My son is 6 months and gets up anywhere from 2 to 5 times between the hours of 10pm and 6 am. At about 4.5 months, he started to sleep 5-7 hours at night. That lasted for about 2 weeks, cut two teeth and hasn't slept through the night since. This morning he got up for the second time at 4am and was ready to start the day. Didn't want to nurse, didn't want to sit in the swing. I also have a 2 y/o so I cannot sleep when he naps. My daughter started to sleep through the night at 3 months so I getting extremely fustrated. I am so tired that I am afraid that I am going to fall or drop him picking him up in the middle of the night. I am sooooo tired! -N. J
Unfortunately things got worse. We tried CIO Friday night and he screamed for an hour and a half. My husband said it was too long and to go get him. (he works nights and couldn't get him himself) It took a while to calm him back down and would not sleep in his bed. The only way I got any sleep that night was to put him in the stroller and let him sleep in the kitchen with the stove fan running. This happened again Saturday and Sunday. (I didn't do the CIO again) Every time I get him to sleep and lay him down, he immediately wakes up and screams. It really looks likes something is hurting him. Finally last night, I got him to sleep in his crib but that ony lasted about 2 hours and the rest of the night was in the stroller again. When he wakes up,it is not a slow wake up, it is immediate and seems painful.
Don't know where I am going to go from here.
Does he have any medical issues? Reflux? If not are you able to co-sleep? My son is 28months and is up once or twice still, so I know how hard it is to be sleep-deprived.
(hugs)
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Good Luck. :-)
You know, I think your little man has you figured out! If it was me, I'd make sure he was as full as you could get him before bed, cereal, nursing etc and then do a CIO routine. Sickness and milestones always muck up babies sleep habits, and Mommy's too. I don't do well on little sleep either so when my babies were all clearly able to sleep through the night (had demonstrated this consistently around 4-6months, and I knew they weren't sick) I would let them cry it out. Put him in the crib drowsy but awake with his lovey. My boys I was able to check on them in increasing time gaps 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 mintues - check and just verbally soothe them and then leave. It took a few nights. With my daughter, she got even more worked up if I went in to check and soothe her so it worked better for us all not to check on her once she was in bed. It still only took her a few nights to not wake up at all. That was probably pretty rambling, but I hope you got the idea of what worked for us.
I used the method in the book "The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems" called Pick-up, Put Down. This method doesn't require you to let baby CIO. Get the book from the library and try it. It worked in only 3 nights for me! It seemed crazy at first, but stick with it!
We realized our daughter could put herself back to sleep when we were simply too exhausted to get out of our bed and go to her. I remember a couple nights after getting up and rocking her, listening to her cry, wondering if she would EVER stop, and then... it was morning! She cried for awhile, then fell back to sleep. Some nights we even turned off the baby monitor, so we could sleep. After a very short amount of time (two or three nights), she worked it out and might have made a peep, but then just went back to sleep.
I personally think unless the child is hysterical, do not go to him. Especially at 4am! How can you even function during the day? They will learn pretty quickly to go back to sleep. This was also our pediatricians advice... although I know many people will disagree.
You might also think about starting to put him down a little earlier. I think by 6 months you might want to aim for 8pm, or whenever he looks like he's getting sleepy.
A really good book is "Healthy Sleep Habits. Happy Baby" by Weisbluth. Good luck!
Have you tried giving him a nice size bowl of baby cereal before bed? This may help fill his belly and hopefully he will sleep longer. He really should not be getting up that many times. I can totally understand why you are so tired! I hope everything works out for you.
I am in the exact same situation. The only difference is we ARE doing co-sleeping, and if you don't have to do that I do not recommend it. I don't sleep ALL night. In addition to my daughter waking up at least 4 times every night I hear every move, every fuss... everything. So I never fall into a full sleep. Right now we're planning to add on to the house within the next few months, but until then, we're stuck with her.
It's a nightmare and I feel your pain. If you find a solution that works please let me know!
I offer my sympathy on the passing of your restful nights. I worship my sleep and would NEVER want to go through those days again.
I agree with making sure his belly is full, follow your set pre-bedtime routine, but I suggest starting it earlier in the evening. Is there a chance he's overly tired? They seem to sleep less when they are. Give it a try O. night & just ooch it UP a bit.....
Best of luck to you. hang in there.
Try cosleeping, it's much easier and you both will sleep more and better. Also for the teething try Hylands teething tablets.
Paging Dr. Ferber! I agree with making sure he is getting enough food during the day, and then I suggest researching (everyone THINKS they know how to do it) sleep training by reading Solving Your Child's Sleep Problems and then go for it! It is rough, but so worth it. I would also suggest that you give some Tylenol when you start sleep training (with your ped's blessing) if you suspect that teething could be part of the problem. If you can get through the first couple of nights, you'll be golden. If it s possible to send your dd to grandma's house for a couple of days when you get started, that would be ideal!
What does your son eat and when ? My eldest was sleeping through the night until about 5.5 months, at which time my favorite pediatric nurse suggested I start introducing food. When I did, she got breakfast and supper, but supper was around 8:00 at night, which meant she had a full tummy and it carried her through the night. :-)
You said you stay home right now, so I assume there is a husband in the picture ? He should be getting up and handling some of the nighttime trauma. Obviously he can't nurse your child for you, but if your son isn't hungry, then he doesn't need to be nursed. He could be cuddled and held and rocked back to sleep by dad. You should take shifts because you both need sleep.
And perhaps another approach is to change his nap schedule so he's up more during the day. That's really hard to do when you are exhausted, but it might help some. ??
My son did the same thing for a while. At first he wanted to nurse every time he woke, then my husband started getting him instead of me. He would hold him for a little, give him his bink, and he'd fall back to sleep. In hindsight, maybe we should have let him CIO on a modified basis, since even now at 16mos. he will wake up and call for us! If that is something you are OK with, you could always try it. It just wasn't for us.
5 times is a really lot though, does he use a bink? What time are you putting him to bed? Maybe a little later would help, just as long as he does not get overtired. Good luck! I know exactly where you're coming from having been there myself!!
N., is he hungry maybe? why not try to give him some baby yogurt before he goes to bed. My doctor always said if they were sleeping through the night and then suddenly are not, they are either hitting a milestone or are hungry. Protein is what is going to get him through the night. The yogurt worked with my kids. good luck
