bed time strike?
michaelaskedlauren
member
Is anyone else dealing with a LO that is fighting against their bed time? DS used to be a champ for a long time, STTN at 8 weeks up until about 7 months when teething began, but even then he would always go down without a problem around 830/9pm and would wake up for the day around 730am.
For the past 2 weeks DS has been not having going to bed AT ALL. We still do the same routine as we always do, with the final step of the bedtime routine being a final nursing/snuggle session, then once he falls asleep I put him in his crib. Lately as soon as I put him down, he wakes up and stands up in his crib screaming until we come and get him. I tried to get him to go to sleep for 40 mins until I finally decided to let him CIO for a bit hoping he would exhaust himself. He cried for 15 mins, then DH went in to rock him and the same thing, he woke up as soon as DH put him back in his crib. Rinse and repeat.
Finally we brought him out to the family room and he fell asleep on the couch next to me in 5 mins. It was about 1030pm by the time he finally fell asleep. He then STTN until about 430am when he needed a quick nursing, then slept until 815am.
WTF gives?? I dont want it to become a habit that he wont fall asleep in his crib. Is it sep anxiety? Oy.
Re: bed time strike?
I won't begin to speculate as to what's going on in your house, but I've been having more trouble than usual getting my DS to sleep lately as well. We've backed bedtime up 30-45 minutes and now we aren't having trouble getting him to go down, but he's ususally up 3 times a night (11, 2am, and 4am). When he gets up at 4 he acts like he's starving. If I feed him he'll go back to sleep (or at least catnap) for another 1 to 1 1/2 hrs. Unfortunately, this means that sometimes now he's up at 5 or 5:30 instead of his usual 6am and almost always means that I'm up for the day at 4.
I haven't narrowed it down completely yet, but I suspect this could be related due to any of the following things at my house... (probably a combination of multiple things though).
1. We are switching to WCM. I think he's having trouble getting as full. I'm trying to offer more table food and baby food, but thus far, no real luck.
2. Teething. The 13 month molars are working their way through so sometimes I think he wakes in the night because his gums hurt. We've tried Motrin before bed a couple of times, but it doesn't seem to work either.
3. Illness. DS just got over a stomach bug a couple weeks ago and this weekend our temps got way up there causing both me and him to start fighting allergies. I'm not sleeping well so I couldn't expect that he would.
4. Holiday Hangover. Between the holidays and being kind of sick, he hasn't spent a full week in daycare since before Christmas (that makes almost 3 weeks). DS is one of those babies that NEEDS his schedule and consistency. So with the traveling, long weekends, and chaos we may still just be out of our routine.
Just wanted to commiserate a little and let you know you are not alone. Here's hoping that with time we can get our LOs back on track and STTN easily.
Thanks for making me feel like I am not alone! We are also experiencing Z's molars coming in + getting over a snottastic head cold. Im trying not to stress too much, but once he started fighting his bedtimes (after yawns and eye rubs) I didnt know WTF was going on!
I hope you get some relief too!
zachary happens! | little fish
DS2 has been doing this too. AND he's been up every 2 hours through the night. It's been a slow progression since October - when he was sttn just fine and all was lovely. Then he started waking once, and going back to sleep easily with just rocking. Then we all got sick, and teething, and all. the. things. and fast forward to the end of december he's now in our bed most of the night and nursing every two hours like a newborn.
finally last week was the last straw for me. I was walking around in a total fog, messing up stuff at work. it was not good.
So this past thursday we did another round of Ferber/Sleep Easy Solution sleep training. My husband did the first two nights while I slept out in our detached guest house (not as fancy as it sounds) with the 3yo.
ANYWAY... It sounds backward but you might think about trying for an *earlier* bedtime. I have read this over and over that it actually helps them fall asleep and sleep longer. we have DS's as early as possible (I don't get home from work till close to 7 so that ends up being 7:30) and I wish I could move it earlier, actually. This is something that I was always skeptical about and never tried with DS1 - wish I had!! Anyway might be worth a shot. GL!!!
zachary happens! | little fish