Poor sleepers roll call

Jule'sMomInOR · #1 June 14th, 2011, 09:32 AM

If you have a notorious poor sleeper like I do, check in here! Is your baby making progress? Have you found anything that's helped? How many night wakings are you up to now? How are naps going?

Juliana is making progress although certainly things could be a lot better. Back around 7 months or so I found out she was lactose intolerant, and cutting out dairy stopped the waking up screaming with tummy pain incidents. The next biggest thing that has helped is (and I have to say - DUH) giving her lots of solids before bed. I used to just offer some of what we're having for dinner, but I learned to also offer some of the things she's been known to love (like pieces of turkey) before bed.

She has had a couple of nights when she's slept 8 or 9 hours straight, but sadly, it's been over a week since we had a decent one. She was up 4 times last night and 5 the night before, but we'd also have quite a few nights with "only" 2 wakings, so that's much better. She is cutting 4 teeth at the same time, so I should hardly be surprised.

Another thing I've noticed is she's doing a lot better with putting herself to sleep. I still bounce her on the exercise ball until she's drowsy, then nurse her. I used to have to gently pry my nipple out of her mouth after she was already asleep, and now she'll unlatch her self, roll over, get into a comfortable position, possibly roll back a few times, and fall asleep. It's great! She's still sleeping in our bed, and I don't have plans to move her in the near future. Maybe in 6 more months.

Re: naps, I got her down to two naps and it's so much better than the 3 nap/day schedule! She generally has a short (45-60 minute) nap in the morning and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. I love having that time from about 3:45-5:45 to make dinner.

Daffodil · #2 June 14th, 2011, 09:52 AM

My daughter is hopefully a formerly notorious bad sleeper..I mean, to be honest, she wasn't generally terrible. But for the longest time she would wake up twice a night. I really think teething plays a huge part in night wakings! But also she would want her bottle, and I think she was really hungry.

Now she is eating more during the day, and for the past week she has been sleeping through the night. A couple of days ago she did wake up and I couldn't get her back to bed without giving her a bit of water (I think this was about 4 am) but the next few nights she was back to sleeping through. What I did was simply feed her water, and water only through the night. I think that forced her to eat more during the day.

I don't know how long this will last but I am loving it. Last night was the first night in forever when *I* slept through the night, because I was still waking up at night, probably because my body was now programmed to it! I feel like a new person today and I hope posting this doesn't screw me over lol.

Jule'sMomInOR · #3 June 14th, 2011, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daffodil

Now she is eating more during the day, and for the past week she has been sleeping through the night. A couple of days ago she did wake up and I couldn't get her back to bed without giving her a bit of water (I think this was about 4 am) but the next few nights she was back to sleeping through. What I did was simply feed her water, and water only through the night. I think that forced her to eat more during the day.

Hmmm, I'm tempted to try the water thing. I'm thinking if Juliana is waking up because she really is hungry, it would make it wake up again sooner. But if she's waking up out of habit, it might make her decide it's not worth it to wake up?

Daffodil · #4 June 14th, 2011, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jule'sMomInOR

Hmmm, I'm tempted to try the water thing. I'm thinking if Juliana is waking up because she really is hungry, it would make it wake up again sooner. But if she's waking up out of habit, it might make her decide it's not worth it to wake up?

Yeah, I wasn't sure if she was waking up because she was hungry or because it was habit, so here is what I did. I always had her bottles in the bathroom ready to go (well, her formula wasn't mixed yet obviously) because I didn't want to trek all over the house when she wakes up. She always woke up twice a night, so for her first bottle, I put less and less formula in it, until it was just water. Her second bottle was formula. Then I put less and less formula in that one until it was just water. By this point she was only waking up once a night. I had all kinds of plans on how to get her off that bottle but at night when I was sleepy, I could never follow through. Finally she just started sleeping through the night on her own.

So it was a gradual thing (a few weeks)...maybe you can try water for her first waking?

