Help Me Before I SCREAM!!!!!!

O.K. LM went to sleep around 6:45 p.m. She woke up at 11:15 p.m, 3:30 a.m, and then at 5 freaking 30 a.m. Just bright eyed and busy tailed, ready to play.

I am sick of it.

I am sick of her sleep habits. I let her cry every night, and for the past 3 nights, it does no good.

She did the same thing yesterday, woke up at 5:45 a.m. I forced her to stay up until 8:45 a.m, then I put her down for her mid morning nap. She slept for half an hour.

She was still noticeably tired, whining, and digging at her ears like she does when she needs to sleep. After a lot of crying and a two ounce bottle, she started to drift off, and I put her down drowsy but tired like I always do, and she slept another hour. I put her down around 10:15 a.m for this second time, she slept until 11 a.m.

THEN, I put her down at 1 p.m, and she slept until 3:30 p.m. I decided not to give her a third nap, and just kept her up until 6:45 p.m, which I already told you is the time she went down for the night.

My sleep book told me to cut out the third nap and move the bed time up, which is what I did, she used to go to bed around 7:30 p.m.

Now she is waking at 5:30 a.m, and not sleeping as long of stretches at night.

Here is the ONLY thing I have changed with her.

I started her on meats on saturday, so 2 days ago. She has been really restless in her sleep and farting a lot. Do you think this could be it?? She is nearly 6 months, and I figured I could start her off on meats now, but perhaps I should cut it out again?? Did any of you have a hard time starting your babies on meats??

Also.... I think she is teething, her hands are always in her mouth, and she is drooling so bad, and has swollen gums.

Could this be the cause of her sleep issues the past few nights??

Please help me, I am so tired, I just need to sleep. I am seriously so tired I am crying right now.

Babe, I believe teething causes many disruptions with a baby whether it be with the feeding or sleeping pattern so the chances are that yes LM is teething. What can you do to help?? well Holi gave me a great tip and that was get a few flannels wet, squeeze out the access then stick them in the freezer takes about an hour for them to get nice and chilled....this work wonders with Theo.

I hate not being able to help you with the whole sleeping situation, I wish I could but I have no experience to know what to suggest

Come on girls...suggestions for Tiff!!!!

Thank you for responding Cleo

Was wondering, when you say flannels, do you mean flannel material??

DH suggested that I just give her all three naps, even if the third nap is at 5 pm or later, then move her bedtime to closer to 8 pm. He thinks it will help her wake up closer to 7 a.m.

What do you all think?

P.S. this morning what I did differently was to put her back to bed about an hour after she woke up, so around 6:30 a.m. She just now woke up at 7:30 a.m, so this was not a nap, but more of a continuation of the night time sleep. I wanted to protect her mid morning nap, which begins between 9 and 10 a.m. Yesterday I made her stay up until her mid morning nap, and it began a bit too early, and threw off her whole sleeping routine.

She'll sleep all night someday, won't she??

I know when I feed Jayden in the evenings then bathe her and massage her really good, she konks out almost immediately. But, like her big sister and I, she loves her sleep. My mom swears by massaging them really good with the bedtime lotion for like 10-15 minutes. Just do all of this right before her normal bedtime. Also, maybe a nice warm milk bottle right before bed might help. I'm sorry you're going through this. When Jayden turned 6 months, the doctor told us to stop letting her have a bottle in the middle of the night. He said the most effective method was letting them cry it out, but if we didn't feel comfortable, then go in after a few minutes and soothe her without picking her up. I opted for cold turkey. We turned off the monitor, and got the best sleep in like forever. But, our method is not for everyone. I also found out that dumb DF was giving her Tylenol in the mornings when he was working grave yard shift and needed to sleep. That got nipped in the bud really quick once mommy found out. I didn't want her dependent on it, but if you think she's teething, a little tylenol will definitely do the trick.

Well,I think personally,her bed time (at 5:30) is WAY too early.I know you have a sleep book,but books arent always right.and as you know,every child is different/Lily- mae is a non conformist ...good for her!I have a feeling that,she is a) teething whihc you should just buy some teething rings for her to gnaw on,some orajel kept in the fridge will help her gums at night.

I also think,that basically once babies reach a certain age they have their "nighttime' sleep over about 12 hours with maybe a couple of breaks in the middle.Hence,you put her to bed at 5:30 fr the night,she wakes at 5 :30 for the day,It's a basic rule that I personally obsevre for babies of a few months to children of a certain age.So...here's what I suggest,Let her nap in the day whenever she falls asleep BUT keep the naps to no longer than an hour in order to not let her get more than one small cycle of light sleep.Then,put her to bed at the time you want her to wake up.It will take a few days to get her body clock there but I thknk you will that this is what is happenig,regardless of your book.This is what seems to happen.Maybe just give it a try, i let Tia-li make her own sleep pattern until recently,then I wake her if she sleeps more than a hour or so n feed her.She typically falls asleep by herself at 7:30 -8;00pm.Thats her for the night,I just feed her between 11-12pm when I got to bed for the night,she sleeps through till about 7-8.I have never really tried to put her to bed at a certain time.Obviously u want days to be days,but anway...Maybe try that?

oh and flannel in the uk is a washcloth it the states!twist it ,put it in the freezer for an hour,then let her bite on it,it helps the pain.

She goes to bed at 7 p.m, but she has been waking up at 5 :30 a.m. I don't ever put her down to sleep earlier then 6:45 p.m. She usually is falling asleep in my arms by 7:15 p.m.

