Sleep Support

I thought it might be a good idea to have a sleep support thread. I know that a lot of us have children with sleep issues and I also know that several of you have overcome your little one's sleep issues and you may be able to help us out!

So.... just in case you have missed my MANY post about our sleep issues (ha!) here is a recap.
Owen (almost 4 months old)
Used to nap and sleep in his crib. Currently will not nap in his crib. Goes to bed initially with little problems now after 2 weeks of very controlled crying and is up again between 3-4 for at least an hour. I try to do controlled crying in the night but it goes on FOREVER and then he ends up in my bed out of sheer exhaustion and desperation on my part.

I would love to hear what is a typical day/night for those of you with children that are having trouble. I would like to be able to compare it to what we are going through.

Thanks!
LouLou

This is a great idea Lou Lou. Some of us just got unlucky, and our babies don't like to sleep well

LM was awful last night, she was starving, I think she is having a growth spurt at the moment.

LM ended up sleeping with me last night, I am so bad, but I NEEDED to sleep!!!

She went to bed at 7 pm, woke at !1:30, 3 a.m, 5 a.m, and then got up for the day at 6:20 am. I am exhausted today.

awh honey! I feel your pain! Owen sleeps with me a lot!
Last night was actually not too bad for us! Owen went to bed at 9 and we only had to go in once to resettle him at around 9:15.
He woke at 3 and ate and was back asleep by 3:15. I had to resettle him at 3:45 but I DID NOT BRING HIM TO BED WITH ME!!!
He slept until 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it! Then I fed him and had to resettle him at 6:45 and then he slept until 8:30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It may not look like an improvement but this is huge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so proud of him and just pray that he can do it again tonight!

I know that Lily Mae has been doing better so maybe last night was just a fluke or like you said, a growth spurt! Hang in there, babe! I'm here for ya!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh Lou Lou, I am SOOO in. We had another rough night last night. We finally got Kian to sleep in his crib at 10:30pm. He woke at 12:30am, 1:30am, 3:00am, 4:00am, and after that it gets blurry cause I took him in bed with me so I could get some sleep cause I have to work. I know, I know :oops:

He naps fine during the day, but night time is horrible.

We will start trying to prolong the time between feedings tarting tonight and then hopefully once that is accomplished, get him to sleep through the night by having him cry it out. We will see, I feel there are some rough nights ahead of us.

Lou Lou -- we crossposted. Wow, that sounds fantastic. I am longing for some longer stretch of sleep.

Nikki -
Hope your night goes better. Have you guys thought about letting Kian cry it out a little? I was totally against it but my DH wanted to try it and it worked! We started out by letting him cry 3, 5, 5 and 10 minutes. Then we stay at 10 minutes. The first night we had to go through 2 cycles of 10 minutes and then he fell asleep. Now, most nights, he falls asleep after one cycle of 3 minutes. It may be worth trying just to get him down at the beginning. At least you would have the energy for the rest of the night!!!!

As far as the up and down all night.... I don't have answer. If you didn't see any improvements taking him off solids I would probably start giving them to him again. Owen gets his cereal at his last meal of the day around 7:30 - 8. He gets 1 1/2 tablespoons plus 6 ounces of milk.

Tiff - I hope you guys have a better night too!

Here's wishing us ALL a good night's sleep!!!

LouLou

Last night was better. She slept from 7-midnight, midnight to 4:15 a.m, then woke up for the day at 6:30 a.m. I can live with this.

Nicki, I have to say, I honestly thought in the beginning that LM was waking out of hunger, but it was totally out of habit. Kian is doing EXACTLY what she was doing about a month and a half ago. The controlled crying does help, although it is so hard to listen to. It was easier than I thought though, and it was SO worth it. Although LM doesn't sleep all the way through the night, that first 5-6.5 hours in a row for me is bliss. I go to bed shortly after she does, I know it sounds nuts, but I have to in order to function the next day.

I thought that LM would be angry with me, or think I abandoned her if I let her cry. However, one time after an hour and a half of controlled crying, I decided she really was hungry, and I fed her. After her feeding, she smiled up at me, put her hand on my cheek, and then closed her eyes and fell asleep. So I think babies really don't even remember the crying spells.

Good luck hun! We are here for support! You can do it!!!

Thanks Lou Lou and Tiff for your words of encouragement and as always useful tips and ideas.

Monday night we had Kian cry it out. We left him in his crib and he cried for 20 minutes (on and off, mostly on) and we came up to him and only patted him or sat with him, but did not pick him up. I felt HORRIBLE. I cried with him and felt like the worst mother in the world, fearing that when he woke up in the morning that he would not like me any more. He ended up falling asleep and slept for 5 hours. Then woke for a feeding and slept for another 3-4 hours. Bliss!!!

Yesterday night was not so good, we had a formal dinner to go to at my work and so we got home late and he was totally overstimulated. He ended up falling asleep by himself in his crib :cheers: but only slept increments of 3 hours. Still better then his 1 hours increments, but we need some more work, LOL.

