Need Some Sleep - San Jose,CA

Both my boys started sleeping all night at 5 1/2 six months.I never put them in the crib for their nap.I always put them in a pack and play,Anywhere else besides their crib.They say it helps them tell the difference between bedtime and naptime.It worked for me.

I just have one thing to say. Oh sorry, How are you doing, A.? As I started to say, babies have to be first trained as to what happens in the day, do not happen at night. There should be a distinct difference between day & night. In the day we laugh and play with our children and at night everything needs to be quiet and calm. When changing the diaper keep the lites off if possible. DO NOT laugh and play at night or your will develope raccoon eyes. I learned this first hand. If you want to speak to you child speak to them in a whisper. Good luck, I would like to know how thing turned out for you!

The best advice that I ever got was from a night nanny. She told me when Kate was 4-5 months old to let her cry for 10 minutes when she wakes. Then, go to her just as you would every other time, helping her back to sleep. After one week, she swore that the baby would get tired of your "slow service" and simply roll over and go back to sleep. I was ready to give it a try, since I didn't feel comfortable with the "Cry It Out" Ferber method. In 3 or 4 nights, she was sleeping 12 hours straight!

Another thing that has helped me recently with separation anxiety at night with my 12 month old, is to be confident that she will fall asleep on her own. When it's time to leave her room, I pat her on the back (or kiss her head) and say, "TIme to go to sleep. Night, night!" and leave the room in a calm, but business-like manner. I used to almost apologize to her and say, "I know, I know, it's time to go to sleep. Put your head down. It's OK...., etc." That just made things worse! This technique has really helped me. She's taken really well to it. Sometimes cries for a minute or two, but more recently she's been quiet.

If you are ready to hear some crying for a week (and then they get used to the schedule and thrive on it), I'd highly recommend the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby" by Marc Weissbluth. It's amazing. I got my twins on his schedule at 6 months (could have done it earlier - I wasn't ready). His main points are that sleep begets sleep and that you shouldn't keep a baby up for more than 3 hours at a time between naps or they get overtired. Teaches you how to look for tired signals and act on them before the baby gets too tired and irrational. Highly recommended!

just sleep when he sleeps. they wake up. its about the baby, not us. be good to the baby. tend to his needs. dont make him into something hes not. its natural for babies to wake in the night. when he does sleep through it will happen naturally. babies are from god and wizer than us! my 6 month old wakes up still and i just go with it. you cant force a baby. please love your baby... give him what HE needs. he is the future... nap in the day when he does, thats my advice. thats what i do. we will be fine... its the baby that needs us. hope this helps... also, when mine wakes up, a pacifier is all she needs to go back to sleep or a bit of breast milk and then she goes right back to sleep.. i think she just wants to know i'm there and shes safe... its a love thing! shes checking on me! :-) i love my baby!!!!!!!!!! thank you! :-)

Hi A.,

I have a 7 month old and she started sleeping through the night around 4 months. First I started getting her used to taking a nap by just letting her cry it out a little. Then at night I just stopped feeding her in the middle of the night. I went in there and rubbed her tummy or patted her bottom if she was on her side. I told her "night, night". Then sometimes I would just have to let her cry for a little while until she would know to sleep. Eventually (it only took a few nights) I would stop going in there, turn down my monitor, and let her fuss. After probably 3-5 nights she started sleeping through the night. I would recommend to do somthing now that way before he is at the age of "spoiling" (which I heard is about 6 months, he'll be hopefully going to bed on her own when/if he wakes up.
Good luck,
B.

My son is also 5 months old. He is not sleeping through the night yet, but getting there. What my husband and I have done is when he starts to cry, wait 10 minutes. If he is truly hungry he continues to cry. If not, he is usually back to sleep within that time.
We either turn down the monitor so we only see the lights (helps gauge how loud he is) or turn off. Just don't fall back asleep.
Good luck.

Hello!
i think you should try to your baby awake during the day as much as you can take the baby outside for long walk.. etc.. than at night time his tire.. and learns that is night time.. and time to sleep..

Hi:

What I found to help me with my three children is to NOT let them take too may naps during the day. Don't let your 5 month old take too many naps during the day (maybe just 2-3). If you find that they are trying to fall asleep, play with him/her (bounce on your knee, etc.) Also, don't let him/her take a nap that is too late (say 5-6pm), if they do then they will definately wake up during the night! Hope this helps.

S.

Dear A.,

Please keep in mind that you are the expert on your children. You know more about them and their needs than anyone else does.

So make sure that you know that the 5 month old has a full belly and dry pants, then as he wakes during the night, just comfort him and let him know that you are there, then go back to bed, and let him cry. It is not the easiest thing to do, but it is the wisest thing to do. You do not want to wait 9 more months to get a good night's sleep, and by the way the baby needs his sleep too. So he won't be grouchy and uncomfortable and fuss throughout the day .

Also, something that is hard to understand, but is true, when you comfort and let them cry, then you are building his confidence and character, yes. And he is learning the rules of society. The society is his home and family right now, but it is a beginning. The rule is, you stay in bed and rest and sleep at night. Mom is close by and hasn't disappeared, and she will return when I need her. You are telling him that he is alright and safe right there in his little bed.

This is a true story that I am about to tell you. When I was under 2 years old, I was in bed upstairs and it was dark with only the light from the hall was coming in my door. I was laying in my crib with my eyes open and drifting off to sleep, I guess, when suddenly I opened my eyes and saw my Dad coming in the door through the beam of light from the hall. He leaned down and talked quietly to me and patted me and left to go downstairs again. It made me feel so loved. I am so grateful for that memory, because in the years that followed I didn't get to see him much. The Depression years kept our family apart because my Dad was travelling all over the South to find work, unsuccessfully most of the time. When we did get back as a family it was the happiest time of my life. I clung to my early memory when I missed my Dad all those years. True, no kidding.

Good Luck, C. N.

I feel for you. I have 3 kids and will be deivering my 4th in about 3 weeks, all of my kids started sleeping through the night at about 9 weeks old. By sleeping through the night I mean 6-7 hours.
I know a lot of people do not like the cry-it-out method, but honestly it works. First I made sure they have full tummies, are comfortable and then go for it. For us, it worked best to follow the same routine every night. I nursed all my kids, so I would feed them, change them and then lay them down awake. They would cry, don't let me fool you. But, after about a week of tears they get the concept. At first they will scream and cry, but each night the length of crying lessens and then they get it. At first I only let them cry for 15 minutes at a time and then go in and pat their backs, but DON'T pick them up and then keep repeating the process until they fall asleep. The crying gets worse before it gets better. In 2 nights I let them cry for 20 minutes and if needed 30 minutes, but generally they won't cry that long and then the time they cry gets less and less. By the end, I just kissed my kids, and lay them in their beds and there were no tears. As long as you know they aren't hungry, sick, hot etc...the crying won't hurt them, it's just hard to listen to. Now sometimes, when they go through a growth spurt and wake up hungry then we endure that, but otherwise they all sleep splendedly.
My sister really struggled with this too. Her 8 month old was still waking up and she just needed sleep. She couldn't listen to her daughter crying, it was too hard she said. So, I offered to take my neice for a long weekend and when I my sister came back my neice was sleeping through the night.
This method takes some will power and some time. I know it is hard to let them cry, but what's worse listening to a crying baby for a week or not sleeping for the next year?
To this day any baby sitter we have will say that my kids are the easiest kids to put to bed. I'm glad too, I love to sleep!
I hope this helps. Best of luck! ;)