I am SO SO sorry for the length of this post, but thought some background info may help. If you have a little time I really need help, or at least to know what we are going through is normal because I am not sure if it is or not!!!
I am a first time mom to a wonderful, extremely active, breastfed 6 month old boy, recently started solids in the past few weeks. I have struggled with his sleep habits for months, and right now I barely get 3 hours of sleep at night and I work fulltime. It's become very difficult for me to function like a normal person the past few weeks, I can barely hold an intelligent conversation and I don't know what I am doing at work.
DS had started sleeping a 6 hour stretch at about 2.5 mos, right before I came back to work. (He has always started off sleeping in his bassinet/crib, then upon his first waking we would cosleep). His bassinet, then crib, were in our bedroom until he was 5 mos.
Once I returned to work he regressed in sleeping. On Jan 1st he started waking every half hour. Very slowly it got better, after trying many, many changes (including the No-Cry Sleep Solution) in his sleep environment. My husband and I really wanted him to be in his own crib (though it was still in our room) so I continued to work with him to sleep better. After about a month or more, he started sleeping anywhere from 1-3 hours, with a few 4-5 hour nights here and there. Things seemed to be looking up just a bit.
Once again though, we are back to waking every 45 minutes. He does not seem to be in any distress, and after midnight he doesn't seem to be hungry either. Nonetheless, like clockwork, I can almost time that he will be awake in 45 minutes once I get him back to sleep. Sometimes I can just give him back his paci and pat him a little, and he will go back to sleep. Other times he is WIDE awake and I HAVE to nurse him to get him to go back to sleep. Also, he is tossing and turning and can't seem to get back to sleep for about 2 hours between 3 and 5 AM. This is the worst part for me because I get up before 5 for work. I really don't have a problem getting up at night, I know parenting is a 24/7 job, and my husband can't help because he pretty much doesn't wake up at night. I have tried: 1)Tylenol and teething tabs before bed 2) No-Cry Sleep Solution (this doesn't seem to be working anymore because he is wide awake most of the time when he calls for me) 3) all cotton clothing & bedding 4) my shirts/breastpad/hot water bottle in bed with him so he has my scent 5) he has a lovey blanket 6) no change in detergent 6) doesn't seem to have any food allergies, no changes in my diet 7) I even have a little pallet beside our matress on the floor, so I can move him over when he's too uncomfortable in close proximity during cosleep 8) changing the side he is laying on 9) even tried him lying on his stomach, didn't like that very much 10) he has white noise, have also tried radio on 11) took all of his clothes off except diaper last night 12) earlier bedtime 13) It's finally not 15 deg outside so we have been taking him outside every evening, or for a walk for fresh air 14) he doesn't have any problems getting to sleep, I nurse him and it's right off to lala land 15) crib head is elevated, with humidifer in the room
This is a BIG ONE: he likes to sleep with his forehead against something (the way babies are in the womb, with pressure against their head), so he has a very stiff bed pillow at the head of his crib. Sometimes it seems he can't get comfortable with his head and that is what is keeping him awake. I try to get the pillow comfortable for him, and reposition him several times, but it doesn't seem to help.
I still put him to sleep first thing in his crib, so I can finish getting things ready for the next day. I don't have much choice here. After the first 2-3 wakings I finally bring him to bed, which used to solve the problem when he was younger, he would go right back to sleep. Now, it doesn't seem to be helping. He seems to be uncomfortable being so close, so I try to give him space on the bed and that doesn't help either. He's still waking every 45 mins or so, and still is awake for about 2 hours in the early AM. When I called his ped., the nurse told me "try not to feed him and it's ok to let him cry a little, don't respond to him right away." So obviously they don't think anything is wrong. And he just had his 6 mo. checkup Monday so the doctor looked him over and said everything looks fine. He teethed very badly from about 2.5 mos. til right at 5 mos. when his first tooth finally showed. The teething seems to be nowhere near as bad now, though it bothers him pretty bad every once in awhile during the day. Now I am almost forcing him to nurse it seems like, because when he can't get back to sleep, he's not rooting or looking for the breast, I go ahead and offer it to him because sometimes it helps get him back to sleep.
I consider my son high needs, as described by Dr. Sears. So I am thinking it's more his temperment than anything else. But man do I feel like I am doing something wrong/not right! His sleep habits seem to change every few weeks. I don't know how he functions during the day, poor little guy. He doesn't seem to be overtired, either. He's actually quite the happy baby. He takes 3 naps during the day, from 45 mins - 1.5 hours, so it doesn't seem he is sleeping too much during the day. If he's had a rough night he sometimes will take one 2-hour nap the next day. He has a very routine pre-bedtime ritual, that we have been doing since he was 2 weeks old. A little play and some reading before bath, then quiet bath (as quiet as it can be), dressed, nurse, and bed. And GOING to sleep is not the issue, it's the staying asleep.
