https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 12 May 2026 06:21:16 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-413156 Sun, 25 Nov 2012 07:13:45 +0000 BelugaBean 413156@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I just wanted to update this thread. Friday night, LO went to bed at 8:20. I laid her down drowsy but with a pacifier. She slept great until 1:15 but was up a lot after that. I tried everything but she was having trouble staying asleep. She eventually got up at 7 like she's been doing.</p> <p>Last night though, I laid her down drowsy again and she fell asleep at 7:20. She slept 7:20-8:10, then after a little bit of comforting slept 8:40-3:45, then 4:20-7. So hopefully these earlier bedtimes aren't a fluke and are something we can work with. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-402255 Fri, 16 Nov 2012 09:56:07 +0000 Bluebonnet 402255@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Work on establishing a bedtime routine and work on putting LO to bed drowsy but awake. If LO is always nursed to sleep, she won't learn how to put herself to sleep, which is a big problem when she wakes up in the middle of the night. </p> <p>Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-402228 Fri, 16 Nov 2012 09:45:50 +0000 mrs. wagon 402228@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@prettylizy: yup. you are done for. especially when they cry out for you at night. get ready to melt into a pile of useless mush! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-402202 Fri, 16 Nov 2012 09:32:34 +0000 prettylizy 402202@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. wagon: I die. I'm already cooked, this kid owns me like nothing ever before. The second she calls me mama (come on first word!!!) I'm done for </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-402197 Fri, 16 Nov 2012 09:30:43 +0000 mrs. wagon 402197@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@prettylizy: seriously. Then when they hit their terrible twos (usually starting well before 2!) they learn how to talk with those adorable baby accents... "I'm sowee mommee, I wuv yoo".... aghhhhh </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-402194 Fri, 16 Nov 2012 09:29:21 +0000 prettylizy 402194@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. wagon: it's true!!! those really big eyes and the resemblance to either yourself or someone you love? All a part of the big plan to make us want to keep these crazy things!! lol!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-402191 Fri, 16 Nov 2012 09:27:20 +0000 mrs. wagon 402191@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@prettylizy: @mandb36: I'm convinced this is why God made babies so cute. The more frustrating they get, the cuter they get. I keep telling her "you're lucky you're so cute". </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-402188 Fri, 16 Nov 2012 09:25:58 +0000 BelugaBean 402188@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@banana: I'm going to try the tummy naps right after Thanksgiving too. Or maybe a bit today.</p> <p>@mrs. wagon: Yeah, she woke up every 3-4 hours too. So frustrating since she had been sleeping 8 hours straight sometimes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-402185 Fri, 16 Nov 2012 09:25:17 +0000 prettylizy 402185@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I declare sleep regression, from month 4 to month 5, my life was hell! lol!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-402160 Fri, 16 Nov 2012 09:07:44 +0000 mrs. wagon 402160@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mandb36: omg. the SAME THING happened to us last night. I was in and out with her until around 9, then she had a dirty diaper. After we changed it she went right to sleep. Sighhhhh.</p> <p>@banana: tummy nap training... got it. WILL DO over Thanksgiving, I think!!! :) Thanks for the tips and CONGRATS ON BABY BANANA SLEEPING THRU THE NIGHT!!!!! And, I think more importantly, being able to soothe herself to sleep. That's so key!!! LMW is learning how to suck on her hands so I think it will be time very, very soon!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-401819 Fri, 16 Nov 2012 01:16:55 +0000 banana 401819@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. wagon: I know! My DD is either smiley or screaming like someone is killing her! It's so weird. But anyhow, i wanted to share...Lil Banana is sleeping through the night and she goes down by herself (without rocking). Hallelujah!!! </p> <p>So what I think helped was that we stopped swaddling her during naps (so that she'll learn to self soothe by sucking on her hands) AND we let her nap on her tummy (supervised by either my mom or I). The tummy napping was key because since she's unswaddled, she needed to be on her tummy to avoid waking up due to the moro reflex. We did this for all of her naps for a week and she just eventually learned to self soothe herself to sleep. Now that she has learned how to fall asleep, we just lay her down in her crib and she'll squirm and fuss a little bit and then eventually find her hand and suck on it and fall asleep! It's awesome! Tonight, I bathed her at 7:00, nursed her, played with her (so that she doesn't need to nurse to sleep), then I rocked her for a few minutes to get her a little drowsy, and then laid her down on her tummy. She squirmed a little bit and released a bunch of gas! Then I flipped her over onto her back and she's been sleeping since!</p> <p>I was kinda nervous about letting her tummy nap but my mom insisted that it's fine (my brother and I both slept on our tummies as newborns). Plus she said babies like sleeping on their tummies because the pressure feels like they're in utero. Well whatever the reason, tummy nap training totally worked for us!</p> <p>MAN...I really hope this isn't some sort of fluke! It's been like this for a week so I think it's working!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-401350 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 21:17:41 +0000 BelugaBean 401350@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Tonight was a fail. I started her routine at 6:30 tonight. She got really fussy around 7:15 and eventually she had a dirty diaper around 8ish which I guess was why she wasn't going to sleep. She just went to bed at 9:15. I'm going to try again tomorrow though. Maybe we are in the sleep regression too, who knows. She was tired at 6:30 but she just wouldn't go to sleep until now.