My 5 1/2 month old little man has always slept through the night since he was 9 weeks old, so I know that I am blessed. We moved into a new house and it only took him 3 nights to really get back int he swing of things. Then earlier this week we started sweat peas before he went down for the night (he has already tried rice (bad), oatmeal, bananas, and a yogurt/grain mixture (bad)). He really loved them and finished the entire container but at the same time, he decided that he no longer wanted to sleep through the night.
No idea if the two are related though. When he wakes up, half the time he isn't really awake, but I don't want him to cry until he is totally up. At the same time, I don't want him to get used to me coming in after every little peep. Once he's up, he is happier sleeping in his bouncy chair (then he goes straight to sleep and stays alseep for the rest of the night!!!) I'm going to try to go back to oatmeal tonight to see if he sleeps better.
Any suggestions would be helpful!
So we laid off the sweat peas (moved to carrots), fed him solids about an hour before bed and then his bottle, and we turned on a sound machine so that his 'active' sleep cycle wouldn't wake him up and he has been much much better! He really only cries or whimpers when he gets pushed up against the rails when he rolls over and I just go in a roll him over and he doesn't even really see me! Also haven't had to really use the pacifier either! YEAH! Thanks for all the advice!
It could be that the sweet peas are causing him to have a little acid reflux or something like that. Both of my kids had it, sitting up made them feel better. We had to put their cribs on an incline. Or it could just be a phase he's going through.
Have you had him checked for an ear infection? My daughter suffered from ear infections ( she has tubes now), and her main symptom was that she did not want to lay flat in her crib. She was fine in her baby swing, but it hurt her ears more to lie flat. Another reason could be reflux. I would talk to your pediatrician to rule those things out. Hope it gets better soon.
Snuggle spot...It is a baby bed/pillow that makes a baby feel like it is being held when you cant hold it. www.laneybug.net
I don’t know about you but I had a spoiled baby that only liked to sleep if someone is holding her. I got tired of sleepless nights so I invented this pillow that I call the Snuggle Spot. The pillow snuggles the baby so they feel like some one is holding them and they are safe. Babies love it, the first time I put my daughter in it she slept 9 hours straight and every night since! I put her in the pillow fully awake with a full belly, and swaddled. Since the pillow snuggles them the swaddle stays intact! I recently went out of town and I did not want to pack the portable crib, changing pad, etc. so I just took a chance and only took the pillow. It was amazing, even in a diff environment she slept all night. I just put her in the pillow in the bed next to me or on the floor next to me. It is the perfect Co-sleeper! I changed her diapers in it, She likes to watch colors and lights of the TV so i put it in front of the TV. It fits perfectly in portable cribs and in regular cribs. My Daughter has reflux and has to be elevated so that her formula stays down, The pillow slightly props her up so that she is comfortable and stays clean!!! If you have and questions or concerns or want to place an order feel free to send me a message. The pillow is totally custom, you can pick the fabric, name or saying.
I Would definitely contact your pediatrician and have your little one checked out. There are several things that could be conributing to this, ear infection or acid reflux, or possiby a sinus infection. I Would not want to get him into the habit of sleeping in his swing....it won't be much longer before it is really dangerous to allow him to be in the swing when you are not there with him and you don't want to have to spend the night watching him swing!!!
It could be acid reflux. Sleeping on an incline (sitting up) is much more comfortable if that is the case. Ask your pediatrician. :)
A completely different take on it...
When my boys were about that age, they would wake up and want to "practice" their new skills of sitting up, creeping, etc. With our oldest, we would go in and calm him down, rock/hold him, and then put him back down. He didn't sleep through the night again until he was 11 months old.
With our youngest, we just let him cry. It sounds cruel, but once he knew that we weren't going in, he settled right down. It took him about 2 nights (maybe 3) to get him and us trained.
As far as eating goes, our oldest hated rice cereal more than I thought possible. The only way we could get him to eat it was to mix it with applesauce and some cinnamon. Then it worked. Otherwise, not so much. I've also found that if we fed our boys right before they went down, they didn't sleep well. If they were done eating about 45 minutes before we put them down, they slept great. Maybe it gives their bellies a bit of time to digest before lying flat, I don't know. But that worked for us.
Good luck!
You have received a lot of good advice that will probably fix your problem. I just wanted to mention "sleep regressions." If he has trouble with sleep in the future, or if you are just plain curious, you should google that and find out what most kids experience in regard to messed up sleep.
My daughter got bad gas from Sweet Peas. It might be gas issues, so you might just try different foods at night. The heavier stuff like oatmeal put Briana asleep really well and she seemed to sleep through the night. If he wakes up try giving the gas drops. I'm not sure if they will help if you give them to him right before he lays down to help with the digestion. Good luck!
Jen,
Is it possible your guy has reflux? It might be easier for him to sleep sitting up. I'd say whatever works go with it. My boys lived in their swing when they were little.
Good luck.
Dear Jen,
My 8 yo daughter had the same problem. Around the same age as well. She was sleeping through the night in her crib for a couple of months and then all of a sudden she wouldn't sleep unless she was in her swing. This includes naptime. It only lasted for a few months and now she sleeps like the dead all night long! I just set up her swing right next to my bed and made sure the swing was in the reclining position, that she was strapped in and we both got a good nights sleep. Good luck with your precious one!
I wouldn't let him sleep in the bouncy seat without supervision, espeically if he starts sitting up.
Get a wedge made for beds & put it under his mattress. It will give him the angle he likes & may help him sleep in his crib. When he starts pulling up you would need to lower the mattress & put a crib tent on the crib to keep him from falling out (with the wedge under the mattress). You may also bring this up to his dr. if he totally refuses to sleep flat on his back. Maybe he has reflux, an allergy to peas or maybe he just likes being reclined instead of flat.
God bless!
Actually, I think maybe you shouldn't be giving him those kinds of solids yet. I thought it was just cereals before 6 months? My guess would be that he is having trouble digesting the food. I'd call the pediatrician's office to see what the nurses say. Good luck!
The sweetpeas could be causing him to have some heart burn or indigestion which leads to reflux. He may not be spitting up but it does hurt. Maybe give him some of the cereal he tolerated at night and the sweetpeas during the day. Try that and if he still isn't sleeping good then call your doctor. Hope this helps. Good luck and God Bless.
If it were me I would not give my child solids before bed. He may be developing a GERD condition. Try feeding the solids at least 2-3 hours before you will be laying him down so they digest before bedtime. Good Luck!!
My guess would be gas/heartburn. Try infant gas relief drops.
