Sleep problems--please not again ("They're Baaack") : (

[lmintzer]

I am bumming right now. Joshua (who was so pretty easy for his first two months) is having tons of trouble sleeping.

We went through sleep hell with Jack for 1 year, and I just can't do this again.

He is basically co-sleeping with us to save my sanity (which is okay for now). He goes to sleep in the bassinet around 9:00-9:30 p.m. and sleeps solidly for about 3-4 hours. He is in a deep sleep during this period. However, then he wakes up, usually eats, but is never comfortable the rest of the night. If we leave him in his bassinet, then he wakes up every 1-2 hours. So we usually bring him in with us. He still doesn't seem comfortable--keeps trying to stuff his hands into his mouth and winds up scratching up his face and/or startling himself awake, but at least he sleeps, and I can sort of sleep.

Naps are the worst problem right now. He absoutely can't put himself to sleep and still seems to need swaddling (which he can usually get out of). We have to walk him to sleep, or I nurse him to sleep, or we use white noise. Getting him to sleep takes from 5-20 minutes. Not the end of the world. The real problem is that when we put him down, he goes no more than 45 minutes and usually more like 5-20. The only way to get a long nap out of him is to take him out in the car.

Grrr. I am so tired and my back hurts and I go back to work (3 days/week) in just under 2 weeks.

Anyone else going through this with a baby in the 2-4 month range?

Lisa
& Jack, 4/20/01
& Joshua, 11/16/03

[papal]

Lisa,
I noticed that you said Joshua gets out of his swaddle. We had this problem with Leela when we tried regular blankets. No matter how tightly we swaddled her.. she would find her way out. And then her madly flailing arms would wake her up. Have you tried the Miracle Blanket? I swear it has been a true miracle in our lives. It is the gift i give to everyone who is going to have a baby. If it does not work you can return it anytime. And it has a lifetime guarantee.. anything tears or rips.. they will send you a free one (they sent me two.. their new version is more resilient).
Or, if you like, i can send you my spare one to try. The seams are coming apart slightly but it still works! LMK.

[tina-t]

Ds needed to be swaddled until 6 months of age to be able to sleep ok. I vote for the miracle blanket too. That's what we used and it really worked well.

[lmintzer]

Rashmi,
Do you think he is too old/too big for one? I kept putting off buying one because I kept thinking he was going to outgrow swaddling. He is currently 3 1/2 months (2 1/2 conceptional age due to being a preemie) and 13 lbs. and 22 1/2 inches. How big is Leela?

I'd definitely give yours a try. I would be happy to reimburse you for mailing costs and your time!


Could you PM me?

Lisa

[papal]

Leela is 22.5 inches also and 10 pounds. It should still work for him. If it is too long, you can leave the legs outside the pocket.
Lisa.. i cannot see the email or PM buttons with this new updated software. Can you email me at rpappu @ comcast . net (remove spaces). Send me your address and I will pop it into the mail tmmrw.

[Karenn]

Lisa,
I wish I had some solid advice for you! I can just imagine how you must be feeling! Unfortunately, I can see myself writing your post a few months from now. Colin had such a tough time with sleep and one of my biggest worries is that #2 won't sleep either.

I'm already rehearsing in my head things that I'll try to help #2 sleep better. In addition to investing in some miracle blankets, I think I'm going to be a bit more flexible about where the baby sleeps just to establish good circadian rhthyms. If baby sleeps better in swing, carseat, or baby bjorn I'm going to go with it, and hope that preventing severe over-tiredness will compensate for any bad habits I may be starting.

That probably doesn't help much, but I wanted to offer something because I can imagine how stressed you must feel. (Plus, maybe you'll pass on what worked for you when I have my 2nd sleepless wonder a few months from now. ;) )

Good luck!