So my questions are:
1) Does anyone think a later bedtime may help? During the earlier months when he was sleeping more than an hour at a time, he went to bed between 9-10. However, because I do too much reading, I pushed his bedtime back because "babies are programmed to go to sleep early", and if I am going to put him down later he would most likely need a 4th nap in the late evening. He gets really upset if he's up for more than 2-2.5 hours without a nap. I could make this a very short nap before bedtime.
I observed the other night that it may be a little separation anxiety. He is doing fine during the day, but he is with my mom who has pretty much become like a second mommy to him. When I was putting him to sleep he was fussing a little in his crib. I decided to wait in the chair to see what would happen, but before he got too upset I got up and put the paci back for him. When he saw I was beside the bed he turned back over and quited down. I left again and sat down, he turned over again and saw I wasn't there, and he started fussing again. This happened 2 or 3 times before he finally went to sleep quietly.
2) Does it seem like it's just his temperment, or more of a medical issue? He's very easily stimulated (even just from getting him dressed after his bath)
3) I thought maybe it's developmental stuff that keep interrupting his sleep patterns, but could it really last a month and a half?? I can't seem to get anyone to answer that question, if it could really be developmental if he has a super-sensitive personality?
4) Does he just miss me that much that he can't stand to be without me for more than an hour at night? DS is not very cuddly in the evenings with anyone, he wants to be on the floor playing or have his hands in something all the time. Is he making up for that at night by keeping me awake??
5) Is this ever really going to end, and he'll sleep more than an hour at a time before the age of 5?????
6) Does anyone notice anything else in this posting that I am missing that I am doing/not doing?
Any other help/advice would be appreciated!!!!
I am a first time mom to a wonderful, extremely active, breastfed 6 month old boy, recently started solids in the past few weeks. I have struggled with his sleep habits for months, and right now I barely get 3 hours of sleep at night and I work fulltime. It's become very difficult for me to function like a normal person the past few weeks, I can barely hold an intelligent conversation and I don't know what I am doing at work.
DS had started sleeping a 6 hour stretch at about 2.5 mos, right before I came back to work. (He has always started off sleeping in his bassinet/crib, then upon his first waking we would cosleep). His bassinet, then crib, were in our bedroom until he was 5 mos.
Once I returned to work he regressed in sleeping. On Jan 1st he started waking every half hour. Very slowly it got better, after trying many, many changes (including the No-Cry Sleep Solution) in his sleep environment. My husband and I really wanted him to be in his own crib (though it was still in our room) so I continued to work with him to sleep better. After about a month or more, he started sleeping anywhere from 1-3 hours, with a few 4-5 hour nights here and there. Things seemed to be looking up just a bit.
Once again though, we are back to waking every 45 minutes. He does not seem to be in any distress, and after midnight he doesn't seem to be hungry either. Nonetheless, like clockwork, I can almost time that he will be awake in 45 minutes once I get him back to sleep. Sometimes I can just give him back his paci and pat him a little, and he will go back to sleep. Other times he is WIDE awake and I HAVE to nurse him to get him to go back to sleep. Also, he is tossing and turning and can't seem to get back to sleep for about 2 hours between 3 and 5 AM. This is the worst part for me because I get up before 5 for work. I really don't have a problem getting up at night, I know parenting is a 24/7 job, and my husband can't help because he pretty much doesn't wake up at night. I have tried: 1)Tylenol and teething tabs before bed 2) No-Cry Sleep Solution (this doesn't seem to be working anymore because he is wide awake most of the time when he calls for me) 3) all cotton clothing & bedding 4) my shirts/breastpad/hot water bottle in bed with him so he has my scent 5) he has a lovey blanket 6) no change in detergent 6) doesn't seem to have any food allergies, no changes in my diet 7) I even have a little pallet beside our matress on the floor, so I can move him over when he's too uncomfortable in close proximity during cosleep 8) changing the side he is laying on 9) even tried him lying on his stomach, didn't like that very much 10) he has white noise, have also tried radio on 11) took all of his clothes off except diaper last night 12) earlier bedtime 13) It's finally not 15 deg outside so we have been taking him outside every evening, or for a walk for fresh air 14) he doesn't have any problems getting to sleep, I nurse him and it's right off to lala land 15) crib head is elevated, with humidifer in the room
This is a BIG ONE: he likes to sleep with his forehead against something (the way babies are in the womb, with pressure against their head), so he has a very stiff bed pillow at the head of his crib. Sometimes it seems he can't get comfortable with his head and that is what is keeping him awake. I try to get the pillow comfortable for him, and reposition him several times, but it doesn't seem to help.
