STTN for months and now not

IBackBevo

LO pretty well has slept through the night since he was 3 months old in his RNP.  We tried transitioning him to his crib earlier and it didn't go well so we went back to the RNP. The RNP is safe up to 25 lbs and they can be strapped in so it was not a safety issue for him to be in the RNP until 8-9 months. 

About 2-3 weeks ago, we tried again. It seemed to go better this time and he was STTN for the first 1-2 weeks.  This time, we let him sleep with a "binkie" which seemed to help.  However, now, for the last week or so, he has been waking up in the middle of the night again.  DH and I think it is likely because it just is not as comfortable for him.  Any suggestions? 

CallMeAl

Is the crib elevated? It might be that he sleeps better at an angle. You can safely elevate a crib by putting a book or two under one set of crib feet.

Does he sleep with a lovey? Maybe he needs an attachment to feel snuggled in like he was in the RNP? 

Is he teething? Sick? Eating differently? In the middle of a big developmental milestone? These are all things that make DD wake up at night. Hope it gets better for you!

OceanBreeze1

How old is lo? Dd slept in her crib from day one and was a great nighttime sleeper from the start, but around 9 months she started waking up at night...for no real reason. After making sure she wasn't hungry, needing comfort, sick, etc., we did a form of sleep training. To teach her she could put herself back to sleep. It worked.

We also recently had to essentially do it again, at 27 months, because she kept getting out of bed. Back to sleeping beautifully again, lol.

Anyway, lo may be going through the learning phase of being able to do so much more and physically and so adjusting to that and what to do at the end of a sleep cycle. I hear it's pretty common. Not sure if things will adjust or what if you ride it out since we didn't. Make sure lo is super tired out during the day? Eh, that's all I got, lol.

Good luck!

Ruthie04

I agree with PPs' suggestions, especially elevating the crib. We transitioned our boys out of the RnPs at 3.5 mos for nighttime sleep, but one of my boys still takes a 30 min catnap in his. When we were transitioning them out of the RnPs, we elevated one end of the PnP (they were still in our room). We did this for about a month before moving them to a flat crib in their room. A warning though, you may find LO all bunched up at the low end of the crib. 

Also, I agree on the comfort issue. Is LO a belly sleeper? Ever since DS2 has been sleeping on his belly, he hates being in the RnP for his little nap (I'd move him to the crib, but it's so short and I don't want to lug them both upstairs- I'm hoping they'll just drop this third nap). He desperately wants to be on his belly and I have to keep a hand on him so he doesn't flip himself out of the RnP. As it is, I have to stay right next to him. Perhaps LO wakes up wanting to roll?

ETA: Comprehension fail! Sorry- I thought he was still in the RnP. 

IBackBevo

Thanks for the suggestions.

To answer your questions, he will be 10 months on July 4th.  He does sleep with a lovey - his "binkie" which is a blue baby blanket that he likes.  Sometimes he sleeps on his back and sometimes on his stomach.  He sleeps fine in the swing.

Actually, I think often times he wakes up a lot more often then I even know and just plays in his crib for awhile and eventually goes back to sleep.  I think this because often times I have come into his room thinking he is asleep and he is wide awake playing...sometimes even standing up in his crib.  So I think he is waking up more often and only occasionally fusses. Usually, the fussing starts when DH or I get up to go to the bathroom and we walk by his room.  It is almost like he sees/hears us and is like, "Hey!  Someone else is awake. Come play with me. And I'm going to scream and cry if you don't!"  Sometimes I lay in bed and have to go to the bathroom really bad, but avoid doing so...which results in me not sleeping well.  I also think that sometimes he starts fussing after he has been standing up in his crib and he will fall over unexpectedly in his crib.  Ultimately, though, this isn't just a problem because he is waking us up, but I feel like he isn't sleeping well.  So many times even when he has not woken us up, he looks exhausted in the morning, is fussy the next day and I feel bad for him. 

It may just be, as y'all suggested, a phase. 

 

pb_bride

If you think he's up MOTN for an extended period just want to play, you may examine how much time he spends in his crib at night, as well as how many naps during the day and for how long.  Ferber addresses the issue of waking up MOTN for extended time (like an hour or more) - it is because your LO is put in the crib for too long a time at night and he cannot possibly sleep that long.  Or if he naps a lot during the day, he may not be able to sleep that much at night either.  

Anyway, apart from the other things PPs mentioned - teething, illness, developmental milestone etc, you may want to see how much your LO sleep in a 24 hour period and how the sleep is divided, and if he's getting the average amount of sleep.