does your LO sleep in their own room?

iarhyme · December 2012

My DD is almost 9 months. She still sleeps in her crib in our room. She wakes up every two hours and is a terrible sleeper so ive been keeping her in there because the only way to calm her down is breastfeeding. I really want to transition now into moving her into her own room. Any advice for me?

Mama2TwoBoys · December 2012

Every two hours seems excessive to me. A baby at that age should be able to STTN and not have to wake up for food reasons. It sounds like your bigger issue is the sleep problems, and not really what room she's in. Moving rooms only to have to nurse her somewhere else might not be a solution to your lack of sleep.

Is she teething? Does she have an ear infection, or is sick?

Is she just a light sleeper, and gets woken up by someone's snoring, or rustling?

One thing that I thought was totally bogus, but has worked, is to give DS a bowl of oatmeal before bed. He inhales the gerber banana oatmeal like he's never eaten before Maybe try a nice bowl of solids right before bed to help tide her over longer.

iarhyme · December 2012

I know she should be able to STTN but she isnt:( its so hard for me, im exhausted. Shes always waking up and then starts crying really loud and only feeding her soothes her back to sleep. I want to get away from feeding her at night but she just cries so loud in the middle of the night when she awakes we just want her to calm down and sleep. Two bottom teeth are already out, so im not sure if more are coming? shes been like this forever. Always a light sleeper and when she moves even slightly she wakes herself up and then the crying starts. She also doesnt want to be in her crib and even when i think shes alseep and put her down she cries again until i pick her up. Its so tough i have no idea what to do.

Mama2TwoBoys · December 2012

Hugs! I can only imagine how tired you are!

I wouldn't be surprised if more teeth are coming in. Try giving her some tylenol before bed.

If you do decide to switch her to her own room right now, just know that a few rough days will be head of you, and totally normal while she adjusts. It sounds like if she is a light sleeper, her own room might be better.

Do you have a white noise machine? Like one that plays ocean noises, or baby music? Even a somewhat noisy fan can work. It might help lull her back to sleep if she wakes a little at night. If you can stand sleeping with it, maybe try it in your room, and have it as part of what can carry over and soothe her when you change rooms.

We have a lights & music mobile type of thing that attaches to the side of the crib, it's rainforest themed. It plays nature sounds and music. It helps block out any noises of us sneaking out of his room once DS is in his crib, or even his noisy brother during daytime naps.

mben1119 · December 2012

DS has been in his room since day 2 at home. DH, the dog, and I made too much noise for DS to stay asleep, and he made too much noise for me to stay asleep. I would get her transitioned out as soon as you can, and it may help with the sleepless nights.

Helenahhandbasket · December 2012

Wow that sounds tough.

We moved DD into her crib right before I went back to work, so she was just about 12 weeks old? She's been a good sleeper for us so I am afraid I don't have too much advice on how to get your LO to sleep longer.

What I will add is that I know when DD was in our room I would jump at every whimper or cry-- and sometimes I didn't need to because she wound up settling herself after a minute or two. You might need to do that-- maybe try not jumping up every time she stirs. She shouldn't need every 2 hours at this point, so likely she just needs to learn to settle herself.

If she eventually is able to settle herself the transition to her own room might be easier on the both of you. Good luck.

acaudill75 · December 2012

You are definitely going to have to get LO out of your room. It isn't working. LO at nine months should be sleeping for like 12 hours with maybe one feeding during that time. Of course, that will vary with each child. Are you only BF'ing? Could LO be hungry? If she isn't hungry, wet, or sick, talk to your pediatrician. If there isn't a physical reason for her sleeping so little, then you may be the problem. If you are picking her up every time she cries, you are reinforcing that "bad" behavior. Its not your fault, but you shouldn't keep doing it. DD2 goes right to sleep for DH, but with me, she wants to be rocked and tends to wake up when I put her in the crib and I have to pat her on the back and stop her crying. She doesn't do it all the time, but I know she is doing it to get me to stay, and its that sort of manipulation that if you keep encouraging it, it will never end. Babies are don't understand the bad side to manipulation yet, but they are masters at it. Teach her to self soothe, with a noise machine like a PP said, or a pacifier, which is what she is probably treating your boob as. Good Luck.

