Can babies have sleep disorders?

[ang79]

Asking this Q for a friend (and I babysit for her). Her little boy is 9 mos. He has always had trouble sleeping and I don't think he has ever gotten close to what the norm. and recommended amount is for babies for sleep. My 3.5 yr. old gets more sleep than he does I bet. He's with me about 8 hrs. a day and maybe sleeps 2-3 hrs. and I know his parents both say that he sleeps on and off throughout the night but often wakes at 2 or 4 am and won't go back to sleep.

Funny thing is, he started doing really well a few weeks ago. He was actually laying down in the pack and play here and going to sleep on his own and taking 2-3 hr. naps, and they said he was doing much better at home as well. Then he got sick last week (high fever, diarhea, irritable). And since then, his sleep is shot again. He fights sleep so bad too, rubbing his eyes, irritable, yawning, but won't go to sleep. As soon as I lay him down to sleep he freaks out and screams non-stop (he also does this when I lay him down to change his diaper). Parents say the same thing, he falls asleep in their arms, they lay him down, he screams. Even when I have him in a baby carrier (he's in my SCC on my front right now with the sleep hood up), he will start to fall asleep, then jerk and be wide awake again. Or he'll start drifting off then suddenly start looking around to see what he's missing (and my house isn't super loud, just my two girls playing quietly in another room).

I'm just worried about this little guy because its definately seems like he's way overtired and can't get good sleep because of that. They've tried different things but nothing works. And her ped. doesn't seem to care/seem worried (but that's a completely different story, I've encouraged her to try a different ped. because this guy seems like a quack to me after some of the things she's told me). And parents are starting to fall asleep from the lack of sleep as well :(

Any suggestions from others who have had kids like this? Where could they look for help as far as a sleep training school, sleep study, etc.?

[Indianamom2]

FWIW, my DD was like this. She still struggles with sleep. In her case, she ended up being diagnosed (Finally at age 6) with sensory processing disorder. It makes total sense, looking back. She couldn't sleep because there was too much sensory stuff to process, especially as a baby. Literally every little sound or touch or movement would wake her up. It was exhausting.

Unfortunately I don't have an answer on how to make things better, but it's something to be aware of because it is a very likely cause of the sleep issues. Even now, at age almost 8, DD has to take melatonin and have a white noise machine quite loud to fall asleep at a reasonable hour.

[ang79]

FWIW, my DD was like this. She still struggles with sleep. In her case, she ended up being diagnosed (Finally at age 6) with sensory processing disorder. It makes total sense, looking back. She couldn't sleep because there was too much sensory stuff to process, especially as a baby. Literally every little sound or touch or movement would wake her up. It was exhausting.

Unfortunately I don't have an answer on how to make things better, but it's something to be aware of because it is a very likely cause of the sleep issues. Even now, at age almost 8, DD has to take melatonin and have a white noise machine quite loud to fall asleep at a reasonable hour.

This kind of sounds like him. He has to know everything that is going on, constantly turning his head to sounds. I've had him on my back in the SCC a few times while vacuuming and he's constantly turning his head from side to side to figure out where the sound is. I have noticed that if I shush loudly by his ear when he is screaming it helps sooth him some, and also helps him take his bottle when he is refusing it. I play slow music and run a fan in the room he naps in and have suggested a white noise machine to his parents, not sure if they've tried that or not.

Funny thing is, she said she's resorted to letting him sleep in their bed when he wakes up at 2am and won't go back to sleep. And that once in her bed he actually sleeps (thought I don't know for how long or if he tosses and turns). Or he will sleep in my arms (that used to be the only way I could get him to sleep for more than 15 min. was to wear him in my ring sling cradled). He was doing so well for 2-3 weeks but since he's been sick its like he's a newborn baby again, at least w/ the sleep thing!

[Simon]

Yes, certainly. Ds1 had disruptions due to reflux, allergies and also sleep apnea as a baby. He had different symptoms than you describe but it disrupted his sleep and wasn't anything that could be easily fixed, meaning nothing that could be solved by the usual strategies people talk about with sleep training, etc. He didn't sleep "better" until he outgrew reflux + some allergies and then not "normally" until he had surgery about the time he turned 4 yo.

[123LuckyMom]

Try CranioSacral with a practitioner who is trained to work with infants. It works wonders!

[daisymommy]

FWIW, my DD was like this. She still struggles with sleep. In her case, she ended up being diagnosed (Finally at age 6) with sensory processing disorder. It makes total sense, looking back. She couldn't sleep because there was too much sensory stuff to process, especially as a baby. Literally every little sound or touch or movement would wake her up. It was exhausting.

Unfortunately I don't have an answer on how to make things better, but it's something to be aware of because it is a very likely cause of the sleep issues. Even now, at age almost 8, DD has to take melatonin and have a white noise machine quite loud to fall asleep at a reasonable hour.

