The four of us live in a small house, with the two bedrooms adjacent to each other. My 4 year old daughter sleeps in one bedroom and my husband and I and my 14 month old son sleep in the other bedroom. My son sleeps in a crib set apart from the bed but he can still see and hear us. I had planned to move him to his sister's room once he started sleeping through the night. Until recently, he was ALMOST doing that. A few times he slept until 6:30 and other times he'd wake at 5, I'd feed him and put him back to sleep until 7:30. Lately everything has gone to hell.
My son has been waking earlier and earlier each day and is inconsolable. Yesterday he woke at 4:45 (this was the fourth time he woke in the night). Last night he slept through until 5 and wouldn't go back to sleep. He is for certain not rested. I'm trying to put him to bed earlier but it's difficult. His naps are becoming more and more irregular with about a 1 hour nap in the morning from 9 to 10 and another longer nap in the afternoon from about 2:45 to 4:15ish. He usually wakes once during this nap and I soothe him back down.
I know he's having a hard time with teething. I can feel the molars on the top. All his teeth (he only has 6 so far) have been a struggle coming in and Tylenol and Motrin don't seem to really do much. Teething tablets are awesome but they're still recalled until later this year.
I really want to move him out of our room because I think this is part of the problem but he's lately started waking his sister! Now she's waking earlier and earlier and goes around cranky with dark circles under her eyes.
I'm thinking to make the move to her room and have her sleep over with grandma for a few nights while we have him cry it out. That way the major shift and crying will all happen at once. But I don't want to be unkind if he's really in pain from the teething.
Any suggestions? Similar stories? I'm so tired. I thought this fatigue would be over by now...
Thank you thank you!!! I'm reading this bleary in the morning after another early early wake up and struggle and it's so heartening to simply have support. And advice is awesome too. Thank you! I'm not sure yet if we'll drop the morning nap. He seems developmentally ready but he's so exhausted I hesitate to take sleep away until he's a little more rested.
I'm going to spend the next few days in survival mode and will try to read (will look at all the usual books), chart his sleep, and come up with a plan that we can start on the weekend when there will be more opportunity for naps for us all. I'll also consider the option of having my daughter sleep in our room for a little while, though I know it would make my son angry, her rest is really important too.
One of you asked about nursing-- I still nurse him twice a day- once in the morning "upon waking" or when I get desperate and can't handle the crying anymore; usually about 6:30. And the second time around 4:30 after his afternoon nap. He does really love the boob and would nurse more if I would but I'll only do it more if he's sick or something drastic happens.
I had a problem where my son was keeping ME awake when he was around that age (actually, we were probably keeping each other awake). I new if I put him in his sister's room he'd keep her awake too. I ended up putting a porta-crib in the living room for him and we all started getting a good night's sleep.
Good luck!
There might not be a whole lot you can do until the teeth emerge. Keep up with the Motrin- it might seem like it's not helping, but it's probably taking the edge off a little bit. Once those pesky teeth are through, then I would suggest dropping the morning nap. Usually by one year they transition to one long nap. Try this- when he gets up in the morning, keep him up until around 11 if you can. Then put him down for a nap followed by an early bedtime. It might be really early for the first little while until he gets back on track- say around 6PM or so.
Hang in there, and hope it helps. I can relate right now with the fatigue- I have something going on- fever, chills, aches, pains, and my daughter is fighting the same thing. She's up every two hours. I'll think about you at 5 in the morning! lol
I've used teething tablets for both my kids. My son is now 5 and my daughter is 15 months and still teething. Hyland's isn't the only one who makes the tablets. The FDA is concerned abt some ingredient in the tablet not being a consistent dosage and thus possibly causing harm if too much is taken. Little Teether's makes teething tablets, and Humphrey's makes a teething tablet and teething strip that disolves in the mouth. You may want to look into these.
My daughter recently went thru the same thing. Waking in the iddle of the night for no apparent reason around 11:30 - 1:00 AM!! It seems she was just hungry! We would feed her some warm milk mixed w/ baby oatmeal cereal (runny enough to drink from a baby sippy cup - the ones w/ soft plastic tops, or a bottle w/ larger hole in the nipple) and she liked to play for about half an hour after eating. The she settled back into bed pretty quickly. Growth spurts seem to cause this. So, maybe try getting a diff brand teething tablet, or some Orajel and see if he is hungry at night. My daughter's phase only lasted a week and a half or two and she was back to her normal sleep thru anything self.
Just a side note...the Tylenol (generic or not) made my little unable to sleep! I bought dye-free baby Motrin (it looks like a white-ish goo) and that seems to work a million times better. maybe something to try? reports say that artificial coloring makes kids hyper.