MollySm · December 2012

Has she always been in your room? We transitioned our daughter at 2the months, because everytime one of us moved or rolled over, she would wake up. She sleeps much better in her own, quiet room.

brideinsummer04 · December 2012

I can commiserate bc my 11 month old is the same way. Actually he is getting worse and worse. Last night he was up every 40 minutes for the first five hours of sleep. I will say be careful about the crib in LO's room. Bc I tried forcing it and did pat and shush technique and now he hates the crib more than ever and I can't even put him down in there for a few minutes without him having a total meltdown. Before he was at least starting the night in there. I'm kicking myself now. I've read 11 sleep books and still don't have the answer for my baby. Whatever you try, be consistent and try for three days. Lots of people swear by CIO but I did it for 2 1/2 hours and three days before giving up. My pediatrician said it doesn't work for all babies. Good luck!

JWSchwarz · December 2012

There is a really good chance he really is hungry. DS did this at 7 months and i mentioned it to the lactation consultant at our pedi's office. She said "that poor little thing is hungry! Give him a bottle before bed and pump". I was skeptical but i did it and found i had a way reduced supply at night. He downed a 5 oz bottle and then only woke up once: hereally was hungry. By the 3rd night doing this he STTN.

I then brought my supply up and would feed him then supplement 2oz, then go pump. So i can just feed him directly now and he STTN.
You could use previously pumped milk or formula. I don't think one keeps them full longer as some people say.

mexicolombiana · December 2012

We kept our 1st DD in our room for about 9 months, then moved her to a crib. She was actually a pretty decent sleeper and would wake 1-2 times to eat but not always. Around 8 months she stopped waking in the night and we moved her to a crib in a room just steps away from us so we could still hear her.

Now w/DD #2 she's 11 months old and she's still in our room because she wakes the toddler and the toddler wakes her and it's a big disaster. Soon they'll be sharing a room.

Anyway DD sleeps in a pack n play in our room and does just fine- usually. She is BF and goes down around 8:30. Then when we come up to bed around 11 p.m. she sometimes wakes up because she is the world's lightest sleeper. I hate noise machines so we don't use them. And anyway I tried once and it didn't matter.

Last night was a disaster, she was up every 2 hours but this is not a normal night. She had a slight fever and was just being needy and fussy. Babies get like this sometimes.

I do agree w/PPs that she shouldn't be waking so often. I can't imagine our disaster of a night last night being a norm. I would die. So, I agree some kind of sleep training is in order! But I don't believe in CIO at all, so I would suggest that you sit in the other room with her in a chair, nurse her and just try putting her in the crib, over and over until it works. It's going to suck a lot. Good luck!

skibunny59 · December 2012

iarhyme:
I know she should be able to STTN but she isnt:( its so hard for me, im exhausted. Shes always waking up and then starts crying really loud and only feeding her soothes her back to sleep. I want to get away from feeding her at night but she just cries so loud in the middle of the night when she awakes we just want her to calm down and sleep. Two bottom teeth are already out, so im not sure if more are coming? shes been like this forever. Always a light sleeper and when she moves even slightly she wakes herself up and then the crying starts. She also doesnt want to be in her crib and even when i think shes alseep and put her down she cries again until i pick her up. Its so tough i have no idea what to do.

Your DD sounds exactly like my DD who is also 9 months old. Honestly, I'm not sure how often she wakes up because she spends most of the night in bed with me and I usually am able to sleep while she nurses. Are you sure she's really eating? I know that my DD really just likes to sleep with my nipple in her mouth. I have nursed her to sleep since she was a newborn so now she just associates that with going to sleep.

