When did sleep improve for you?

NYGirl02 · November 2012

I think I just need encouragement that it won't be like this forever. My daughter used to sleep really well. She was doing 7 hour stretches by 5 weeks old, transitioned well to her crib, would usually come in our room when she woke up. For a while she was waking up once a night, twice on a bad night.....totally okay with that. Lately, it has been so much more. I've tried the NCSS, modified CIO, nothing seems to be working. She wakes up 3-4 times a night. I try to nurse her and put her back in her crib, but she almost always ends up in bed with us at some point. She will STTN once every 2-3 weeks. I can't figure out a pattern. We have a good bedtime routine down and she falls asleep very easily, and stays asleep for about 3 hours and that's when the fun begins. I've tried an earlier bedtime, making sure her belly is full, and it doesn't seem to make a difference. Her wake ups seem to vary on reasoning. For a while it was bad gas so I've tried to mess with her diet and that seems better now. Sometimes I think she is cold so we've tried dressing her warmer and insulating the room better (it does not heat as well as the rest of the house). I tried so hard to set up good sleep habits from day one. I read a lot about sleep when I was pregnant and that did seem to benefit her early on, it just doesn't seem to matter now. I don't want to do CIO, but I will let her fuss a little to see If she settles herself down at all. She will on very rare occasions, but usually escalates.This was a very long rambling, so kudos if you made it this far. Not sure I'm looking for a lot of advice, just reassurance that someday I might get a good nights rest again.

I will add that I have her in her crib because I really don't enjoy bed sharing or cosleeping.....at all.

aetg · November 2012

Sleep improved a little bit at a year, but we didn't have more than 4 hr stretches until 14 months......

now he sttn as long as he isn't teething, doesn't have gas, it's dark, his white noise machine is on and the stars are aligned. This improved without any CIO or sleep training.

I guess the 14 month improvement did come after night weaning which was much easier than expected.

ncbelle · November 2012

I found 9-12 months to be the most wakeful period for both of my kids - learning to walk and the general development milestones of that age really made sleep tough. After that passed, sleep was better - with some interruptions still for teething.

If you wanted to try night weaning or at least partial night weaning you might find that helps - might not though! The Jay Gordon method (you can google for a summary) is a good place to start. Getting daddy involved in her wake ups (vs. you coming in with the milk!) may also help.

It's also totally normal that she is still waking - I know that it sucks, but rest assured that it's not anything you did "wrong"!

NYGirl02 · November 2012

That's a good point about big milestones at this age. I hadn't thought about that. Thank you! I feel better already. At least until the morning. Haha.

lynz797 · November 2012

Whats her sleep/wake/feed schedule like during the day?

It has a lot to do with the way they sleep at night

RioG1978 · November 2012

lynz797:

Whats her sleep/wake/feed schedule like during the day?

It has a lot to do with the way they sleep at night

can you elaborate on this? for example - what is a sample day schedule that would facilitate good night sleep?

NYGirl02 · November 2012

Sorry, been mobile all day so I couldn't respond. She wakes up between 6:30 and 7:30, eats breakfast at 8, plays. She's starting to wean from a morning nap, but if she takes one its about 3 hours after she wakes up. She may nap for about 1.5-2 hours. Then lunch, more playtime or running errands. If she skips a morning nap, she falls asleep around 11 or 12 and will sleep for a solid 2-2.5 hours. If she takes this one longer nap, I will split lunch into two snacks and she eats before and right after nap. If she naps in the morning her afternoon nap will be about 1.5-2 hours, same as morning. Then more play time. She may have another later nap in the car if we are out and about. Dinner around 7, bath, and she's in bed at 8. I've tried an earlier bedtime, but she is just not sleepy and won't go down.

chardonnay24 · November 2012

My son SSTN from 3 months - 12 months and then stopped suddenly. Some nights he wouldn't go down at all and we'd end up in the car and some nights he'd wake up over and over. I think that sleep began improving again around 15 - 16 months after he got over fighting every disease known to man and got all 4 molars in. He almost never wakes up now at almost 22 months.

Brooke81 · November 2012

our sleep turning point is somewhere around 18 months. DD is now almost 20 months and she is up 1 -2 times a night but it is nurse and then sleep and DH can go in the second time and get her back down quick too. This is a VAST improvement to where we were at this summer!

kcisthebombdotcom · November 2012

both of my kids have followed an eerily similar pattern. They were both awesome sleepers as newborns--5 hours from birth and 7 hours at a month old. That lasted mostly until 6.5 months when their sleep went to crap coinciding with the emergence of teeth. bad sleep was more the norm from 6.5-18ish months. Once the canines came in they both became great sleepers for the most part.

hopefulmom81 · November 2012

KC_13:
both of my kids have followed an eerily similar pattern. They were both awesome sleepers as newborns--5 hours from birth and 7 hours at a month old. That lasted mostly until 6.5 months when their sleep went to crap coinciding with the emergence of teeth. bad sleep was more the norm from 6.5-18ish months. Once the canines came in they both became great sleepers for the most part.

My DD sounds EXACTLY like OP and this post. She slept at least a 5 hour chunk at 6 weeks-4 months, then hit the 4 month wakeful and has been inconsistent ever since. When we go to bed, I never know what I am going to get (up anywhere from 1-4 times).

Just wanted to say I am right there with ya, OP.

NYGirl02 · December 2012

Thank you all! I keep thinking she's teething because of some drooling, but I don't feel any coming in. I think it was about 6 months that sleep went downhill a bit. She goes in phases though. The last two night with her new fleece PJs she has done great, only woke at 4:30 this morning and went back in her crib. And only woke up at 12 and 4 the night before and stayed in her crib willingly. Maybe she's been cold and the fleece pjs are helping. Who knows? I'll celebrate the random good nights!

Angela814 · December 2012

I think I just had two children who don't really like to sleep.

DD1 woke up every 3 hours throughout the night almost until the time I night weaned at 26 months. After that she woke up once a night to come climb into our bed until she turned 5 years. We pretty much tried everything to get her to STTN, but she didn't do it until she was ready.

DD2 woke up a few times a night to nurse until we night weaned (at 25 months). Since then she wakes once to come into our bed and at least 1-2 other times she fusses enough to wake me up (but she usually stays asleep). If we keep her in her crib, she wakes up more often because she loses her paci or her blankie or needs to know I'm still in the house. She has STTN twice in her life. I'm going to guess she won't really start sleeping well until she hits 4-5 years also.

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