I really need help/advice from anyone willing to give it.
We are having major issues with sleeping. We have tried everything, but Mackenzie is really having issues getting to sleep and staying asleep.
Last night Mackenzie woke up basically every 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
Tonight it took me over an hour of her screaming to get her to sleep.
What do I do???
I have tried leaving her in the crib with her mobile...
she is happy but it doesn't put her to sleep, it just entertains her.
I have tried letting her cry...
she just cries until she gets so worked up she can't go to sleep.
I have tried rocking her to sleep...
she just wants to get out of my arms, she can't just calm down.
I have tried putting her on the dryer (Prissy's idea)...
doesn't do anything for her, she just continues to cry.
I have tried driving her around until she falls asleep in the car...
that works until we get her out of the car, then she wakes up within 5 mins.
I don't know what else to do. We have a bedtime routine. We eat, take a bath, get dressed, sing, sometimes "read" a book, and then go to bed.
Please give me suggestions!!!!!!!!!!
This is a problem with naps and nighttime sleep. For the last few days she just doesn't want to sleep. Now when I give her her binky she knows I want her to go to bed and she spits it out if she is tired and gets mad. I just need any help I can get!
Thank you ahead of time for any help I get.
10 comments:
Ok. Caroline was the same way. She is still a terrible sleeper. That is the bad news. More than likely you will always have a battle when it comes to sleeping. HOWEVER... I will share with you my secret weapon that I used for the first 6 months of Caroline's life. Are you ready for it? The vacuum cleaner. Yes. Put her down in her crib or wherever she sleeps, put the vacuum by her crib and turn it on. Amazing what that thing can do. A vacuum... not just for cleaning floors anymore. :-)
sorry about your sleep problems! I wish I had ideas for you! Aiden just slept 8 hours straight last night,sleep isnt an issue at this house! (except for me when i have to take daddy to work lol)
Oh man, I am so sorry! Nathan has generally been a good sleeper...it used to sometimes be a struggle to get him to sleep and he would do the thing where I could tell he was tired, but he wouldn't want to be held and so I would just have to let him cry for 5 minutes or so. If that didn't work, then Jeff would usually hold him until he fell asleep. Now he usually will put himself to sleep, but who knows how long that will last. It seems like babies are always changing their sleeping schedule! Nathan has started waking up more at night again, so who knows?!
One idea that I have is to get a white noise machine. My parents got us one for Christmas. It plays different noises and also has a little picture thing that goes around. He seems to like it.
Anyway, good luck!! It will get better! Hang in there you guys!!! :(
I was just remembering that back when Nathan was about her age, he would sometimes not take naps at all and it would sometimes be a huge struggle to get him to sleep. It wasn't always just "5 minutes of crying." I think I try to block that out of my memory.
I wonder if it is just a symptom of Makenzie's teething maybe? I just really hope it gets better because those are some really frustrating/tiring days/nights! I wish I had more/better advice, but I really don't. Sorry!
One last idea and then I promise I will stop leaving comments!! Is Makenzie sleeping in her crib yet? When we moved Nathan to his crib, his sleeping improved tremendously. Just a thought...
our sleep bible is "healthy sleep habits, happy child." it did wonders for us. check it out. it sounds like you guys are doing a great job!! i think different babies just have a hard time with different things. if anything, i would say choose what your routine will be and stick to it. babies are smarter than we think--they notice a change so quickly it's crazy. best of luck! it'll get better!
Read "On Becoming Babywise." I don't know whether you have heard of this book or not, but it has met every pomise it has made. Charlotte goes to sleep at 8 and wakes up at 7 in the morning. She also takes two good naps, usually two hours long, every day. The book is going to disagee with almost everything you've been doing, but it tells you how to teach babies to put themselves to sleep. It will be hard the first few days getting used to it, but I promise it'll do wonders if you can stick to it. There is even a chapter on the book about starting late rather than doing it from birth. All of my friends that have used the book have babies who sleep through the night. There is so much I could share with you that the book talks about. If you want to give me a call to talk about it, I'd be more than happy. My number is 440-539-6757. I want to help you because it must be so frustrating having her not sleep well.
Hi Meredith. First, your baby is adorable! Second, I am so sorry about your lack of sleep. That's gotta be hard. I have always had fabulous sleepers, but Emma did give me a time at first. I firmly believe in white noise. All of our children have air filters in their rooms that we turn on high. Also when Emma was a baby, I would leave the shirt that I had worn all day in her crib so that she could "smell" me if/when she woke up and be comforted. It seemed to work for me. Other than that, it seems like you're doing everything right! Good luck!!
I have that Babywise book that Laura was talking about if you want it. I never read the whole thing, just part s cause she was so early. After that I just called Laura and asked her. Let me know if you want to borrow it.
I actually had to fight Hailey to go to sleep last night. I hold her too much on the weekends but you know you cant help it when you have to work during the week and we kept her our past her bestimes two nights in a row. Anyway it made me think about something. When you let her cry, after she gets worked up and you pick her up to calm her down again, do you put her right back down? Hailey and I did this for about 45 mins to an hour last night, but we have done it before and this morning when I put her back down for her morning nap she went right to sleep and I'm pretty sure tonight will be better. Basically I sat in the room with my laptop, so she couldnt see me and let her cry. When she got really hysterical I would pick her up, help her calm back down till her eyes get kinda tired again, and then put her down again, and she would start crying again. Eventually she gave up and went to sleep. After she went to sleep, i cried. Its very stressful. Occasionally they are gonna try to test the boundaries. I'm sorry. Let me know if you want me to watch her for a little while so you can take a nap. I can come over this week and let you nap after Adam goes to work. Seriously
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