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Are your babies staying on their backs when they sleep now that they are more mobile?
C is almost always passed out on her belly when I go to get her in the AM....
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@highwire: Always on her back, she hasn't rolled yet!
So little A came out of her harness yesterday and it's done a number on her sleep. She usually STTN but got up three times last night, didn't nap at all yesterday and only napped one today and that was on me. I think it's because she isn't used to being able to move her legs so much and they wake her up. I guess that's why people swaddle babies' legs but we can't do that so we have to ride it out. Poor little thing, she's shattered and it's made her very clingy. I really don't want to get into the habit of letting her nap on me though, it took four months to break that the first time (which was totally my fault, I loved baby cuddles too much).
Hope you're all having weekends with lots of rest and sleep : )
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@travelgirl1: what about a sleep sack? Her legs would be contained but not restricted or tight?
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@highwire: She already sleeps in one, we use the Halo brand so they're extra spacy around the hips. She was up about 7 times last night, didn't go down at all until about 11pm either : ( Today she woke at 7am but has napped on and off all morning since then, I think she's so tired it's all catching up with her. Hopefully she'll adjust soon, poor little thing.
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@travelgirl1: We use the Merlin suit and it would probably help in your situation. However, if you've already made it through two nights of it you probably won't have many more before she adjusts. Also, that's so exciting that she got the harness off!
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@ChelseaRose: We just started using the Merlin Suits and I agree that they are magical.
@travelgirl1: Maybe try the Magic Sleep Suit? They have full mobility but it muffles the startle reflex. C & N have started STTN again since we ditched the Halo sacks and started in the suits... -
@travelgirl1: I feel so bad for you and baby A mama! Hope she adjusts soon!
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@ChelseaRose: @twoofeverything: Thanks guys : ) She needs her hips totally free and nothing tight against them at all so not sure whether we'd be able to use those, but they sound like a fab idea!
@kml636: Aw thank you : ) She did better today so hopefully she's over the worst. And on the plus side, she loves being able to kick her legs, so it's worth it : )
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@highwire: M is almost always on her tummy when I go get her these days. It still freaks me out a little to have her sleep on her tummy but she is much more comfortable there. The only issue is she seems to have forgotten that she knows how to roll from tummy to back so as soon as she wakes up in the morning she freaks out for me to come get her.
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@highwire: M went through a rough patch a week or so ago because she kept flipping onto her belly to sleep, but then would wake up screaming, so we would turn her on her back again and this would go on all night lol. that has now passed (thank God!) but now she is just sleeping on her tummy and seems fine with it, and sleeps much better! i am a little nervous, but she can roll and has great head control so i think she is fine.
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I think DH and I are going to bite the bullet and start sleep training little miss this coming weekend.
I had a major meltdown last night when she had a really hard time going down at bedtime and she is now in the 'optimal' window of time according to that post that Mrs. Bee put on the blog a while back.
I just hope we don't become one of those stories where it didn't work and ended up making things worse
Anyone else whose LO still doesn't fall asleep on their own thinking of sleep training? Has anyone done it? I am probably wrong but it seems like we're in one of two camps here. Mamas whose babies have STTN for a while now from a pretty young age, or mamas like me who have multiple night wakings and need nursing/rocking/patting to get LO to sleep.
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@lindseykaye: Good luck with sleep training! I think it is worth it (even though I am one of those in the first camp of having a good sleeper). If she wasn't, I'd definitely be taking conscious steps to help improve it, for sure.
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@lindseykaye: I think I've responded to another post of yours about sleep training, but we have had great success with the no cry sleep solution. LO puts himself to sleep at night and for naps and it is ahhhmazing to do our routine and walk away. Like you, we were taking up to an hour of rocking, soothing (wouldn't nurse to sleep) and then him waking or fussing after ten minutes. Now it is no tears, and down for a solid 6-8 hours before he wakes to nurse. It was a lot of work, and scary to try and change his sleep if it were to get worse, but it has been life changing to not have him be fighting one of us for every sleep put down. Good luck!!
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@scg00387: I think so, too. And I'm so glad you had a positive experience with it all. It's very encouraging to read it work for someone on here.
We're going to try the no-cry methods first and see how it goes. A few nights last week I was able to put her down drowsy and just hide behind the crib (it felt ridiculous but it was better that she couldn't see me) and she wiggled and squirmed but didn't cry and fell asleep on her own. But then there were other nights last week where that went on for 30 minutes before she started to full on fuss, we still waited then went in to help with pats and shushing and it just avalanched into hysterical screaming and ended with me nursing her for just a few minutes before she went down and was asleep immediately.So, sometimes I think we're making progress and then when nights like that happen and I end up stepping in to nurse again it feels like a giant step backwards and I'm left wondering if I just undid all the previous nights and left her to scream before that for nothing. I'm constantly second-guessing these decisions and then am left feeling guilty that I either didn't stick with the plan or intervened too late and wasted all that time she could have been sleeping.
