Sleep

[Elaine]

Or lack thereof...

I always knew that I'd never be as lucky as I have been with Ben. He's an awesome sleeper and always has been since he was an infant. Now I'm cursed with a completely inconsistent baby who will occasionally sleep straight through (and did for a few months) but most night wakes up at least once and sometimes twice.

Last night Thomas woke at 1:30 am, again at 4:30 am and was wide awake so I've been up ever since. I debated going back to bed at 6 am when I finally got him to sleep again but figured Ben would be up within the hour so I didn't bother. Well, Ben is still asleep now (almost 9:30 am) and Thomas has been up and gone back to sleep since he went down at 6 am.

This is brutal. I feel like I'm dealing with a newborn again. I feel bad because I know it's his teeth or tummy bothering him (he had a big poo earlier) and he's so darn cute and silly when he's sleepy, which he is when he wakes at all hours of the morning, but I want my sleep back. He can be cute and silly when he's supposed to be awake. :sigh:

[Heather]

:hugs: I'm so sorry girl. There is nothing worse than sleep deprivation! Take it from a long term insomniac, it can not only drive you crazy but make you stupid too. I am actually sleeping better than I have in probably 10 years since quitting my job (knock on wood), but I can definitely sympathize. You may've mentioned this before and I can't remember, but have you tried any sleep training? Farah and I were just discussing this last night, and I totally agree with her that some babies are just good sleepers and some aren't, but I also agree that some of the not so good sleepers can be trained to be better. Anyway, I'm rambling at this point but I really hope Mr. Thomas will get with the program and stop driving Mommy crazy. I hope you can get some sleep soon babe. :hugs:

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

I am so sorry. Isabella was (and still is) the ****tiest sleeper on the planet.

I'm terrified about doing it all over again. Isabella did pretty good for a short period until she started teething and then it was just down hill completely and at one point she woke every.single.hour.on.the.hour. to nurse. I think she did that from about 8mo until I finally was at my wits end and night weaned her at 14mo. I honestly have no idea how I did it.

I'm just praying this baby is a better sleeper. Oh god please let him be a better sleeper.

[theWrap]

I'm just curious, Elaine. Where does T sleep? When he wakes up, are you feeding him? Does he leave the room where he was sleeping?

I was going to place Sam in an MTV Celebrity Deathmatch for the worst sleeper, but if Isabella woke up every single hour on the hour from 8 - 14 months (um, crazy), Sam loses. However, Sam didn't sleep well from the moment he left my body. He was always congested and always slept very lightly and woke frequently - 5 times a night or more until I sleep trained him at 7-8 months.

From about 7-8 months to 11 months, Sam woke around midnight and around 5 to eat, then went back down until 7. When Doug got up with Sam, it became a several hours long affair because Doug would bring Sam into the living room, with the tv on and the lights on. Sam would get stimulated and stay awake. On the other hand, I would go in, leave the lights off, feed Sam in the glider, rock him and sing to him some, and then put him back in bed to fall back asleep. It usually took half an hour, then I was back in my bed.

[Carmen]

E and O were great sleepers from 6 weeks on. Zachariah was almost one and still waking at night. I feel your pain! (hugs)

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

I'm just curious, Elaine. Where does T sleep? When he wakes up, are you feeding him? Does he leave the room where he was sleeping?

I was going to place Sam in an MTV Celebrity Deathmatch for the worst sleeper, but if Isabella woke up every single hour on the hour from 8 - 14 months (um, crazy), Sam loses. However, Sam didn't sleep well from the moment he left my body. He was always congested and always slept very lightly and woke frequently - 5 times a night or more until I sleep trained him at 7-8 months.

From about 7-8 months to 11 months, Sam woke around midnight and around 5 to eat, then went back down until 7. When Doug got up with Sam, it became a several hours long affair because Doug would bring Sam into the living room, with the tv on and the lights on. Sam would get stimulated and stay awake. On the other hand, I would go in, leave the lights off, feed Sam in the glider, rock him and sing to him some, and then put him back in bed to fall back asleep. It usually took half an hour, then I was back in my bed.
Oh man that was Isabella. Despite being exhausted from having a newborn she STILL managed to keep me up with her congestion and grunting and kicking holy cow. She was like a beached whale. She'd lay on her back (fully burritoed) and bend at the waist and slam her little legs straight down. I still remmeber the firs tnight home from the hospital thinking... wtf? Is this a baby or some sort of mermaid?

[Elaine]

Apparently I was a terrible sleeper as a baby. I would wake up several times a night and finally one night my mom stubbed and broke her toe on a chair while going to my room and that was that. From then on she basically ignored me when I woke up (unless she knew it was something more than just me wanting a drink) and eventually I started sleeping through. I was probably close to 3 at the time. My DH, on the other hand, was an awesome sleeper as was his sister. The both slept 12-14 hours a night from very early on (both were EBF).

I'm just curious, Elaine. Where does T sleep? When he wakes up, are you feeding him? Does he leave the room where he was sleeping?

