[mittendrin]

i love my little guy (6 mos) to death. he is the most energetic babe i've ever met. there's not a second he holds still, he's constantly wiggling, giggling, kicking, squirming. day and night

: at night it's driving me crazy. i can deal with him not being a great napper during the day. i could deal with him going to bed at 9:30 almost every night (which makes dh unhappy, cause he hasn't gotten "any" in 3 weeks now). and i'd be ok with hourly nightwakings if he wants to nurse. but he wakes me up about every 1/2 an hour at night, waving his arms furiously, kicking, grunting, turning his head from side to side. if i grab him and put him over on my other side, he usually falls back asleep w/i 5 secs. sometimes he needs the boob, but as soon as the nipple is in his mouth he's gone, doesn't even suck. he really only feeds maybe 2x a night between 10 pm and 7 am. but why is he so restless? friends have recomended swaddling him. i tried that while he was awake to get him to fall asleep w/o the whole eyes scratching/ arms waving routine. he was mad, o boy. and last night i wrapped him up in his blanket and at first he got a bit angry, but settled down for 10 mins, then started squirming like a madman. so obviously the whole swaddling thing doesn't work for us.
i've tried giving him chamomilla and rescue remedie to calm him before bedtime. doesn't do a thing. we wanna start putting him in a crib (sidecarred) soon but if he keeps wanting me to move him around that won't work.
help! i need to sleep more than just 1/2 hour at a time. i'm tired.

 

[merpk]

Teething?

 

[mittendrin]

i don't think so. he's been like this since he was born. he's crazy...

i tried swaddling him again tonight. he threw a fit. it took me from 7pm til almost 10 to get him to sleep. he took 2 naps of 20 mins each today. i'm pulling my hair out

 

[canadiangranola]

my 18 month old is like this too, and has been since he was born...didn't nap longer than 45 minutes until he was 8 months old, and is still really restless at night. He has a hard time falling asleep. I don't have any suggestions, just wanted to le t you know you aren't alone.

Ds hated being swaddled too, and still, to this day, won't let me put blankets over his arms (MUST ...have...arms.....free!) he seems to say. COUld it be gassiness? I often notice with DS when he is really restless at night, I'll flip him to the other side of me and he will let out a huge fart...maybe dc is uncomfy? Have you tried upping the heat? lowering the heat? Napping during the day with ds when he was small was the only way i could cope with the long, restless nights, and I founf that if I napped with him, he would nap up to two hours, which he NEVER did alone., It's amazing what even one 2 hour nap with baby can do for a mama's tolerance level.

 

[Too Busy]

Are you sure he's ready for bed when you put him to bed? IME with my high-needs DD, if we try to get her to bed too early it makes her wild because she gets mad.

I remember my DD's sleep getting more restless at 6 months b/c she was becoming so aware of her surroundings and on the verge of developmental milestones like crawling and standing.

 

[Ruthla]

I've heard of kids getting "wild" from food allergies, particularly to yellow dye. Since your little one is so little, it would be potential allergens in YOUR diet to look for.

I don't have any personal experience with this, but I know there are lots of families that have to avoid food dyes and lots of info available online- it might be worth looking into.