Relax Baby...relax!

[Mama Doula]

I have a 2 year old daughter who has a very hard time falling asleep. She needs a lot of rocking, bouncing and back massages before she finally settles down (nap and night time).

She was almost always like that but it was easier when she was nursing (She stopped a few weeks ago). Now, it takes 45 minutes to 2 hours to put her down! Very time consuming for a family of 5!

I am wondering if I can get some suggestions on how to help her to relax before bedtime. We have a routine of bath, teeth, book and sleeping, but it doesn't seem to help. We give her foot, hand and back massages as well but she moves soooooo much before being able to settle down that it is getting frustrating.

Thanks for your help!

[askew]

Melatonin? That is the only thing that really made a difference with my DS. Around his 3rd birthday and when I had a newborn I decided I had enough of 2 hours to get him down when he was clearly exhausted. I gave him .25 mg of liquid melatonin at bath, and after our book (regular night routine) we would cuddle for 5 minutes and then he got a kiss and I left the room. The melatonin made him sleepy enough to not really fight it and he fell asleep beautifully. I did that for about a month and then cut out the melatonin. He still goes to sleep well, and by himself. It just helped us set a new pattern.

[DoulaVallere]

I have a friend who uses a weighted blanket with her daughter, who sounds very similar to yours. Could that be something to try out?

[Mama Doula]

Originally Posted by DoulaVallere

I have a friend who uses a weighted blanket with her daughter, who sounds very similar to yours. Could that be something to try out?

She absolutely hates blankets or anything on top of her. No socks and sometimes doen't even want her pijamas. The room is nice and cozy, not too cold, not too hot, we have a humedifier and a noise maker....still needs long time to settle down and wakes up several times at night. Thanks!

[Mama Doula]

Originally Posted by askew

Melatonin? That is the only thing that really made a difference with my DS. Around his 3rd birthday and when I had a newborn I decided I had enough of 2 hours to get him down when he was clearly exhausted. I gave him .25 mg of liquid melatonin at bath, and after our book (regular night routine) we would cuddle for 5 minutes and then he got a kiss and I left the room. The melatonin made him sleepy enough to not really fight it and he fell asleep beautifully. I did that for about a month and then cut out the melatonin. He still goes to sleep well, and by himself. It just helped us set a new pattern.

Thanks! I'll check it out, never heard of it before. I'll try honey tonight and see if that makes a difference. Honey is supposed to have the same effect that Melatonin. We'll see...

[InMediasRes]

We also use melatonin with my son who would have normally had 2-3 hour bedtimes and gets up several times at night. What ultimately helped though was cutting out his nap. He was fighting it like crazy anyway.

I just do some quiet activity with him during his old nap time. It took about a week to two to adjust to the new schedule, but now he passes out on his own at 7-7:30 every night after lying down for about 10 minutes. I didn't want to use the melatonin every night, because it is a hormone, and they haven't done any studies on long term use in children. We just use it if he happens to have a nap during the day (it does still happen sometimes) or if he wakes in the middle of the night and won't go back down. Just a .5mg of the sublingual.

Does she get enough physical activity during the day?

[Julie1014]

Yup, same thing with our son. We used to kid that the only thing that would help him sleep would be a straight jacket (and, honestly, the only time he slept well was when he was swaddled but, unfortunately, he quickly learned how to bust out of it) We finally started using Melatonin about a week ago and it makes all the difference! We also stopped with the evening bath because that would actually work him up rather than relax him.

Good luck!

[Mama Doula]

Thanks you mamas!

[frontstreetmama]

my daughter started going to sleep better when we took baths out of the nighttime routine... they make her WIRED so they became a morning activity... also, when she was younger, I would rock her/massage her, etc and it would be FUTILE even though she was tired... when I just put her down alone when I *knew* she was tired, she would go to sleep a lot more quickly! go figure -- totally opposite of my other children!! now she is 8 and she gets CALM at bedtime (calcium/magnesium powder mixed with juice) which makes a HUGE difference, by 8 PM I can tell if I forgot to give it to her!!!

[InMediasRes]

Same experience with the bath here. They make him nuts.

We've also gotten some good results with a fish oil supplement.

[mountainsunshine]

I just wanted to add that 2 of my LO's hate blankets or anything light on them,but the weighted blanket is accepted very well. Some kids don't like ight touch but really love firm touches.

sarah