She starts the night out in the crib but ends up in our bed. Honestly, I've learned to not stress about it and let it go. DH and I both work fulltime and we've realized that this is how we get the most sleep.

Nel11 · December 2012

PP have given you good advice. I'm sorry you are going through this; I would die if my LO woke up every 2 hours every night. A few thoughts:

1. I second a PP idea of giving a pumped (or formula if you can't/won't pump) bottle before bed. This way you are ensuring DD has a full belly, and you will know exactly how much she took and when so you can judge if she might actually be hungry. Also, try to pay attention to how many nursing sessions/solids she has during the day so you can gauge whether or not she is eating enough during the day.

2. I would strongly consider moving her into her own room. I know co-sleeping, etc works well for some, but it would be a disaster on all sides for us. The 3 of us would wake each other up all night. Plus, I need my "me" time and time with just my husband without worrying about waking LO up.

3. If she has always been like this it is probably not teething, ear infection, etc. Check with your pedi if you suspect something is up, but unless this is a new thing it's probably habit. Do some research on different sleep training methods and pick one you are comfortable with. Start small- maybe work on getting her to sleep for 1 4 hour stretch and work from there.

GL!

vserapio · December 2012

Oh my god, you took the words out of my mouth! My LO is the same way. DS is 9 mo and right now we bed share. DS associates rocking and nursing to sleep. I feel so helpless. I am 90 ready to sleep train even if it means CIO I am getting desperate but I am not getting support from husband and our families our background culture, as far as I know and have been observing doesn't believe in sleep training and they sort of just tell me to suck it up for a year or so when I try to seek out advice. I feel exhausted and alone. To top it off, we just moved to a new apartment and am now embarrassed when LO cries at night and our neighbours can hear him

Sorry I am no help, but wanted to let you know you ate not alone. I'd love to hear people's suggestions too.

mexicolombiana · December 2012

kbruington:
mexicolombiana:

We kept our 1st DD in our room for about 9 months, then moved her to a crib. She was actually a pretty decent sleeper and would wake 1-2 times to eat but not always. Around 8 months she stopped waking in the night and we moved her to a crib in a room just steps away from us so we could still hear her.

Now w/DD #2 she's 11 months old and she's still in our room because she wakes the toddler and the toddler wakes her and it's a big disaster. Soon they'll be sharing a room.

Anyway DD sleeps in a pack n play in our room and does just fine- usually. She is BF and goes down around 8:30. Then when we come up to bed around 11 p.m. she sometimes wakes up because she is the world's lightest sleeper. I hate noise machines so we don't use them. And anyway I tried once and it didn't matter.

Last night was a disaster, she was up every 2 hours but this is not a normal night. She had a slight fever and was just being needy and fussy. Babies get like this sometimes.

I do agree w/PPs that she shouldn't be waking so often. I can't imagine our disaster of a night last night being a norm. I would die. So, I agree some kind of sleep training is in order! But I don't believe in CIO at all, so I would suggest that you sit in the other room with her in a chair, nurse her and just try putting her in the crib, over and over until it works. It's going to suck a lot. Good luck!

I really like your list of things you've learned as a mom on your blog

Thanks! there was more but I had to get my butt back to work!

jcsntms06 · December 2012

Yes she sleeps in her crib in her room. We moved her when she was 2 months old. I wasn't getting much sleep when she was in our room.

sunnyday016 · December 2012

Yes, he sleeps in his own room. He was waking just as often as your LO was at 6m and we moved him. Then he magically started STTN. I don't know if it was the room or if he was just ready to STTN, but moving him to his own room was a complete lifesaver for us.

gothgrrl · December 2012

DD has been in her room since just before 6 months of age...our pediatrician said to us that everyone will sleep better...and it's true. I wonder, though, will you be able to let her CIO as you transition - that was super challenging for me. Sometimes we have our blips, but in general, she does well in her own place. As the PP suggested...is there any medically based issue that might be contributing to her sleep patterns?

does your LO sleep in their own room?

Re: does your LO sleep in their own room?

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