Why is sleeping so hard?

[nwaddellr]

You'd think babies would be good at sleeping. I mean, this is what they do all the time, but nooooo. We'd much rather get up every two hours at night so mom gets very little sleep. And don't even think about putting me back to sleep without nursing, mom, because I won't have it. Normally, its not this bad, but last night was a poor sleeping night, let me tell you.

All the experts who say "make sure your baby can go to sleep on his own so then he knows how to sooth himself back to sleep" are WRONG. My DS goes to sleep beautifully on his own, but if he wakes up, he usually won't go back to sleep without help.

And then I have my mother trying to convince that if I fed him more solids, he'd sleep longer at night because may he needs a certain amount of calories a day and more solids would give them to him during the day instead of waking up to eat - WRONG.

And then I have my husband trying to convince me that I should keep my DS up longer at night (he goes to bed between 7 and 7:30) so that he sleeps in longer - WRONG.

I know I'm doing things the right way, but I wish I could sleep until noon on days like today!

[Karenn]

I'm right there with you! I never dreamed that the two things that seem most natural to me (sleeping and eating) would be the most challenging parts of babyhood- especially sleep! Where is the logic in that?

And you're so right about the "experts" not really knowing what they're talking about! I think the wisest sleep "expert" undertands maybe 30% of what sleep is all about and just guesses about all the rest. True, that 30% is greater than the 5% knowledge I have, but still, they do not have all the answers.

Hang in there! Sleep still makes absolutely no sense to me, but my DS does finally sleep all night- so there is hope! You will be well rested again some day.

[COElizabeth]

Oh yes, I have been there, too! And I know exactly what you mean about a baby who can go to sleep just fine on his own but not go BACK to sleep on his own. I could write pages, but let me join Karen in reassuring you that it will eventually get better. Maybe not for a long time, but eventually! My son went to bed at 7 PM last night, and it's 9:38 this morning, and I still haven't heard from him! Maybe he is slowly catching up on the months of missed sleep from his first 18 months! :)

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02

[drsweetie]

What I don't understand is, what's so bad about taking a nap? I like naps. DH likes naps. The cat, of course, LOVES naps. But DD does not want to nap. Naptime is marked by lots of yawning and eye rubbing followed by 15 minutes of indignant howling in her crib. After a nap, she's happy and energetic, but getting her to actually nap is torture. Why doesn't my baby want to nap?

[nwaddellr]

You're right - eating (solids, that is) and sleeping are the hardest for me to manage/understand with my DS!

[chlobo]

Wow,

these babies sound like mine. I certainly don't get the sleep thing. And its so tiring. And DD hates to nap. I tried 3 times to get her to sleep this morning. All 3 times she went to sleep and then slept for 10 minutes. What's up with that? I would have been sleeping for hours.

[kitmama]

>Wow,
>
>these babies sound like mine.

Mine, too! It can be so frustrating. My little guy (5 mo now) can put himself to sleep just fine sometimes, and sometimes despite being obviously tired he will fight naps tooth and nail. And no matter how he goes to sleep, he seldom sleeps more than 30 mins during the day and 3 hrs at night. If that.
I can't stand "cry it out" methods of sleep training, and I'm already trying a daytime schedule (something that he fell into naturally, anyway), and we have a predictable, soothing bedtime routine. . . no luck.
I hope he grows out of it soon. I'm exhausted, and SOOO cranky at night and in the morning!