MOTN wakings help

ZaydensMomma · March 2014

For a little background information for those who haven't seen my previous post concerning bottle sleep association...DS was solely dependent on bottles to fall asleep at naptime, bedtime, and his numerous MOTN wakings. Just recently, like a week ago, we successfully broke that association partly due to him not wanting bottles anymore and paying attention to his sleep cues. We can now place him in his crib awake with a lovey and he will just turn over and fall asleep with little or no whining. Yippee! Well now we have another problem. Before, he would wake up every 2 hours wanting a bottle. Thankfully, he only wakes up once during the night now. I think that is partly because DH snores...REALLY loud and, unfortunately, our room is right next to DS. Anyway, I have tried everything to get him back to sleep (feeding him, playing with him, watching Bubble Guppies, laying down with him in our bed) but nothing works. Last night he woke up at 11pm at night and didn't go back to bed until 4am the next morning :-<. I'm really worried that he isn't getting the sleep he needs since he has already transitioned to one nap. I'm going to try a white noise app on my phone tonight and see if that will help mask the sound of DH's snoring. Does anyone have any other ideas that might get him to sleep better or is this just a wait-it-out type of thing? TIA!

djm31012 · March 2014

the white noise machine is a good idea...and if you are ok with it--maybe do some sleep training? When DS wakes up i always give it time before I go in there. I only go in if hes been stirring for more than 20 min, or if hes actually crying/screaming. We put literally 6 pacis in his bed so when he wakes up, he can find another one and put himself back to sleep. Just make sure you arent going in there too soon. DS never does great when we bring him into our bed. its pointless actually. And we are a bubble guppies crew too!

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Tapthathank · March 2014

I agree with sleep training PP suggested. And the white noise app! I would try to reinforce to him that it is night time, time for sleep. Keep the lights low, try to stimulate him as little as possible. You don't want to start getting into the habit of him waking up to go downstairs to play or watch TV...or to eat!

Does he wake up crying? Or just whining & fussing? Give him some time to see if he settles himself back into sleep. You can do some reading on gentle sleep coaching that doesn't involve CIO. We used Ferber and have used CIO when going in to soothe him only makes things worse and prolongs the crying and actually going to sleep.

Stay consistent with your training and hopefully you will both get some good sleep soon!

pb_bride · March 2014

What PPs said. Definitely no playing or watching tv! And you have to be consistent. If you do one thing one night and something else the next night, your DS won't know what to expect nor what she's supposed to do (ie go back to sleep).

Just keep it dark and quiet, and tell your DS it is night time and it's for sleep. TBH, unless your DS is crying and screaming, I would just leave him be and let him put himself back to sleep.

ZaydensMomma · March 2014

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I agree that watching tv and the works does seem stimulating. My MIL had suggested that maybe we should do stuff to tire him out or distract him so we decided to try that out. Obviously, it was a no-go too. lol. @Tapthathank, he usually wakes up doing this whine one moment then cry the next type thing. He goes back and forth between the two. Tonight, I think I'm going to the white noise app and see if that works. If it doesn't, then my plan is to make things incredibly boring like everyone suggested. Hopefully, that will work!

Tapthathank · March 2014

It sounds like he might just be mad that he woke up and can't fall back to sleep yet. How long do you let him fuss before you go in?

Honestly, I would try not to pick him up - if you do go in. Rub his back, recover him up with his blankie, speak in hushed tones (or not at all!), tell him it's OK, but it's nigh nigh time.

Good luck!!

Beth.1212 · March 2014

I wouldn't go in to him until he seemed distressed, i.e. actually crying consistently. My LO will sometimes do the whine/cry thing as he falls asleep, and even entering the room will make him more awake and less likely to fall asleep quickly. Try leaving him be and see if he settles himself.

FTR, I'm anti-CIO (personally, I am not judging anyone else), but it's important to differentiate between an "I'm distressed and need help" cry and a mantra cry.

ZaydensMomma · March 2014

Thank you everyone for the suggestions! I did everything that you girls have suggested and at last--Sweet sweet success. The white noise app plus not going in the room unless he was crying consistently helped a lot. However, we had to order the Tranquil Turtle sleep machine because one night we had a late night phone call from a family member and that kinda complicated a night. But all in all, we are finally getting some good sleep after 12 months of waking up every two hours! \:D/

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