Yes. DS1 has ADHD, sensory processing disorder, and had reflux as a baby that wasn't diagnosed for months. He has always been a terrible sleeper. Took 20 minute cat naps off and on during the day, woke up all the time at night, and didn't sleep through the night until his first birthday. He got his best sleep on somebody, especially upright.

[ang79]

He has been diagnosed w/ reflux and is on Ranitidine for it. But, I've been watching him since he was diagnosed w/ this and have never noticed the typical symptoms said to go along w/ reflux, so, not sure if the medicine has helped that much, or if it was misdiagnosed. He's been on that since about 2 mos. Like I said above, I don't have much faith in their peds office (he had a 103 fever last week and when she called for an appt., they refused to give her one, what kind of doctor's office does that?!). I've tried to encourage her to see another ped. for a second opinion on things and have recommended my ped. and several others in the area that I have heard good things from friends, and she keeps saying she should, but never does. I don't want to be pushy, but I can see how much this sleep issue and other health issues he's had have been for her and her husband (she tells me she falls asleep on her way to work, and that they fight alot because they are so stressed), and I'm worried about the little guy too. DH says its not my business, but I'm trying to be an advocate and also supportive......I tend to research things til I get answers but she is not that way, she keeps saying how stressed and tired she is, but won't actively seek help.......

[pinkmomagain]

FWIW, my DD was like this. She still struggles with sleep. In her case, she ended up being diagnosed (Finally at age 6) with sensory processing disorder. It makes total sense, looking back. She couldn't sleep because there was too much sensory stuff to process, especially as a baby. Literally every little sound or touch or movement would wake her up. It was exhausting.

Unfortunately I don't have an answer on how to make things better, but it's something to be aware of because it is a very likely cause of the sleep issues. Even now, at age almost 8, DD has to take melatonin and have a white noise machine quite loud to fall asleep at a reasonable hour.

This is my oldest too. Very high-strung, wired, anxious baby and now teenager. It's almost like being tired makes her more wired. Falling asleep is particularly hard (she does take medication)...once asleep she's OK now, but as a baby, not so much.

My heart goes out to your friend. I remember walking, rocking and being so frustrated that my baby -- who I knew had to be exhausted --was just not falling/staying asleep!

[amom526]

This sounds like you might just have a baby who is very sensitive to being overtired (OT).

My DS is like this. Once we found a nap/bedtime schedule that worked, we would do anything and everything to keep him on schedule, because if anything threw him off, we were screwed for a up to a week afterwards. The fact that he was sleeping well for a while, and then got thrown off after being sick, makes me think that he was not sleeping well while sick, and needs to get back on track.

I would try to repeat the schedule he had when he was sleeping well. The other key for us to getting back on track, was early bedtimes. The longer we keep DS up, the more wired he gets. For kids like this, you really need to get them down at the fist hints of tiredness.

[ang79]

This sounds like you might just have a baby who is very sensitive to being overtired (OT).

My DS is like this. Once we found a nap/bedtime schedule that worked, we would do anything and everything to keep him on schedule, because if anything threw him off, we were screwed for a up to a week afterwards. The fact that he was sleeping well for a while, and then got thrown off after being sick, makes me think that he was not sleeping well while sick, and needs to get back on track.

I would try to repeat the schedule he had when he was sleeping well. The other key for us to getting back on track, was early bedtimes. The longer we keep DS up, the more wired he gets. For kids like this, you really need to get them down at the fist hints of tiredness.

I've been trying to stick to his normal schedule here (morning nap around 9 am, afternoon nap around 2), but he is waking up earlier at home, so now he is tired when he arrives (around 8), and then again around 1pm. I put him down when he starts rubbing his eyes. Not exactly sure what mom and dad do, but I have noticed mom saying before if he falls asleep around 6 or so, she doesn't want him to sleep too long because then she's worried that he won't go to bed later at his normal time. Is it better to just give in and let them sleep when they look ready, regardless if its at the normal time, so that he can start to catch up on sleep? Or try to hold off til the normal time?

I was always a stickler (and still am for the most part) about my girls nap and bedtimes, but I get the feeling that this little guy does not have the consistency, esp. on weekends and when visiting grandparents. I have noticed that on Mondays esp. he always seems to want more sleep, or earlier sleep, than other days.

What are everyone's views on crying it out at this age? We started w/ both my girls around 6 mos. and after a week or so it clicked with them. I've let this little one cry for a good amount of time some days when nothing else consoles him (he won't take a bottle, has a clean dipe, and doesn't even want me to hold him - he keeps moving around trying to get away, but when I set him down he cries more). Usually, he will end up going to sleep after 20 min. or so, and its not steady crying, he cries, then a small break, then cries more. Sometimes I go in and pick him up and shush and bounce him and calm him down, then put him back down and he cries a bit more, then drops off to sleep. I don't think mom and dad allow him to go very long (she told me 15-20 min. is her max) with crying at home because she can't stand to hear him like that. At this age, can he get used to the picking up and keep crying for her til she does?