</p> <p>She did seem interested in her thumb though so we'll probably definitely try to stop using the Woombie soon so she can hopefully self soothe with that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-399896 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:07:56 +0000 abmamma 399896@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This sounds really familiar except that my LO is only 3 months old and her night sleep is still all over the place! We started trying to put her down early this week (between 5:30-7:00 depending on her last nap) and I am really watching the clock during the day to limit her wake time 90 minutes or so. We had a few longer stretches of sleep (4 hrs and then 3 hrs after nursing) the first couple of nights but it is back to being 2-3 hrs at a time. Last night we discovered she could roll onto her side and even on her stomach while in the woombie so we switched her to a sleep sack in the middle of the night because I was worried she would roll over and get stuck. but then she seemed to be up all night as a result of her arms being free.</p> <p>How do you help them learn to put themselves back to sleep? Is sleep training the only way to do it? We have tried drowsy but awake but that hasn't worked too well so far! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-399023 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:03:45 +0000 mrs. wagon 399023@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mandb36: a couple of times in the past few nights, LMW will wake up crying, but a few seconds later we'll look on the monitor and she'll be asleep again!!! we were like YESSSS!!! :D if they do it once, they can do it again... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-399019 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:02:49 +0000 BelugaBean 399019@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. wagon: I would love for her to fall asleep on her own! I have hope because she's done it a handful of times. It'd be nice though because my MIL comes for the weekend sometimes and she's always willing to watch her so we can go out to eat but I don't feel right knowing there's a chance she'll be a screaming mess. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-398990 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:56:01 +0000 mrs. wagon 398990@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mandb36: that's our hope too... I'd love for her to be completely sleep trained by January. That's when my mom is going to stop coming to help and our nanny will start. The nanny will be taking care of 2 babies at once so I'll feel so much better if I know LMW can fall asleep on her own at that point. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-398960 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:49:49 +0000 BelugaBean 398960@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. wagon: I keep looking for teeth but I don't see any. I'm going to ask her doctor Monday to look too. I was thinking about getting that book on my Kindle. Maybe if we can get a rough schedule going, we can fine tune it in between Thanksgiving and Christmas. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-398947 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:47:30 +0000 mrs. wagon 398947@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mandb36: LMW is the same way-- super content and smiley/giggly or screaming like someone is pinching her! that's why we weren't sure about the teething until we could feel the tooth coming thru-- she wasn't really fussy or unhappy during the day. ugh.</p> <p>We swore by "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Weissbluth with Wagon Jr. It really helped to read especially during sleep training! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-398938 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:45:36 +0000 BelugaBean 398938@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Also, I'm thankful for this board because I honestly have no idea what a normal bedtime is until I ask the doctor. The extent of my knowledge is that around a year old, my nephew liked to go to bed at 11ish and my friend's kid went to bed at 7. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-398932 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:44:02 +0000 BelugaBean 398932@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. wagon: Well her swaddling is the Woombie and she's had it everyday but one since she was born. But I know she likes her arms free.</p> <p>And yes, I agree. My nephew never did this that I could see so we call her a little drama queen. This kid has no middle as far as emotions. She's either upset or giggling (or asleep). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-398921 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:41:45 +0000 mrs. wagon 398921@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mandb36: I hear you on the swaddling/not swaddling thing. My mom was convinced the swaddle (now the Woombie because she can break out of every swaddle) was making her mad so she took her arms out, and immediately regretted it. Ugh. oh and LMW screams like someone's murdering her, too. What the heck. Wagon Jr. never cried like that... I think it's the girl dramatics... maybe?? haha. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-398914 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:40:31 +0000 BelugaBean 398914@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. wagon: I actually unswaddled her in hopes that she would find her thumb but being unswaddled just made her mad. Oddly enough, though, she prefers to have her arms free when sleeping beside me. Maybe I'll try to get her to bed early tonight and if that works, try leaving her arms out tomorrow. