Babies: 6 - 9 Months

UPDATES to swaddle & crib transition

Ok so we've finally got DS sleeping in his crib all night!!!! No more Moses basket. He's also been sleeping in a zipadeezip so the woombie has been retired.

My issue now is that he still wakes up every 2 hours. I've watched him on the monitor & sometimes he'll move his arm or roll over & hit the side of the bed & wake up. Other times its just him waking up from a deep sleep. Is there anything I can do to get him to sleep longer?? This has been going on for months. It can take anywhere from 10 mins to 2 hrs to put him back down. We are so tired!

Re: UPDATES to swaddle & crib transition

  • My 8 month old is up every 2hrs at night.  I do a quick nurse and we both pass back out till next awakening.  For her it's just her natural rhythm to wake at that time.  I haven't put the effort in to trying to change it yet. 

    I would highly recommend the "No cry sleep solution" book.  It not only provides ways to help your child sleep better but it has a good amount of info to understand why babies do what they do.

     

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  • =Lee=B said:

    My 8 month old is up every 2hrs at night.  I do a quick nurse and we both pass back out till next awakening.  For her it's just her natural rhythm to wake at that time.  I haven't put the effort in to trying to change it yet. 

    I would highly recommend the "No cry sleep solution" book.  It not only provides ways to help your child sleep better but it has a good amount of info to understand why babies do what they do.

    I've read that one & I don't really "get" it I guess. I already do a lot of the suggestions but maybe I'm missing something??

  • Me again.  What do you do when he wakes right now?  If my daughter was waking and trying to stay up then I'd be doing things differently right now she wakes to nurse and goes right back to sleep.

    What are you doing during the wakes?  I never turn any lights on, don't talk to her, don't interact in any way.  If I need to do a diaper change in the night (very rare) I don't talk or anything.  Are you engaging him?

    In your case my first step would be to make a very consistent middle of the night wake up routine to try and make it so when he wakes he goes down within 10min...then I'd work on eliminating the wake ups. 

    If you explain what typically happens when he wakes now maybe we can help provide ways to shorten the awake time for these wake ups!!

     

  • Nicb13 said:
    Have you read any sleep training books? That's really what you need to do at this point. Find a method you like and be 100% consistent. What your LO is doing is normal, but you can do some sleep training.
    This!
    @Nicb13, I don't know you but I feel like every time I read a response and go "this, all of it" it turns out to be you! :)

    OP, it may be hard, but I'd ditch the zipadeezip while you're doing the sleep training, he's going to have to come out of it sooner or later, so it'd just be easier for you and him to do it while you're sleep training him..it's like ripping off a band aid. 
  • LisaLisa1980LisaLisa1980 member
    edited November 2013
    Not sure if you're familiar with the zippy but it's used to help transition out of the swaddle. So far it's working and that's what we're going to stick with. It was a big accomplishment to get him out of the woombie - baby steps here. He absolutely needs it to sleep and going cold turkey results in him screaming for hours.

    So when he wakes up I used to get up & automatically just nurse him back to sleep. BUT this did not always work. Now my H and I take turns so that I'm not the only one getting up. Sometimes when my H gets him he'll go down right away, other times it takes a while. He doesn't always need to nurse to sleep - I just do it coz it's faster and easier

    We've tried bringing back the sleep sheep, then we tried a noise machine that doesn't shut off, I've played with different room temps.....

    There is no talking, no diaper changes, no lights on

    Once he's on solids, will he sleep better?? I don't think he's waking up for hunger but rather waking up during sleep cycles and not knowing how to put himself back to sleep
  • Does he cry right away? Like seriously cry, or just fuss and yell? Once I started realizing that fussing and yelling didn't always escalate into crying, I was able to let LO fuss her way into getting comfy and sleepy again. Now she may wake a couple of times a night but rarely needs me to help her get back to sleep. Sometimes I even hear her playing and talking to herself for a few mins and then drifts back to sleep. I am not a fan of CIO, but instead we do Fuss It Out. :) and has made a big difference in her sleeping.
  • I was greatly annoyed with the sleep sheep (we do use ours still) who designs something to shut off ('click') at 45min which is a common light sleep stage for infants grrr!

    I totally feed my daughter every 2hrs at night because it is easier...we both get more sleep that way so I'm just going with it.  Someday I'll have to stop and we'll see where that puts us!

    For the most part solids will not help.  My doc said that 1/3 of babies may sleep better, 1/3 sleep the same and about 1/3 sleep worse (tummy's trying to digest it etc).

