another sleep problem post
SanHawaii08
member
argh. E has always been really good about going to sleep at night, and pretty good about going down for naps during the day. but all of sudden in the last few days, he started fighting every nap (and waking after 45 min instead of 1.5 hours, but that's another problem), and tonight, fighting night-time sleep too, though he is clearly exhausted. as soon as he's swaddled, he starts to cry, harder and harder until he's pretty inconsolable. this is a far cry from when he used to cry due when wanting to sleep, and would *stop* crying and go to sleep when swaddled!
after picking him up, it takes forever to get him to calm down again, and even bouncing him or rocking him doesn't get him to sleep, he just stares off into space.
anyone else's LO do this around this age? please tell me this is just a phase and it'll get better? i'm so frustrated!
Re: another sleep problem post
Going by his age, I'm going to say it's developmental. My guys never went through the infamous 4-month-wakeful but they DID hit a wakeful period at right about 3 months, so I'm wondering if it's the same thing for your dude, or if he's hit a growth spurt.
Have you tried white noise? That helped us sometimes. And that was also around the age where we started easing them out of their swaddles, which also seemed to help some of their issues (this may or may not work - it depends on the baby).
I know it's super frustrating! (((hugs)))
Like Lisa said, maybe he's growing out of the swaddeling thing? Ryan went through a phase where he hated being swaddled but he couldn't sleep without it. It was tough but he got over it.
Do you have one of those big fitness balls that you do situps on? Someone told me to sit on there and bounce up and down. Once when nothing else worked I tried it and it worked wonders. What about the vaccum cleaner? That was a lifesaver during his 2 & 3 month..
I do not envy you. Right around E's age Ryan was the most angry fussy baby. There were days when I was super frustrated and felt no joy at all. Around 4 months Ryan slowly started getting less fussy and now at 10 months he's a super happy fun little boy!
Hang in there mama!
Yeah, this was tough for us too. We couldn't go cold turkey on unswaddling - we had to do it step by step (one week with one arm out, two weeks with two arms out, etc.). They didn't want to be swaddled any more but at the same time they were having trouble sleeping without it. It was a rough period.
Another thing I was told, the only thing that stays the same about your LO is that he will keep changing! And it's so true. Just when I think I have Ryan all figured out he changes and keeps us guessing!
my guess was going to be the 3 month growth spurt, or he is ready to be unswaddled. we swaddled until she was able to roll over onto her belly, and then stopped cold turkey. once she was able to roll there was nothing i could do to keep her on her back, she'd just flip herself over, so i let her sleep on her tummy. i felt ok w/it since she had really good head/neck control at that point
and yes, like Julie said, the only constant with babies is that they are always changing! as soon as you get used to things being one way they change it up on you! sorry you are having trouble w/sleep again!
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
he's not eating more often than usual, so I'm not sure if it's a growth spurt? and he's nowhere near rolling over, so I didn't think it was time to think about unswaddling yet, but maybe, given how much he's protesting...i don't think his startle reflex is gone yet though, he'll still flail his arms around from time to time.
he was up every 3 hours last night, and the only thing that would get him to go back to sleep was to nurse to sleep - even though he didn't seem hungry, he would eat and fall asleep. i tried not nursing him at 6:30am, and he just fussed, sucked on his binky, and stared off into space for an hour, though he usually sleeps past 7:30 or 8. ugh.
if it is a developmental wakeful period, how long do these last?
and when does it seem to happen, wrt the actual development? before, during, or after learning new things? or is it too hard to tell?
I'm sorry - that is no fun at all.
I think Jack had a wakeful period that wasn't tied to an actual development - probably just starting to learn he could wake himself/keep himself awake. ::Sigh:: why do they have to learn that?!
So true. We are having some sleep issues lately too (coupled with teething, oi!). It isn't that bad but he's waking up a lot more often. He used to STTN, 10 hours straight or so... boy do I miss that
Good luck Sandra 
I love Hawaii!
Tara & Ian . 4/24/2008 . The Kahala Planning . Married
I don't remember when it was that I stopped letting her nurse until she fell asleep? i think i let her do that for a looong time but what I did was I did not wait for her to be fast asleep before putting her down. she'd generally stir/wake a little when I put her down and I'd just try to get her to settle and go back to sleep then w/o nursing
I think it's hard to say how long the wakefulness lasts when it is developmental? maybe days to a week? i think they can be wakeful both before and during/after. before as they as they are trying to wrap their little brains around it and during/after as they "practice" in their sleep. maybe he is getting ready to roll over??
I guess it's all relative b/c I could not get Miss A to sleep 10 hours straight until she was about 9 months old!
so you are lucky he's been sleeping so well for you so early on 
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats