Tips on getting baby to sleep??

Question

Lately my wife & I do everything we can possibly think of to get our baby to settle down & go to sleep at bedtime, but he's still fussy. This is especially hard on us when it's 3 hours past our bed time. Our alarm clock goes off at 5am & we haven't been getting to sleep til about 1am because he's whining & crying. We can rock him to sleep with no problem but as soon as we lay him down in his crib he wakes up and gets fussy. We've even moved his crib into our bedroom. Tried letting him sleep with us which worked for him, but for us we were too nervous & couldn't sleep because he's a very active baby & kept getting under the pillows and blankets. Leaving him to cry himself to sleep is not an option because he has reflux & we wouldn't know if he were crying because of that & really needed us. Any suggestions on how to get a fussy baby to go to sleep and stay asleep? Thanks for your help!

He is almost 4 months old.
Elevating the mattress where his head is wouldn't be possible because he's all over the crib when he sleeps.
We believe he has all the signs of teething, even though it seems a little early. Last night we tried some teething tablets & that seemed to help a little.
Thanks to everyone who has replied!!

Answer 1

When you're holding your baby rocking him your body is warm. Chances are that when you lay him down in his crib the sheet is cold & that probably startles him awake. Try laying a heating pad on a low setting in his crib and warming up his bed. But be sure to check it to make sure it didn't get too warm. Even a dish towel heated in the microwave can help warm his bed. When you lay him down lean your body down with him, if his mattress isn't too low. Lay over on him if possible and sing softly to him & slowly back away from him. Hope this helps! I've been there and know just how you feel!

Answer 2

You may try any or all of the following.
1) If your baby has reflux you may want to try a different formula or milk, as your current one may be upsetting his stomache and causing discomfort.

2) My first child did not go to sleep well but a quick drive in the car always seemed to do the trick

3) Your baby may be getting too stimulated before bed time. Try to limit the stimulation, noise, activity an hour or two before bed time.

4) Depending on your baby's age, there is a good possibility that it will awaken periodically during the night. My first child woke up every 2 hours for the first six months, then every 4 hours for the next 8 months. My second child slept almost the whole night through.

5) A warm bath before bed time may help as well.

Regardless, when your baby wakes up, go through the steps, check the diaper, check to make sure that there are no blankets, or other objects wrapped around a foot/toe/finger/arm/etc... make sure the baby is not too cold/hot.

Hope this helps

Answer 3

Have you tried wedging up his crib matress so he's sleeping slightly upright? Also..keep him very active 2 hours before bedtime then slowly begin to wind down. Read books...dim the lights and feed him and then even give him a bath but not the vigorous cleaning kind...just a relaxing quiet time where the room is very warm and maybe even try the Johnsons and Johnsons calming bath. Never let him get a chill...keep him warm. Use a baby tub where he's sitting elevated. His food has time to settle and he's getting very relaxed right before bed. Research or take a baby massage class...that may help. What about teething or gas? Have you tried gas relief drops or tylenol for teething? Its best to talk to your doctor but I hope some of these help!

Check out this website to read up on wedges.
http://www.infantreflux.org/tucker_wedge_sling.htm

Answer 4

Hang in there. Have you tried warming the crib before you lay him down? Sometimes the change in temperature can cause it. You might want to slightly elevate the part of the mattress where his head is, the reflux could be causing pain and elevation of the head could help. Another trick is to sleep with a blanket to get Mom and Dad's scent on it and then use it in the crib. I would talk to the doctor as well he/she might have some suggestions. Good luck, it will not last forever.

Answer 5

Try playing some relaxing soft music in his room. have a bedtime routine every night before bed time- give him a bath, dim the lights, read a book. just have a very calm environment for him. I would let him cry for about five minutes and then go in and calm him down by rubbing his tummy, make sure he's okay, but don't take him out of his crib. then leave again for a little longer go back in in ten minutes and calm him down and make sure he is okay then leave again. continue this until he falls asleep. My son has a harder time going to sleep when he is overly tired, make sure he gets naps though out the day. it's hard to listen to him cry but it's okay to go in and check on him just don't pick him up. he will fall asleep eventually. I also hav white noise in my sons room, like a fan. It drowns out noise that might keep him awake.
If all else fails, talk to the doctor about what to do. Good Luck, I went though the same thing and this worked. He now goes to sleep by himself when I put him in his crib.