I was going to place Sam in an MTV Celebrity Deathmatch for the worst sleeper, but if Isabella woke up every single hour on the hour from 8 - 14 months (um, crazy), Sam loses. However, Sam didn't sleep well from the moment he left my body. He was always congested and always slept very lightly and woke frequently - 5 times a night or more until I sleep trained him at 7-8 months.

From about 7-8 months to 11 months, Sam woke around midnight and around 5 to eat, then went back down until 7. When Doug got up with Sam, it became a several hours long affair because Doug would bring Sam into the living room, with the tv on and the lights on. Sam would get stimulated and stay awake. On the other hand, I would go in, leave the lights off, feed Sam in the glider, rock him and sing to him some, and then put him back in bed to fall back asleep. It usually took half an hour, then I was back in my bed.
He slept in our room in a portable crib until he started sleeping through the night at about 13 weeks old. His room is right beside Ben's and I didn't want him waking Ben up. Now he's in his own room in a crib.

When he wakes at night what I do depends on how he's acting. If he's still half asleep usually a soother will do the trick but other times, like when he's rolled onto his belly, spun around and scooted down to the opposite end of the crib from where I laid him down, I nurse him. :hehe: Usually he goes right back to sleep but other times, like this morning, he's awake and not going down any time soon.

Oh, and I should add that we're on BIG poo #4 since he woke up at 6 am (it's now 1:15 pm). I guess that could have been part of the reason he didn't sleep well. :blush: :hehe:

[Jojo]

I feel your pain woman! Matt still keeps us up and now our little mini PITA won't sleep anywhere but my arms (damn me and my stupid cosleepingbecausethey'resnuggly ideas).

:bighug:

[Mari_Posa]

Sara was a horrible sleeper from day one!!! It wasn't until she was 6 months old and 3 days that something clicked in her head and now she is a stellar sleeper (minus the days were she sneaks into our room in the middle of the night to sleep with us :rolleyes:). Anyway, I have always recommended the book "The No Cry Sleep Solution". First off it made me feel like I wasn't insane for having a child that was clueless to the concept of sleep. Second it offered up so many ideas on ways to get your baby to become a better sleeper without making you feel horrible. I started to implement alot of the different techniques when Sara was 4 months old and it basically took her 2 months to really sleep through the night. Hang in there. :support:

[Elaine]

Marilyn, I think it was you that gave me the "schedule" Ben followed for months. He was a great sleeper but getting him to sleep sucked hard. You told me about Sara's schedule, the wake and bed times were about the same as Ben's so I tried it and it worked the first day. He didn't make a peep when we put him down for bed and went to sleep on his own which was something he'd never done before. It worked beautifully almost to the point of being creepy. :hehe:

I think I've got a copy of the NCSS somewhere but I have no idea when I'll find the time to read it. I want my sleep back. The little jerk teased me for a few months by sleeping wonderfully then going back to waking a few times at night so now I'm determined to get him back to sleeping straight through. :twothumbs:

[theWrap]

Marilyn, I think it was you that gave me the "schedule" Ben followed for months. He was a great sleeper but getting him to sleep sucked hard. You told me about Sara's schedule, the wake and bed times were about the same as Ben's so I tried it and it worked the first day. He didn't make a peep when we put him down for bed and went to sleep on his own which was something he'd never done before. It worked beautifully almost to the point of being creepy. :hehe:

I think I've got a copy of the NCSS somewhere but I have no idea when I'll find the time to read it. I want my sleep back. The little jerk teased me for a few months by sleeping wonderfully then going back to waking a few times at night so now I'm determined to get him back to sleeping straight through. :twothumbs:

By all means, if you find the sleep schedule that you used, feel free to share it with the rest of us!!

[Elaine]

Absolutely! I'll have to do a little digging but I should be able to find it. :twothumbs:

[Elaine]

Found it! :twothumbs: It's essentially the EAEASY routine from The Baby Whisperer. For whatever reason it worked like a charm with Ben but I know of other babies that it didn't do a thing for. After taking a look at it Thomas is almost the same age as Ben was when I started this routine so I might give it a whirl to see what happens. It's worth a shot!

Marilyn, I hope you don't mind that I'm posting this. :blush: :hehe:

E 7:30 - Wake up & bottle
A 8:00 - Activity
E 9 or 9:30 - Breakfast
A 10:00 - Activity
S 10:30 - Morning Nap
Y - My time
E 12:00 - Bottle
A 12:30 - Activity
E 1:30 or 2 - Mid-day snack
A 2/2:30 - Wind down activity
S 3:00 - 2nd Nap
Y - My time
E 4/4:30 - Bottle
A 4:30 - Activity
E 6:00 - Dinner
A 6:30 - Activity
S 7:30 - Bedtime Routine w/ Bottle
In bed sometime between 8 to 8:30

[Heather]

Elaine, it was an EASY schedule wasn't it? Lauren you can go to www.babywhisperer.com to the forums and get sample sleep schedules following this method for any age. I'm pretty sure it was Marilyn who told me about that site back in the day as well.