Hi Mommies,
I have a 7 month old who's never been a great sleeper. Luckily my baby sleeps all night through and wakes up around 830-9am. BUT.....he fights falling alseep for both naps and nighttime. No matter what I do to help him fall asleep, it's almost as if he's defiante to stay awake. His eyes will be all pink and puffy and he'll yawn, but no matter how much we rock him, play lullabys, turn off lights and not talk to him, he does whatever he can stay alert: cranes his neck around to look about the room (even in the dark!) swings his arms about, almost as if throwing punches, giggles like a silly drunk and thinks it's playtime, etc....even during the day when I'm out driving around, he doesn't fall asleep very easily with the hum of the car.
The other problem is when he does fianlly fall asleep, he'll wake up 10 minutes later, wide-awake, and the process starts all over again. The good news is that he does sleep all night through, the bad news is that that he's not getting his daytime naps and it takes him up to 4 hours to fall asleep at night. We start putting him down between 830-9pm.
I know you're going to say to get him on a schedule/routine, but the problem is he does have one, just refuses to fall asleep. Most nights lately it's 1230-1am when he finally falls asleep. I'm going to begin working again next month and I wonder how will it be if neither the baby nor I get any sleep.
Any suggetions??
I agree with the other two 6:30 or 7:00 bed time is probably the best idea. My daughter was on the same schedule as Love's daughter was on. Love is very knowledgeable on the sleep issues. After taking her advice my daughter started consistently sleeping through the night at 11 months.
Best of luck!
C.
Hi L., I HIGHLY recommend reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth for age appropriate sleep needs and schedules. I have used this book for sleep info since my 3 yr old was born with terrific success. If you move his bedtime MUCH earlier, say 6:30-7pm, he will have an easier time falling asleep. The reason it takes so long for him to fall asleep and stay asleep is he is overtired. Give it a week or two with an early bedtime and you should see a difference. My daughter's schedule at this age was: wake up at 6:30-7am, naps at 9am and 1pm for at least 1 hour each, and bedtime at 6:30pm. Dr. Weissbluth explains biological sleep rhythms and the need for sync sleep times with those rhythms. Believe me, it works! If you have any questions, feel free to email me.
Sincerely,
L.
we also read Healthy Sleep Habits. i agree that you need to pull bedtime back to 6:30 or 7. also, you might try letting him CIO. it didn't work for us, but i have friends that it took 2 days of crying and then all was well. good luck.
I echo Love's advice. I used Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Weissbluth upon the recommendation of a friend. It is a wonderful resource to understand infant/toddler sleep issues. The suggestions in the book worked for us and thankfully, sleep is not an issue. I also agree with Love that your baby is overtired and struggling to catch the wave or feeling to go to sleep because he is so tired. There is a definite rhythm and helping your son get into sync with his will do the trick. My son starting sleeping through the night at 9 months with the help of the book I mentioned. At almost 21 months, he continues to have wonderful sleep habits. He is in bed by 7pm and up around 7am and he now naps from 1-4pm or so (I know it sounds crazy to think he is ready for bed by 7pm, but he really is and doesn't fight us on it because he expects it). He used to nap twice from 9:30-11:30 and then from around 2pm-3:30. It is really an amazing change to see the difference from when used to go to bed later and be overtired. I did the CIO method and it really only took two nights with less than 10 minutes of crying the first night. We have a consistent bedtime routine and the combination of the schedule with a nap/nighttime routine works like magic. Be patient and stick to a plan and within a week or two you will see a huge difference. You can do this and you will feel like a new person when you finally get some good sleep too. All the best to you.
I don't know if this will help you, but here is what I do with the two boys in our childcare at naptime. Both of them will try to fight sleep too, and I simply put them down on their cots, and sit with them talking quietly at first about it being naptime and they need to rest because they are soooo tired. I use just a gentle conversational tone. With one I have found that a little bit of "shh- shh- shh" sound will help calm him. If they try to get up, turn over and over, or such, I gently put them back down. If necessary, I will put my arm over the child's waist, not actually on the body, but just close enough that when he tries to get up, it holds him there, until he settles down.