AmandaEliz · #5 June 14th, 2011, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jule'sMomInOR

Re: naps, I got her down to two naps and it's so much better than the 3 nap/day schedule! She generally has a short (45-60 minute) nap in the morning and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. I love having that time from about 3:45-5:45 to make dinner.

I'm so glad the 2 naps/day is working out for you! Naps are not just for the kids to recharge; we need that time as well.

Well... I'm kinda afraid to type this, but here goes. Avery has STTN for the last 5 nights. It is glorious. After darn near 11 months of not sleeping, I'm actually starting to feel normal again. Her 4 top teeth poked through & all the sudden... BAM... sleep. Fingers crossed that little miss Night Owl keeps this up.

mommytokem · #6 June 14th, 2011, 11:26 AM

We are getting better, he sttn some nights but others he's still up once or twice. Ive noticed the more active we are during the day, playing outside, going places the better he sleeps at night.

madelynsmomma · #7 June 14th, 2011, 11:45 AM

Yeah still not even thinking about sleeping here. And now naps are getting shorter and we are all suffering. She was doing mostly ok with her very small amount of sleep as long as she got a couple naps in. Now that shes not napping much, she's even crabbier than normal. I'm at a loss. She'll be 11 months tomorrow, and I still don't even see a flicker of light at the end of this tunnel. Whew ok vent over.

Lilly Bella · #8 June 14th, 2011, 12:38 PM

sttn??? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHA. breathe. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HA. whew.

Jule'sMomInOR · #9 June 14th, 2011, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmandaEliz

Well... I'm kinda afraid to type this, but here goes. Avery has STTN for the last 5 nights. It is glorious. After darn near 11 months of not sleeping, I'm actually starting to feel normal again. Her 4 top teeth poked through & all the sudden... BAM... sleep. Fingers crossed that little miss Night Owl keeps this up.

Great news! If Avery can do it maybe the rest of them can, too. Yay for sleep!

Mom-Mom · #10 June 14th, 2011, 03:22 PM

Yep we have to check in here. She used to be a great sleeper, but for the past 5 mos she gets up at least twice, usually more. Last night she was up 5 times between 3&5 am. She still gets up for a bottle, sometimes i can trick her with water, sometimes that just makes her more mad and loud. If it is just her & i in bed, usually she is fine...anyone else, nope.

Arei_720 · #11 June 14th, 2011, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mom-Mom

Yep we have to check in here. She used to be a great sleeper, but for the past 5 mos she gets up at least twice, usually more. Last night she was up 5 times between 3&5 am. She still gets up for a bottle, sometimes i can trick her with water, sometimes that just makes her more mad and loud. If it is just her & i in bed, usually she is fine...anyone else, nope.

I too once had a good sleeper... it seems so long ago. I'd put her in her crib, turn on her music maker and let her fall asleep. Now, she has to be passed out on the breast, and placed ever-so-gently in there so as not to jar her. Otherwise, she jumps up and starts screaming. I've tried rubbing her back but she's inconsolable. Last night, she was up every few hrs.

Mom-Mom · #12 June 14th, 2011, 05:43 PM

Yep. This morning i had to sleep sitting up on the couch with her sitting between my legs, so she could watch Dora.

ElizabethS · #13 June 14th, 2011, 07:39 PM

Ethan is a poor sleeper! He was waking up 3x a night (from 10pm until 7am....literally) and drinking 24 oz of formula. Now he's backed off to 2x a night (1:30am and 4:30-5am). However last night we put him in his pack n play for the first time and he slept from 11:30-4:30am so he only drank one bottle. So maybe he'll get better once he's in his own bed?

bundle2baby · #14 June 14th, 2011, 08:08 PM

Yeah, we still have a light sleeper after about 3am here. Some nights are better than others. I think it is related to teething and getting closer to walking (and he is and always has been super high energy).

Hollybear · #15 June 14th, 2011, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lilly Bella

sttn??? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHA. breathe. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HA. whew.

LOL!

