Please just give me some insight

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

I was just told by someone who bought Babywise for her daughter in law that I should talk to my ped about DS2s sleeping habbits. I am normally pretty good at defending my choices, but I am more sleep deprived then usual lately, and am starting to wonder if something really IS wrong.

Background- Hes 15 1/2 months old, has slept 8 hours straight a handful of times. Usually goes about 4 hours between wakings. (yes, I know for you really suffering mamas out there, you prolly want to shake me. I work full time, and only get about 6-7 hours a night anyway, so I have to wake sometimes 3 times during those 6-7 hours, and after 2 years of this crap, its starting to really weight on me)hes been walking for about a month. He has two molars coming in, which I forgot to mention to HER, plus hes got a cold right now making wakings especially plentiful. But some nights, there really doesnt seem to be any rhyme or reason to his wakings. he just wakes up crying. I joked that perhaps the poor kid was born with night terrors, and that was when she asked what the Ped says. UM, nothing, I havent told her. WHY!?!?!?!, shes a Ped, not a sleep specialist.

OH, he has a milk allergy, so we are VERY careful what he eats. We havent done a blood test yet, mainly because I am dragging my feet and really, dont have the time to take off of work right now. I thought they were goin to do this at the Allergist appt, and they didnt, I have to go to a lab serperatly. But i digress.

So, does he still sound in the realm of "normal". Again, to you ladies who have night wakers that are 3 and still nurse, please excuse my ignorance. Im really tired and not thinking clearly.

[Louisep]

So he's waking roughly every four hours? Does he go back down easily? Do you cosleep? Still nursing? I really think it sounds fine. He's waking roughly 3 times a night? He'll get there, hang in there and try and figure out some ways for you to get more sleep. I'm going back to work soon and need to figure out how to deal with our often horrible sleep. Might start a thread on it.

I think your pedi will only tell you to CIO. I have read that soy allergies are common with milk allergies so there might be something in that. For us, I just think he's a horrible sleeper but is better than he was and I just try to keep the faith that it will continue to improve. Though I must say, today I'm so tired I don't know what I would do if I had to work.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Originally Posted by Louisep

I think your pedi will only tell you to CIO. I have read that soy allergies are common with milk allergies so there might be something in that.

This is what I suspected, which is why I havent even brough it up to her. We co sleep when he doesnt sleep well. Meaning, when he wakes at 1030, or 130, or 330, and fights going back down, I curl up on the makeshift bed on his bedroom floor with him. most of the time thats a working thing. But lately hes been fighting even THAT.

He really doesnt seem to have any kind of allergy to soy. I was worried about that too, but I think we are in the clear. No, I no longer nurse. I would probably have to remove my breast in order to sleep while he nursed at this stage.

[laohaire]

I wouldn't ask a ped for advice. Ask us, or just follow your own instincts

FWIW we nightweaned DD when she was 3. I was losing it. It went great.

[LadyCatherine185]

mama. I don't think I could get up and go to work in the morning either! I think every 4 hours at that age is still pretty normal. I bet it is the teeth, too. Molars and canines were really hard on my DS.

Have you read Sleepless in America? It has some great AP friendly ideas to help sleep.

[Super~Single~Mama]

I vote Teething! When DS has really bad teething nights I give in and use baby motrin. If he's waking up crying and having trouble falling back to sleep, thats what I bet it is - have you tried some natural teething remedies to see if thats the problem? Also, baby motrin doesn't have a sleep aid, so if you try it and it works, then its definitely teething pain thats keeping him awake.

[ASusan]

Smile and nod at your MIL. Make non-committal sounds - mmhhmm - and statements, "yeah, that's a good idea." And then ignore her.

Given you have a dairy allergy thing going on, I would suspect another food allergy/intolerance and/or he's being exposed to trace amounts. DS always wakes and lurches about the bed when he's reacting to a food.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

A couple things.

1.) thank you all you helpful, nice, sweet, caring LOVING mamas.

2.) it wasnt my MIL. She knows better then to throw advice at me when I have done more reading then she could ever imagine.

3.) He won't take motrin. ive tried. Tylenol usually goes down well with him, but I have yet to see a difference in his sleep. It does help his discomfort during the day though.

4.) I cant try hylands tablets, they have an inactive ingredient of Lactose in them, which leads to....

5.) He has a TRUE allergy to anything dairy. Therefore, if he had a trace amount of it, he would break out in a hive or something.

6.) He is a VERY INTENSE baby. Has been since birth. HE.NEVER.STOPS.MOVING.......EVER!!!!!!! Its go go go all.the.time. Hes exhausting.

[LadyCatherine185]

Originally Posted by Barbie64g

6.) He is a VERY INTENSE baby. Has been since birth. HE.NEVER.STOPS.MOVING.......EVER!!!!!!! Its go go go all.the.time. Hes exhausting.

this is Liam exactly!

[Chamomile Girl]

Originally Posted by Barbie64g

4.) I cant try hylands tablets, they have an inactive ingredient of Lactose in them, which leads to....