To refresh from the other thread....this was Monday afternoon

dolly's momma wrote:Ok, so today we had a success. I laid on the bed with Lucy this afternoon, me reading, her wide awake and playing as usual but cranky because she was tired. I went into the bathroom for a minute or two. When I came back she had pulled the sheet and blanket over her face. I pulled them off her and she was asleep under there! Of course she immediately woke up, and pulled her bib (also sitting right there) over her face and went right back to sleep. I pulled the bib up so it was only covering her eyes, and she slept for an hour and a half!!!!

Do they make baby sleep masks?

Now the Tuesday naps....

I made the room dark, no difference. She cried. I had her in her bed, and I gave her the little square bear blanket (with the stuffed animal head in the middle) to see if that would calm her down. I stepped away for a couple minutes, and she stopped crying. Again, she had covered her whole face with the bear blanket and was sound asleep. I took it off her face and she immediately started to stir. I put it back on her forhead and eyes, and ended up having to rest my fingers on her eyes (over the blanket) a couple minutes before she went back to sleep. Then she slept soundly for an hour.

I do not think it is the light, I think it is some type of tactile issue. But I really am afraid to keep letting her sleep with things over her face too.......

Any ideas? Great news about Owen & Lily Mae & Kian making improvements in their night sleep!

Ok, my suggestion to you Dolly's Momma, is to get a cloth diaper that is very thin, and lets air through, and let Lucy have this near her face. Lily Mae loves her little cloth diapers, I use them as burp cloths and also to soothe her to sleep.

Sky, congrats on being strong, and sticking to your guns, and not picking Kian up while he was crying. It is SO HARD, but it really does work, as they tire themselves out, then they sleep longer, and their brain gets trained that they can sleep a longer amount of time, so eventually they sleep without crying or waking.

LM did brilliantly last night. She didn't cry for her pacifier at all, she slept deeply, and did a 5.5 hour stretch, then a 4.5 hour stretch, then a 2 hour stretch before waking for the day.

I am happy and I feel rested.

How is Owen doing Lou Lou???

Hey girls!
Tiff - I'm so glad Lilly Mae did well for you last night! I hope she can keep up the good work!

Sky - I'm proud of you for letting him cry some - and even though it was hard for you he got some much needed sleep. I always have to remind myself that it really IS for his own good! They need consecutive sleep as much as we do!

Dolly - I think it is a tactile issue! Owen likes to hold onto something but I've been too scared to let him sleep with anything too!

Well, last night was TERRIBLE!!!!!!! He cried from 9-12. I think maybe his tummy hurt. Usually if he cries for more than 10 minutes he needs to burp - and he did but then he kept crying so we kept checking for burps and he kept burping. He finally fell asleep and slept until 2:30 but when I got up with him then I thought I was going to throw up!!!! Then the constant up and down made me feel even worse so I put him in bed with me at 3:30! We both slept peacefully until 8!!!!

I CAN NOT keep bringing him to bed with me but if I don't I am literally up and down every 10 minutes from the time he wakes for a feeding until our day begins!!!!! I am just at a loss of what to do. On top of that, naps are the pits! He will only sleep on me or in the stroller. The worst part of all of this is that a month ago he was sleeping great at night and during the day! I just keep thinking he's going to outgrow it.

sigh..... I'm off to try to get some sleep before my roller coaster ride begins.............

Lou Lou -- I am so sorry to hear that you had another rough night!!! I unfortunately have no advice for you. I am just hoping that you have a better night tonight.

Well Kian slept for 6 hours, I can't believe it.
And then for another 4 hours. I couldn't sleep any more after his waking at 4:30am, but having 6 hours of sleep for once was pure bliss.

Oh man, Lou Lou, I am so sorry. It is so hard when our little ones don't sleep properly, it really takes a toll on mommy and daddy too! Perhaps it was one of the solids he ate that made his tummy hurt??? I hope tonight is better for you honey!!! Hang in there.

Sky how wonderful! I am glad Kian did a 6 hour stretch, yay!!! I do the same thing, after LM's early morning feeding, I can't go back to sleep very well, usually I'll doze off for another 30-40 minutes, but I know what you mean, 6 hours in a row is bliss when you have had nothing but broken crappy sleep for months and months!!!

dolly's momma wrote:To refresh from the other thread....this was Monday afternoon

dolly's momma wrote:Ok, so today we had a success. I laid on the bed with Lucy this afternoon, me reading, her wide awake and playing as usual but cranky because she was tired. I went into the bathroom for a minute or two. When I came back she had pulled the sheet and blanket over her face. I pulled them off her and she was asleep under there! Of course she immediately woke up, and pulled her bib (also sitting right there) over her face and went right back to sleep. I pulled the bib up so it was only covering her eyes, and she slept for an hour and a half!!!!

Do they make baby sleep masks?

Now the Tuesday naps....

I made the room dark, no difference. She cried. I had her in her bed, and I gave her the little square bear blanket (with the stuffed animal head in the middle) to see if that would calm her down. I stepped away for a couple minutes, and she stopped crying. Again, she had covered her whole face with the bear blanket and was sound asleep. I took it off her face and she immediately started to stir. I put it back on her forhead and eyes, and ended up having to rest my fingers on her eyes (over the blanket) a couple minutes before she went back to sleep. Then she slept soundly for an hour.

