Anyone have a *very* light sleeper?

[Beauchamp]

DD is seriously such a light sleeper. She will startle from the slight crunch sound of the wind outside pushing on our windows...DH running the faucet in another room...my knee popping, etc. We nurse to sleep, and moving her to her crib is like moving a land mine. When we co sleep, the s l i g h t e s t movement from me causes her to flail her arms, grunt, kick her legs, and often wake up. When she "nurse naps" on my lap during the day, I can only eat once she's really out, and even then chewing crunchy things like crackers sometimes wakes her up.

Anyone else have a super light sleeper? Any helpful tricks?

[Harlie]

My son was a very light sleeper. I changed his diet, no cereal etc and now he sleeps deeply.

[mamajax]

My ds is 4 months old and he and I are both really light sleepers who seem to wake eachother up during the night. It's really frustrating. I reckon he'll grow out of it as he starts to sleep longer stretches.

Have you tried white noise? With my older kids we'd sometimes tune a radio to white noise and leave it on in the bedroom for a while. Good luck!

[honey-lilac]

Very light sleeping daughter here. We ended up moving her to her own room at around a year. Not because we wanted her out (we didn't) but because none of us was getting any sleep.

My son was a pretty light sleeper too but he got over it somehow. But we still don't co-sleep anymore with him either because he is very restless and fidgety and again, no one gets sleep. When he's by himself he's less restless.

[34me]

My 13 yo has always been a light sleeper. We have found that white noise like someone else suggested has been the most help over the years.

[enigo]

My son 3 1/2, is a very light sleeper as am I. I swear he can feel the air pressure in the room change when I walk in and just snaps awake. It also takes him an hour or more to fall asleep. (Me too)

My husband on the other hand falls asleep on the couch in the middle of the day if you stop talking for 10 seconds. He could sleep through a firetruck driving through the bedroom.

[Beauchamp]

Yes, we've tried white noise. We use a Sleep Sheep on the rain setting, and we also use the Rockabye Baby CDs a lot. I wish I had something that would help when physically moving her, though, like how to transfer her to her crib after nursing. *sigh*

[Icehockey18]

We have a light sleeper also. We do the white noise, and it does help. But as for transfering into a bed after he nurses, I just gave up on that. I hold him for his naps and just make sure my iPhone is near by so I have something to do. (he's napping in my arms right now ) I tried books but just turning the page wakes him up. I am just waiting for him to sleep longer stretches at a time, then I will try to transfer him for naps.
I know this doesn't really help find a way to transfer your lo, but maybe you can find a way to enjoy the down time while your lo naps in your arms.

[Beauchamp]

Originally Posted by Icehockey18

I tried books but just turning the page wakes him up.

Mine, too!!!!!!! I have learned to turn pages silently, carefully lifting each page... I would go nuts if I couldn't read while she napped.

[Peony]

DD2 was/is like that. She is 3 now and we avoid making noise while she is asleep, she will hear anything all the way across the house with a noise machine on. When she was a baby she could only ever lap. Transferring her to some place NEVER happened, eventually I could nurse her to sleep on the bed and then 10 minutes finally get off the bed and try to sneak away, it would take me that long to inch my way off the bed! That was at 18 months though. I sat on my lap top while holding her, how do you think I got so many posts!

[Bokonon]

We have a white noise machine in our room, fairly loud, and I still can't do dishes in the kitchen, which is below our bedroom, while she's asleep! She does ok with our sleeping noises (I mean, she wakes several times at night to eat, but it seems to be unrelated to DH's snoring or my tossing and turning), but if she hears DS on the monitor, it's ON. She will NOT go back to sleep if she hears him - she just wants big brother!

I have always been a light sleeper though, so it's not surprising. Just frustrating!

[_betsy_]

I have TWO!

Room darkening shades and a white noise sound machine are key. We're in a 2-bedroom condo and our laundry is in the hallway right outside the girls' room. They both sleep much deeper and longer if the dryer is running (in addition to the sound machine). DD1 was swaddled until 15 months. DD2 hated swaddling and gave it up around 3 months.

I'm a light sleeper and highly sensitive. Both girls started out in a bassinet in our room, and were in the crib in their own room (13 footsteps from my side of the bed) at 6 months. DD1 is impossible to sleep with and always has been. DD2 is much easier to sleep with IF that's what she wants. If she doesn't really want to be in bed with us, though, forget it. Not gonna work.

I've found it's best to have as few transitions as possible with them. I nurse in an already dark room, sound machine on, diaper changed and baby ready to sleep. I nurse DD2 (almost 1 yo) in a position that I can transfer her directly into the crib without repositioning her in arms when she (Hopefully!) falls asleep nursing. I pop in the pacifier, pull down my shirt, stand up and move toward the crib all in one motion. I've found that laying her down with her face on top of my hand (because the sheet is too cold for her!) and my other hand on her back/butt (she's a tummy sleeper), applying firm but gentle pressure, she sometimes stays asleep. Sometimes she needs patting, or a massage.

