Good morning ladies - my 19 month old DD broke her arm last week and had to have surgery to repair it. Her arm is casted now and doesn't seem to give her any pain. The problem is bed time. She won't lay down. She will fass asleep in our arms, on our chest but instantly wakes up when we try to put her down. Its a three or four hour deal that repeats if she wakes up in the middle of the night. It wasn't like this before the surgery, so all I can think of is that before the surgery, she fell asleep on daddy's shoulder, they put the anastesia up to her mouth while sleeping and then when she woke up, she was not where she fell asleep. Any ideas on how to help her get over her fear - I think that is what is happening - and lay down in her crib and sleep?
Sleeping may just be uncomfortal the way she normal would sleep. Try to find different ways she might could lay that would make her comfortable. And she's so young she can't verbalize to you what her needs are. I hope it gets better!
I broke my arm at the elbow something fierce awhile back and for the first week I had to sleep sitting up...with my casted arm propped up on pillows...then after that I had about 4 weeks of being able to sleep in my own bed but still had to have my arm propped up on pillows...it is SO hard to sleep in one position ALL night!
...maybe you can make her propped up with pillows her her crib or make her a special place on the couch or in your bed for a little while?
Poor baby!
Help her.Don't use the ferber method or CIO. She obviously has some trauma from her anesthesia experience.Comfort her and meet her needs however she will go to sleep and be comfortable. If that means sleeping with her on your chest or your husband's chest--do that. Its more important for her to have some peace of mind and positive bedtime experiences than to "sleep train" her. Whatever makes her comfortable, do that. I would do a consistent routine of bath, books, snuggle/rocking and bedtime. *(even if you have to rock her to sleep).She will grow out of this. But for now she is anxious and fearful----help her this way and she will be back to her normal self in time. Good luck!
She probably feels better elevated, especially at night. Pain is worse at night and broken limbs feel better when they're elevated. Plus, your baby girl was injured pretty severely. She needs the comfort. If she's not receiving pain medication/alleviation, it's no wonder really that she's not falling into a deep sleep and wakes up as soon as you try to put her down.
Surgeries take time to heal and broken bones take an average of six weeks. It may take even longer for the pain to subside to an ache. Remember that it's only been a week, the poor thing.
I don't have experience, but maybe call the hospital or your pediatrician and ask them how they would recommend dealing with this.
I don't know if it would work for you, but because we moved a bit, we co-slept for a while. When we settled in, I got a twin mattress for my son's room and put it on the floor (no box spring). That way, I could snuggle/nurse him, and then slip out of the bed. If I fell asleep, I was still comfortable cause the bed was big enough for both of us. I also put a crib mattress NEXT to the twin so that if he rolled off, he'd only plop a few inches onto another mattress. Maybe that way you can snuggle with her, she can have a pillow under the arm, and maybe one of those arm pillows so she's upright?
Good luck!
We used the Dr. Ferber method. It worked for us. Even Ferber explains that there are circumstances in which kids need some help/ night time intervention (bad cold, moving house, injury). Be there for her during this time. You can sleep train again when she's better.
Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.
Maybe her arm bothers her when she Kay's down. Right now just do what you have to do. She will go back to her sleep schedule. Try putting her arm on a pillow. It will get better. Poor baby.
I broke my wrist several years ago and then broke my ankle the following year. Sleeping with a cast is extremely uncomfortable and takes a while to get used to. My daughter also broke her arm (though she was 8yo) and was quite uncomfortable & whiny for days after. Like yours, she also needed to be anesthetized to have her break set properly. Give it time. It could very well be that she's reacting to the discomfort of the cast rather than being fearful as a result of the surgery.
