SLEEP - Page 6 « Back to Group Discussions

[KayPea]

Oh, I kind of wish I didn't know that multiple night wakings was the exception at this age. Oren still wakes like 4 times a night too. Last night he had to sleep attached to the boob. So I didn't sleep, at least until I growled "I can't handle this any more!" And then DH woke up and took him downstairs at 4am, where he promptly fell asleep. 

I'm starting to think it's co-sleeping too, because he usually will stay asleep in his crib until I come to bed. So then he wakes to nurse once at 11pm, then again at 1am, and 3am, and then he pops on and off intermittently after about 4 or 5. Often I can't handle it at this point and send him away with DH. We have a queen and a single side by side.

He's also not much of a napper - 45 minutes tops. He's 21 lbs.

[LunaLady]

R did lots of night wakings during teething both times... but generally he only wakes once about 5am to nurse. He sleeps from about 9/10ish until 8/9ish. We take him potty during his wake up. I think that's why he wakes up, honestly.

We co-sleep and R is 23 pounds.

[jill the pill]

I'm not sure how much she weighs right now but I know it's not even close to 20 pounds.  If I had room, adding a bed to our king would be awesome!  Audrey has always been a light sleeper and I know this won't last forever.  I don't think DH has ever tried to get her back to sleep.  He usually just rolls over and lets me do it which is my fault for letting it happen.  He just started sleeping with me again.  He was sleeping with DD1 in her room and that is why she is coming into our room in the middle of the night.  I actually love sleeping with my whole family...if only I had more room!  Thanks for the support! 

[Abraisme]

Coralie still wakes 2-4 times a night.  While we don't do EC, it's probably because she has to pee.  She doesn't really nurse much at night, often just long enough to get my milk to let down and then she's sleeping again.  She could probably be easily rocked back to sleep without nursing, but it's just easier for me to give her a boob for 2 minutes.  There is no was I am getting out of bed in the middle of the night.

ETA:  She weighs somewhere around 20lbs and we co-sleep with her in our bed.  Currently we live in a school bus RV, so all of our kids are in the same room.  We have our queen bed and 4 kid-sized bunk beds that butt right up to our bed area. 

[Jaimee]

Avery is waking a million times a night.  Yes, that's an exact amount.  I think he's getting his top teeth, but man is this frustrating.  It wouldn't be SO bad if Austin wasn't still waking, too.  So many broken sleep cycles...

[seraf]

Why does Austin wake so much, you think? Teeth, too? What do you have to do to get him back to sleep? It would certainly be nice if you only had to wake for one kid. I have random nights when everyone is restless and I feel so weary after them. I feel for you.

[Jaimee]

Austin has all his teeth (well, until the next set of molars, which I don't expect for a bit), so it's not that.  I really feel that he was transitioned to his own room too soon.  I pushed it b/c I didn't want to co-sleep with him and Avery.  I think if he had been allowed to transition when he was ready, which may have only been a few more months, things would be different.  He just seems to have developed quite a few fears recently and they prevent him from easily falling and staying asleep.  The trauma from the 4th of July lingers- still.  Basically he just wakes, gets up, finds us, and goes right back to sleep.  There aren't usually tears or talking- just the need to have someone else put him back in his bed.  Sometimes he protests when we leave, but usually he just goes right back to sleep.  This is why I think if he were in our room, we could just reach over and resettle him, but there is no way we're dealing with two kids in the same room right now, risking one waking the other even more, not to mention nap conflicts. 

I think it will all end when he gives up his nap.  But that nap is my sanity at this point.  I NEED that break in my day.  Maybe when Avalon goes to school I can entertain the thought of giving up his nap.  We did it while we were at the beach and that combined with hard play all day caused him to sleep through the night every night, no problem.

[seraf]

That is hard.  He could nap in his own room wherever he slept at night. Our boys don't wake each other at night (they do during the day) but they don't wake much at night.  A two way baby monitor? I guess that would be the same problem with waking each other.  Sorry you've got crummy sleep.

