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Babies: 3 - 6 Months
AmberLiz99
member
Please help! I'm out of ideas and feeling terrible
AmberLiz99
member
A little background; ds was really good at falling asleep on his own when I put him down sleepy from the time he was 2 months old. He had a cold where it was hard, but once he got better he went to sleep great again. He also used to nap for only 45 minutes at a time.
About a week ago he started taking longer naps (1-2 hours) which is great, but he has also started fighting going to sleep! At first it was just for his naps, but last night he did it a little for going to bed too (which has NEVER happend before). And when he fights a nap, he really fights. It can take anywhere from 15-40 minutes to get him down, and he will cry most of that time no matter what I do.
He is not overtired, I am catching him at the first signs like always, and I don't know what is causing it. He was having some reflux problems but we make sure to feed him well before putting him down, and the reflux doesn't seem to bother him anymore. He will not sleep in a swing, he will sometimes sleep in his carseat if we rock it a little, but I don't want to form the hapit of him needing that to go down each time. He is almost 5 months, so I'm worried that quick fixes now would turn into bad habits really fast.
I just feel so horrible becuase he cries so much. It makes me feel like I'm not a good mom, and I don't know what else to try. Any ideas of why this might be happening? Or how I can help my lo? Anyone else go through this?
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Re: Please help! I'm out of ideas and feeling terrible
Our LO started doing the same thing around 4 months. He has never been the easiest to get to sleep but now it is a serious struggle. He cries and sometimes screams at naptime and bedtime. His naps have gone from a consistent 45 minutes to 30 minutes. His night sleep has gone from 12 hours to 10 hours, which I am still very thankful for. He also has reflux but it doesn't seem to be any worse than usual.
I think our problem is teething though. At this point, I am just doing whatever it takes to calm him down and get his sleep and will wean from the bad habits later. If he starts his screaming fits at bedtime I give him some Hyland's teething tablets and Tylenol and it seems to help.
It's a normal developmental phase. Babies start fighting sleep for the same reason older children do--they'd rather be up and playing with you than sleeping! This often happens around 4 months (i.e. the 4mw), but can happen as early as those first social smiles and as soon as that cause and effect understanding kicks in.
Mine has fought sleep since 6 weeks. She used to cry the second I entered the bedroom, and my soothing attempts just made her more and more upset until I just gave up and put her down screaming. She'd stop within 5 minutes (sometimes 30 seconds) of my leaving the room, but boy did I ever feel like a jerk leaving while she was screaming.
Now, though, as long as I get her down BEFORE she gets super tired, she goes down so nicely! I actually love bedtime! I read her a story, she reaches up to touch my face and smiles at me, and when I put her down I give her her lovey, she smiles, coos for awhile, and then sucks her thumb to sleep. She still fusses every time I zip her into her sleep sack because she knows what's coming, but boy is it a different world from before.
My advice to you is to quit giving yourself a hard time and to keep in mind that it will get better! It is just a normal phase, and you are not a bad mom for letting your baby cry. If he won't go to sleep any other way, you'd be a bad mom if you didn't.