Help with sleep troubles

coraggiosa · November 2013

I don't normally start posts, but I was hoping to get some words of encouragement and advice.

For the past month, DD just won't sleep. At night, it takes 3 hours to get her to actually fall asleep no matter what we try - boob, rocking, shushing, swaying, bouncing, etc. Often, she'll fall asleep for 10 minutes, and then wakes up again and it takes another hour to get her to fall asleep. I've been consistently getting in my own bed around 1AM every night. Then, she wakes up every 2-3 hours at night, and sometimes only gives us one stretch. Then, the whole day is spent trying to get her to nap, which she fights like the devil all day long.

We swaddle, have white noise, darken the room. We've tried the swing, the crib, the RnP and nothing really works. It's 1AM now, and I've just now taken her out of that Magic Sleep Suit because it's obviously not magic with our DD.

I have no idea what else to do. I imagine she is overtired, but I can't seem to get her to nap during the day to prevent the overtiredness. I feel like I am in an unending cycle without an end.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Words of encouragement? A glass of wine?

Leosmom13 · November 2013

Sounds like our ds when he gets overtired! We just started giving him a hot bath at night followed by a massage then a feed then we put him down in his cot! He sleeps soooo much better than he used to! I try and get him to nap in the stroller in a long walk or in the moby wrap. To be honest the moby wrap has seriously reduced his crying for us. The more we wear him the less he cried and the better he sleeps! Hope this helps!

cinderin · November 2013

I feel like the list is endless of things we have tried with DS :-)

One thing that worked for us often was taking him for a car ride (then letting him sleep in his car seat).

Sleeping in the magic sleep suit in the swing.

He usually responds to rocking/bouncing/swaying to sleep. We rock him in his sleep suit now (used to swaddle him). I put a time limit on it though - if we can't rock him to sleep in 20 to 30 minutes, then something else is upsetting him. I will change his diaper, feed him, try a bath, etc. and then try to put him down again.

I do nurse him in the magic sleep suit to get him to sleep sometimes.

coraggiosa · November 2013

cinderin said:
I feel like the list is endless of things we have tried with DS :-)

One thing that worked for us often was taking him for a car ride (then letting him sleep in his car seat).

Sleeping in the magic sleep suit in the swing.

He usually responds to rocking/bouncing/swaying to sleep. We rock him in his sleep suit now (used to swaddle him). I put a time limit on it though - if we can't rock him to sleep in 20 to 30 minutes, then something else is upsetting him. I will change his diaper, feed him, try a bath, etc. and then try to put him down again.

I do nurse him in the magic sleep suit to get him to sleep sometimes.

She hates the carseat, and she screams when I put her in it

I should have mentioned that while we are trying to get her to sleep, we change her diaper and nurse to make sure it's not one of those. She's not a fan of baths, but I guess we could try that.

I suppose I could try the suit in the swing, but I feel like I'd be squishing her in there.

Leosmom13 · November 2013

Our ds likes his bath much hotter than the recommended temp which I actually think is a little cold.It's not boiling or anything but it is hot.He loves it! I started getting into the bath with him ( the big bath, not his baby bath!) which I think he prefers and makes him feel more secure!We also get the room nice and warm, we just bought a steam vaporizer which is amazing! It stops him getting stuffed up which interferes with his sleep as well!

catskitch · November 2013

The hot bath is a a miracle worker for me. For ds, it's like it's not nighttime until he has his bath.

cinderin · November 2013

coraggiosa said:

cinderin said:
I feel like the list is endless of things we have tried with DS :-)

One thing that worked for us often was taking him for a car ride (then letting him sleep in his car seat).

Sleeping in the magic sleep suit in the swing.

He usually responds to rocking/bouncing/swaying to sleep. We rock him in his sleep suit now (used to swaddle him). I put a time limit on it though - if we can't rock him to sleep in 20 to 30 minutes, then something else is upsetting him. I will change his diaper, feed him, try a bath, etc. and then try to put him down again.