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-398909 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:37:52 +0000 BelugaBean 398909@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LivsMama: She's in our room for another month or two since we haven't gotten her room set up but I definitely try to give her a minute to go back to sleep. She always ends up screaming like she's being murdered though.</p> <p>@Sammyfab: I think her last nap usually ends somewhere around 5-5:30 so around 7-7:30 would be right. I was going to feed her and do her routine around 7 tonight so we'll see what happens! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-398903 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:36:52 +0000 mrs. wagon 398903@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mandb36: LMW is 4 months on saturday!! They are just a day apart :) </p> <p>We're also having similar troubles. The fact that her first tooth is about to break through doesn't help things :( we're loading her up with acetaminophen and orajel naturals. The poor thing. </p> <p>I've tried earlier bedtimes with mixed results. One night we put her down for her last nap at 4:45pm and she didn't wake up until 4:15am!! I was a nervous wreck... she was squirming and moving all thru the night but I was still so nervous. (and all I could think was oh man, she didn't have a bath!) </p> <p>The next day was similar but she woke up after her last nap as usual and then had trouble going down for bedtime. </p> <p>The next day wasn't similar and she didn't go to bed til after 9 :(</p> <p>It's been so mixed and the teething aspect has us just throwing our hands up every night. Thank goodness there's 3 of us (me, Wagon Sr. and my mom) so we can all keep each other sane and take turns. </p> <p>As for that middle of the night feeding, LMW is plenty chubby but she definitely still needs it because she sucks down an entire 6.5 ounces (her usual daytime feedings are between 3-5 ounces). But her usual crying wakings if she doesn't open her eyes are definitely for consoling because the second we pick her up and start rocking her, she immediately quiets down and falls right back asleep. </p> <p>Once that first tooth pops and she gets better at finding her hands for sucking, we're gonna sleep train. ai- yai- yai. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-398893 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:32:14 +0000 LivsMama 398893@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mandb36: I wouldnt doubt that she might be hungry for the 4am wakeup. If I remember correctly, Liv woke up once per night at 3am for a feeding consistently. The rest were just comfort. Id say def start her routine a bit earlier and not go in quickly for any wakings except the 4am one. Liv was swaddled until about 5months, and she started getting frustrated by it and waking up pissed off. That could be a reason. We quit the swaddle cold turkey, but the ONLY way she would sleep without the swaddle was on her belly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-398885 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:30:36 +0000 Sammyfab 398885@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mandb36: I agree 100% with what @livsmama said. I think part of the problem is that your LO isn't falling asleep on her own and when she wakes in the middle of the night and isn't on your boob, she needs to be nursed to fall back asleep. If you are comfortable with it, I would try to put her down more and more awake. </p> <p>At 4 months we made sure to put our LO down 2-2.25 hrs after his last nap. We used 2 hr waketimes between all naps. I would make sure she's on an appropriate 'schedule' so that she's not overtired by the time bedtime rolls around and work on getting her to fall asleep on her own. In the meantime, do what you can to help her sleep in the day until nights are more consistent. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-398880 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:28:57 +0000 BelugaBean 398880@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks everyone for the advice! I will definitely try to start her routine an hour earlier tonight and see how that goes. If she still seems off, I'll start it even earlier tomorrow night! Maybe she just honestly wants to be up for the day at 6 and acts tired because she wanted to go to bed earlier but usually she likes to sleep until 8. I just know I'm exhausted! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-398873 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:27:16 +0000 BelugaBean 398873@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LivsMama: I think she's actually hungry when she gets up around 4 because she definitely nurses actively. Sometimes after she's been back asleep for an hour, she'll wake up crying and I can just soothe her back to sleep. I tried to unswaddle her one night to see if that helped but she hated it. I plan to revisit unswaddling her arms after Thanksgiving. </p> <p>I will try to start her sleep routine an hour early tonight and see what that does. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-398871 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:27:11 +0000 winniebee 398871@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It seems like maybe setting a routine would be good for her. We started a bedtime routine and set bedtime around 3.5 months. Before 3 months my son went to bed when we did. But then his naps got shorter, etc., so we started putting him to bed earlier and earlier. Even 9 is a relatively late bedtime for a 4 month old. Once you establish a little more consistently with routine and bedimte, things might sort out. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-help#post-398858 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:24:56 +0000 BelugaBean 398858@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Sammyfab: She goes to bed at 9 now, sometimes 8:30 so that's gotten better since the time change and she's sleeping longer during the first stretch). I nurse her to sleep. She's also gotten better at napping but for a couple of weeks (during what I think was the 3 month growth spurt) she would go some days without any kind of nap (or only napping while nursing). Now she generally gets in 3-4 good naps (some laying on me, some not, we're working on getting them all to be without me). </p>