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@Mae: I didn't read through all of the responses, but just wanted to let you know that, at 6.5 months, we still rock and swaddle. Granted, we don't swaddle her arms, but we velcro it across her body. We could let her cry it out but it usually ends up the way yours does. I think, for some babies, they just need the comfort (not sure if that's what you want to hear).
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@Mae: I don't have advice, but wanted to say I know how you feel ... Sleep was easy at the beginning, but around 6 months, it all changed. I hope you find the advice in this thread helpful. The other mamas here really helped us. Sending awesome sleep vibes your way!!!
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@BabyBoecksMom: The problem is that I've never successfully gotten her to sleep (even rocking her) with even 1 arm out. girl is obsessed with rubbing her face.
@Vegmama: thanks
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@Mae: ohhhh I read that she couldn't yet! My bad!
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Does white noise or music help? We always nap trained first because basically, i was so tired of 15 minute naps. I figured if I could get them self soothing during their nap, it made the transition to night time that much easier. I would also rather deal with the stress of the crying mid day rather than the already tired/stressful evening. There are still days where we have to crank up the white noise and just leave because honestly, there is nothing else. I am sorry if this was all repeated advice. I hope you get some relief soon!
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@Lindsay05: We have always had white noise going during every nap and bedtime since we got home from the hospital-- so thats just standard. She doesn't care about music playing and doesn't like singing to fall asleep, but if she is crying singing will calm her.
So... UPDATE #1: Since this post was really about bedtime tonight. DH and I ordered a Merlin suit and got it overnighted so tomorrow we are going to do the merlin suit with either Ferber or the no cry sleep method and give whichever we choose a full week before deciding. For tonight, since we didn't want to start something else new when we plan to start with the suit tomorrow, I just rocked her to sleep. I was really scared to even do that since I'd never gotten her to sleep unswaddled before but it actually went okay. Rocked for 10 min of fussing then 15 min of crying and she fell asleep. Set her down and she slept 45 min and woke up crying. Tried to replace the paci and soothe her in her bed for a few min but she was just getting upset so I picked her up and rocked her and she fell asleep almost immediately. Now sleeping again for about 45 min. I expect we will have at least a few wake ups that require rocking tonight. Usually she wakes up for her paci anywhere from 2-6 times and I expect she may need to be rocked for each one of those, and maybe more. I just hope I get some sleep between. And who knows.. maybe by the end of the night she'll be more okay with the unswaddling?? Trying to think positively here!
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@Mae: fx she sleeps ok for you!
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@Mae: reading through this while we go through night waking teething hell. hoping she's still sleeping well for you tonight. In the off chance she's still waking up a ton tonight, what about one night of sleeping in the car seat? Sometimes we put her in there and buckle her in and my husbands swings it back and forth until she falls asleep. Then we leave her next to our bed. Not a permanent solution, but might get you through the night. Fingers crossed it has gone well.
I'm curious about the Merlin Sleep Suit. Can't wait to hear how that goes. I've thought about buying one too. R rolls back to tummy swaddled, but our pediatrician said it is fine to keep her swaddled as long as she is in a stretchy one like the wombie. They need to be able to push themselves up so it can't be a straight jacket type swaddle like the miracle blanket where there arms are pinned at the sides. You may want to ask your dr and see what they say. So far it works except when she rolls and knocks the pacifier out. (Or this week, when she has decided she will only sleep ten minutes at a time)
Good luck!
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@Keds: @jhd: thanks.
It was a rough night. But not as bad as it could've been. My biggest fear is she wouldn't go to sleep, and once she did every time she woke up it would be an hour of crying to get her back down. There was very little crying after bedtime, and for that I'm grateful.
She went down about 8:50, up at 9:30 (rocked) and 10:30 (soothed in crib). Then was up just after midnight and from then through morning she never slept more than 10-45 min at a stretch. I'd get her to sleep (either by rocking or soothing in the crib) and she'd go to sleep relatively easily (5 min or less and no crying once i got her) but then just wouldn't stay asleep very long before her hands found her face again and woke her up.
I'm really really hopeful that the merlin suit helps us out tonight. I'm really encouraged by the fact that she would go to sleep unswaddled because I feel like if I can get her to sleep, and Merlin can keep her asleep.. she might actually sleep decently.
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This comment has been deleted by the original poster.
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@Mae: I'm sorry! I haven't read everyone's posts. We had to go cold turkey with lo when she rolled over one night while swaddled. It was few hard nights, but we made it through. We moved to sleep sacks with the swaddled arms, but I just wrapped them around her torso and didn't put her arms in there. Kjpugs used the Merlin suit and loved it. I hope it gets better!