The trick is to do whatever it takes to get him to lie quietly for a couple of minutes. From there it's only a minute or so more before he's fast asleep.
Since it sounds like your son has a much bigger problem settling down than these two boys do, I would also suggest you look carefully at everything in his routine that may be stimulating him... activities, food, environment. You might also want to talk to his Dr. and just be sure there isn't any type of medical cause for him being so stimulated at rest time. Allergies and other medical problems can cause a lot of different responses, including sleep problems.
Yes, you have to put him to bed earlier--try a half hour earlier every night until it's closer to 6:30,7 when you start. Sounds like he's over-tired and punchy--these high-energy kids apparently get like that. Mine does, and it got so much better with an earlier bedtime. Sleep begets sleep as they say. Naps should start to get better too. The schedule helps and also the routine, and you might have to try some sleep-conditioning--check out the books Sleeping Through the Night and No Cry Sleep Solution. Good luck!
I know that most people do not allow their kids to CIO, but sometimes you just have to. I have a 4 month old (turned 4 months yesterday) who has such a hard time taking naps, but sleeps 10 hours straight at night. Yesterday while trying to cook my Christmas dinner and entertain my three year old I just had to do it. I put her in her crib and shut the door. She only cried for less than 5 minutes and she was out and slept for two hours. Sometimes you just have to try it out. Good luck to you! (My first was a terrible sleeper so I know what you are going through. It is probably why I just let this one cry.)
Hi L.,
Statistics say that 1 out of 3 children have sleep deprevation. My granddaughter had problems sleeping when she was little and I invested in a magnetic pdd for her to sleep on and she would fall asleep quicker and sleep through the night at 2 days old. I also gave her wholefood supplements to add to her formula to give her what was missing in her diet. That helped also. She is now 7 and loves her wellness home and is rarely ever sick.
If you would like more information let me know and I will send you it to you.
Happy Holidays.
N. Marie
he sounds overtired, and it is a self-perpetuating cycle at this point. recheck your routine. make sure it is simple, do it for all naps and nighttime, and talk to him about it while you are going through it (i know hes so young, but it never hurts to keep them informed). i would try to start getting him down to bed 1-2 hours earlier. also, now is not the time to fight your son over sleep. if something does it real fast, like cuddling or nursing or rocking, do it. get him back to a place where he is getting enough sleep, then you can switch up the down-to-sleep mechanism. i truly think lack of sleep affects our kids entire existence, it will be worth it for you to make it a priority.
Hi L. ~
My husband and I are going through the same thing, but not quite as bad as yours. My 8 month old daughter has never been a very good sleeper - especially naps during the day. This tends to be a problem since my husband is home with her during the day and he works nights - so he doesn't get too much sleep until I come home to relieve him.
We tried the whole gammet as well (swing, rocking her, singing to her, white noise etc.) She's gotten better about taking naps, but they aren't for too long 1 1/2 hours in the a.m. and maybe 45-1 hr in the afternoon if at all. The only thing that has helped us in this battle is a routine. We also make sure that she gets a change of scenery during the day (walks, sit outside rides in the car etc.) Now that she's mobile (crawling and walking while holding on to stuff) we give her time to play which tends to burn off some of her extra energy. This seems to be helping - not everyday but does help. I wish there was an easy answer, if you get one, please share - we'd definitely appreciate it! Good luck and happy holidays with your baby! G.
The book The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems has a whole section on sleep - identifying the reason for various sleep issues and plans for how to resolve the particular sleep issue. You may need to try the "dream feed" for awhile even if your son is on solids. It is also pretty easy to follow the schedule the book suggests. Again, there are plans for when your baby won't follow the schedule. And I agree with the other posters that an earlier bedtime will help.
Best of luck,
C.
I have a 2 month old girl who sleeps through the night and here's how: Swaddle him tight before you feed him right before bed. This helps with moving arms and legs. Start putting him to bed at 8:30 or 9:00 and then not going back to get him when he plays or cries. I bought a star light machine with images that shine on the wall with music. My baby loves to look at the lights and she falls asleep within an hour. Do this every night and be consistant I believe if you re-program his behavior you will get a good nights sleep in no time. I too go back to work in January and need all the sleep I can get. Hope this helps.
