Another Mommy with sleep problems!!

[atlbaby]

Well, it's Arielle really :)

Shira's Amira and my Arielle seem to be having somewhat of the same night-sleeping problem, and I would love some help!!

Here's our situation: Arielle is veryvery attached to her sippy cup of water (or milk, but that's during the day, and we've reduced the amount sucessfully, so that's good!). Since she had a stomach bug last month, and probably some teething too, she's begun to wake up each night 1-2 times and stay up for 60-90 minutes screaming at the top of her lungs. SHe wants a sippy of water. We were letting her take it to bed and naps, but when we saw the ped for her 15 month checkup 2 weeks ago and he said we should try and eliminate it to bed. So we were able to do that last week, but now she wakes up at midnight and 5am and wants water! Thing is, she downs it too which makes me think that she *is* thirsty?? Crying it out is NOT helping (she won't stop, and I go nuts)...I am beginning to think that letting her have a sippy of water in her crib if she wakes up is not the worst thing in the world, even though my ped seems to think I should let her CIO...

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!

Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01

[Karenn]

Well, I don't have any advice, but I can tell you that DH goes to bed with a glass of ice water each night and usually has a sip or two once or twice in the night. I know some doctors advice against it, but he did recently have one doctor say it was a good idea. So, you may be right- a sippy cup of water may not be the worst thing in the world...

Karen
Colin 6/18/02

[KathyO]

From what I've been told, the main issue with water available in the crib at night (apart from the risk of diaper pee blowout, but this is your problem more than Arielle's!) is that in CERTAIN babies it can enter the eustachian tubes and occasionally promote ear infections. But, the way I figure, the only way to find out if Arielle is one of them is to try it... For what it's worth, Dr. Weissbluth in his Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child book suggests it.

What rationale did your ped give for eliminating it at this time?

KathyO

[atlbaby]

Karen, what you say about your DH having water by the bed is exactly what I've been telling my DH--bc I've had a glass of water by my bed *every* night since I was a very little girl! Sometimes I drink it (well all the time when I was pregnant...) and sometimes not. So that's where I got the idea that maybe it's not such a bad thing since I like water in the middle of the night myself!

And Kathy, my ped is actually against using sippys to begin with--he thinks if babies/toddlers are using sippys it's just the same as a bottle and not really considered a 'cup'...
That was something I wasn't about to do--too difficult to do!--which of course he is fine with as well. Plus I am sure not all of his patients actually *can* drink only from a cup at her age!
I assume his rationale for not having her take a cup to bed stems from his dislike of them to begin w/ and also may be for the ear-infection issue. Arielle did have a lot of them in late Fall, and he said we may have to tube her, but she's been clear for 8 weeks now.

I know his philosophy is CIO, and I partially agree that going into her room *without* a cup, just to let her know I'm there,sing, etc will NOT help. If I don't go in bearing gifts of cups, I might as well not go :)

But it is so so hard to listen to her cry. I just don't know what else to do?

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01

[egoldber]

In my opinion, if she's thirsty (and it seems like she is) then let her have the water. I would try periodically to see if she can do without it, but I wouldn't sweat this one personally. I have let Sarah have a sippy of water in her crib at various times, espcially when she has been sick and a little dehydrated. I figure I need a bottle of water by my bed at night, so why wouldn't she? But it would seem like she shouldn't really need it for naps.

Also, do you have a humidifier in her room? It can get really dry at night, especially with a forced air heater. You may want to think about trying a humidifier and seeing if it helps.

HTH,

[KathyO]

What is this mad rush by some "experts" to get babies off of bottles and sippies? My 21-month-old daughter CAN drink from a cup - she has the physical control to manage a cup, but she completely lacks the social control needed to not dump it on the floor when the impulse takes her. How is the situation better if I have to police her every second that she's drinking?

One thing I frequently remind myself about peds and family doctors in general is that the vast majority, even if they do have kids, did not have the day-to-day stay-at-home raising of one, what with their schooling, and then the need to work off student debt. In other words, they don't have to LIVE with these recommendations, or implement them! As we used to say in forest fire fighting, "don't second-guess the man on the ground." And we primary caregivers are "the man on the ground".

Kathy "can you tell I'm premenstrual?" O

(I'm not saying, "ignore doctors' advice", but more - what exactly is the rationale for this/that advice, and do I have a good reason to follow it, being that I have to live with the consequences?)

[atlbaby]

Thanks everyone! Last night Arielle started crying at 1am and I *did* manage to let her CIO and she fell asleep and slept through the night. I feel like a horrible horrible mommy for denying her a cup, but I just don't know if it's more an attachment than out of true thirst. There was a huge pee-pee (sorry) blowout in her crib 2 mornings ago, and she's never been one to have those so that led me to believe she was just drinking to suck on her cup...

So we'll see what happens tonight. I just feel so guilty for letting her CIO--it is so much easier to deal with when DH is not at the hospital overnight though so I have two more nights to break her habit!

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01

[Shirale]

Oh Rachel,
I am totally with you!!! It is SO hard. At least Arielle will except water, Amira will sdream for hours unless it is milk, I have been trying what Kathy suggested, to slowly dilute it with water to get her used to not getting the calories, and then to decrease the ammt...In terms of cups, I know that when I try to let Amira drink for a cup, she will take a couple of sips, and if I hold it csn manage quite well, but if I give it to her she just dumps it on her lap. I can't imagine she is really ready for one. All this stuff is so hard to know, when they (Dr.s) say 12 months, what does that REALLy mean....Argh. I know at some point I will sleep through the night, I am just wondering if it will be when I am a grandmother...

[atlbaby]

Hi Shira,
I read about Amira's (and your!!) sleep problems and I can so empathize with you!! How is the water-milk combination going?? I also think Arielle's habit began when she had a stomach bug in January...argh! And I must tell you, when I read that you call Amira's pacifier a passie I broke out in this huge grin--I've not heard of anyone else call it a passie except for us! Oh how Arielle loved her passie! We actually weaned her from it *and* the bottle in the same week--I figured I'd rather have one truly bad spell instead of breaking it up over a month or so! And it was a really bad 10 days!

In terms of when to wean from the bottle, doctors do say 12 months but I don't think it's a hard and fast rule at all! She won't be going with it to nursury school--although my mom says I nearly took my water bottle with me!--and it sounds like she does drink something out of a sippy so it may just take a while...

I know this isn't great advice, but know that I'm in the same boat you are and we can commiserate together! :)


-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01

[Shirale]

Hee hee, I had a good laugh thinking of Amira clutching her bottle in one hand and passie in the other on her way to Kindergarten (ahhhhh) So far our exxperiment has not really made a difference although friday night she only woke up once in an 11 hour stretch, which for her is quite good....oh well....we are trying. I am sure it will happen sometime....I don't know how we got to calling it a passie...but you're right- I don't know too many other people who do!! Anyhow, I just hate hearing Amira cry...it's so hard. And she's just so darn cute....so is Arielle btw!!!!