Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Help.
Worst night of sleep yet. I am absolutely losing my mind. Does anyone have any thoughts, encouragement or ideas on what to do with this kid? Sleep training for a baby this young? I have tried everything, but he is up every 45 minutes. He starts the night by putting himself to sleep, which all the sleep books say is the key. We've tried swaddled. Swung. What am I missing?
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Oh girl, I wish I had some solid advice for you, but you've probably tried everything I've got to offer. Is he sleeping in his own room yet or still with you? I found that W slept better/longer stretches in his own room, even though it was more of a pain for me to get up and go to him when he did wake up. Also, if he is in his own room, maybe try having your husband go in and sooth him to sleep rather than always offering to nurse/bottle? And finally, I know plenty of people who let their baby cry it out this young and they swear by it. Totally up to what you are comfortable with. But with him waking up every 45 minutes, I can't say I wouldn't try it…that's so brutal!
ReplyDeleteHi, there!
ReplyDeleteI've never commented on your blog before, but I couldn't read this post and not say something. This was my life last year at this time. My second son, and LAST child, is now 15 months. He started out a pretty bad sleeper but still in the range of "normal." Like waking up 3 - 4 times per night. At 3.5 months even that fell to pieces. He began to wake up every 45 minutes. A good night started to mean that I would get one 90 minute chunk at some point. It was horrific. We thought he had acid reflux, so we started him on meds at 4 months, but it didn't help the sleep. I went off dairy, and nuts and gluten and omg...everything...to see if that would help as he was nursing. Nope. We tried everything...swing, sleeping in his own crib, sleeping with me, nothing worked. We decided at 6 months we would sleep train...just felt like all the books said that was the earliest you should do it developmentally because at that point they can self soothe. So, two days before he turned six months...we went for it. We sprinkled a million pacifiers in his crib, closed the door and let him CRY.IT.OUT. I would dreamfeed him a few times a night as he was used to eating practically all night long. Then I slowly weaned him of all dreamfeeds except for one at 10pm. Well, guess what? In 4 nights we had a magic sleeping baby. After he started sleeping through the night, his nap schedule became predictable and he started hitting developmental milestones like gangbusters. To this day...9 months later, through teething, sickness, jet lag, etc. he remains a VERY good sleeper. I never thought I could close the door and let a child cry it out but after six months of literally no sleep, it was actually a piece of cake.
I say all of this so that you:
1. Know that you're not alone when you say you have a "horrific" sleeper.
2. Feel totally okay, not judged, if you do the cry it out route. It worked so well for our Liam.
He is to this day a strong, independent, stubborn little personality. But, he SLEEPS!
A fellow boy mom who knows what you're going through,
Allison