My son is going to be 9 months old next week and we have been battling sleep since he was born! He still gets up twice at night for bottles and another 4 or 5 times crying and wanting his pacifier back. We aren't asking to sleep through the night...just for like 2 hours straight would be nice. He wants to get up for good at about 4. We do not want to co-sleep, but we have started bringing him to bed with us because he just will not settle down. THen there is nap time. He is only taking one (about an hour) nap a day. He only slept for 15 minutes today and I have just spent the last two hours trying (unsuccessfully) to get him back to sleep. We try to let him cry it out (or at least wear himself out a bit), but it doesn't work. He will just cry until he is choking. We try to rock him, but as soon as he starts to drift off he shakes his head around to wake himself up. I've had him to the Dr. and there is nothing physically wrong. I'm at my witts end (and very tired). Help!
2007-02-20 06:32:30 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Toddler & Preschooler
I know how you feel sister! My son will be 3 yrs old in May and still wakes up in the middle of the night & wants his bottle. He eats quite well throughout the day but around 3-4am he wants his milk. I try to ignore him & in hopes he'll go back to sleep but nope he insists. Try giving your baby cereal with his night milk...it may help.
My back hurts from picking him up all the time & putting him in our bed. I don't listen to what others say about co-sleeping for I know he will grow out of it. I just rather do that & get some sleep.
Now my 1st son slept thru the night at 6 weeks old. Can u believe the difference? Very extreme cases.
I just think each child is different. So take a deep breath & just know it isn't so bad. There are always worst cases out there.
Hang in there! I know it's tough!
2007-02-20 10:22:52 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
hello, i kinda know what you are going through believe me there is a light at the end of this black hole! but everybaby is different my daughter was the worst the same day i had her i had to have her in my arms as i tried to sleep. and since then she was crying all the time in the early morning and at like 3 to 6 am she would be up and crying, wide awake and wouldn't go back to sleep only in my bed in my arms and the shhh shhh sshhh and rocking didn't really help ethier casue i would have to be doing that the whole night.
he maybe cold, hunrgy, cloic, gas, ear infection this is the rainy season well where i live.
but its very normal my baby didnt seem to stop crying and sleeping in her own bed without any interrupptions until she was 11-12mos old and it could be the milk/formula that you are using too. did you change anything from the beaging to now????
babies don't like change, we moved to a differant state a month after i had my baby.
you can give him a pacifier but make sure you get rid of it later before or a little after he is one.
if he is is awake and wants to play put music on like baby eistien or a movie to calm him down, toys until he gets tired besides crying causes a lot of headaches and grumpyness with you and the baby, and your baby will feel the stress and tention you have and you can give him tylonal/mortin he may be teething if he has not have any teeth those are the tough times as well my daughter was the same after she quit down a couple weeks later for about 2-3 wks it came back and she was getingg two teeth one on top and bottom. but don't worry it will pass also you and your hubby/boy friend can take turns during the night and day.
if my answer has not gave you any helpful hints you may want a 2nd oppion with a urgent care ped. or another ped. doctor!!!
2007-02-20 06:59:46 · answer #2 · answered by on roller coaster called LIFE 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
First of all let me say that I am sorry you are going through this. Next, you werent specific about how you put him to sleep so I am going to assume that you havent done anything that I am going to suggest.
Some babies need absolute quiet and calm before they fall asleep. So you may need a dark quiet calm down of about 20 min before sleep. Some need music, soft jazz, praise and worship, nature, etc. In order to get my daughter on a better shedule I would bathe her several times a day right after a big meal to get her really rested. Using lavendar oils or lotions on the skin settles them down too. You could also feed the baby more before a naptime or bedtime. I give lighter snacks and meals if they are not going to bed soon and heavier ones when they are.
I am no baby expert but I have one daughter who will be three in March and I am the guardian of my 5 cousins, their ages are 14, 12, 10, 6, and 2. You just have to keep trying things to see if they work. He has something that will help him. You just havent figured it out yet. When my daughter was 2 months old I put her in her room alone. Sometimes she would wake up through the night and I would hear her on the baby monitor but if she wasnt crying then I wouldnt get her. That is how they figure out how to go back to sleep.
My sis in law is a big health nut so she wouldnt give her son any food or regular milk. He will be one soon and he still wakes up through the night to eat because he is so hungry. Lastly, if you have tried everything you can think of and then even more take him back to the doc. Change docs if you have to. I watch discovery channel a lot and sometimes babies can have very rare diseases that are misdiagnosed. So get a second opinion.
I hope this helps.
2007-02-20 06:52:30 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I know you don't want to hear this but....Welcome to motherhood! Take a deep breath and calm down. You have no choice. If there is nothing wrong with you baby then mot likely this is the way it will be. My son didn't sleep all night till he was 12 months old and off the bottle.I know it wears on you after a while. it's terrible, but with some babies i guess that's the way it is. Do you have him on a good eating schedule during the day. I used to try give my son 3 meals plus two snacks. Or try to anyway, that didn't mean he would always take it. I've always let my son sleep with me simply because I would have NEVER slept if I didn't. Besides my hubby works at night so it's never really been a big deal. I know I'm gonna have hell to pay when he needs to sleep in his room.