[Zoopath]

DD has always been a prodigious nightime peer. We use sustainable babyish bamboo fleece fitted diapers with the thirsties snap cover. Otherwise I wake up in a puddle.

[Zoopath]

And she's still a super nightime gobbler. She nurses to sleep and nurses at least 5-6 times before she wakes up at 6:30. I am not even considering transitioning her into her crib until she can go longer without nursing. I envy those of you with babies that don't still nurse all night.

[KayPea]

Originally Posted by Jaimee 

This is why I think if he were in our room, we could just reach over and resettle him, but there is no way we're dealing with two kids in the same room right now, risking one waking the other even more, not to mention nap conflicts. 

My DD is older than Austin, but she usually wakes at night, at least once. We put her to sleep in her bed, and then she comes into our room when she wakes up and goes back to sleep in our bed. After that, the kids don't wake each other at all. DD sleeps through the rest of the night, Oren wakes a few more times. There is NO WAY I would bring her back to her bed, because I would just be doing it for the rest of the night. This way, she just climbs into bed, falls asleep on her own, and sometimes I don't even wake up. Once or twice a week, she'll sleep through. 

Could you do something like this for Austin? Start the night and have naps in his own bed, but spend the night after the first wake-up with you? Have a crib mattress on the floor beside your bed for him? 

We have a queen and a single mattress pushed up against each other in order to fit everyone. It's important to DD to be next to me in the bed, so we sleep: wall, Oren, me, DD, DH (in the single). 

[KaliShanti]

Noch, who used to sleep 12 hours straight, is now waking 2-3 times. not used to it!

[jill the pill]

My DD1 just turned 3 in June and has just given up her naps.  While I miss my break during the day, the bedtime and night waking problems have disappeared.  She's in bed at 7:30 most nights without a fuss and sleeps 12 hours.  AAAhhhhhh!  This is new for me so Jamiee so I know how you feel.  I do miss the naps during the day but I get a nice chunk of time to myself at night to hang out on the couch and watch TV (and fold laundry)

[Jaimee]

Yeah, we gave up his nap this past weekend and I have almost survived the entire week without napping him.  Bedtime is great and he is waking 0-1 times at night, so this is all much, much better.  BUT, dd starts school on Monday and it will be just me and the boys trying to get through the day without dd's constant source of entertainment.  We'll see how this all goes down...

[jill the pill]

Good luck with that Jaimee!

[jbk21]

Jaimee will he do a quiet time?  My older son will draw or read books to himself for a while.  Maybe puzzles?  Will anything keep him quietly occupied in his room?

[KayPea]

My Dd doesn't nap, and that is awesome for bed time. But she won't do quiet time in the middle of the day, either. Boo to that. 

[Jaimee]

Unfortunately, if he'll settle down for quiet time, he'll fall asleep.  Seriously.  He still would take a nap easily if I allowed him.  We're pushing the situation a bit since nighttime sleep is so awful.  Yesterday he was put in his room to cool off a bit for hitting his sister repeatedly and when we went up to talk with him a few minutes later, he was asleep.  I had been against pushing no nap b/c his behavior deteriorates so badly at the end of the day, but frankly, last week his behavior was just awful all around and clearly had nothing to do with napping or not napping since he was getting a daily 2 hour nap last week.  So it's developmental.  I imagine he'll make some big leaps over the next several months and hopefully his behavior will fall back down to more manageable levels and he'll figure out how to sleep at the same time!  One can hope, right?

[seraf]

Jaimee, what about a shorter nap? Or you think he's just going to be awful either way? Maybe a 20 minute power nap, and wake him for a snack would be the best of both worlds? 

[Jaimee]

We tried that, too, and he does not like being woken up.  His mood becomes that much more foul.  So I figured pushing no nap was the better option.  Today he slept in to an unprecedented 8:30 so I think it's catching up with him.  Maybe this will be the start of better, deeper sleep at night.  FX!!!!  Now if we could get Avery to sleep again...