MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH :D Maybe this will help! - Page 2

[Mamato3wild ponnie]

I tried the 7pm..well actually 7:30ish....and laid down with him, he nursed..all the while kicking his legs all over the place...a sign that sleep is not in the near future. I was praying though...i really was. Then he sits up and wants to climb to the headboard and stand up...I re-direct him to lay beside me...offer the second breast... he pulls off after 30 seconds and wants to climb to the end of the bed...not good..he can fall. Starts crying when i dont put him down off the bed...i try everything i know to comfort him at this point...but he wants down. And keeps crying...i sing, hummm, rock, pat, rub....nothing is soothing him. He doesnt even want to nurse at this point! I gave up and brought him out to the living room!
He only slept 30 min today at nap time! I'm to my whits...really...I am willing to try anything..except letting him cry. Even when he is beside me i don like for him to cry like that. It was only a few min...but that seemed like way to long!
Any suggestions mama's?

[nudhistbudhist]

Would you consider moving your mattress to the floor? That's why we did! Having to constantly redirect your child may be stimulating him. Same with the singing/patting. I only do that for a few minutes with DS and then I stop and lay quietly, otherwise he keeps going. I use the singing/patting as a cue that we are now getting ready to calm ourselves for bed, and then I lay and wait. If you're bed is on the floor he can get on and off without you needing to redirect and give him your attention. Also, removing anything stimulating may mean getting rid of the headboard if he likes to climb it. It may have even become a game for him! He's getting your attention Skyy was doing this too!!! And when I would give up and leave the bedroom, he wins, and continues his overtired almost frantic way of running around. This is usually when he would start tripping or walking into things and then the crying would start. That was when I used to take him to bed. Once he cried he seemed to be able to settle very very fast, but it turns out that was WAAAAAAAY past when he actually needed me to step in and hold the boundries for him. For us, closing the bedroom doors held the space in which he could wind down and fall asleep in. He is looking to me to do this. He is a child, and me looking to him for tiredness reverses the role of parent and child.

My husband at first did not want the mattress on the floor (he's afraid of spiders lol) but now he loves it! Maybe give it a try?? Remember, it wont be forever!

[Luke's mama]

Thank you for this great information!
Your son sounds like such a funny little guy and so full of character!
I am excited to look into the Waldorf ideas--some it sounds like I might have been following by coincidence (I am always reluctant to take my 17 mo out if it messes with nap time, etc,) but would like to know more. Just wanted to offer my experience about getting ds to go to sleep even when he would like to crawl and play on the bed--I had some real patience problems with the nighttime routine and got so frustrated when he would do that monkeying around, so what i have been doing is to do the routine (bath, book, nurse, etc) and when the lights go out I don't lie down with him but cradle him, sing and either sway him or pace with him. This way he can't get down and crawl and climb!

I also have a question about the signing. I tried when my son was around ten months, I guess I wasn't consistent enough but he just never really responded so I gave up, and as time has progressed, figured he would start talking soon anyway. Do you think it is still a good idea to teach at 17 mos? And what are some specific books, tips, etc. that have worked for you?
Thanks!

[nudhistbudhist]

If I could walk/rock my babe to sleep, that would totally be my first choice. He doesn't like being in the sling for bedtime now. It used to be the one sure way of getting him to sleep. If I put him in the sling he will try every trick in the book. "Down!" "Drink" "Potty" "Bjambjam" (peanutbutter and jam). Anything but putting his head down and sleeping

It's a funny thing with the signing... we signed and signed and he would watch my hand sometimes... and nothing. Then around 10 months, he literally EXPLODED signs everywhere for everything. The first signs he did, he was signing to himself, and wouldn't show me. It was almost like he wanted to make sure he had it right before he showed us?? He started by signing the most important ones, like "milk" (boobas) "water" and "potty." Then we started signing A LOT with him, and he only had to be shown a sign once. His signing vocab was around 20 signs at that point. We included bath, bed, blanket, cat, farm animals (we live on a farm, so it really sunk in signing the animal while saying the noise it made). Then, we were on a trip and he was miserable in the truck. We broke down and bought a dvd player for the truck, and a signing dvd. WOW. He was signing to himself the whole way, and used these signs from that point on. Since then we have bought more signing dvd's for the truck, and we actually have to go back and watch them because we need to learn the signs he signing to us so we can sign them back properly. Obviously, at a year old, he doesn't sign them perfectly, but beause he talks while signing, you can usually tell the difference between say, "dirty" and "apple."

