I don't understand my son. There. Said it. I keep hoping it'll get better and we'll naturally fall into a rhythm, but it hasn't happened yet.
The kid never sleeps when he should. Take yesterday, for example.
He's up for the day around 9. We eat and play and then around 11:30, I put him to sleep and put him in his crib. He's up around 11:50, but because I don't have time to rock him back to sleep, he's up again.
I'm thinking, "Sweet! Extra long afternoon nap."
He's thinking, "Great. Now I have alllllllll day to play with mommy."
In the afternoon, same thing. I put him to sleep in his crib; he's up half an hour later.
At around 5-6 when he usually sleeps, nothing. Then around 7, he falls asleep, so I put him in his crib and he's up 10 minutes later. Then at 10, Chris puts him to sleep and he's up half an hour later.
He's up, wide-eyed and talking until 1. That's one a.m. THEN, he gets up at 4:30 to nurse and talks and talks and talks. I wrapped him up tightly, lay him in his crib, turn the baby monitor WAY down and go to sleep. 15 minutes later, he's still chatting away.
This time, I re-wrap him again, then use a second blanket just to wrap his legs because he likes moving them around so I tried to limit as much movement as possible, give him his soother and try again.
This time, it's quiet and he sleeps until 9:10.
How do I get a better nap schedule? With Chelsea, we did the cry it out method when she was 4 months old, but she had a much better napping schedule than Gavin does. I'm at a loss as to what to do! Help. I'm asking your advice!
I have no advice, but just hopes for a good sleep for you. I have pretty much read that sleeping is all about the kid. Caleb was up until 1 am until about 4-5 months though and now sleeps 7:30-7:30. We didnt do CIO until he had already started going to sleep earlier (but with rocking). Have you tried a routine at night and a hot bath etc?
ReplyDeleteThis is my big fear about having another one in the near future. Overall, like Chels, Caleb was/is a great sleeper. But I know more kids than not that are not until close to a year or later. My mom said none of us (there are three) ever slept through the night until 1.5 years or so. Sleep is not something I can live without
You will be smart and not take my suggestion as real.
ReplyDeleteVodka?
Seriously, I wish I could help you. He used to sleep okay when he was in the bassinet and it vibrated all night - probably can't do any sort of vibration with the crib, eh?
At least he was up talking and not screaming.
Hi Amanda - This is Rachel P (from school division)...I have stumbled across your blog and enjoy it! Sleep and babies - my baby (now 10 months) has been a good night sleeper but not the best napper - his typical nap seems to be about 30 - 45 min (I know - the 45 min intruder nap) but there is usually not much I can do to get him back to sleep. However, I would say in the last few months, he has started taking longer naps at times without me having done anything different! So I'm not sure if it's his development stage or what. I have noticed that I think he does sleep longer stretches at night if I keep his room dark.
ReplyDeleteI have read up quite a bit on the internet with babies and sleep - and came across the Wonder Weeks theory. It is very interesting - not sure if this has been an ongoing problem for Gavin or if you notice that it escalates at certain times (weeks) in his development. It just talks about how babies tend to be fussier during certain weeks in their development (due to neurological/cognitive issues) which impacts their functioning, espeically sleep. I know around 8 months, Brody went through a horrible sleeping period where he was acting like a newborn - up all the time etc.
I have also gotten advice from others that suggest to follow the sleep, wake, eat, play schedule (vs. eating to sleep). That hasn't made a huge difference with Brody but he is also an extremely gassy baby no matter what.. I remember for a couple of months, he would wake up 30-45 min after we put him down for night and usually I would go back and rock him back to sleep - then he just seemed to bypass that wake time on his own.
I guess all kids are different...hard to figure them out. I hope things improve for you.. :)
One more thing I remembered reading - if they seem unsettled for sleeping (naps and night), try putting them to sleep 1/2 hour earlier. I know I tried that with Brody's naps in the morning (I would be put him to sleep 2 1/2 hours after he woke up as opposed to 3 or 3 1/2 hours) and this seemed to lengthen his naps at times (not consistently - but he hasn't really been a consistent baby...). Also, when he was younger (closer to the 4 month mark I think), I would put him to sleep and then he'd wake up and sometimes, I couldn't get him back to sleep so I'd just lay him in the crib and he started falling back asleep on his own - I know he went through a phase where he did not want to be rocked/walked to sleep so I would just lay him down and he would kick his little legs till he fell asleep. Alright sorry so long winded... maybe something in this all will be helpful for you.
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