I'm losing it - baby sleep problems

[hippieintraining]

Thanks everyone! I know this much waking can be normal, it's just hard when we go to get him and even when snuggled or nursed, he's still crying!!!

Went to the chiro today, so hopefully a better night awaits us...

[Husky359]

My 2 1/2 yr old ds went down to waking up every 45 min at that age!!! He was a real challenge. Later we realized every time he did that, it was because he was teething! We bought the amber necklace and it actually seemed like it helped, maybe it was the placebo affect on us, who knows.

Just know that you will come through this someday!!! It will get better! And we coslept, just so you know where we were on it.

[hippieintraining]

Last night was the worst yet. We couldn't get him to sleep at ALL! Finally at 6am my MIL came to get him, and he's staying there tonight. She has a freezer full of my BM but I feel so guilty that even between the TWO of us (and DH is truly amazing) we can't look after him. This is AWFUL!! Hopefully after a night of rest, I can cope again...

Thanks all!

[palsmama]

Originally Posted by burnsis if I had a penny for every time I read something like this I would be rich it's normal and healthy for bfing babies to not STTN till 3-4 years of age...esp. those who cosleep. no specialist needed...your baby is normal. our society has just become too focused on scheduling babies and making them more convenient. we hear stories of people who sleep train their kiddos and then feel that they should all sleep so many hours per night and be "good" little ones. http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detsleepthrough.html

ITA!

[me_just_me]

Originally Posted by applebutter Sounds like he may be getting too much sleep. At his age, he needs about 13.5 hrs per day. Try moving his bedtime back to 8 so he's more tired when it's time to go to bed, and wake him up around 6 to start the day. Keep him up till about 9, then try getting him down for his first nap. DS was exactly the same way at that age. At 10 mos, we cut out the morning nap, and moved the afternoon nap to right after lunch (and moved lunch up earlier too). It helped a LOT. I've found Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Ferber to be the best book addressing sleep. If you haven't read it, I'd recommend it!

Her baby though is still only 8 months old. And most (82%) of 12 month olds still take two naps a day, so I'm not sure I would recommend reducing sleep at this point.

OP I'm sure you've tried this, but have you changed his diaper when he wakes up? My DS started getting really fussy and crying a lot at night. I would get up and nurse him and lay him back down and he would start all over again. I would spend hours rubbing/patting his back, singing to him rubbing his head. He would calm down a bit while I was trying to comfort him, but he would never actaully fall asleep, or he would wake up as soon as I stopped. He seemed genuinely uncomfortable. I finally decided to try changing his diaper. We hadn't been doing middle of the night changes for quite some time but thought I'd give it a try since he just seemed so uncomfortable. It was amazing! I changed him and laid him back down and he rolled over and went right to sleep! I have no idea why this was the case. I have no clue if this would work for you, but thought I'd pass the tip along. I know how hard getting no sleep at night can be. My DD was awful at that age! I do think though that a lot of times it is just part of that stage/age since both my kids started regressing with their sleep right at that point. And from what I've read it is a common age for sleep habits to get crazy.

I hope you can figure out some way to help him sleep so you can get some needed rest!

Originally Posted by applebutter Your 12 mo old sleeps 15 hours per day? Am I reading that right?

Not who you are asking, but my 13 month old goes to bed at 7pm, wakes up at 7am, takes a morning nap at 9am-11am, then and afternoon nap at 1pm-3pm. So that is 16 hours a day. Granted some days the naps are a bit shorter or longer and sometimes bedtime gets pushed out if we are out and about, but this is what a regular day is like for him. The book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child states that just under 14 hours a day for a 1 year old is the median amount of sleep per day, so 50% are going to sleep more than that and 50% will sleep less than that. Mine is just one of those that fall into the "more" category