Why wont my baby sleep??

[Zoey187]

So DS2 who is 5.5 months old wont sleep for long periods at a time. This started of slowly with him taking naps a few times a day and getting up once to twice at night. Now for the last few weeks his naps are any where from 15-30 min and he is getting up at night every 2 hours. This is not enough sleep for a baby and I dont know what else to do.

Some back ground info. DS2 was found to have a floppy trachea and has been a very loud breather. This has a affected his eating and sleeping from day one. He is on breast milk (wont nurse so I pump for him) and formula. I just started him on solids (cereal, sweet potatoes and peas). He sleeps in a pack in play in our room at night and naps in his swing during the day. He refuses to sleep in his crib (could he not like his mattress?). He was a swaddle baby and he decided a few weeks ago that he didnt want to be swaddled any more. We are in the process of moving and have been living at my moms house for a few months. We should be moving to a new state at the end of July but still living with my parents until we get our own house.

Back to my problem! DS2 is now not sleeping what seems hardly at all. I swear we spend most of the day trying to get him to sleep. We have to f and rock him to get him to sleep but he has been waking up when he is now placed in his swing. At night he is fed 8-10 oz and goes to bed around 8-9. Then he wakes up two hours later and wants to eat more. It is now taking him 1.5 hours to go back to bed and then wakes up again in three hours. It isnt always to eat either. Most times he just wants to be held but sometimes he wants to eat again. Then it takes an hour or so to go back to bed and we cant put him down in anything, pnp, swing or our bed. Then he is up at 6:30 and our tiring day starts all over again!

So now I am not sure what is keeping him up. Is it him and something that he is going through? Do I call his dr and ask them what they think? Could the breast milk be making things worse (I eat almost anything and only drink one soda in the morning). I am at my wits end and end up in tears most of the time because I am tired and clueless about what to do. Should I move the pnp in his room and start him off slowly. He just cries when I leave him in his crib.

My end goal. Sleeping through the night (I am even ok with him getting up once to eat) in his crib in his room.

[AnnieW625]

It might not be a popular decision here, but I think it is time for some sleep training. If it were me I would start making him take naps I his crib during the day. I didn't read a sleep training book, but my mom told me that if a baby cried for more than 10 minutes then it was okay to get them out of bed. It was also okay to get them out if they were crying because they were in pain. Sleep training is rough, but it is necessary. If you need to buy some noise cancellation headphones.

[BabyBearsMom]

Originally Posted by AnnieW625

It might not be a popular decision here, but I think it is time for some sleep training. If it were me I would start making him take naps I his crib during the day. I didn't read a sleep training book, but my mom told me that if a baby cried for more than 10 minutes then it was okay to get them out of bed. It was also okay to get them out if they were crying because they were in pain. Sleep training is rough, but it is necessary. If you need to buy some noise cancellation headphones.

I would definitely sleep train at almost 6 months. We did Ferber with DD1 and it worked like a charm. She is still a champion sleeper. Also, for naps, have you tried letting him sleep on his belly? That really helped DD1 and I just kept a close eye on her

[sntm]

Did you just start solids? He could be having indigestion from that - much more likely than something in breast milk. He may also be naming a growth spurt. Plus it sounds like you've had a lot of upheaval lately and they may be why he is fussier. Given The number of changes going on, I don't think sleep training is the answer (in disclosure, I'm not a fan in general, but I think it's a particularly hard choice on the baby when he's simply responding to what's going on in bis environment.)

I would consider stopping the solids, try sleeping more in the swing or upright and consider getting an eval by your pediatrician to make sure it isn't a worsening breathing issue that is waking him.

[daisymommy]

Given that he has a floppy trachea, he could very well have sleep apnea. Which equals very poor sleep, and waking up every time he stops breathing. This is a built in safety mechanism so that the brain & body isn't deprived of oxygen.

I would quickly get him evaluated by a sleep clinic--this could be very serious and dangerous if he does have apnea.

I would not just assume he needs to be sleep trained. It sounds like a medical problem to me (given the floppy trachea, loud breathing, and feeding problems you mentioned).

[hellbennt]

I'd get him checked for apnea & I'd also keep a log of the solids & the reactions- when are you feeding solids? try one thing and try it in the morning only - look for reactions w/ sleep...for example give the sweet potatoes and see if sleep is a little better at night (not naps, because they're 'closer' to when he ate the sweet potatoes)...peas might be an issue? some say so, because they're a legume...and some say there's no need to give cereal...hth