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@lindseykaye: Despite the fact that M can be tough to get down for the night I'm still not ready to sleep train. She's at least really easy DURING the night now (either no wake ups, or a quick ten minute nursing session and then right back down). So it's only the initial bed time that's tough. For us what's holding us back is often if she wakes up crying shortly after being put down it's because her tummy hurts. Usually one of us will go in there and hold her upright and she'll burp and go right back to sleep. So best we can tell at this point she's crying because she actually needs us.
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@lindseykaye: Do you have a video monitor?? I've found it has been super helpful to determine when/whether to go back in. It sounds insane but using it and a timer has really helped. I've found that usually if he is going to fall back asleep on his own, it happens within 10 minutes of waking/fussing (for naps and night). It also helps because sometimes his arm/leg is stuck and if I just move him and pat he goes back to sleep.
In the beginning pats/shhs did NOT work well enough and we had to pick up and rock (we've never nursed to sleep, but used to rock to sleep) until he calmed down and then put him back. He would always scream the hardest right after I put him back down - I made myself walk down to the kitchen and back before going back in and 9 times out of 10 he had quieted himself and showed signs of going back to sleep. As he got more used to the idea, we would try pats and shhs and pick up if needed, and now we hardly ever have to pick up.
I don't remember if I said this before.. but a lovey (aden + anais blanket) seems to have helped a ton too. He rubs his face in it, and I nestle it in between us when he nurses for the night so it is nice and warm. When we shh/pat we draw it up near his face so he can suck on it as well.
I don't know if any of that is helpful. But I TOTALLY hear you on the second guessing and it sucks.
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@scg00387: not sure if you've already explained this but i'm just curious, how did u introduce the lovey to your LO? I'm trying to introduce one bc even tho she sleeps really well in her crib at home, its really hard for her to sleep when we're out and about. and daycare naps are starting to get worse. so i want to see if a lovey will help. i'm just basically putting the lovey near her at all times and kind of brushing it in her face. she kinda seems to be grabbing at it more now but i'm not sure if its just a coincidence. let me know if you have tips!
@lindseykaye: good luck with sleep training! i know what you mean about second guessing decisions. LO's naps have been interesting lately. good days and bad. and i feel like on the bad days i go get her too soon and then i feel like i should've waited longer. bleh. but i *try* to remember that i can't undo what i've done so i try to forget about it. but anyway, for sleep training, i'd try something for 3-5 days and if it's not working then either try something else or go back to the usual. i think babies usually will respond within that time if its working!
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@MamaMoose: Ellora is really easy in the middle of the night so it's really the initial bedtime that is so tough. I am not trying to night-wean either because she is genuiney hungry when she wakes. Her early morning wake-up between 5 and 6 is rough though because she needs a change then and will wake up more fully and thinks it's time to start the day. I would love for her to be able to go back in her crib and fall asleep for another hour or so while I get ready and do my own morning things and she gets a little more sleep.
@scg00387: We don't have a video monitor and usually just listen and/or spy through her door. Or, I creep around like an idiot below her sight line in the nursery
Good tips about the timing though. It's just a matter of me being strong enough to really follow through.
I talked to DH about a lovey this weekend. She is drawn to these chenille blankets we have but I'm afraid they are too big! They're lightweight and definitely breathable, but it still freaks me out to put them in her crib and encourage her to snuggle them. Maybe I can make a little project out of it and cut/sew one down a bit in size. Then we'll have backups, which is probably a good thing. -
@lindseykaye: When my LO wakes up early I just pull her into our bed and nurse her. (I don't change her diaper until I'm ready to dress her for the day). She'll usually fall back to sleep on the boob and then I can slip out of bed and start my morning routine while she hangs out in bed with daddy. Do you think if you skipped the change and went ahead and nursed her she would dose a little longer?
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@MamaMoose: I think she would, but at that point she has either already or is about to leak through her 12-hour Pampers after 9 or 10 hours
Though, I know if I changed her first and then nursed her in bed she would have a good chance of sleeping again. I'll have to see if DH would be comfortable co-sleeping with her like that in the mornings. We do it on the weekends but I'm usually in bed with her too and am a little more alert about blankets and things like that. It's definitely an option! -
@lindseykaye: We have a foscam monitor - I have no idea how expensive "real" ones are.. but seriously it is a LIFE saver when it comes to figuring out his sleep. We have the app on our phones to look at him; it has just helped so much if you're having trouble I would totally encourage you to consider one! Like I said, now he usually goes down at night without a peep on his own from wide awake but last week he yelped and I pulled up the video and could see that he had spit up and was face down in it and was having trouble.. (obviously we went in). Last night he made basically the same noise and I pulled up the video and could see he was laying tummy down, nuzzling his lovey and about to suck his thumb so I did not go in, and sure enough 1 minute later he was passed out.