I do nurse him in the magic sleep suit to get him to sleep sometimes.
She hates the carseat, and she screams when I put her in it I should have mentioned that while we are trying to get her to sleep, we change her diaper and nurse to make sure it's not one of those. She's not a fan of baths, but I guess we could try that.

I suppose I could try the suit in the swing, but I feel like I'd be squishing her in there.

DS cries when we put him in the car seat also (he can cry at anything!) but once we are on the road for 5 minutes he stops. If he is tired he is usually asleep in 10-15 minutes.

nnikki10 · November 2013

Do you baby wear? Dd will fight naps until I wear her and turn vacuum on. So if I have tried everything she goes in mei tei or ktan. I feel overtired runs over days so if she doesn't nap well, she doesn't sleep well and repeat. Maybe take a week and not go anywhere and really focus on naps. See if that helps.

Also if I'm reading it right you are trying to put her to sleep at 10? Maybe move it up an hour?

LEMSA · November 2013

I use the baby got colic on YouTube. Regular white noise doesn't do much.

1078 · November 2013

I am so sorry you are going through this. You must be exhausted! I agree that 10pm sounds a little late to start the nighttime routine. I moved LOs up to 7 and he is down by 8. It helped with the nighttime colic immensely. I also think staying home for a week to work on naps is great advice. Sleep in the day makes for better sleep at night.

Do you have a schedule or routine you follow? I know it isn't preferred by everyone to have one, but it sounds to me like you are in dire straights. It is worth trying one out for a week.

Lastly, if you can afford it I would suggest a night nurse to come in and help you for a few nights.

I really hope this gets better for you and LO soon!

Caz1221 · November 2013

PPs have given most of the same suggestions that I have, but I second trying baby wearing if you don't already, especially for naps. My LO can easily get overtired during the day and then fights going down for a nap. When that happens, I put her in the k'tan, turn on the vacuum sound on my white noise app as loud as it will go (it's magic for her, but you may find your LO responds to a different sound), and bounce/walk around the house. Hang in there - babies go through phases, and hopefully this one will pass for you soon!

TeacherMom210 · November 2013

I second the nighttime routine. DD started sleeping so much better once we started one. We do warm bath, lotion/massage, get dressed for bed (we use a sleep sack), bottle, rocking. We start with the bath around 6:15 or 6:30 and she's usually asleep by around 7:30. Good luck!

coraggiosa · November 2013

I've tried putting her down earlier (like 8ish), and she still wakes up crying after 10 minutes continually, or she sleeps a couple hours and then it takes hours to get her to sleep again. So we still usually end up in bed late.

I will try wearing her again. I've tried having her nap in my wrap with white noise, but she just screams until I take her out.

Last night she finally fell asleep in the swing at 4AM. She actually slept 4 hours, but now I can't get her to go back asleep when I know she needs it. I'm getting worried that she's going to get sick because she just refuses to sleep.

DH actually took her to the living room so I can sleep, so I'm going to try and sleep a couple more hours.

CourtJack · November 2013

It seems that these are pretty extreme sleep issues, and I'm sorry you and LO are suffering through them. Is it possible you would go see your ped just to make sure there aren't any underlying medical issues?

coraggiosa · November 2013

CourtJack said:

It seems that these are pretty extreme sleep issues, and I'm sorry you and LO are suffering through them. Is it possible you would go see your ped just to make sure there aren't any underlying medical issues?

Yeah, I'm thinking I might call him. She hasn't seen him since her 2 month check-up, and all of this just started right afterwards. For a while I just thought it was sleep regression because she had been sleeping 7-8 hours a night sometimes previously. I can't imagine what it could be though, but it's probably worth a call.

LokiLahve · November 2013

The only thing I can think if aside from all the suggestions above is considering a chiropractor visit. I know some ladies have gone for BFing and colic issues. Maybe talk to the ped to see if it's worth trying.
Sending happy sleep thoughts your way!

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