I do not think it is the light, I think it is some type of tactile issue. But I really am afraid to keep letting her sleep with things over her face too.......

Any ideas? Great news about Owen & Lily Mae & Kian making improvements in their night sleep!

OMG!I went round my friends house the other day and she was trying to get her little 9 month old to take anap.She kept laying a corner of the blanket over her daughters face...I said "what are you doing?" and she said;

"she wont go to sleep unless she has a blnket over her face,she has been like it since she could move the blanket herself! :O I was shocked and thought it to be unique,but obviously your little lucy is the same! Perhaps you should ask your ped?might be more common than we think?

OK so I did some research, and I found the BEST idea.

LM loves to be swaddled, but I would like to transition her to sleeping in just jammies or a sleep sack with arms out.

I feel bad still pinning her arms when she is nearly 6 months old SO... I found the solution to allow her to be able to move her arms around, while still having them inside something so she can't claw her face or rip out her dummy.

Put her in a sleepsack, and pin the arms shut, so her arms are inside but loose, and yet they aren't out in the open waking her up.

Genius. I am gonna try it tonight.

Didnt work. She still managed to get her hands up in her face, even though they were inside the sleep sack, and she cried and cried. She just sleeps better swaddled, so I'll keep swaddling her until she can roll over onto her tummy.

oh, but she slept pretty well (for her standards) last night. 7 p.m. to 12:40 a.m, then she wanted a bottle at 5 a.m, then she woke up for the day at 6:15 a.m.

How are Lucy, Owen, and Kian doing?

Hey Tiff!
Sorry it didn't work! It's sooo frustrating when you come up with a great plan and then it doesn't work!!!

Well, Owen is still having trouble going to bed. He cried off and on from 9 until 10:30 which finally ended in him making himself sick! After I changed him and cleaned up the bed he finally went to sleep. I don't understand it at all!!!! Once he fell asleep he slept until 6, ate and then slept again until 9. He has done this 2 nights in a row.

I don't let him cry for more than 10 minutes so I was shocked that he thew up. (I didn't have the same consistency as spit up!) We've made improvements in some ways and not in others!!!!!!!!

I (probably like you and Nikki) thought that by 4 months he would be going to bed routinely and sleeping peacefully through the night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AGH!!!!!!!!!!

Angel wrote:
OMG!I went round my friends house the other day and she was trying to get her little 9 month old to take anap.She kept laying a corner of the blanket over her daughters face...I said "what are you doing?" and she said;

"she wont go to sleep unless she has a blnket over her face,she has been like it since she could move the blanket herself! :O I was shocked and thought it to be unique,but obviously your little lucy is the same! Perhaps you should ask your ped?might be more common than we think?

That makes me feel better lol. I will ask. Our 4 month appt is on the 15th.


Lillie Mae - Well, it isn't going to hurt anything to just keep swaddling her for awhile, so if that makes her sleep better I vote for sleep. lol.

Lucy wouldn't nap yesterday afternoon. Very Cranky last night, but slept from 8 pm to 7 am with a little dream feed at 10:30. Right now she is napping, but daddy volunteered to take one for the team and nap with her, so she is not alone.

Oh gosh, so LM is SO inconsistent. I don't even know what to do or why. Last night she slept from 6:45 p.m to 12 a.m. Then she slept until 3:30 a.m, then woke for the day at 5:45 a.m. I am SO tired. I didn't go to her until 6 a.m, because I do not want her to think that she can just wake up earlier and earlier just to see me. She is getting to that age where she is figuring things out, and games are fun to her.

I would love to see her sleep at least 7 or 8 hours straight. Man I hope it happens soon.

Well I want to recap what I wrote in the 0-6 month thread about Owen's apt.

Basically, the pediatrician thinks I should feed him more. His weight gain was great (13 lbs 2 oz) but he's having to get his daily calories over a 24 hour period instead of a 12 hour period. I gave him 4 tablespoons of cereal mixed with milk and bananas and then a 6 oz bottle last night. He fell asleep right at 9 and slept until 2:50. I put the paci in his mouth and patted his back and he went back to sleep until 5:20. I did feed him at 5:20 and then he was up until 6:15. At this time I put him in bed with me and he slept until 9.

This is actually an improvement from what has been happening. Of course, he had tylenol before bed and he was pretty worn out from his shots so we'll see if he can do this well again tonight.

How is everyone else today?

Hi everyone! I wanted to share.... LM slept without waking from 8 p.m- 2:30 a.m! 6.5 hours! I am SO HAPPY. Then she slept until 6:50 a.m!

This is awesome.

How is everyone else doing?

YHave any of you used the sleep sense program? and did you find it worked?

I used it for Kiers and altered it a little to fit in with us and i had him sleeping 11 hours at around 6-8 weeks with 3 naps during the day, and now at nearly 5 months he goes down at 8pm, wakes at 8.30am goes back down at 9.30-11.30 then again at 1pm-2.30pm then again at 4pm-6pm then bath at 7pm and back in bed at 8pm.

if you want to know more about the sleep sense program, send me a PM