I would say it's an awesome idea to teach signs to any age of children. There are so many benefits to having another language, especially one that isn't spoken. I can sign "no touch" from across the room, or "sit down" and he will (usually) do it. Which means no yelling across a room! Also, at our parent group, there is a 5 year old special needs child whom others tend to ignore because of the communication barrier. When she met Skyy, she was signing to him and signing excitedly to her mom. Skyy had never met another child that signs, so he was happy too Then we had a similar experience on the ferry with a deaf child. I was watching him play in the child area, and he was signing to himself about something. Because he is so young, his signs are not too clear, and I saw this little girl staring at him so intently with a strange look on her face... Then she figured out what he was signing to himself and signed something to her mom and pointed at Skyy. Her mom came over and asked if he was deaf too. I said he wasn't, and she asked why do we sign with him. I explained about bridging the gap between when he WANTED to express himself, and when he could actually verbally do it. She thought it was a great idea and said it would be nice if we could take him to a deaf preschool so other moms could meet him. She said it would be great if more people would do that

Here's some signing resources:
http://www.babysigns.ca/ This was the program I bought at Chapters when he was born. It includes 4 board books, dvd's and a quick reference flip chart for the fridge. It's awesome. A good place to start!

I can't believe I bought these because in principle I'm against Baby Einstein, but I did buy two signing dvd's they had because they were signing. Skyy really loved them. The animation is slow, which is perfect when they are first learning. Now that Skyy knows the signs, he doesn't like these ones anymore, and will actually sign "more signing," which means he wants a different signing dvd on.

When you're child is ready for something more advanced, there is a whole tv series called "Signing Time." It's pretty advanced, and it's not just showing one sign at a time. They string signs together, and sign songs too. Skyy loves this one because there are LOTS of signs. I HATE IT!!!! The woman on there drives me nuts because she talks like the children are dumb. You know, in that weird singsongy voice that so many adults talk to kids in?? I don't talk like that with my son. But, this series is the one he has picked up the most words with. There's two seasons I think in total 14 or so discs. I got mine on ebay.

[Luke's mama]

Thanks for the great info! What great stories about your son and signing--makes me wish I had stuck with it, I was so gung-ho at first. Your little one sounds so verbal and advanced! Mine isn't really talking at all other than a few words, and he is 17 mos!

[nudhistbudhist]

From what I've read in the signing book, a lot of people wait until they are over a year to teach signs because they get a quicker response. The child learns faster when they are older, and so parents get more encouragement for their effort The reason we started signing so young was mainly because we did diaper free from birth, and wanted to have him know at least the sign for potty so he could let us know when he had to go. I think using signs while we spoke to him may have encouraged him to speak earlier. The signing books say that that is often the case. He said mama and dad by 5 months and no one believed us! But it was long after that that he started repeating the last word of every sentance. Imitating the sounds but not really knowing what they meant. We always repeated the word that he tried to copy so he knew we appreciated his efforts. Soon he would repeat and repeat to get a better pronounciation. Then all of a sudden he made the associations between the words, the signs, and the objects. Quite an interesting process! I had no idea how babies learned to speak. I never really thought about it. He learns a few words a day now it seems. I am always amazed when I tell him the name of something, and he repeats it, then when we see that object two weeks later, he remembers right away and names it before I even see what he's talking about. We went to the grocery store and he was signing "bug." It was -2. There were NO bugs... I didn't have any idea what he was talking about. I buckled him in to the shopping cart, and it dawned on me: The BUGgy. Last shopping trip I told him to help me push the buggy. lol. Language is an amazing thing!!!!