You know, I go back and forth between saying we're doing good and not doing good. She naps amazing, like, almost too good. She loves to nap. She also does this thing where I call it her "alone time". She'll be laying on her back usually talking to a stuffed animal. When she's done (probably 20 min) she'll stand up and yell "MUUUUMMMMM" (I only know this because I just sit and watch her on the monitor LOL)

At night she'll wake up to nurse anytime between 3:00 - 7:00am, although I noticed this morning she woke up to nurse at 3:45, then again at 6:45, and at 7:30 I rocked her for a long time and she ended up sleeping until almost 9:45, maybe 10? She really likes to be rocked.

Ally-Mac · #16 June 15th, 2011, 04:56 AM

I believe Sydney may have been reading this thread over my shoulder. She normally sleeps 12 hours without waking up (or if she does wake up, she soothes herself back to sleep). Like clockwork - 7:30pm until about 7am.

Last night --- OMG. She was up 4 or 5 times. We had to take her into bed with us b/c it was like she had an aversion to her crib! I think she realized after reading this thread that other babies like to party at night and figured she would try it out! Here's to hoping she goes back to normal tonight *fingers crossed*

TarrahLovesHuLo · #17 June 15th, 2011, 05:47 AM

Hunter hasn't changed much. Always a terrible sleeper, and it's gotten worse. I didnt' think that was possible. He has began waking up every time he is put down. He does this "stiff as a board" movement and begins screaming. Lastnight it was constant. I gave him advil, thinking it was likely his teeth, but it didn't help. He had a bottle, and that didn't help. I even gave him gripe, in case it was gas, and it didn't help. After all that i decided it was time to let him cry a while. I watched him on his monitor. He screamed bloody murder, and would stop to yawn. Then he would "ba ba ba ga dad ga" for a bit, and begin screaming again. I went on until i felt he began getting hysterical. I would go in, give him his soother, and he would extend his arms to be held. So I'd rock him for about 5 mins, he'd fall asleep, and then the whole thing would start over again when I put him in his crib. I was up 12 times lastnight...and DH was probably close to the same, maybe 8.

AmandaEliz · #18 June 15th, 2011, 08:17 AM

I KNEW I shouldn't have said anything. Crap. Avery was up pretty much most of the night last night. Um, yeah. I had my interview on about 2 hours of sleep (not in a row either). She was doing the same kind of thing Hunter was. She'd be sacked out on me in the rocking chair, I'd lay her in her crib, sometimes I'd get back to my bed & snuggled in before she'd start to scream. Other times, she'd just roll over & scream as soon as I laid her in her crib. Boooooooooo.

Daffodil · #19 June 15th, 2011, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TarrahLovesHuLo

Hunter hasn't changed much. Always a terrible sleeper, and it's gotten worse. I didnt' think that was possible. He has began waking up every time he is put down. He does this "stiff as a board" movement and begins screaming. Lastnight it was constant. I gave him advil, thinking it was likely his teeth, but it didn't help. He had a bottle, and that didn't help. I even gave him gripe, in case it was gas, and it didn't help. After all that i decided it was time to let him cry a while. I watched him on his monitor. He screamed bloody murder, and would stop to yawn. Then he would "ba ba ba ga dad ga" for a bit, and begin screaming again. I went on until i felt he began getting hysterical. I would go in, give him his soother, and he would extend his arms to be held. So I'd rock him for about 5 mins, he'd fall asleep, and then the whole thing would start over again when I put him in his crib. I was up 12 times lastnight...and DH was probably close to the same, maybe 8.

Tarrah, I can't remember, what happens when you bring Hunter to bed with you? I know you've tried it before.

Well, add me to the list of not having a great night..but honestly, it was kinda funny. Hubby and I heard a big "PLOP!" and both woke up at the same time and realized Arie had fallen off the foot of the bed LOL. Its only funny because our mattress is on the ground so she didn't have far to fall, but lookout everyone who cosleeps!

After that she woke up a few times but easily fell back asleep but at one point I fed her a bottle of formula, and then she was out. Hopefully tonight will be better.