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Naps & Sleep HELP!

coco0723coco0723 member
in Babies: 3 - 6 Months
Ok, so my little girl is 18 weeks and over the last 4 weeks her sleep habits having been going down in flames! (They were great until we stopped swaddling because she started rolling over.) A week ago, she came down with her first cold, so that didn't help matters, but that is resolved and her sleep habits are even worse! She will only nap for 20 or 30 minutes tops and usually only about 4 times a day. Bedtime is a joke. We have tried everything. We have a bedtime routine that consists of massage, bath, snuggle time with Daddy then bottle and story with Mommy and rock to sleep. She will fall asleep until we reach the crib. Once I lay her down on her back, her eyes pop open and she's wide awake or sometimes she will stay asleep until she rolls over onto her tummy and loses the paci. Then we have to rock to sleep all over again! If she goes down too early, like 730p she will be awake at 12:30am, 3:30am and 5am and it takes at least 30 minutes to get her back to sleep each time. I thought she wasn't eating enough during the day and I have tried to up the amount of formula she gets, but she still will only do 3 ounces every 2.5 hours! I had been wanting to try and start her on a schedule, but right now that seems impossible. I am soooooo tired of reading about all these unicorn type babies (mythical babies, I think!) who have been STTN from like 2 months old on. That is not happening here and I am not even hoping for that, I would be happy if she would just sleep longer than 2 -3 hours at a time at night and take slightly longer naps during the day! Also, I have tried the swing, she hates its, and the bouncy seat, she squirms all over and winds up almost being able to tumble out. I am at a loss for what else to try!
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Re: Naps & Sleep HELP!

  • laurengogolenlaurengogolen member
    Check out the website Troublesome Tots. It has great sleep advice. My 5 month old is not sleeping through the night, but he gets up once or twice to eat and goes right back to sleep on his own. The website had great (and humorous) advice on how to teach your baby to fall asleep on his/her own. I've found it really helpful. 
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  • Caitable25Caitable25 member
    I actually have been going through the same thing - at 18 weeks as well.  between the sleep habits going down the drain and then he got a cold and it went to S**T!  Anyway, this has been going on for about a week and a half and last night, out of no where, LO just went back to his same old ways.  He went to sleep around 9, slept until 4 (woke up to eat) then back up at 6:30.  It was awesome!  So i hope the end is on the horizon for you as well :) Hang in there!


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  • taraleannetaraleanne member
    Since she needs to be rocked back to sleep every time she wakes...now might be a good time to teach her how to fall asleep on her own. It ain't gonna be easy but you need to put her down in her crib awake and let her learn how to self soothe. This way you don't need to re-create the scene when she wakes in the middle of the night. (unless she needs to eat of course)  It took a long time, alot of patience and alot of perseverance but it worked eventually for my son. And FYI I never ever let him cry it out. He still needs some help every now and then when he is overtired (overtired babies will have a really hard time falling asleep) but generally, white noise, dark room and a cuddle first before putting him down is the best way for my son. Sometimes a pacifier. Check out the troublesome tots website...

    And yeah, there is a sleep regression and the colds don't help matters but it sounds like she needs help to fall asleep on her own and now is a good time to help her learn that. Also naps at this age are all over the place so that is not uncommon, as is waking to feed in the night either. You need to watch for her sleepy cues (not interested in playing, rubbing eyes, clawing face, staring into space, fussing- BEFORE yawns) and start the routine for both naps and bedtime. She could be overtired too, a baby who is overtired at bedtime will also wake in the night.  Good luck! You will make it through this :) 
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  • jschmidt6jschmidt6 member
    I'm a ftm, so very new at this, but my LO has similar issues at 16 weeks. He does well when I place him to sleep on his side. When I lay him down I pat his back to get him past the 5 or 10 minute startle phase. He usually turns to his back on his own after 20 minutes or so. Laying on his side also keeps his paci in place longer until he's in the deep sleep when it just falls out and he doesn't notice.

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  • pantsarellapantsarella member
    Is she eating when she wakes up at night? My DD is 17 weeks and she still wakes up twice a night to eat. Usually once around 11/12 and once around 3/4. Once she eats, she goes right back to sleep. She starts to stir around 5, too. I've heard a baby sleeps the lightest around that time so I think she just cycles in and out of light sleep then. 

    Other than that, I agree with the sleep regression. We're definitely in it, too. DD refuses to nap and has been waking up a lot more at night. 
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