Sleep deprived!! (Kinda long)

amandoza23 · October 2014

My daughter will be 8 months next week and the last 2 weeks have been absolutely horrible. We have some not so great habits (only napping while being bounced or worn in a Tula) that I came here with advice to break but it's gotten worse. She won't sleep! Some days are better than others but we get about 3 hours of nap sleep and 7-9 hours during the night. We start the bedtime routine around 8 at night. (Bath, massage, story) and she used to nurse or bounce to sleep. So lately, she'll fall asleep around 9, and then wake up randomly from 10-1030ish and have this obnoxious amount of energy and not want to go to sleep at all. With hours of nursing, bouncing, and rocking, we finally get her to sleep around 12-1 in the morning. This morning she woke up for the day at 6, other days it's around 8. It just doesn't seem like enough sleep! I bought the no cry nap solution book in hopes that better naps will lead to better night time sleep and I understand her sleep cues/cycles. I just don't know what to do!! It brings me to tears sometimes because I'm so frustrated! Is this just a phase? Any advice to help? I don't have the heart to let her cry but it's come so close to being my only option. She's just fighting sleep...you can tell she's tired. She sleeps in bed with me every night so that hasn't changed, nor has anything else in our routine. She doesn't seem to be teething either. I'm so sorry this is so long...

Amstreagle · October 2014

I'm sure it's just a phase. For naps have you tried napping in bed like you would normally sleep at night? The only way we got Ds to take naps is by getting blackout curtains some white noise and I lay next to him and give him a bottle. We never had the night time issue but I'm sure it's something that will pass. When she wakes up try not to react other than nursing her or turning on any lights. Good luck mama!

UnofficiallyLO · October 2014

I don't have much advice other than possibly moving bedtime up? No cry helped me realize we were missing LOs window sometimes and now that he goes to bed by 8 (use to be 9ish) he doesn't have his first wake up until after midnight when before it was always within an hour of going down (as you mentioned). Good luck!

Emren · October 2014

Sorry to hear your little one is having a hard time sleeping. Things will get better! Have you thought about having more active play time in the day so she will be more sleepy in the evenings? My friends daughter was in the habit of falling asleep while being held by mommy. One of the things that helped them was to lay her shirt next to her sleeper and the "smell" of mom helped her little one fall asleep.

((Hugs and Love))

Emren0316

amandoza23 · October 2014

Her bedtime is always about 2 hours after she wakes up from her evening nap so I don't *think* it's past her window. I'm a SAHM so during the day we always play, and she's been crawling and cruising everywhere so I'm sure that wears her out. She definitely gets sleepy at night. She still wakes a few times to nurse (sometimes hunger, others just comfort) so I always nurse her back to sleep. We have white noise on as well. When she wakes an hour or so after we put her down, she won't nurse and automatically tries to roll over and get up. She just doesn't fall back asleep likes she does for her usual night waking. I'm really hoping this is a phase! Thank you so much for your input!

Mrs.AmyDylan · October 2014

We had a no nap after 5pm rule, which meant that I woke her at 5 if she was still sleeping. This meant that she went to bed at 7.

As for her nighttime party, what do you do? If you are turning on the lights to play, this sends stimulation to her brain to wake at that time. Maybe try dim or no lights, soft music or sing softly to her? You don't need to get up and play to not do CIO.

Sleep is a tough nut to crack. DD didn't sleep through the night until 16 mo and in her own bed (not crib). I feel you pain.

opheliainwaders · October 2014

How many naps is your LO taking, and at what times? I agree with PP's no sleeping after 5 rule (at 8m, we aimed for no sleeping after 4, but YMMV).

Also, from 8-10m was our WORST sleep regression. It also coincided with teething. It was brutal, but when it passed, it really passed, and she started sleeping longer and longer stretches. The NCSS stuff didn't really work for us at 8m, but at 11m, it worked like a dream.

bunniekrissy · October 2014

Just wanted to commiserate, my almost 9 month old has been doing the same thing where he'll fall asleep at 8 or 9, wake up at 10 and be up till 12-1 am. He'll open his eyes and just GRIN at me and want to play, play, play.

amandoza23 · October 2014

bunniekrissy said:
Just wanted to commiserate, my almost 9 month old has been doing the same thing where he'll fall asleep at 8 or 9, wake up at 10 and be up till 12-1 am. He'll open his eyes and just GRIN at me and want to play, play, play.

That's it for us exactly!

amandoza23 · October 2014

When she wakes for her night party we usually stay in our room and let her crawl around the bed/her crib (we have it side-carred now). When my husband is home he always pushes to take her downstairs to play but I feel like it's counter productive. It makes me feel better to know that others have dealt with this too. Sleep regression is the worst...

She typically takes 2-3 naps a day depending on what time she wakes up.

Her usual wake up time is around 8-830. Her first nap is around 10-11 and last about 2-2.5 hours. Then she'll nap again and be up around 5-6 bath time is always just before 8. Sometimes if her naps are shorter, the day is a little shifted so she'll sneak in a 3rd nap and be up by 7. It doesn't bother me *too* much right now that she's not STTN. I know it'll happen when she's ready, and to be honest I like the extra cuddle time I get when she nurses back to sleep. My husband will occasionally look stuff up online and say "she should be able to STTN by now" which although I know some babies are able to, not every baby will lol I just want her to sleep! My husband is a firefighter so he's gone for 2-3 days and nights at a time and dealing with a cranky baby who doesn't sleep is making me crazy!! Haha

Maybe we'll try a cut off time for napping in the evening. Her bedtime has usually been around 9. I'm not much of an early bird.

opheliainwaders · October 2014

Yeah, I'd see about moving bedtime closer to 8, and dropping that 3rd nap/cutting off any naps after about 4. If she can nap around 10 and around 2:30 or so (adjust as works for you), then she'll probably be up by 4pm, and ready to start bedtime stuff around 7/7:30 or so.

Oh, also, if you do want to check out NCSS, I got it used on Amazon for (literally) 2 cents, so it's not too much of an investment

Sleep deprived!! (Kinda long)

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