    Sounds like it's just a sleep cycle thing...like it s for my daughter.  Sounds like you are doing the main things to encourage sleep (no lights, talking etc).

    Have you read the no cry sleep solution?  I have only skimmed it so far but it seemed like it might be useful to figure to problem solve why he wakes and what to do to get him to stay asleep or get back to sleep. 

    My 8 month old has been having noisy dreams and nightmares that wake her...is it possible he has started that too?

    Not sure what else to say...it sucks, I know...it will change eventually, so they say! 

     

  • I agree with adl3399, I had to learn to let her fuss it out. Sometimes it's just a loud grunt, other times its been a few minutes of interrupted cries. When she wakes and fusses I've slowed my response, I listen/watch monitor first (if she's really freaked out crying I don't wait), then I go to the bathroom first, and lots of time she has settled herself.

    We followed the Sleep Lady book somewhat. Mostly for us it was creating a bedtime ritual that we followed and then learning that a little crying sometimes is just not avoidable. 
  • I do wait to see what kind of cry it is. I go in there if its a really bad cry.

    And YES I WAS JUST THINKING THAT ABOUT THE SLEEP SHEEP!! Haha it needs to be longer than a sleep cycle!
  • adl3399 said:
    Does he cry right away? Like seriously cry, or just fuss and yell? Once I started realizing that fussing and yelling didn't always escalate into crying, I was able to let LO fuss her way into getting comfy and sleepy again. Now she may wake a couple of times a night but rarely needs me to help her get back to sleep. Sometimes I even hear her playing and talking to herself for a few mins and then drifts back to sleep. I am not a fan of CIO, but instead we do Fuss It Out. :) and has made a big difference in her sleeping.

    Oh my gosh, yes.  All of this.  I started letting him fuss himself to sleep, because I was exhausted and absolutely miserable.  The fussing usually only lasted a few minutes, but if I went in to try and comfort him, he'd be stimulated enough to wake up more fully.  He started STTN very early using that method.  He did a sleep regression a couple weeks back, and I stuck with the same, and now he's sleeping 10 hours a night. 

    I know I'm lucky, he's a great sleeper, but he still wakes up periodically at night, and I can hear him fussing on the monitor (I'm a very light sleeper).  After a couple minutes, when I don't show, he stops and falls back asleep.  Of course when he really cries or shows signs of distress, I'm there in a heartbeat. 

  • LisaLisa1980LisaLisa1980 member
    edited November 2013
    i think he's teething again. the bottom 2 are up and I think the top 2 must be coming soon. He is excessively drooling, chewing on hands and anything he can get ahold of. Last night he screamed for 2 hours!  I had to put him down in his crib and just sit in a chair because I was at such a loss at what to do.

    When he was a newborn, he was the perfect sleeper. It wasn't until about 4ish months that things really started to go downhill. He just screams when he wakes up in the MOTN, no fussing, just loud crying and screaming. I just dont know what to do.

    also... should I stop BF at night? he's 21 lbs, 6.5 months, and he only really wants to suck, but will not take a pacifier.
  • BF babies tend to nurse more at night while teething.  It helps sooth the pain from the teeth.

    Have you tried a soother recently?  Have you tried many different kinds?  My daughter refused 5 brands before she accepted one.  If you need a break from nursing and think he's just nursing to suck you can try to get him on a soother again.

    You like chocolate?  I would so be stocking up on my favorite chocolate bars and keeping them in his room for nights like that!  Some sort of reward to help get your through it!  Hope tonight is better for you!

     

  • =Lee=B said:

    BF babies tend to nurse more at night while teething.  It helps sooth the pain from the teeth.

    Have you tried a soother recently?  Have you tried many different kinds?  My daughter refused 5 brands before she accepted one.  If you need a break from nursing and think he's just nursing to suck you can try to get him on a soother again.

    You like chocolate?  I would so be stocking up on my favorite chocolate bars and keeping them in his room for nights like that!  Some sort of reward to help get your through it!  Hope tonight is better for you!

    Haha yes I'm addicted to chocolate!!!

    Oh ya the soother is beside me & I try it to trick him but he just plays with it. I've tried 2 other soothers too. Maybe I'll try them again

  • Have you tried putting the sooothers in the fridge? My LO sometimes won't take one unless its cold, and then she grabs right on. If he's teething, maybe this will help? I hope it gets better for you soon!
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