Soliciting some assvice as I am running out of ideas~
For the last few weeks, the boy has been having difficulty sleeping. Nap times were still pretty ok, but at night he suddenly needed to be put to sleep instead of getting him drowsy and then putting him in his crib to go to sleep on his own.
It can take upwards of an hour to get him down. We'll rock him, then the minute you try and put him in the crib he starts crying.
Tried crying it out, but his instinct when no one responds within about a minute is to stand up in his crib. Then he is more awake then before and you're starting at the beginning, only he's that much more sensitive.
He has to be COMPLETELY asleep before you put him in the crib. And even then there is a strategy involved for the least amount of movement possible.
And after that, he's up at least once a night. And then it takes going through the entire above process to get him back down.
It's like he's completely lost the ability to self soothe. right now he's sick so I know that's taking a toll. He doesn't want to eat and the formula isn't as filling as food (plus he usually takes 7 ounces and is currently only taking 3-4 at a time). He's also stuffed up and breathing through his mouth, with makes him thirsty. So the digression back to the 2AM feeding is ok, I understand what could be causing it.
But the changes in GOING to sleep and STAYING asleep started before getting sick.
Any advice would be appreciated. I am started to get worn out and tired!!! I myself have been sick, which is making my patience even thinner~
4 comments:
What worked with my kids was an approach in which we kept going back in the room and reassuring them, but not picking them up and not staying until they were soothed. Just saying, "Hi, you're okay. We're here. Now put yourself to sleep."
Start with as much time as you can manage, even if it is just 10 seconds. Gradually go longer. The first night it might take 2 hours. Same thing for the middle of the night.
I've heard some people do this on predictable schedules so that the baby knows that you will be in every 2 minutes, or whatever. My source said to vary the times, so that the baby isn't "counting down."
My experience was that the first couple of nights it took a very long time, but that it worked rather suddenly after a just a few.
Of course when they are sick and needing more attention or if you've been traveling you can loose all this, but the next time you start self-soothe training it will go more quickly.
Sorry, no assvice, just good luck with that!
Bea
When we took in S1 for a routine doc visit when he was about 8-9 mos, I asked when I could expect him to go back to sleeping all night, as he had before. The doc, with a wry smile on his face, asked ME who wouldn't want to be snuggled and fed every time they woke up. Then he told me to let the baby figure it out and put in ear plugs for the next 3 nights. It was the hardest thing I ever did. I even had to go outside one night because it broke my heart to hear him sob. Damn though if that doc wasn't right. It took 3 nights and 3 miserable days for S1 to get that he was in bed for the night and he did fine (at least until he could climb out and trot into our bed then I became a complete sap and moved over, made room and watched his adorable little face sleeping next to mine) So much for the strict approach......and the boy being sick kinda throws out the tough love too but once he is feeling better it might be worth a try. Also--though I hate to even think about it, you probably need to think about the MGM and how this would be handled there..ugh, I hate to even bring that up.
I really think it's a developmental thing you can't do too much about - that is, their sleep is going to be disturbed at various stages and you just have to pick how you want to deal with it. For some people it's CIO - that's never been my thing personally. Sorry no tips, once they're too big for swaddling, I'm at a loss.
Lily's sleep did improve recently when she got a lovey - one particular blanket that she *must* be put down with.
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