Answer 6

I went through the same ting with my oldest child. Until my mother told me that if i ever wanted to get any sleep i needed to learn tough love. My son was also in our room. (not ever in our bed) . The problem was evertime my husband or i rolled over or moved he would hear it and start crying. Also if you run to pick your baby up as soon as he cries and you rock him to sleep. Then he thinks the only way he can sleep is if he's being held.

As hard as it sounds i spent two nights in hell getting my son to sleep, Of course it was in fact by letting him cry. A good Dr. will tell you that it is perfectly fine to let a baby cry,It actually helps there lungs to get stronger. What i did was i fed him changed him and wrapped him up tight and put him in his crib. He of coarse cried and every 5 to 8 min. i would go in his room and rub his back. Dont pick him up. You will notice as you do this that he'll stop cryng when he hears your foot steps. to make sure your on your way. Baby's are smarter than you think they can figure these things out pretty early. This will also help you and your wife to learn the different cries and what they all mean, such as a mad cry, a hurt cry ,a hungry cry, need a new diaper cry etc.it will also teach your baby how to sooth himself wich all baby's need to learn.
I also must warn you that this is NOT easy, i cried most of the night. partially because of being exhausted from all the nights before and partially from going through the agony of listening to him cry. BUT it was so worth it. Be brave , good luck and sweet dreams are in your future.



P.S. if you question my tactics ask your Dr. also i know that they say if you ahve acid reflux to elevate the head of you mattress. That might help too.

Answer 7

You dont say how old is he?
It sounds like he is a few months old.

Put him on a schedule.

No naps after 5 pm

Keep his crib in your room next to your bed but elevate his crib matress level to your bed level and leave the side rail down so that he feels closer to you and can be picked up easier.

Establish a routine first , like a bath, diaper change, a special music for a few minutes before he sleeps (first keep him in your arms until he gets used to the new routine.) so he knows it's sleep time.
Keep him a bit longer in your arms after he falls asleep, hold him on a very thin firm pillow and then place him in his crib with the pillow, it will propably work and he wont notice he is in his crib.

Answer 8

How old is the baby first ? Babies usually start sleeping though the night around 3-4 months. If your wife is The one who stays home during the day with the baby get her to "delay" him going to bed(the time you want the baby to sleep) keep the baby up for as long as you and your wife can !
The worst thing you can do is taking the baby for a car ride I did this with my 4 year old and she got so use to it that as soon as I pull back into the driveway and turned off the engine she would wake up !!!! Have you tried the baby in a swing ? That is how I got my 2nd daughter to get to sleep at night ! I hope this helps good luck to you and your wife !!!

Answer 9

Have you tried swaddling him up? That worked awesome for our daughter - we got away from it for awhile, and then when she was about 6 weeks old, we started swaddling her and she would sleep 6-7 hours at night. Our daughter is also very active and seems to wake herself up, so now that's she's too big to swaddle, we have her in one of those wicker baskets -it helps limit how much she can move her arms & legs (whereas a crib has so much more room for them to move & flip over).

As for the reflux, I've heard that you can put a pillow under their mattress to add a little bit of an incline.

Good Luck!

Answer 10

rocking is good but my baby had reflux also and was fussy for quite a few months after birth. a bath before bed and a lot of activity in the evening help too. the biggest problem i had was when i put her in bed with me for the first year she had a ton of trouble sleeping in her own room. if this is a older baby like over 6 months i would put him in his room and if he cries go look but DON'T pick up unless he is sick with reflux.

ps if you have a little baby that cannot sit up yet i put my girl in a bouncer that vibrated untill she was about 4 months and put that in her crib beside my bed. but, it was hard later to get her out of my room.