Getting rid of one of the naps can actually backfire on you. The more tired he is the more of a bear he is going to be. You can experiment with it but he's going thru a lot right now and needs rest. Sleep begets sleep.
At around 12 months babies who have been sleeping well will sometimes have major sleep disruptions because they become much more aware of the world around, wake in the night and don't want to miss out. It's much harder for your little man because he wakes and comfort (aka mom and dad) are right there.
When my son was teething I never had a clue but my daughter was miserable. I couldn't even begin to imagine trying to make her cry it out while she was going thru that (well, ever for that matter when there are kind and gentle ways to *teach* baby how to sleep)
Leaving him to cry it out won't solve the things that are probably going on with him-sounds like he's caught in a cycle of exhaustion, he's teething and that is very tough on little ones who don't understand the pain, he's at the age where he is becoming very aware of the world around him.
You don't say if you are nursing but know that many babies don't sleep all night till they are fully weaned. My son was able to be a champ sleeper, my daughter didn't always sleep all night till she was weaned at 20 months. Different kids, different night needs.
Why not check out Dr. Sears Baby Sleep book (there is section on toddlers), The Baby Whisperer and The No-Cry Sleep Solution? THey all have invaluable tips and tricks to help you formulate a sleep plan to help him get more rest. I gleaned info from all 3 to come up with sleep plans for both of mine and they are both fantastic sleepers now.
Once you get a game plan, why not let big sister sleep in your room and let the little one start sleeping in the other room while you are teaching/helping him learn to settle/sleep better at night.
And lastly, if he was doing pretty well, try to get him rested again by sticking to his nap routine and the bed routines he knows and depends on and this bump will pass. Remember, infant sleep is never static. Illness, fatigue, growing pains, teething, night terrors, milestones will all causes bumps in the road.
Hi, don't worry its gonna be better some day soon :-)) I also have 2 bedrooms and 2 kids. Also my boy used to sleep in our room and my daughter 5,5 y.o. was in her room. We decided to move him in her room even that he didn't sleep trough the night yet, so i moved my daughter in our room, just put her twin mattress on the flour . When he adjust little bit we moved her back to her room. Now they share her room but my son 2,5 year old still not sleeping through the night. But it's better for us this way that he is in different room now. He was waking up more before now just once.
Wish you to have more patient and more naps during a day!!!
nat
Some families I know, with smallish homes... also, sleep in the living room or other room in the house.
Sometimes too, the noise the parents make, ie: snoring, can wake a baby up, too.
I don't know... I know its hard.
Or he may be having a growth-spurt.. .and need more intake. 15 months, is a growth-spurt period in a baby... maybe he is hitting it already.... when my kids were hitting growth-spurts as babies... they had GINORMOUS appetites... and ate/nursed lots more frequently....
For teething, my kids liked to chew on a frozen face cloth. That I dampened and put in the freezer.
Or try co-sleeping....
Hugs.
I would suggest the same thing - get rid of the first nap and see how that works.
Have you thought about the amber teething necklaces? My niece got one and it started working instantly. I have heard nothing but people raving about how wonderful they seem to work.
Good luck mama!
Well, I am certainly no expert b/c my kids were not the best sleepers but from what I can tell-maybe stop the morning nap and do an afternoon nap a little earlier..like 1-3. He will be a little more tired for bedtime then. I forget when it happened but I really think my kids stopped the am nap before 14 months.
It would be best to make the change when he is feeling better. Then it would be alot easier on him. My grandson has a awful time when he gets more teeth too. I feel for you as I have been there also. It will be a better experience to make the big change of bedrooms when he is doing well.
F., Mom of four adults, have three grandkids and 10 day care children.
Updated
It would be best to make the change when he is feeling better. Then it would be alot easier on him. My grandson has a awful time when he gets more teeth too. I feel for you as I have been there also. It will be a better experience to make the big change of bedrooms when he is doing well.
F., Mom of four adults, have three grandkids and 10 day care children.
I see that you have a lot of great advice already but here are a few more tips you might want to check out..good luck!
http://www.theskinnyscoop.com/search/sleep?utm_campaign=t...
I agree with Mallory. Stop the morning nap and start the daytime nap earlier.
I think I'd try shortening that afternoon nap to an hour. See if that helps him sleep longer in the morning.
Does your daughter consider sleeping over at grandma's house a good adventure? If so, that plan might work out well. Crying it out, as long as you don't let the crying go on for hours, is not a bad way to handle this situation. Do what you can to alleviate the teething problems of course. All the attention you give him won't stop the pain, so you may just need to let him deal with it some on his own. That may sound callous, but it's just the truth.