Around 18 months DD1 got a LOT easier to deal with sleep wise and a bit before 3 years she started going to bed by herself and staying there for 11-12 hours.

Hang in there!

[anotherpeanut]

I have a light sleeper too! He sleeps with a fan on full blast (yeah we live in the north and its freezing here now). The garbage truck going down the street wakes him, creaks and coughs wake him. It's annoying. He's almost 2 and he's still a light sleeper. I was always amazed at those people that told me that I should cut his nails while he was sleeping...HUHHHHHH?????? That would NEVER happen for us! Good luck.

[LadyCatherine185]

ohhhh yes. light sleeper right here! he didn't sleep longer than 15 minutes until I started having him nap in our bed with blackout curtains and white-noise with the door shut (moniter on) so that no sounds outside of the room would wake him.

FWIW, i was never able to put DS down asleep (though, DH can!) so I started nursing him on the bed to sleep and then rolling away (oh so slowly and carefully, it truly is an art-form) and leaving him to nap alone. Or, I sleep with him. He naps so much better with the dark/quiet.

[LadyCatherine185]

Originally Posted by Beauchamp

Yes, we've tried white noise. We use a Sleep Sheep on the rain setting, and we also use the Rockabye Baby CDs a lot. I wish I had something that would help when physically moving her, though, like how to transfer her to her crib after nursing. *sigh*

I don't know what sleep sheep you have, but the one my SIL has is not very loud. For DS, we use a LOUD fan for white noise, if it isn't loud enough he still hears everything. Also don't know what the CD you have is, but music never worked for DS either. Had to be very loud white noise.

and like I said in my PP, never able to transfer him. Used his crib a handful of times, then we took it down and put up a twin bed in his room. One day he will sleep there.. right now he still sleeps with us. You could try a mattress on the floor, nurse her there and roll away.

[sillysmile]

My DD is a super light sleeper too. Sensitive to sound, but SUPER sensitive to any movement in the bed. Anyone have any tricks for this? I don't think that it's a noise thing, so white noise doesn't help much.

She's co-sleeping between me and DH, but wakes up whenever either of us rolls over (usually needing our help to resettle). She's a terrible crib sleeper (nearly impossible to transfer without waking up), and likes to be up against daddy in bed (her favorite spot).

While I love co-sleeping, sometimes we just feel trapped in our own bed, not able to move for fear of waking her up. She wakes up on her own every hour or two anyway, so I hate to cause any additional wakings... If anyone has any tips for this please let me know. Thanks in advance from a super sleep deprived mama!

[KarlaC]

Originally Posted by LadyCatherine185

I don't know what sleep sheep you have, but the one my SIL has is not very loud. For DS, we use a LOUD fan for white noise, if it isn't loud enough he still hears everything. Also don't know what the CD you have is, but music never worked for DS either. Had to be very loud white noise.

and like I said in my PP, never able to transfer him. Used his crib a handful of times, then we took it down and put up a twin bed in his room. One day he will sleep there.. right now he still sleeps with us. You could try a mattress on the floor, nurse her there and roll away.

I've found our heartbeat bear(okay not the bear but the noise maker I stole out of the bear) has to be turned WAY up for ds to sleep. It shuts off after about 45 min so I make it a point to reset it before I get up.

We have a noisy ceiling fan too. Maybe the white noise isn't loud enough? I find I have to nurse him to sleep in bed with him facing the door so I can kind of sloooowly roll onto my back...then super slooooowly roll off the bed & sneak out of the room.

[jenneology]

Uh yeah! Last night the sound of a siren woke her up. Another night it was headlights through the window, and its not like they were that close!

We also had to make the decision to move her to her own room. Definitely was not my preference, but she's sleeping better and happier during the day. And we're still nighttime ECing and nursing on demand.

I guess that means I should remove the cosleeping with two emoticon from my sig. :-(

[Beauchamp]

Well, I have given up on trying to move my Little Landmine into her crib after nursing to sleep. She's just too much of a light sleeper. So now we co-sleep. I don't mind so much right now, but I can see myself burning out after a while. The many, many threads here about mamas being so worn out from co-sleeping scare me!

[Maluhia]

Originally Posted by Beauchamp

Well, I have given up on trying to move my Little Landmine into her crib after nursing to sleep. She's just too much of a light sleeper. So now we co-sleep. I don't mind so much right now, but I can see myself burning out after a while. The many, many threads here about mamas being so worn out from co-sleeping scare me!

Remember the burned out threads are for people having issues with it, there is a large silent majority not asking about it because it's not causing issues for them at all