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what is it about the hands on her face that is waking her up? Is she scratching or something? Would putting something on her hands help? LO was a scratcher so we put socks on her hands
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@MamaG: she rubs her eyes and that seems to wake her up
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@Mae: Sorry about the rough night! I hope the Merlin suit does the trick!
Did she roll at all last night? Blake used to occasionally flip himself over (including once in his crib but not at nighttime, just when I was changing A's diaper). We talked to our ped about it and she said sometimes flukes happen and wasn't concerned about him being swaddled. (This was back when he was 2 months and we swaddled religiously) At our four month appt Blake rolled back to front several times in front of the dr so we knew it was time to swaddle wean. But he didn't roll back to front again until last week! Now he's obsessed with flipping over. Anyway, all that to say, Blake flipped over a few times before he was actually rolling consistently and we kept him swaddled. I guess that might have been dangerous but he never has rolled in the night. He's also a face toucher (mostly grabs his ears) and that wakes him up a lot. The actual swaddle weaning wasn't too bad for us, but he's slept like shit ever since, so....
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@ mae how was night with merlin sleep suit. Is it worth money?
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@twodoghouse: No she has only rolled that one time, swaddled! I know since she hasn't done it consistently I maybe didn't HAVE to unswaddle that very second, but I'm a rule follower and paranoid. And it freaked me out because I had just checked on her literally less than 2 min previous and she was calm on her back. And she is still sleeping next to my side of the bed. So she managed to flip herself over in under 2 minutes and so quietly that I was completely unaware even though I was laying less than 2 feet from her.
So I think the Merlin suit is pretty good...? Fingers crossed things stay good and get better. She was VERY confused by it last night and when I was rocking her after feeding her (I have been rocking her until drowsy then setting down) she started crying immediately I think because she didn't like the suit or it felt weird? Cried about 10 min then calmed down and got drowsy. Set her down and she fussed around about 5 min and I replaced the paci, spit it out and fussed around (but still not crying) about 10 min and DH ran up and replaced her paci then she stared off into the distance for another 2-3 min and fell asleep. Was up a total of maybe 6 or 7 times overnight, but every single time we could just give her the paci and rub her head for a few seconds and she fell right back asleep. 0 crying, 0 having to pick her up. I definitely felt like the suit helped because while she COULD get her hands up to her mouth/eyes it was a lot of effort and she didn't do it thoughtlessly in her sleep. I'm hoping once she feels more used to the suit she'll revert back to how she slept (at least as well) in the swaddle and not need her paci every single time she wakes up.
(also, @jass: , just fyi-- if you want someone to get a notification that you are directing a comment to them, hit the "reply" button next to one of their posts. If you just put @ someone they don't see it unless they happen to check the thread
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@Mae: I'm glad last night was better! Hope it keeps improving! I'm mystified by this laying baby down while still awake thing. We've ever done that ever since they were born. What are the odds they can magically pick up this skill at 5 months?
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@twodoghouse: lol how much have you tried? I mean our situation is different because Fiona used to do this so it was a skill she did have at one point. Basically how I started it (way back at like 2 mo or so?) was I would swaddle her up and set her in her bed and go take a shower. Because I wanted to take a shower and I figured worst case she cries but I know she's safe there. Best case she falls asleep. And by the time I was out of the shower she was asleep. So I just kept doing it and she kept falling asleep and there was no crying or drama. We started up again last week after I sort of abandoned CIO. I figured I'll set her down and see what happens. if she cries I'm over it and I'll pick her up. If not, win. Of the last 7 nights, we attempted this 6 of them and I just rocked her until she was doing the slow-blink thing and then set her down and we watched her on the monitor. She'd fuss around and kick a bit and we'd run up and put her paci in a few times. 4 of the 6 nights she fell asleep with no crying. 2 nights she cried and I picked her up and rocked her. I have no idea if I'm doing more harm than good with this method or really teaching her anything but I'm hoping she just remembers she can do this and once she really gets the hang of it again she'll start going to sleep faster and putting herself back to sleep more overnight.
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@Mae: how is merlin magic suit working for you? My LO started rolling to tummy today. So i wili have to transition her out of swaddle. Sorry for bothering again
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@Jass: It's going really well!! We're back to setting down drowsy but awake and she's going to sleep on her own (knock on wood), although the first night in particular she was VERY confused lol. For naps when I rock to sleep it's a bit harder to rock her to sleep in that than swaddle, but she's still getting used to it. Best thing is she's staying asleep so much better. First night was 6 or 7 wake ups, second night was 4 wake ups, third night was 2 wake ups, last night was 3 wake ups. All a great improvement over our one night unswaddled when she was up 10-45 min, and basically back to her swaddled "norm" of 2-4 times.
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