5.) He has a TRUE allergy to anything dairy. Therefore, if he had a trace amount of it, he would break out in a hive or something.

Boiron makes a teething homeopathic liquid that you could try.

[Just1More]

Try some sensory stuff during the day. He might need some more physical interaction.

Ds was REALLY, REALLY hard for me, even after we got the wheat thing figured out.

One really bad day, when he was just past two, I started playing "trading punches", not too hard, of course, with him. He changed completely. I think he was craving that strong physical interaction. Dh was deployed and ds just wasn't getting rough-housed enough. It translated into to all sorts of difficulties.

Worth a try, maybe?

[Louisep]

Originally Posted by LadyCatherine185

this is Liam exactly!

This is my son exactly too He's "high needs" and I think it just comes with the territory.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

LadyCatherine and LouiseP, this is pretty much what I suspected. I guess I just have to hold out for when he is so active during the day he just wears himself out. But I wont hold my breath.....

[Louisep]

Originally Posted by Barbie64g

LadyCatherine and LouiseP, this is pretty much what I suspected. I guess I just have to hold out for when he is so active during the day he just wears himself out. But I wont hold my breath.....

Seriously, being active helps SO much. I dropped DS to one nap perhaps prematurely but I believe it has helped him sleep better. We get lots of fresh air and spend a lot of time at the park running around. He is so tired he passes out within 10-15 minutes! (Used to be the bouncing/rocking/wearing game in our home). And since dropping to one nap his first stretch can be up to 7 hours long

Hang in there.

[To-Fu]

Originally Posted by LadyCatherine185

mama. I don't think I could get up and go to work in the morning either! I think every 4 hours at that age is still pretty normal. I bet it is the teeth, too. Molars and canines were really hard on my DS.

Have you read Sleepless in America? It has some great AP friendly ideas to help sleep.

I second all of this. Sounds totally normal to me, especially with teething. My guy was waking up lots more when his molars were coming in, so it actually seems pretty good to me. (In fact, he still wakes up more than every 4 hours and he's two!)

I guess what I would do if I were you is try to find a way to manage your own sleep so you get more of it--or at least more uninterrupted stretches. I know that even being in bed for 8 hours can still be exhausting if you're waking up constantly. Do you have a partner that can help with some of the nighttime parenting, or who can at least let you sleep in on your days off?

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Last night went well. He woke up once at 130, and I went in his room, had the makeshift bed all set up, plopped us both down and he went right back to sleep.

I really dont have issues with his sleep patterns. Its just been rough with him teething and being sick lately, and someone questioning our methods made me second guess myself. I knew that if I came here, you ladies would help me get back to that place where i feel comfortable with my choices. So thank you!

PS, yes, I have a husband, who sleeps like the dead. If I waited for him to fully wake up when the kids start making noise at night, CIO would be in full effect. And that is NOT going to happen! To his credit, when he is awake, or in the rare instances he wakes up fully in less then 10 seconds, he will help out. But usually he just sleeps through it, and trying to wake him only causes more issues. Ive made my peace with all of this.

[LadyCatherine185]

Originally Posted by Barbie64g

PS, yes, I have a husband, who sleeps like the dead. If I waited for him to fully wake up when the kids start making noise at night, CIO would be in full effect. And that is NOT going to happen! To his credit, when he is awake, or in the rare instances he wakes up fully in less then 10 seconds, he will help out. But usually he just sleeps through it, and trying to wake him only causes more issues. Ive made my peace with all of this.

My DH is the same way. He sleeps through everything. But he is AWESOME during the day. He is going to have to start taking over nights soon though, since we are nightweaning and we will have a new baby in November!

[LadyCatherine185]

Originally Posted by To-Fu

I second all of this. Sounds totally normal to me, especially with teething. My guy was waking up lots more when his molars were coming in, so it actually seems pretty good to me. (In fact, he still wakes up more than every 4 hours and he's two!)

I guess what I would do if I were you is try to find a way to manage your own sleep so you get more of it--or at least more uninterrupted stretches. I know that even being in bed for 8 hours can still be exhausting if you're waking up constantly. Do you have a partner that can help with some of the nighttime parenting, or who can at least let you sleep in on your days off?

yeah, actually for US 4 hour stretches are unheard of. He's had maybe a handful in his life of those. He usually wakes every 1-2 hours. But I know that it isn't normal.. but it IS normal for him.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Originally Posted by LadyCatherine185

My DH is the same way. He sleeps through everything. But he is AWESOME during the day. He is going to have to start taking over nights soon though, since we are nightweaning and we will have a new baby in November!

I saw this in another thread. CONGRATS!!!!!!

[Super~Single~Mama]

About the motrin, my DS won't take it out of the dropper thing they provide - he HATES it. BUT, he takes it from a spoon beautifully. So I measure it with the weird dropper thingy, and then squirt it into a spoon and he licks it clean.