Baby wakes very frequently? Try this....

[crunchy_mommy]

I'm curious (& hopeful!) to see if this will work for anyone else... It could jsut be a fluke for my DS too I suppose...

Try turning up the thermostat.

We went on a 2-day trip & the hotel was warmer than we usually keep the bedroom. DS slept AMAZING. Only woke 3-4 times each night (mostly toward the morning) and I even got a 4-5 hour stretch!! This is a kid whose longest stretch is usually 2 hours & every-20-minute wakings are common.

Came home, slept horribly again.

The next night, turned the heat up a bit (just a little too warm for my comfort but I'm adjusting) and the last 3 nights he has slept great. I'm afraid to turn it down again to "test" my theory because I don't want to give up this great sleep even for one night!!!!!

So, give it a try, let me know if it works for you... My DS is 11mos by the way, can't believe it took me that long to get one 4-hour stretch of sleep into me!

[Sassafrass]

I totally believe it! I thought DD (16mos) was too hot at night, with sleeping right against me, so I just put light pants, socks, and a long-sleeved onesie on her.....she has been sleeping like crap her whole life, it didn't occur to me that she might be cold.

Anyway, I bought a couple of blanket sleepers about a month ago, and it didn't take but about a week to figure out that the nights she wears those, she sleeps much, much better. Yay! I guess she was a bit cool......

[odoole]

Yeah, with a 5 mo I'm constantly adjusting the temperature. I'm always nervous about SIDS and whatnot -- I think overheating is as big of a factor (or more) as belly sleep, but he certainly is more comfortable in a nice, warm, humidified room. I feel bad making him lie there without blankets to cozy up to -- I know I can't sleep that way!!!

[penstamon]

Interesting, any idea what temp (approx.) you have the room at?

We had a similar problem last night- we forgot to turn on the heat until DS went to bed so the room was cool and he kept waking every 10 min until DH realized he was cold and put a blanket on him. Then he slept a 3.5 hour stretch- totally unheard of for months.

We use a radiator that has no thermostat and we have to adjust based on the weather each night. Both DH and I hate sleeping when too warm so we keep the room on the cool side. It may be a stretch but DS did start sleeping worse when fall set in-bringing cooler temps.

I also remember my DO commenting that her babes always slept best at 77F, which seemed so warm, but.... worth a shot!

I hope you continue to have good luck with your discovery!

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by penstamon

Interesting, any idea what temp (approx.) you have the room at?

Not sure of the temp because we keep the thermostat in the other room at around 65 but it probably gets to 75 or so in the bedroom with the doors closed.

The weird thing is, he always felt so warm to the touch to me that I never even CONSIDERED making the room warmer!!!

Fingers crossed that it keeps working!!

[cyclamen]

I believe it! My mom was always telling me, "The baby is cold, the baby is cold" and I was like, "She's sweating, how could she be cold?" But I came home one night to my mom all snuggled up with the baby under a bunch of heavy blankets, all old school and unsafe, and she was sleeping so peacefully. So I tried keeping her warmer and she definitely sleeps longer. I definitely don't sleep well when I'm cold.

[joanna0707]

Could this be the reason my 2 yo doesn't sleep well at night? It never occurred to me he could be cold. I keep the temperature at night below 70, I have to try higher temp.

[whitenoise]

when it is too hot people tend to sleep more

[cristeen]

Yes, I've noticed this. If my little guy is restless, I toss a blanket over him and about half the time he calms right down. I keep the thermostat in this room set to 65, which means it never drops below 63. But some nights it's as high as 70 in here.

[whitenoise]

I think it is not a good idea to keep a room too warm... and btw also don't wear very warm clothes

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by whitenoise

I think it is not a good idea to keep a room too warm... and btw also don't wear very warm clothes

That was my thinking originally but after seeing how much better he sleeps... and it's not so warm he's sweating or anything!! What do you keep the thermostat set to?

