I was wondering if anyone out there had any advice for me. I have a 14 month old son as you probably know. He slept through the night from 3 months til he was 11 months old. At that time he got very sick and also was cutting the top front teeth, 4 at the same time. It was a horrible time. I was just up all night and nursing him constantly to get him through. Ever since (end of December) he is up all night. He also lost his second nap during the day. So he still had a pretty good morning nap which I tried to gently shift to later in the day with no luck. Now he goes down for a morning nap at 10:30 and only sleeps for an hour. Then has a very crabby afternoon and wants to crash for the night at anywhere from 5-7 pm. HELP? Many people tell me to just keep doing what I'm doing and it will eventually subside but it is tearing him and our household apart. Others say to let him cry it out . . . . UG! I tried this for 1 time, my husband and I couldn't take it, he was screaming bloody murder. Everyones rest is messed up. Is this a bad little habit he got into after being sick or a phase since he has learned to walk? What should I do? I thought this would be over after a few weeks/months, now we are going on three and a half months. I'm hoping there may be a few experienced mothers (or even dads) out there that may have some advice or another mother that has experienced the same thing. Please help me if you can. Our pediatrician's office always has a cold, heartless solution to many things. Thanks for any help anyone can lend.
Sleepless In Chicagoland,
Momma Val
P.S. Often if I try to nurse he just latches on and goes right to sleep, then he's up again in an hour. Could this be a separation anxiety issue rather than hunger?
Momma Val
P.S. Often if I try to nurse he just latches on and goes right to sleep, then he's up again in an hour. Could this be a separation anxiety issue rather than hunger?
3 comments:
I had some of the same sleep issues until my son (now almost 3 1/2) was about a year old. (on/off until 18 months) He weaned himself at a year and hardly napped past 18 months. (My daughters' weaned at 15 months, one napped until 3 and the other napped after Kindergarden until almost 6.)
He almost always fell asleep at the breast which added to the problem.(they need to learn to fall asleep on their own and in their own bed.) Some days he would fall asleep after 5pm. On those days if he slept for more than a half hour he would not go down until almost midnight. I would let him sleep in my bed until he fell asleep. (because I was so tired, but this made it worse) I finally tried waking him up after only a half hour nap in the morning and gradually moved the nap to the early afternoon. Also on the days he was outside running around in the morning(at 12-13 months old.) he would have an early afternoon nap. This made for an easier evening. I found getting him lots of exercise, fresh air, and a bedtime routine helped. (Bath, story and cuddles.) Hope some of this helps you.
Dear Sleepless. 1. Get thee to Google and do a search for "Ask Moxie." She has an awesome advice blog about things like this. 2. One of the first things she would suggest would be to turn over a couple night wakings to your husband for a week. Don't be the one to get up and tend to him. If you are co-sleeping, don't be the one trying to soothe him back to sleep. Of course, this takes full cooperation for the husband, but they find that after a week of not expecting you, the baby will find other ways to soothe himself back to sleep since the dad can't offer a boobie. She recommends that process for eliminating night feedings, too. Anyway. Go to her site. There's lots of other great ideas there for sleep issues. Nighty-night.
Oh, no, Val! I hate coming back and reading this. Wish I could give you some advice ...
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