I would stress about a bigger blanket too - but that sounds like a great idea to cut it smaller. It has also helped us when we travel that he has the same thing that smells like us.
@kodybear: He has always loved blankets, so maybe I just got lucky
I just integrated it into our nap and night routine and he immediately glommed on it; and if we're trying to settle him, we pull it up by his hands if it isn't already. So for naps, we do sleepsack and I hand him the lovey while we read a book and he plays with it/rubs it on his face, then we turn off the light/noise machine/rock for 30 seconds, and I put him down with it. At night, I shove it between us while he nurses so it's warm and lay it across his hands when I put him down. We only give it to him for sleep or if he is sick and it's definitely become a strong sleep/crib cue!
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@scg00387: thanks for the A&A rec-- A LOVES having a lovey during his naps and has started needing one at night too, i ran out and got a two back-- peace of mind and he's comforted.
I know Novbaby started a thread about this-- but wanted to ask all the Nov mamas... anyone struggling with early AM wakeups?
For the past wk or so A's usualy 7-6+ schedule has turned into 7-4 wake up, he'll play in his crib sleep for a lil bit, and then wake up at 530 for the first nursing session.
he did start doing the side sleeping and spin in circle all night move too so i'm just riding it out til he sleeps longer.
but boy am i tired with these early am wakeups. i usually just nurse him in bed and we stay in bed for a lil while longer, but it's def hard for me to sleep that way
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@mrsjyw: yay! glad he likes them! We've been having early morning wake ups the last few days as well, but he's always been an early bird. I don't have to go in but I hear him cry and settle around 4/5/6 and then he's been up for the day at 6:30.
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@mrsjyw: C had a 5/530 wakeup on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. But I just totally ignored it and she went back to sleep. Is A getting super fussy at that time? Maybe wait it out a little longer and see if he can just go back to sleep?
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@mrsjyw: Us! We ended up getting rid of the pacifiers because of those nasty little 4am wake up calls, and...it worked. Hallelujah. They'll stir a little around 4 or 5 but put themselves back to sleep because, well, I ain't havin' it! They have STTN more than they haven't, (so I know they can go until 6, at least)...which means at 4am? I just let them fuss themselves back to sleep. They had some short crying fits for a couple of nights but now they just roll over and go back to sleep.
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@highwire: @twoofeverything: @scg00387: yep it's the full on crying at 530. that's why i've gotten to nurse him... i usually try to wait it out, but this last wk has been out of the norm as far as his crying waking up.
THIS TOO SHALL PASS
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I know I'm probably jinxing it - but last night our little miss slept for 7 hours and 45 minutes straight. OMG this hasn't happened since before I returned to work when she was sleeping in her swing for most of the night.
Of course I kept waking up, wondering when the ticking time bomb would go off but it just never did. I even think that if I had let her go when she fussed around 3AM that she would have fallen back asleep but my boobs were exploding and I nursed her more for me than for her probably.We've been working on a new nighttime routine with an earlier bath (I think it was making her excited rather than sleepy) and earlier bedtime (closer to 7-7:30 rather than 8) along with putting her in her crib drowsy/awake. We are also scheduling her naps at daycare better and she goes down for them great while she is there and does better at home on the weekends with us. I don't expect this to happen again tonight, but I am really optimistic that we are turning a corner.
Thanks again for all your support and suggestions everyone! I still can't believe it!
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@lindseykaye: woo hoo! I'm so jealous. I got only two hours of sleep last night. It has not been good in our household! Fingers crossed she keeps it up for you!
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@lindseykaye: Sometimes I get so annoyed that everyone in the house would be sleeping peacefully if it weren't for my damn boobs!
Haha congrats on the long stretch of sleep, though!
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so i don't want to jinx myself, but a's been sleeping his normal stretch the last few nights (solids helping?)
his naps have been kind of wonky, but i think it's mostly due to the weather (he's too hot)... and thankfully hasn't affected his nighttime sleep... he's been going down at 7 and fussing a bit at midnight, falling right back asleep... then waking up at 530/6am but in the BEST mood and playing by himself before falling asleep for another hour or so. And nursing at 7am ish!
Hope this sticks around!
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What are all of your nap schedules like nowadays? Based on a lot of what I've read and heard from others, Em is getting to the age where she 'should' be moving from three naps to two. But I don't think we are anywhere near this. She takes three lousy naps at daycare (thirty minutes is a good nap for her there) and then one when she gets home...if she doesn't conk out in her carseat on the way home.
