My little angel girl is 5 months on Tuesday. So far, she has slept primarily with me in bed, in a co-sleeper or in a bassinet by the bed. My DH has back issues, so sleeps on the floor. Anyway, she has recently decided that it's good to wake up every hour or two at night and not nap at all during the day unless she's riding in the car. This makes her an extremely cranky little girl. I even try napping with her and it doesn't work! She falls asleep nursing, but wakes right up after: I've tried letting her CIO, but after 30 minutes of her screaming, I'm a sobbing mess and can't take it. So, I don't think that's for us. I don't know what else to do! And if I can only get her to sleep by nursing her, how will Daddy or Grandma ever get her to sleep? Ugh. My days and nights are all about getting her to sleep and keeping her asleep. I'm getting so frustrated!
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How long has this been going on? She can be going through a leap and that would hopefully mean that these crazy times won't last.
So she won't be rocked to sleep either? How does she usually nap? Is it in a dark room with white noise? Just trying to get more background to see what's going on!
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It's been going on for a couple weeks. Dark room, white noise. I can walk her around and bounce her to sleep sometimes. But usually she just won't go to sleep at all.
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Would she fall asleep if you wore her? I used to walk with DD in the Ergo trying to get a nap. At night, does she latch on and off through the night? I found me and LO both got most sleep when I slept on my side and she could nurse when she wanted. Hugs, I had a baby who fought sleep and it's no fun.
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@CatchAFallingStar: I am sorry, DD HATES naps too but seems happy and ok with it so I just let her be up...
Can you stroll her around??? -
I agree with @FaithFertility: about stroller naps. We still do that most days (or did until she stopped her naps
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@travelgirl1: That is my go to if she is crabby after being up too long... usually works in minutes
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@travelgirl1: @travelgirl1: mine would never stroller nap!
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@snowjewelz: ??? Really
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@FaithFertility: yeah! but then again we don't really stroll her anywhere. on walks I usually wear her. She is a nurse or rock to sleep gal so I've never really tried strolling..
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@snowjewelz: G likes the movement DH will do 100 laps around the house holding her.....I told him that is an awful habit to start but I guess whatever works.....lol
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I hate all the baby sleep issues. I seriously stresses me out so much.
If she was doing fine before, and the change has been in the past couple weeks, she may be going through something (as other have mentioned). Just keep trying is about all the advice I have.
We were doing pretty well with sleep - put her in the crib, walk away and my LO would just fall asleep on her own. Now, she is almost 9 months, and DOES NOT WANT TO BE ALONE, and wakes a couple times a night.
I'm just saying - hang in there.
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How long do you let her stay awake before trying to put her down for a nap? At that age it should still be max 2 hours, sometimes even less. Maybe overtired?
Has she learned anything new recently (rolling, sitting up, etc)? -
Sounds developmental. It will pass, hang in there!
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@SweetiePie: I try putting her down immediately when I can tell she's getting tired (usually an hour or so after waking). She refuses sleep then gets very overtired. I know she's overtired at night because of her lack of naps. I went on 2 hour long car rides for her today. She slept great. But I know motion sleep isn't great and let's face it, gas is not cheap! She's not sitting up yet, but is recently babbling, laughing and discovering and playing with toys much more. Seems to be becoming more aware in general. Maybe that's the problem.
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Thanks everyone!!
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I hold my lo for her naps. I sit with her on a boppy pillow and nurse her to sleep and then stay there for the duration of her nap.
I know it sounds crazy but this ensures she gets the sleep she needs so she's in a good mood and sleeps well at night. She's 9 months now and I've been doing it since about 6.
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@CatchAFallingStar: ok well it sounds like you're doing the timing right. So I agree with other posters that it may just be developmental (physical or mental - check out wonderweeks if you haven't already) and a "phase". My son has gone through a few of these - amazing napper and then WHAM! He just started refusing naps or just playing or they were very short. And each time it felt like my life was over - but it passed!
The best thing you can do is stick to your routine as much as possible and try not to introduce new sleep crutches. So for example, my 9 month old started crawling, pulling up to stand, etc all in the same week PLUS it was a wonder week PLUS he started showing some major signs of separation anxiety. It threw our naps into a tailspin that we are JUST coming out of. But what I did was kept his nap time routine the same and continued to put him in his crib (that's where he always naps best). For a good 2 weeks Id say it was a nightmare and I definitely resorted to CIO a few times and even then sometimes I just had to say "F it" and just went and got him. It was highly stressful because I knew he was tired and I am obsessed with his sleep (that's an understatement) but based on everything I read I stuck to his normal sleep stuff as much as I could. Sure enough in the third week or so things calmed down on their own. The novelty of sitting and crawling and pulling up in bed wore off and be became (for the most part) my angel napper again. He still cries a little when I put him down and when he wakes up (more like whining) which he's never done. I think that's due to the separation anxiety.
It's HARD because you want to do anything you can to get them to sleep. But it will pass so try not to create new habits!
This article is related to the 8-10 month regression we just went through, but I think the tips they give to get through it are relevant for all ages:
http://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-sleep-patterns/8-9-10-month-old-baby-sleep-regression/ -
Have you tried using a swing? It's the only thing that's saved my sanity a few times.
I used it for naps for the first few months, then weaned her off it about a month ago.
But now we're going through a sleep regression, so it's back to the swing
I hate relying on it, but it's that or no sleep at all . . .
)
I hate relying on it, but it's that or no sleep at all . . .
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