I don't usually do this, but I am desperate at this point. Chase is not a good sleeper. He WAS a good sleeper. At 6 weeks he was sleeping 5 and 6 hour stretches. It was awesome. Then we went to MI for Christmas and everything has been going downhill since then. I am having THE HARDEST TIME getting this kid on a schedule. I came to the point where I decided that he just maybe would function better not being on a schedule (not everyone is like me, after all!). Well, I started letting him do his own thing, but it is just maddening to me and he IS NOT a happy baby. I never know if he wants to eat, sleep or just hang out. When he cries I have no idea what he needs. My older two were the perfect baby wise babies, esp. Charlotte. She was sleeping nine hours by seven weeks.
Chase is waking up 2-4 times every night. Here are some things I've tried so far with him.
I put a heater in his room and socks over his hands to keep him warm - worked for one or two nights.
I finally let him sleep on his tummy (he seems more comfortable that way BUT, when he cries really hard it makes me nervous.)
I've given him gas drops b/c sometimes I go in there when he is crying in the night and I hear him tooting, then he'll go back to sleep.
I've cut dairy out of my diet (for the most part)as that seems to upset his tummy just like it did with Charlotte
I've give up caffeine, but he seems crazier since I did that
I haven't let him cry it out yet. I didn't have to do that with Charlotte and it makes me sad.
To be honest, the night feedings aren't really bothering me as much as his daily routine (or lack thereof). His feedings are fine, eating every three or four hours, but his naps are just all over the place. I know that if I can get him on a good daily schedule, the night sleep will fall into place. I've read lots of sleep training books and I'm too tired to read more. Please, just tell me what to do!
4 comments:
Boo. I'm so sorry, this is no fun. And, I am no expert. But I would try nursing him every 2 -2 1/2 hours during the day for awhile and see if that helps. We did not do babywise with either of our boys - the only thing I scheduled was the feedings - and I would totally wake them up if it had been 3 hours between feedings (until they got into a routine) - this helped immensely, reducing night wakings for feeding to 1, sometimes 2 during growth spurts, and then eventually NONE, hurray. But each kiddo and each family is different. I'm so sorry you are having a rough time. Praying for a super great night's sleep for you tonight!
totally feel your pain. meg didn't sleep well. in fact, the first time she slept through the night was at 18mos. i tried it all.... schedules (she was GREAT during the day), belly sleeping, swaddling, everything and anything. i was at my wits end. finally, i just embraced it. i hated it, but it was the best after that. sounds weird. and i still hated not sleeping well. but meg is my snuggler. i can see that now. i started feeding her less and less during the nights (which proved to me that she WASN'T actually hungry) and just giving her a quick snuggle or rubbing her back. that would soothe her, and she'd be back to sleep in no time. i made a list of people i could pray for that were worse off than me in order to keep my mind from being angry at her when i would wake up. that might sound bad, too, but it really did help me refocus. now that she sleeps, i love that she is still a snuggler. when you're in the middle of the storm, it feels like you can't see anything else. praying that you can see out soon!
My best advice is to feed, work hard to keep him awake for a couple of hours and then let him sleep..repeat. Whenever they started being more fussy I would up their intake and things would seem to calm down. In the night I would sometimes just give a paci to see if they would drift back to sleep or actually need sleep. Hope this gets better soon and you can get rested :)
I totally hear you on the sleeping. I was all over the place with Solomon and he wasn't sleeping consistently through the night until 5 months. What worked well for him wasn't a by-the-clock schedule but a pattern of activity. WAKE, EAT, PLAY, SLEEP. That really really helped to get him into a pattern of activity and then his daytime naps eventually lengthened and his bedtime became more regular. Like the other gals said, I totally get the place you're at right now. Sleep deprivation is nasty horrible business and it completely flattened me! I'll be praying God gives you and Chase relief soon!
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