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September 2012 Moms
kvickery
member
STM's I need your help pretty please!
kvickery
member
So my DS is 22 months and not sleeping most nights. He will go to sleep fine and then about 3 or 4 AM he wakes up and that is it. He will not go back to sleep. This has been going for several months now. At first we thought it was due to his ear infections (he had several in a row but he has since gotten tubes so that shouldnt be a problem anymore). Then he started cutting his i-teeth and stomach teeth (4 at a time) so we thought that that could be the problem...well those are through and he is still not sleeping. We have tried everything, waking him up earlier in the mornings, earlier nap, no nap, letting him self soothe, going to bed later, going to bed earlier, putting him in our bed, nothing seems to work some nights!! A couple of nights he will go back to sleep in our bed, but nights like last night (and most nights), he tossed and turned in our bed for over an hour and just couldn't go back to sleep. We end up getting up and letting him watch Baby Einstein until he falls back asleep (usually 2 hours later). I hate using the tv as a baby sitter but I dont know what else to try. I am at my wits end. This new baby is going to be here soon and I am so tired today, I can barely function with one child and every time someone talks to me I burst out in tears. Thanks hormones and lack of sleep!
Please help! Any advice would be appreciated!
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Re: STM's I need your help pretty please!
That sucks. I'm sorry.
First off, nip that Baby Einstein thing NOW. You're teaching him that if he cries and screams at night he's going to get to watch TV. Kids are smarter than we give them credit for. Is he in a crib or a bed? If he's in a crib and doesn't try to escape, I'd go cold turkey CIO. 4am is not a reasonable time to be awake. If he's in a bed, I'd gate his door and remove everything from his room and do CIO that way. I know it sounds harsh, but you've definitely got to get a handle on this for your own sanity. DS went through a really crappy sleep period when we moved him from his crib to a bed (because he was jumping out of the crib) just shy of age 3. It took gating his room, locking his closet, removing everything from the room, and taking away the light bulb. He figured out waking at 4-5am was boring, nobody was going to give him attention at that time, and he gradually started sleeping better.
Or - have you read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child? If not, I'd get that tonight and see if you can identify your child's issue and find a good solution. I found that book to be the most helpful of any child-related books I read.
(read it. you know you want to.)
anderson . september 2008
vivian . february 2010
mabel . august 2012
mlf hit the nail on the head. It is going to suck since you have waied this long and his lungs and voice are super strong by now so he will scream his head off. you probably wont get any sleep anyway the first week or so but it will pay off in the end. He needs to understand if it is dark, it is sleep time.
The only thing I have to add to MLF's post is - are you feeding him enough at night? The only time DD wakes up in the middle of the night now is when she really didn't eat dinner and she wakes up hungry. She is only 14 mo though so I dont know if that is help for you. You might want to try giving him some protein before bed so he has something solid in his stomach.
Other than that show him you are the boss and there is nothign to see or do when the lights are still out.
FTM myself here, but with a huge extended family with 36+ cousins and plenty of experience with babies/small children, this is so true. They learn quickly and efficiently what will get them what they want.
Good luck.
Sometimes, I'm hilarious.
Have you done any formal sleep training before?
When DS was waking at that time, I'd go in to him in 5/10/15 minute intervals. I wouldn't pick him up or turn the lights on or anything. I'd just shush him, lay him back down & pat his back. I'd stay in there for maybe a minute tops. Of course there were many times where he'd pop right back up & not stop crying, but then after the 15 minute comfort check, he'd stop crying. It never went longer than that.
We are not the type for full on CIO or extinction method, so this is what worked for us.
I guess I would need to know what his other sleep patterns are? kids his age need 12 hours of sleep a day at least. so if he is taking a 4 hour nap during the day and going to bed at 7pm it makes sense why he's waking so early.
Have you tried completely exhausting him and skipping a nap and then putting him down a little later?
I agree with PP's though, you should get this under control soon, and definitely skip the tv watching in the middle of the night. I'm a huge fan of sleep training. DS knows if he wakes up in the middle of the night I most likely won't even go in his room. We have a video monitor (I HIGHLY suggest one of these) and unless he is visibly sick or hurt he knows to lay his butt right back down and go to bed.