Just hang in there and try to have patience.
2007-02-20 06:45:18 · answer #4 · answered by cinnycinda 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I agree with just about everything everyone else has said here. I think a really good bedtime routine (quiet activities, bath, reading a book, music, etc.) goes a long way. I will add one additional comment about my own experience...
My son was sleeping through the night ALL BY HIMSELF by 3 or 4 months old. At some point, against my better advice, my husband starting allowing him to sleep in our bed with us because it was just so darling to cuddle with him. Then he wouldn't sleep by himself through the night anymore. By the time we attempted to remedy the situation, we were dealing with an infant who was big enough to stand and shake his crib so hard I thought he would knock it apart or bust down the walls. Then he started jumping out of his crib. The thought of him falling and hurting himself was much worse and more troublesome than if I had just made him cry it out when he was smaller. Trust me, remedy the sleepless nights while your son is still small enough to be contained within the crib. My son is now 3 and a half and still wants to sleep in our room. Good luck!
2007-02-20 07:14:07 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
God, i know how u feel, hat to say it but some babies/children never sleep well. my own daughter didnt sleep through the night till she was 5 and now she is 9 and she still sleeps with me. i know co sleeping is frowned upon but sleep deprivation is worse! i live in australia and went to a mothercare hospital three times, they use the control crying technique to help train the baby, i always found this nearly impossible to maintain at home though in hindsight though i guess if there is nothing physically wrong with your baby, then you may have to tough out the control crying until it works, i wish u luck with it! By the way if u feel like screaming, go right ahead, it usually makes u feel a whole lot better!! lol.
2007-02-20 06:40:02 · answer #6 · answered by sydneygal 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sounds as though you are all overtired!
As mad as it sounds babies can get very very tired which causes them to be restless at night and crabby during the day.
All I can suggest is that you get into a really good routine with him, 4am is too early to be getting up in the morning, ignore him, as best you can, until 6 at the earliest. Then follow normal morning routine, breakfast, play, wash and dress, then about 10/10.30 pop him down for a nap, allow him to cry for a while, he needs to learn how to get himself off to sleep. When he has been upstairs for about an hour go and get him, and follow normal routine, play, lunch etc, then he needs another nap about 1.30/2. This is not an easy thing to tackle, it needs for you to be persistant, and determined, which is so hard when you are totally shattered and just want the noise to stop so you can get another half hour!
Then try as hard as you can to get through the afternoon, until supper, a nice warm bath and bed at about 7.30. He is old enough not to be needing nightime bottles, so if you can bear it just go in settle him back down and leave him to it.
It is going to take a good few days/nights to sort this out, I have been there and done that. My first child was a total nightmare for the first 12 months.She used to cry so hard she was sick! I don't think we got a full nights sleep until she was about 18 months, but with my second and subsequent babies I have been a lot tougher and tried to get them into a routine as soon as possible.
It is tough, but to save your sanity and in my case your marriage, it really needs to be done.
Good luck!
2007-02-20 06:52:14 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
We had the same issue with my son who is now 3. What we did, which was difficult at first but worked was, lay him down at the same time every evening. Both I and my husband would go into his room to kiss him goodnight. There is a Cribtoy that plays soothing music, and ocean sounds and we would play that. The first week was horrible. When he started to cry we would not go in his room until 20 minutes. When we went in we would tell him its night night time, and lay him down again. He would cry for a good hour, and at first it scared me, thinking hes going to choke, and I also thought is was cruel, but infact it will not make them choke and eventually they will go to sleep, but it takes repetition and determination not to pick them up.
As for naps, I would make a set time everyday and lay him down .I assure you that this happens to a ton of mothers and babies. This is what are doctor told us to do and it did work, although it might take a week, but it is well worth it!
2007-02-20 06:47:37 · answer #8 · answered by Sasha W 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I keep telling people the infant car seat is sooo under rated..I put my son in that thing at night right next to the bed..when he cried I just give him the bottle and prop it up with a baby blanket..if he still fusses I just rock it a little and he's out..that way my husband and I still stay in bed and it gets us through the night
2007-02-20 09:09:25 · answer #9 · answered by lata 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oh, God...that brings back a flood of memory's. Our first daughter was just like that. The extreme crying and choking and gagging herself. We had to let her get through it. She was a little older though, but we let her cry it out. It was ugly. I had to leave the house because it ate me up. But she did get over it. She cried, screamed gagged terribly the first couple nights, then it got better and better. Give him a sippy cup of water and set the room up so you can peek in without him seeing you. It'll ease your mind to peek in and he won't see you and have to start from scratch the next night. Don't give in after crying goes on for a while, they just learn that if they cry long enough...you'll come. It's a tough spot to be in. It will pass. Good luck to you.
2007-02-20 06:45:38 · answer #10 · answered by Wendy B 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