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View Full Version : please, please help - any advice?



miscelster
12-26-2006, 07:06 AM
My 5 month old DS has stopped sleeping at night. For the past week, when I put him in his crib around 12am (I hold him to sleep until then) and he sleeps until about 2am and then HE IS UP THE REST OF THE NIGHT!!
I can't nurse him to sleep, he isn't even interested in being rocked to sleep. HE IS WIDE AWAKE.
I can't take this. I am getting about 2 hours of sleep each night and I have an older DC to care for as well.

I have tried to put him down at about 7pm, his bedtime, but he wakes about every 1/2 hour (and then wakes older DC), and needs to be rocked down to sleep, which is why I have taken to holding him until about 12. It worked for us for awhile, but now it's not. I don't know what to do.

THere doesn't seem to be anything wrong, not necessarily hunger (sometimes he'll nurse halfheartedly, more interested in play than eating) or a diaper or any physical discomfort (since once he's picked up, he's smiling).

Does anyone have any suggestions?
For what it's worth, he doesn't even seem tired, although I don't see how he can't be - he's getting about 6-8 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period.
But I know I am at the end of my rope, even if he's doing fine with how little sleep he's getting!

connors_mommy
12-27-2006, 09:14 AM
Wow, that is tough. My DS is 18 weeks and started not sleeping so well around 4 mos. He mastered a new ability which was rolling onto his stomach but isn't able to get back so he was waking much more than before. Has your little one mastered anything new? How does he nap during the day? When he's waking does he cry hysterically if you don't get him or does he just fuss around? When my DS wakes at night, if I know he's not hungary I will let him fuss and he'll usually go back to sleep. I might have to go in and give him his nuk and alittle pat and leave the room, sometimes he'll coo and talk for sometimes an hour, but if he's not really freaking out, I leave him be, doesn't get me anymore sleep because I don't go back to sleep until he does, but it teaches him to go to sleep on his own. He's going through an ear infection right now so sleep hasn't been too good, but he's getting better. Has your DS ever slept really good and this constant waking just started? How about teeth, any yet? Connor goes to bed at 7pm and I don't take him out of the nursery until morning so he knows night time is for sleep and he needs to be in his room. It seems cruel to me sometimes leaving him fuss but if i run to him everytime he always wants me there, of course right now because he hasn't been feeling well, I take more time with him at night to comfort. Let me know some of the questions I asked and i'll see if I can help you in anyway...good luck...

SnuggleBuggles
12-28-2006, 03:08 PM
What happens if you leave him in his crib? It sounds like he is awake and happy. Would he play with some sort of crib toys? (FP aquarium, a Symphony in Motion mobile, Lamaze brand "bumper", musical pull toys...things that can be mounted on the rails and keep the crib safe.) My ds would wake up and play himself back to sleep. We would "ignore" him so long as he was happy- never even poke our heads in b/c that would disrupt him.

If he wakes up happy or only fusses for 5 or less minutes then I would just see if he could play himself back to sleep.

Other than that I would make sure he was getting good daytime sleep. Being overtired can make sleep worse instead of better.

Other thought, what about a swing? He may be getting too old but could you put him in a swing by your bed at 2am and try to get him to fall back asleep that way?

Good luck! Hopefully this is a short lived phase!

Oh, and I should note that my ds is 4.5 yo so that first year has blended together. I remember ds playing with some of his crib toys at 5 months but I don't know if he was playing himself back to sleep at that age.

Beth

miscelster
12-28-2006, 08:33 PM
Thanks for your replies -
Here's the situation - he's awake and happy, but only if we are holding him. If we try to put him down - either back in his crib, even in our bed (and I CANNOT sleep with him in our bed - too paranoid he'll suffocate, as well as just too uncomfortable with having a squirmer with us), swing, or bouncy seat, he screams. If he was on his own in his crib, it would be okay, but he is just so unhappy about being left alone. He fusses a little, and if we don't get him, he escalates into full out screaming, wailing and gnashing of teet(or gums, in his case!. He is truly furious. And that can last a long time (we tried to let him CIO one time).

I don't think he's teething, and he hasn't learned anything new as far as I can tell - but hopefully this won't last much longer, because I know that I can't last much longer!

Any advice, I'd love to hear it... I am desparate!

connors_mommy
12-29-2006, 11:38 AM
HUMMM...sounds like you have a difficult one right now. I also tried co-sleeping and couldn't do it. I never slept, and neither did he. Connor won't sleep in his bouncy seat either, even now he sometimes doens't want to even be in it at all. I'm not a fan of CIO either Gosh, I wish I had some advice for you. Connor doesn't scream when he wakes up at night, but will babble and get frustrated until I rescue him, he's usually on his belly and can't get back. He's been waking 2 times a night again and up at 5:30am...ick. I work full time so i'm getting pretty worn out again myself. Has he always been like that or just recently? Maybe he has some seperation anxiety right now? I know they go through that at 6-9 months i've heard, but could be earlier too. Has he been checked for ear infections and stuff like that? Connor started acting wierd, fussing more and crying and waking more, not eating...found out he had a horrible ear infection. I'm trying to think of all things...

KrisM
12-29-2006, 06:49 PM
Teeth? DD did this for 8 nights when her first tooth came in. Probably 3 nights before we even knew it. She slept well for 2 nights and then terribly again...and got a 2nd tooth.

kristenk
12-30-2006, 11:45 PM
Did you try giving him Tylenol in case it's physical discomfort?

I know this post is a few days old, so I hope things are better at your house.