My daughter is 5.5months. She has gone to bed since about 2.5months at 830 every night with little fuss. The past few nights she isn't wanting to nurse or go to sleep at 830. Last night she finally said ok and went to sleep at 11pm. I have tried moving her bedtime earlier to see if that was the problem because she was rubbing her eyes and fussing, all her usual ques, nope not that. I just have had it easy up until now. Any ideas?
She popped two teeth last week and loss less sleep then this week. We do use a white noise and have since day one. She sleeps in her own room and she transitioned herself into her crib by refusing to sleep in her bassinet one night. I usually nurse then lay her down still drowsy but awake she would chew on her teeth and doze off. Her naps and pretty much the same at this point no big differences. Also could rice cereal give her a tummy ache she barely had three spoons full this evening which basically came back out at me.
Check out the Elizabeth Pantley "No Cry Sleep Solution" series. It has great ideas for identifying what's normal and modifying it to be something that works for you. This series was also my backup that the sleep problems we were experiencing were *not* normal. As it turns out, my child's "sleep" issues were asthma-related.
Sleeping issues at this age are so common. They are going through growth physically, cognitively, possibly teething, emotionally, and milestones wise. It's a notorious age for this kind of thing. My son was sleeping through the night by 2 months, but around 6 months things went haywire for a while. How are her naps going. If they don't get adequate sleep during the day, they are over-tired at night and can't wind down. At 6 months I had to make sure my son was sleeping really great during the day, and that helped so much. Waiting it out, was all I could do otherwise.
Ummm... Is the rice cereal new? If so... drop it for a month or 3.
Signs an infant has an immature digestive tract and is not ready for solid food:
- Vomiting/Diaharea/Constipation/Gas/Fussiness
- Sleep disturbances
- Skin rashes
3mo and younger - Very very few infants are ready for solids
6mo - About 1/2 of all infants are ready for solids
9mo - Most infants are ready for solids
12+mo - VERY VERY FEW infants are NOT ready for solids
It's no problem at all to be normal / in the other half that isn't ready yet. Until they are... it's like eating cardboard. Their intestines can't absorb the nutrients out of it or can't push the heavier substance along yet (smooth muscle lining guts not strong enough yet).
Unless you've been doing solids for weeks/months (some of that very very few start off a few days after birth because of major reflux issues)... ditch 'em for awhile.
Same token... do the 'tylenol test'. If you give her tylenol when she starts acting tired, and she sleeps through the night (or until the meds wear off)... you'll know it's a pain issue. Oft times babies can play SUPER happy throughout the day, but the pain is felt at night and keeps them awake.
Babies' sleep cycles sometime just change....ride it out until you see what seems to be the new "normal"...my 18 month old has slept 8 p.m. till 8am for 7 or 8 months, and now he is suddenly awake at 6am every morning! Hang in there and have patience while you try to adjust the routine :),
My daughter was easy to put to bed for the first 6 months or so as well so I can relate : ) Is your daughter sleeping in the room with you or her own? Is she self-soothing and putting herself to sleep or are you holding her until she falls asleep? Do you use a fan or other sort of "white noise" near her to block out any noises she may be hearing?
Babies as they get a little older become more aware of their surroundings and respond in kind. If they're in the same room with you or you're holding them until they fall asleep they may not want to lose your company. If there's anything going on around them like the TV, people talking, noise from outside their window, etc., they may not want to "miss out" on the activities and will refuse to nurse, rub their eyes and get fussy in an effort to stay away.
I used a "relax and calm down" routine. Start with a warm bath, a rub down with lotion, softly talking to her as you dress and nurse her for bed, dimming the lights, placing her in her room with a fan nearby, close her door and leave her to self-sooth herself to sleep. She may cry a bit, but what we think is hours is usually just a couple of minutes in reality. If she cries 5 minutes or longer you can go in, leave the lights off, and her in her crib, talk to her softly again, rub her tummy or leg a little, say goodnight and gently leave the room again. You may need to do this a few (or more) times if she continues to cry (wait and don't rush in right away or she'll catch on real quick that you'll come running when she cries) and as she gradually gets used to her routine and knows that she's not getting up she should develop her sleep pattern again.
Hope this helps<3