So her schedule is usually something like this--
Wake up: 6:15am
Nap 1: Around 9am (each nap is usually 30 mins tops)
Nap 2: Around 11:30am
Nap 3: Around 2:00pm
Nap 4: Around 5pm
Bedtime: 7:30pmThe last nap is such a pain, because its too close to her bedtime but there is no way she can make it from 2:30 pm until bed. She is so cranky without it, but it's a challenge to get her to nap in her crib for this one.
Until she starts napping longer, I don't think we can reduce the number of naps anytime soon. So complicated!
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@SLR: a is a lil over 6 months and his usual schedule looks like this -
awake at 630, nurse, and lay in our bed, up for the day at 730
eat banana 8ish
nap 1 at 830 - 930
nurse/bottle at 10
nap 2 at 1130 - 1230
nurse/bottle at 1
nap 3 at 230-330
nurse/bottle at 4
solids around 530
bathtime 6/630
passed out at 7/730
it's a crapshoot with naps though and sometimes that last one is hard...
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@SLR: Even when he is getting more day sleep with the 3, lately it seems like he is just as cranky once he wakes up and then has trouble falling asleep so fingers crossed, I'm going to try and stick with the 2.
His naps have been variable but this is vaguely our day lately:
6:30 wake
7a eat
8:45/9 nap - 10/11ish
11a eat
1/1:30 nap - 2:30/3ish
3a eat
6p eat
6:30 asleep
(1/2a eat)Today he woke from his second nap (1 hour long) at 2p and I decided not to try for a third nap... he was passed out at 6p after early bedtime routine, but was happy until right before then.
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we're still at 3 naps as well and probably will be for the foreseeable future since LO can't stay awake for more than 2 hours without heading to cranky town. on my work from home days she naps from 9-11am, 1230-230pm, and 4-5pm. on the daycare days who knows! haha its like 3 or 4 - 1 hour ish naps.
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Oh my gosh y'all, my baby's sleep is terrible!!! She will only nap in my arms and night times have become just as bad because now I give in and side nurse her so she expects to be in our bed and she expects to roll over and find mummy and boob on tap, ha ha. We have to make a quick dash to England for a few days tomorrow but when we get back we're getting on top of it, for her sake really because she seems so tired through the day, poor baby.
Hope you're all getting more sleep than I am : )
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@SLR: Still at 3-4 naps a day. The daycare is too active for her to sleep any longer than about an hour for most of her naps while she is there. At home, she'll sometimes take longer ones just because I can keep it quiet for longer periods of time, I feel like. I'd love to move down to two, which happens once in a blue moon around here, but for now we aren't consciously trying to change anything.
@travelgirl1: So sorry you are having sleep trouble!! Have a safe trip.
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@travelgirl1: Have a good trip! Good luck. It's so hard not to get caught up in whatever's easiest
Lily is sleeping marginally better, down to two naps a day for the most part but it's difficult to get her to sleep longer than 45 mins. She was sleeping better at night though, so there is that.
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We are FINALLY in the 3 nap camp, thank goodness.
Typical schedule:
6:15-6:30a - Awake
7:00 - Bottle
8:30ish - Nap #1 (1.5ish hrs)
10:30 - Bottle
11:15 - Solids
12:00ish - Nap #2 (45 mins-1hr)
2:00 - Bottle
3:30ish - Nap #3 (30-40 mins)
4:30 - Solids + small cluster feed if needed
6:00 - Bottle
7:00 - Bed
We got DS out of the Magic SleepSuit a couple of weeks ago, and he has become a religious belly sleeper. It's so stinkin' cute! DD was having NONE of the swaddle weaning, though, so she's in the sleepsuit for the forseeable future. She is a lot smaller (14lbs) and still has less control over her body. Until she starts giving us some clear signals that she's ready, she's stuck in the "Michelin Man Suit." I swear by that thing! -
@twoofeverything: I love the sleep suit too, but he's started to sleep on his side or sometimes his belly, so I think we're going to have to stop using it. I even bought a bigger one, but he's still in the small.
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C's sleep is messed up wahhh.
Saturday morning she slept in until 9am. Sunday morning she woke up at 5 am. Last night she woke up screaming at 1015 pm and 4 am. I don't remember her last MOTN wake up like this.
I'm guessing it is either separation anxiety (she immediately went back to sleep when I picked her up and every time I tried to put her back in the crib it was like a lava pit, like one of you said). Or teething. Or she's about to crawl. Or she's allergic to the peas I gave her. Or all of the above. Yawn.
I don't know if any of that is helpful. But I TOTALLY hear you on the second guessing and it sucks.
Good tips about the timing though. It's just a matter of me being strong enough to really follow through.
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