wakes 3/4 times before finally going down.
Super frustrating.
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DS#1 July 2016
Baby #2 July 2018
I was also telling my husband it's getting harder and harder to "entertain" her. I think I'm going to get her one of those baby Einstein saucer things. I don't know what else is age appropriate for her right now that will really stimulate her! Any little hand toys buy me maybe 5 minutes. She's just doesn't really get the hang of them quite yet. So it's a lot of playmat, walks, play with me and swing time!
@TiffRox81 we are finding it harder to keep her entertained, too! Unfortunately we don't have room for an exersaucer, so it's bouncer and play mat all day. Looking in the mirror is a new favorite, too. My child is vain :P
At night I change diaper, massage while singing songs, put pajamas on, if DD2 isn't tired yet I read a few books, nurse, burp and lay her down. She often falls asleep while nursing. However, I don't nurse her to sleep for any naps, so I'm not too worried about it being a crutch.
ETA- Btw, I am so thankful for this group. You ladies are AWESOME and I feel so much more confident because of you. You are my only mom friends other than my actual mom and MIL...and they are pretty far removed from new mom life.
None of my real life friends have kids except my best friend who is newly pregnant with her first. So thank you!!!!!!!
@FTM53 for us, it helps that we have a white noise machine going. Ours also has a projection, kind of like a light mobile, that she watches and it lulls her to sleep. probably not good that we have that crutch, but it worked for us!
For our bedtime routine, we get Q bathed if necessary (we only do 2-3 times a week due to dry climate in CO) then do pajamas and nurse. After he is done nursing we swaddle and read him a book while he sucks on a pacifier. He falls asleep within 10-15 min and I know he's out because he spits out his pacifier. We also have a white noise machine going.
For naps i swaddle, give him a pacifier and lay him down in his crib with the white noise on. He goes down awake and is asleep with zero crying within a few minutes. I WISH we could do that at night.