Help Me Please

I have found the book "Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child" to Be the key to helping my child sleep. She sleeps on average between 12-14 hrs. a night. She is always to bed by 6:30-7 and sleeps until 7-8 the next morning.

C.,

My mother's suggestion to me when I had a hard time turning my daughter around was to vacuum vacuum vacuum. So I did. I'd put her in the bouncy chair thing and just vacuum. After a while it did the trick.... Hope that helps.
~V.

Hi C.~I totally know how you feel. I am a SAHM of three boys ages 5,4 and 3 months. My first two were awful sleepers, but my newest addition is an absolute angel. He is already sleeping through the night and I have to attribute it to the fact that I am feeding him every 3 hours (only during the day) and not only on demand. I do this even if he isn't fussing for food and I do wake him up to do this if he is sleeping. I also have the added advantage of being on the go a lot and the older two boys do keep him busy as well. I also make sure to give him a bath everyday, which is added awake time as well. Another trick I have is when he naps during the day I don't always put him in his crib. This way he gets used to all the noise and doesn't sleep as hard or as long - making him much more tired come bed time. Also, if you notice that he/she falls asleep during feedings very easily - try undressing him/her so he/she isn't so cozy warm. These are just a few tricks I have learned from staying home with my three boys. I hope this helps. Please do let me know how things work out for you. Remember, it isn't going to happen instantly, but it will happen very soon - especially if you wake him/her up every 3 hours during the day. I know it sounds crazy, but it works. Good Luck!!!

The best advice I can give for any mom dealing with sleep problems their children have, is to read the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth (I bought it on half.com for a great price). My daughter had a really difficult time sleeping well from birth (would only sleep for a short time, had trouble falling to sleep etc). That being said, I must warn you that the editing of the book needs some work so sometimes its difficult to find the information you're looking for quickly. It's good info though so don't give up! (I wish they would fix that and sell an updated edition!) Some of the basic ideas from the book are:timing of when your baby/child sleeps is key, the more well rested your child is, the better they will sleep and put your child to bed earlier (6-8pm). I was really at the end of my rope and researched several books, asked the pediatrician for help etc and this book is what made the difference for us. It takes a lot of effort and is sometimes inconvient to set up a good sleep pattern at first but it is sure worth it! My daughter learned to put her self to sleep and now sleeps very well. What a huge relief that is when you can count on your cild taking good naps and sleeping through the night on their own!

I let my new babies sleep in their car seats, until they are sleeping through the night. This helps them feel like they're being cuddled.

Sleep begets sleep. The better your child sleeps during the day, the better he'll sleep at night. Any expert will tell you that. So if you try to keep him awake during the day, he'll actually sleep less and poorer at night. He'll be overly tired and overly stimulated and won't be able to rest his body. Let him sleep more, and he WILL sleep more at night. Good luck.

unfortuantly there isnt a real good way to keep a sleepy newborn up during the day, but some of the things that I had some success with, for a short while, and then they just fell asleep where ever after that lol. One, I would place them on the floor, unwrapped and in a warm area. Some babies need the swaddling to sleep, so without it, they dont sleep as much, however, this will lead to your baby falling asleep on the floor, whether you want that or not. lol Another is that I would not dress them quite as warmly. Being cool keeps them up, but if they get too cold, they will probably get fussy, so the trick is to make sure they are coolish, but not cold. I hope this helps somewhat. Good Luck!

Hi C.,
Our first daughter was the same way. In fact when she was about 3 mon. old she went thru a period of time when she was up for all hours of the night and nothing we did worked. She eventually grew out of that....i can't tell you the amount of time, I would guess it was probably several weeks to a month. Which as you well know, any number of nights without adequate sleep soon seems like an eternity. i'm sure it would vary from child to child, but we just had to stick it out. We just kept telling ourselves "this too shall pass." But I have to say this, she is now 9 and she is still a "night" person. So we are in it for the long haul....my husband and I are not looking forward to the teen years! ;) good luck and there are better days or nights ahead.
A.: mom of two daughters

It's the order of activities that matter with an infant to help them sleep through the night. Check out http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Baby-Wise-Reference-Worldw...
It totally worked for me. My daughter was completely upside down and this helped us get her turned around and sleeping through the night.

You can read my other posts on the subject:
http://www.mamasource.com/profile/18039419043697393665/1
under "Sleep Routine" "Infant Feeding Schedule/Sleep"

From what I've read, it sounds like your newest addition is doing exactly what he should do in order to establish healthy sleep habits. Sleep begets sleep, and at least for my 4 month-old son, the more he sleeps during the day, the better he sleeps at night. Keeping him awake later in the evening does nothing for improving his waking habits at night. Currently, we put him to bed at 6 p.m. He wakes at midnight and 4 am for feedings (breastfed baby), and then at 7 he is awake. He naps at about 9am, noon, and 3pm for an hour and a half each. He's a very happy, mellow baby, and his nursing has improved dramatically since he settled into this routine. He's only awake for 1.5 to 2 hours max, in between naps. Try facilitating a quiet, dark environment for him to nap in as much as he needs during the day, and I bet you'll see good results at night, too. Good luck! Oh, one more note: our son sleeps in an Amby bed. Check them out online. They create a more womb-like sleeping environment helping babies feel secure and relaxed. We love it!

I did what Lacy suggested to you. Eat, keep them awake, and then sleep again. Sometimes it seemed impossible at first to keep them awake, but if you stick with that basic routine, it will reward you in the end. In the first couple of month even 30 minutes to an hour is good before nap again. Play with them, make sure they aren't too snug and warm, tickle their toes, a cool washcloth on the forehead helps to awaken, or have your first child entertain the baby. I understand what you're going through. For me, it was keeping them awake to get a good feeding! Good luck!

It doesn't take as much waketime during the day as you might think, just 30 minutes at a time may be all you get at first. Try keeping him awake right after a feeding instead of letting him fall right to sleep. Then let him nap until the next feeding and repeat the cycle. This will not only help ensure that he is getting a full feeding, but will help him organize his day/night/feeding patterns. He will fall right into a routine and you will reap huge rewards. I've done this routine a lot so if you have any ??s, msg me!
~L.

There are no 2 kids the same. And each will develope their own sleep pattern. It would be nice if they had the same schedule. But more times than not- they won't.

I have had the experience of my children sleeping better at night if they had a nap! Some children really need more sleep than others, and to deny them a nap, when they are really sleepy is sort of going right against what nature has intended for that child. I'd schedule a nap time around when he gets sleepy- and allow him a good rest; just see if it affects how he sleeps at night. He may not go down as early as usual- but I don't think it will affect night time waking. Just a thought.

Babies are not programmed to sleep through the night. I have a 7 1/2 month old and early on she slept throught the night. I relished in it because I knew that it would not last forever. It didn't. My 2 year old didn't start sleeping through the night until he was close to 2! He still wakes up on occasion. It's just how babies work and unfortunately our society has us believing that a baby who sleeps through the night is normal. Not so.

I definately agree with the naps. Newborns eat, sleep, and poo. Thats all they do. When a child sleeps, he grows. Let him be the babe that he is.