bedtime... I am going nuts

eisenberg0814

its 9:15pm now and we started books and nursing over 90min ago. she does not want to go to sleep. when she drifts off, my DH puts her in the crib and everytime she clings and starts crying. repeat 20 times. every night. for a week. what is going on???? how do we get her to sleep? and last night (after we finally got her to sleep at 9pm after 2h) she woke up at 11-1:30am. we are going coocoo. please help.

EcoBaby

Wish I had some advice but DS has been harder at bedtime lately. He's decided he wants a later bedtime and it is impossible to get him to stay in bed. I still sleep with him though so once he sleeps, I just stay in there with him and nurse him immediately.

 

mrs.baum

When DS started using his before bed nursing session to avoid going to bed, I told him he would be able to nurse with mama, but when he was done it was time to go night night. I let him nurse on both sides, and then DH took him to his room and stayed with him until he fell asleep. The first couple of nights were hard, because he was so used to DH bringing him out to nurse whenever he asked. On the 3rd or 4th night however, he finished nursing and then went straight to DH and was ready to go to bed. There have been a few setbacks, he got a really bad ear infection, did not feel good, and just wanted to nurse all the time. Overall though, it went really well and now DH and DS have this really special bedtime bond. 

rachelcmorgan84

My son will not sleep on his own at night. We tried the bassinet and then a co-sleeper. After a week, I realized that I needed sleep anyway I could get it. He sleeps with us and I love it. I never thought he's be right next to me, but I was never against it. I get amazing sleep with him next to me because I can nurse whenever and I don't have to check or worry about him. He goes to bed around 8 and we just watch tv until we fall asleep too. I'm the most well-rested mom I know!! Lol Not everyone wants to bedshare, but we love it. I could go on and on tell you examples of why I love it. But for me, bedsharing provides more sleep for the entire house. I'm not in a rush to get him out of the bed and neither is my husband. For us, sleeping together as a familu is instinctive. Good luck!

tandt92505

We were in the same situation, except it was the transition into her pack-n-play by our bed (she moved into bed with us when we went to bed). I took the matress out of her (barely used) crib and put it on the floor next to our bed. I now nurse her to sleep there. She stays there until she wakes or we go to bed, whichever comes later. Eliminitating the need to move her after she fell asleep solved our problem. Good luck!

webMistress0609

Ari was doing this & I tried a later bedtime, thinking he was just not tired enough. Holy crap, big mistake, he would get totally wound up crazy & not go down till 11:30, then sleep like crap all night. 

His bedtime had been 8:00-8:15 since birth almost, but we started moving it up to 7:30 because 8:00 was now missing his window. I may even try a little earlier than 7:30 & see how it works as I think I'm almost missing his window even that early.

 

Brooke81

We have a set routine for bedtime that we always start at about 7 pm or a little later if DS seems particularly energetic. We nurse, diaper change, PJs, vitamins, brush his teeth, let him brush, sleep sack, Up to his room where we he gets his pacifier and we read a story and then tuck him in and kiss him goodnight. Then we leave and normally he goes to sleep. Every other day he gets a bath in between nursing and the rest. If he starts crying we go back up, cuddle and lay him back down and tuck him back in and leave again. Repeat if necessary. There was a time that we had to sit next to him while he fell asleep too. Lately he seems to know what is going on and be cool with it though.

I guess I would suggest sticking to a routine and not adding extra nursing or books if she doesn't wan to sleep. i would try explaining it and if she gets up set you hold her and let her be upset but be firm that it is bedtime now. Maybe a new bedtime would help like the pp said. Also putting her down tired but awake might help. we haven't been able to put DS down while asleep since about 2 or 3 months. He woke up every time! We had to put him down awake and hold his hand until he fell asleep instead. 

good luck hope you find something that helps! We have gone through periods that nothing seemed to work or help and it is so maddening!