I really appreciate everyone's input. Angel, I have tried waking her up after an hour of napping, for both naps, but it just leads to her crying her head off about an hour after waking, because she is too tired. I wouldn't mind shortening her morning nap, but she really needs her afternoon nap to be as long as she decides it should be, otherwise I have an inconsolable baby in the evenings. I find also that keeping her up longer than 3 hours at a time during the day leads to her getting a second wind, and then she refuses to nap, and eventually ends up crying hysterically. I do agree with you, she tends to sleep 12 hours total at night, so I will aim for just the one feeding from now on, around midnight or 1 a.m.

As for turning off the baby monitor and letting her cry, I'd hear her regardless, our apartment is small, and the walls are thin. My doctor told me some babies still need a bottle feeding in the middle of the night until 9 months old. However, she told me to choose the time I will feed her, and don't feed her any other time. we do have a bedtime routine which includes massage, but I will try extending the massage to 10 minutes or so.

I was apparently a terrible sleeper as a baby, my mom was up every few hours with me until I was 8 months old. LM isn't quite so bad, but I think that this is probably genetic.

She has a clear runny nose, and I think for sure she is teething. I never thought to put the orajel in the fridge, thank you for suggesting that, Angel. The wash cloth idea is also brilliant, i will go do this right now.

Thank you everyone so much, I really appreciate your ideas. You have given me hope and brightened my day.

Just wanted you o know that my sleep book has been helpful in so many ways, but LM is a non-conformist, quite like her mother, so I plan on now following a routine that she naturally falls into, and stop putitng so much pressure on myself.

Wanted to say, LM did a one hour nap of her own choosing this morning, so we'll see how she does this afternoon. I think you are right, Angel, she needs to learn to have the majority of her sleep at night, and shorter naps during the day.

Princess_Longbottom wrote:Wanted to say, Lily Mae did a one hour nap of her own choosing this morning, so we'll see how she does this afternoon. I think you are right, Angel, she needs to learn to have the majority of her sleep at night, and shorter naps during the day.

glad you're feeling better hun.I think you will find like she shortened her nap,that routines/rythms tend to vary with the naps in the day,illness and growth.Just when u get used to one way,it changes!we're here with you!

I posted about this this morning and now my comment is gone!
Tiff, I'm sorry you are going through this. I don't have a solution for you but I'm here for you just the same!

If it were me, I would push her bedtime back a little. Owen goes down at 9 and gets up at 9. It works well for us and if he does get up early it's usually around 7:30.... much more manageable.

Also, you may want to give her meat earlier in the day and not at dinner time.

Keep us posted on what happens tonight!

LouLou

I feed her the meat at lunchtime.... and she doesn't seem to have too much gas during the day, only at night in her sleep. The gas actually woke her up last night, she totally farted and then started crying, poor baby.

I gave her some tylenol finally, she has been whining ALL day. She behaved better after that, I really think it is her teeth.

I plan to put her to bed as close to 8 pm as I can. Hopefully this helps.

(hugs)

I remember these days well.

And remember, they will eventually sleep.

Hang tight.

Sorry to read this, Tiff. I had hoped that Lily Mae was doing better. we had a horrible night ourselves with Kian waking every 1-2 hours again and him waking up for the day at 6:30am. He was also extremely fussy yesterday. I am sooo hoping that she sleeps better for you!

I'm sorry to hear you're having problems.

Rowan goes to bed at 6.45-7pm, sleeps through most nights (but sometimes wakes up once at some point in the night where I give her a small amount of watered-down formula to help her settle if she won't by herself) and ALWAYS wakes at between 5-5.30am. She used to wake at nearer 6.30-7am. I don't know why it changed, but that is just her way. She's a morning person and obviously doesn't need as much sleep as some other babies do. Maybe it's the same for LM. I don't think there's anything you can do to engineer it. I already tried keeping Rowan up later but it didn't change anything and I don't think it's fair to keep a baby up that is obviously tired and wanting to go to sleep. Early to bed:early to rise - that's Rowan!

skyllar wrote:Sorry to read this, Tiff. I had hoped that Lily Mae was doing better. we had a horrible night ourselves with Kian waking every 1-2 hours again and him waking up for the day at 6:30am. He was also extremely fussy yesterday. I am sooo hoping that she sleeps better for you!

Isn't it annoying when you know they CAN sleep for 6 hours or more, 'cause they've done it in the past, but they have so many nights where they constantly wake up??

Bryony, thanks for the input. Maybe you are right, she just doesn't need as much sleep as some kids, every kid is different, and Lily Mae already marches to the beat of her own drum

Well, I moved her bedtime up to 8 pm, and although it hasn't changed her sleeping pattern, i.e. she still wakes after sleeping a certain amount of hours, the later bedtime has helped the schedule to be better so she isn't waking up at 5:30 a.m. She went to sleep at 8 last night, and woke at 1:30 a.m, then again at 5:30 to eat, then she woke for the day at 6:30 a.m. I would love her to sleep until at least 7 a.m. since it is staying darker in the mornings, but she just isn't interested.

I will say though that last night I gave her sweet potatoes with her rice cereal instead of carrots or squash, and she was not gassy at all in her sleep, she was very still and relaxed. However, I also did not give her meats yesterday, so today I am going to try giving her meats at lunch, then sweet potatoes with her cereal at dinner and see if she becomes gassy. That way I will know whether it is the meat that makes her gassy as well.

WOW, Tiff. That sounds like she slept better. YAY!!!! :lol: I am so glad. No luck for us, horrible night again. Will try solids again starting tonight. His sleep cannot possibly get worse, LOL.