I still put him to sleep first thing in his crib, so I can finish getting things ready for the next day. I don't have much choice here. After the first 2-3 wakings I finally bring him to bed, which used to solve the problem when he was younger, he would go right back to sleep. Now, it doesn't seem to be helping. He seems to be uncomfortable being so close, so I try to give him space on the bed and that doesn't help either. He's still waking every 45 mins or so, and still is awake for about 2 hours in the early AM. When I called his ped., the nurse told me "try not to feed him and it's ok to let him cry a little, don't respond to him right away." So obviously they don't think anything is wrong. And he just had his 6 mo. checkup Monday so the doctor looked him over and said everything looks fine. He teethed very badly from about 2.5 mos. til right at 5 mos. when his first tooth finally showed. The teething seems to be nowhere near as bad now, though it bothers him pretty bad every once in awhile during the day. Now I am almost forcing him to nurse it seems like, because when he can't get back to sleep, he's not rooting or looking for the breast, I go ahead and offer it to him because sometimes it helps get him back to sleep.
I consider my son high needs, as described by Dr. Sears. So I am thinking it's more his temperment than anything else. But man do I feel like I am doing something wrong/not right! His sleep habits seem to change every few weeks. I don't know how he functions during the day, poor little guy. He doesn't seem to be overtired, either. He's actually quite the happy baby. He takes 3 naps during the day, from 45 mins - 1.5 hours, so it doesn't seem he is sleeping too much during the day. If he's had a rough night he sometimes will take one 2-hour nap the next day. He has a very routine pre-bedtime ritual, that we have been doing since he was 2 weeks old. A little play and some reading before bath, then quiet bath (as quiet as it can be), dressed, nurse, and bed. And GOING to sleep is not the issue, it's the staying asleep.
So my questions are:
1) Does anyone think a later bedtime may help? During the earlier months when he was sleeping more than an hour at a time, he went to bed between 9-10. However, because I do too much reading, I pushed his bedtime back because "babies are programmed to go to sleep early", and if I am going to put him down later he would most likely need a 4th nap in the late evening. He gets really upset if he's up for more than 2-2.5 hours without a nap. I could make this a very short nap before bedtime.
I observed the other night that it may be a little separation anxiety. He is doing fine during the day, but he is with my mom who has pretty much become like a second mommy to him. When I was putting him to sleep he was fussing a little in his crib. I decided to wait in the chair to see what would happen, but before he got too upset I got up and put the paci back for him. When he saw I was beside the bed he turned back over and quited down. I left again and sat down, he turned over again and saw I wasn't there, and he started fussing again. This happened 2 or 3 times before he finally went to sleep quietly.
2) Does it seem like it's just his temperment, or more of a medical issue? He's very easily stimulated (even just from getting him dressed after his bath)
3) I thought maybe it's developmental stuff that keep interrupting his sleep patterns, but could it really last a month and a half?? I can't seem to get anyone to answer that question, if it could really be developmental if he has a super-sensitive personality?
4) Does he just miss me that much that he can't stand to be without me for more than an hour at night? DS is not very cuddly in the evenings with anyone, he wants to be on the floor playing or have his hands in something all the time. Is he making up for that at night by keeping me awake??
5) Is this ever really going to end, and he'll sleep more than an hour at a time before the age of 5?????
6) Does anyone notice anything else in this posting that I am missing that I am doing/not doing?
Any other help/advice would be appreciated!!!!
. Basically, you are describing my younger son, who is now almost 16 months, and still wakes in the night.
. My older son is a DREAM SLEEPER, and he did me no favors by making me think all babies slept that way after 5 months of age.
.
) worth it? If he doesn't really wake up when your son is anyway, what difference will it make. And then if sleeping in a seperate room doesnt make a bit of difference, you can tell me you told me so. 
We have video of ds swinging at a month old wide awake! He would take 1/2 hour naps, at most, during the day. But like Lucas he was a mellow kid during the day.
So this morning was mostly my fault, shouldn't have tried to move him.
mama, you sound just like me about a year ago. From 6-9 months DS had his WORST sleeping. He woke every 15-30 minutes all night, very hard to resettle, etc. Looking back, I can't pinpoint any specific thing that caused him to sleep like that other than-- A) developmental milestones (crawled at 6 months, started pulling up at 8 months, walking at 9 months-- once he started walking his sleep improved) B) teething and C) THE BIG ONE-- personality. I have a crappy sleeper. At 18 months he still wakes every 1-2 hours all night. We had a 6 hour stretch earlier this week, which we have had happen TWICE his whole life.
