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June 2012 Moms
campiond16
member
Sleep question, desperate for answers!
campiond16
member
Okay, DS started STTN at around 3 weeks old. He's been an amazing baby and never had sleep issues, until around 5 1/2 months old. He just completely stopped sleeping at night. He goes to bed at 8:00 pm (we've tried earlier and later and neither makes a difference) and every night around 11:00/11:30 pm he wakes up SCREAMING and nothing consoles him. We've tried CIO, rocking him, feeding him, laying him with us, sleeping on the couch, literally everything I can think of doing and nothing makes him sleep. Once he's awake he tosses and turns and seems like he just can't get comfortable. He'll end up squirming around and falling asleep 10 minutes here and there but them just start screaming again. I'm talked with the pedi and he insists it's just a phase and that's it's nothing physically wrong (which we were starting to think since he just screamed like he was in pain or something). It's has been going on for about 2 months and I'm exhausted. Some nights I feel like I'm going to just have a mental breakdown. I'm starting to feel like the worst mom ever. I don't know what to do anymore. Has anyone else had anything similar happen? I'm so desperate to do something not only for my sanity but also to help him.
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Re: Sleep question, desperate for answers!
Oh, hugs your way! This has got to be hard! DS STTN for a few weeks when he was about 6 weeks old, then stopped until we did SleepEasy around 6 months old. Those months in between were beastly. I'm no sleep pro by any means, but here are things I might consider:
First, could he possibly have reflux? be teething? have gas? In other words, is there anything physical that might be bothering him but that has so far escaped attention b/c he otherwise seems great? Have you tried giving gas drops, teething tablets, or Tylenol before bed? (I know that's probably the first thing you tried, but I always like to rule out physical pain/discomfort.)
Second, have you ever tried doing a dream feed with him maybe around 10:00 or 10:30 to see if that keeps him from waking up at 11:00? Just feed him without turning on lights, without talking, etc. Maybe it could reset his internal clock and help him get through the 11:00 wake-up.
I haven't had any caffeine yet, so that's all I've got for now. HTH!
What is his daytime sleep like? Is he making up for the missing nighttime sleep during the day? If so, you're going to have a few miserable days, but you'll have to force him to stay awake longer and longer at night.
Now, I'm a terrible nighttime parent and for a while for us I would get him up and let him play for an hour or two and get tired then put him back to sleep. At the same time I started cutting down his daytime sleep and eventually he started sleeping at night again.
Have you considered trying advil or tylenol when he wakes to rule out teething pain etc?
What happens if you leave him to squirm in his crib? With my 2.5 yr old (I'm not preaching to do it with your 8 month old because you know your child best) I leave him to cry. i can tell it's not a real cry, it's a i'm-used-to-being-patted-and-snuggled-during-this-time-cry so I go in every 15 minutes and tell him it's night-night time. I pat his back and say I love you and leave. It usually only takes 1-2 nights of it and he's back to sleep. It usually happens after he's been sick and we snuggle at night.
I feel your pain. DS1 didn't sleep until 8 months. Literally. He would sleep for 30 minutes scream for 60-90 minutes while we walked and patted him. Then he would sleep for 30 minutes and start the screaming again.