rin
03-21-2011, 03:23 PM
Hi all! I'm really, really hoping some of y'all have some insights into my DD's recent sleep changes. We're all becoming zombies here!! I hope this isn't too long and rambly, but I'm just not sure how to best give enough information.
So here goes.
Background:
DD's never been an amazing sleeper, and she always wakes up to the slightest noises, but for the past 2-3 months we've fallen into a totally doable rhythm for our family. Here's our usual routine w/approximate times: 6:30-7:15 bedtime routine (bathtime, pjs/lotion, milk & songs, reading "Goodnight Moon", then in crib, rub back, kisses, good-night & alone in dim room (w/night light) & lovey, generally asleep either when put in the crib or by 7:30, 7:45). She will generally sleep until about 7 am, waking 2-3 times to nurse and then go right back to sleep.
She's never been a great napper, and generally sleeps somewhere between 30 and 90 minutes during the day. To save my sanity, we implemented a sort of Ellen Sattyr-inspired approach to napping, where DD gets two "naps", one around 10-11 and one around 2-3, during which she can either sleep (in which case she leaves the crib when she wakes up) or have "quiet time" (in which case she leaves the crib when the hour's up). We start off the nap with a modified bedtime routine: some stories on the couch, then retreat into her bedroom, she has some milk, we rock and have a lullaby in her chair, read Goodnight Moon, and then kisses and she's left in her crib. When she's not sleeping, she usually babbles, sometimes fusses, but almost never actually cries. (If she does start genuinely crying, we go get her and end the quiet time.)
The Problem:
OK, so that's been the norm. In the past two weeks or so, this has all gone haywire. She's started waking up in the middle of the night for about 2-3 hours, wide awake and ready to play. If we don't come get her, she starts crying hard. We don't want to leave her crying for more than a minute or two, because when she cries too hard (as in, cries for more than 2-5 minutes or so), she throws up. Amazing skill, right?!? She's also stopped wanting to be put to bed at all, and when we go to leave her in her crib, she instantly starts crying intensely and if we continue to try with the bedtime routine she amps it up, and, you guessed it, throws up. Last night she threw up all over her bedroom and was so upset afterwards that it took her an hour and 45 minutes to calm down and go to sleep, at which point I'm pretty sure she just passed out from exhaustion. (And this was all with me or my DH in the bedroom with her; we put her down, she started crying, I went back in, and she threw up all over me in my arms.) What could be going on? I don't think it's teething, just because she's already gotten 5 teeth and has never responded this way, plus she seems perfectly happy during the day (aside from being a bit grouchy but I'm guess that's the sleep deprivation) with no more chewing on things, drooling, etc than usual.
Does anyone have any advice/ideas/BTDT? Anything we're not doing that we could, or anything we are doing that we shouldn't? Thanks in advance for any ideas!!!
So here goes.
Background:
DD's never been an amazing sleeper, and she always wakes up to the slightest noises, but for the past 2-3 months we've fallen into a totally doable rhythm for our family. Here's our usual routine w/approximate times: 6:30-7:15 bedtime routine (bathtime, pjs/lotion, milk & songs, reading "Goodnight Moon", then in crib, rub back, kisses, good-night & alone in dim room (w/night light) & lovey, generally asleep either when put in the crib or by 7:30, 7:45). She will generally sleep until about 7 am, waking 2-3 times to nurse and then go right back to sleep.
She's never been a great napper, and generally sleeps somewhere between 30 and 90 minutes during the day. To save my sanity, we implemented a sort of Ellen Sattyr-inspired approach to napping, where DD gets two "naps", one around 10-11 and one around 2-3, during which she can either sleep (in which case she leaves the crib when she wakes up) or have "quiet time" (in which case she leaves the crib when the hour's up). We start off the nap with a modified bedtime routine: some stories on the couch, then retreat into her bedroom, she has some milk, we rock and have a lullaby in her chair, read Goodnight Moon, and then kisses and she's left in her crib. When she's not sleeping, she usually babbles, sometimes fusses, but almost never actually cries. (If she does start genuinely crying, we go get her and end the quiet time.)
The Problem:
OK, so that's been the norm. In the past two weeks or so, this has all gone haywire. She's started waking up in the middle of the night for about 2-3 hours, wide awake and ready to play. If we don't come get her, she starts crying hard. We don't want to leave her crying for more than a minute or two, because when she cries too hard (as in, cries for more than 2-5 minutes or so), she throws up. Amazing skill, right?!? She's also stopped wanting to be put to bed at all, and when we go to leave her in her crib, she instantly starts crying intensely and if we continue to try with the bedtime routine she amps it up, and, you guessed it, throws up. Last night she threw up all over her bedroom and was so upset afterwards that it took her an hour and 45 minutes to calm down and go to sleep, at which point I'm pretty sure she just passed out from exhaustion. (And this was all with me or my DH in the bedroom with her; we put her down, she started crying, I went back in, and she threw up all over me in my arms.) What could be going on? I don't think it's teething, just because she's already gotten 5 teeth and has never responded this way, plus she seems perfectly happy during the day (aside from being a bit grouchy but I'm guess that's the sleep deprivation) with no more chewing on things, drooling, etc than usual.
Does anyone have any advice/ideas/BTDT? Anything we're not doing that we could, or anything we are doing that we shouldn't? Thanks in advance for any ideas!!!