[penstamon]

We tried a warmer room last night and unfortunately no dice. Who knows, maybe we haven't reached the threshold yet but I agree that I feel a little worried about keeping it too hot. I think if we do it any hotter he will have to move out of our room and I will be checking on him a million times

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by penstamon

We tried a warmer room last night and unfortunately no dice. Who knows, maybe we haven't reached the threshold yet but I agree that I feel a little worried about keeping it too hot. I think if we do it any hotter he will have to move out of our room and I will be checking on him a million times

LOL well too bad it didn't work for you Maybe your house is already warm enough... ours we tend to keep on the cold side (ever since I got pregnant last year & turned into a furnace!!) so I think for us he just wanted it a bit warmer. Last night he did not sleep well though... but it was cooler out... plus he has a tooth breaking through... so we'll see if my theory tests out the next few nights!

[Llyra]

It's funny, because my kids have always slept much better and more soundly when the room is COLDER. I've found that as the room temp approaches 70, they get restless and toss and turn a lot and seem to wake up a lot more. We all seem to sleep best with the room at about 60.

[Icehockey18]

we had success! Last night i tried the theory and ds slept for 5 straight hours!!!! I didn't turn up the heat, but I brought one of ds' blankets to bed and put it over him. I didn't dress him any differently, just added a blanket. I was nervous about putting a blanket over him, but he is 7 mo and I think he would fuss/wake if it covered his face... He normally sleeps best when he is on me, but then I can't sleep. Now thinking about it, it is probably because my body keeps him warm. We still snuggled last night, but at least I could lay down!! we'll see how tonight goes, but if I could get 5 solid hours a night, I would be thrilled!! (usually he's up every hour- two hours, with an occasional 3 hour stretch at the begining).
Thanks for the idea!!!!!

eta: my mom too kept saying 'put a blanket on him at night' but I was so worried about over heating and suffocating him in our bed.... But his hands were so cold at night, I don't know why I thought a blanket
would be too much ?!?!

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by Icehockey18

eta: my mom too kept saying 'put a blanket on him at night' but I was so worried about over heating and suffocating him in our bed.... But his hands were so cold at night, I don't know why I thought a blanket
would be too much ?!?!

YAY!!! I'm glad it worked & I hope it keeps working!! I know, I was totally worried about overheating him, but I think I went too far in the other direction with the low thermostat & not warm enough clothes. Even in the summer we always had the a/c on 'cause I didn't want him to overheat! I inadvertently tested it out again myself too -- I forgot to program the weekend nights to be higher temp. -- so we had 2 nights of bad sleep before I realized what I did and then he slept great again when I turned it back up! It feels so great to get a 4-5 hour stretch in there!!

[rachandlily]

I'm also experimenting with the temperature of dd's room...she was at grandma's for the weekend and slept 12 straight hours both nights, which is definitely unheard of at our house. Granted, I think there's something to her just being away from the boob and her very responsive nighttime parents...but my mil also said the temp in her room at their house was close to 65, whereas it's always around 72/73 at our house. We turned the heat way down last night, I think it got as low as 67, and we had a MUCH better night...only up once from 2-3 a.m. and slept until 9 a.m.!!! Amazing!

[ASusan]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy

Not sure of the temp because we keep the thermostat in the other room at around 65 but it probably gets to 75 or so in the bedroom with the doors closed.

The weird thing is, he always felt so warm to the touch to me that I never even CONSIDERED making the room warmer!!!

Fingers crossed that it keeps working!!

Ugh. I could NOT sleep at that temperature. I feel suffocated at 68. But, if it helps DS sleep more soundly, I'm willing to up the temp and sleep in T-shirt and underwear myself.

[peaceful_mama]

I know my babe wakes up (sort of--rustles around, makes general about-to-wake noises) after he's kicked his covers off and been laying without them awhile. He's generally a good sleeper and nurses right back to dreamland without fully waking. I too had a hard time believing DH "He's cold" considering I put long pj's on him but...he likes the blanket too.

I've also had him be too hot in the summer though and had to strip him down for better sleep.

always a good thing to test though

[Bellabaz]

I have to say this may be it. We switched to our winter comfortor a couple nights ago and I finally got 3 ro 4 hours in after a month of bad sleep. I wasn't sureif it was that or the thrush meds finally kicked in. Whatever it was I hope it keeps working.