[jec2]

Hey, at least you can get yours to sleep in the car :) W

I agree that swaddling. DS sleeps well at night, but I can totally relate with the nap situation. However, when Finn had major trouble getting to sleep because of being over-tired the swaddle would do the trick. Unfortunately he has pretty much outgrown the Snuggle Me. And, how I balked at the extra expense of the miracle blanket. I think I should have bought that one instead to last me, as I think at 4 1/2 months he would still benefit from swaddling

[doubleL]

Lisa,

So sorry to hear this. Mostly wanted to offer sympathy! Would also suggest letting Joshua sleep in a bouncy seat. Especially when putting him down right after nursing. We let DD sleep in a bouncy in a co-sleeper next to our bed and it really seemed to help. We didn't have any trouble getting her to sleep in a bed after.

Also, think about your diet (sorry!!!)... do you use any caffeine? Maybe try cutting out dairy... that also helped DD's sleep.

Also, when/if you are comfortable with it, you might want to try experimenting with letting him sleep on his tummy.

HTH!

Lou
~David 5.01
~Elisabeth 6.03

[Tracey1]

Lisa,
Unfortunately, no advice here - just letting you know that you're not alone! Our DS's are basically the same age and I could've written your post! I'm finding it particularly frustrating because my 1st was such a GREAT sleeper. I followed Weissbluth's book when she was about 2 months old and by the time she was as old as my DS is now, she was sleeping 7a-7p, not waking for any feedings and taking 2, 2.5-3 hour naps/day. I'm doing the exact same things I did with her (and trying everything else I can possibly think of!) and nothing is working. It seems like I spend all day trying to think up new strategies!

Naps are the same for us - 30 minutes, unless I lay down with him then he'll sleep 2-3 hours, but that's a little difficult to maneuver weekdays while I have a 2 year old running around!


Last week I did try swaddling again and it seemed to help him with falling asleep, but he ends up getting out of it too. I'll be interested to see if you find the Miracle Blanket helpful - please post your experience.

LOL, I'm right there with you on the back pain - a sling used to work great for getting him to sleep, but he's almost 18lbs!

[deborah_r]

Lisa - I swaddled Kai until he was about 7 months old. I stopped around 1 month, then started again around 4 months. I wish I had done it all along, because his sleep got much better when I started swaddling again.

[lmintzer]

Thanks, all, for your posts of encouragement and commiseration (if that tense is even a world--I'm so tired, I can't think straight).

We actually SAW Weissbluth in person for Jack, so in a way, I'm embarrassed that we aren't doing better. You'd think since we worked with the "grand master" we'd be experts. But, sometimes, the baby defies all attempts, as some of you have said.

Today, after 2 lousy naps (a 45 minute nap, 15 of which was while being held) and a 30 minute crib nap, I gave up and just took Joshua out to a coffee shop and to Borders (was lucky enough to have my nanny here to watch Jack). Joshua cried the whole way to the coffee shop in the car, fell asleep once we got there, and was peacefully out for the next 3 HOURS! Thank goodness for the car naps. I know--I have the little Weissbluth superego whispering in my ear "Motion sleep is junk sleep," but what can I do. He woke up calm and happy, so I know I did something good for him.

The best thing about having had the world's worst sleeper the first time around? I have a little perspective. I KNOW this will get better. It's just a question of when.

For those who need encouragement (i.e., this is their first bad sleeper), Jack (now almost 3) who was colicky and had a sleep disorder for his first year now sleeps 7:30 p.m. until roughly 6:15 a.m. and naps 1-1 1/2 hours each day at 12:30 p.m. He goes down happily without a fuss and just last week made a transition to a big boy bed with nary a problem. So there is hope. One caveat--we gave up a lot in deference to his sleep needs (at one point, his bedtime was 6:00 p.m.). We gave up evening dinners out, outdoor summer concerts, family visits with friends. We rushed home from activities so that he could nap in his crib. People thought we were crazy--well, if not crazy, certainly rigid. But I can tell you we had no choice. He needed this so badly. And now, we have the payoff of having a toddler with great sleep habits.

Sorry--got off topic here.

I'll definitely post again re: the miracle blanket (thank you Rashmi!!)

Lisa