But…for now…I NEED HELP!!!
My little guy wakes up in the middle of the night AAAALLLLLLLLL the time!!! He wakes up crying around midnight, he’s usually flipped from his tummy to his back (which he hates.) He’s crying but he’s not usually awake. I go in, reposition him, give him his pacifier, and pat him on the tush. He falls back asleep…for the moment. Usually after that encounter, he wakes up another 3-4 four times. I repeat the above each time until…he wins and I bring him into our bed (around 4am) where he’ll sleep until 6:30am when he gets a small bottle and falls back asleep until 7:30-8am.
His bedroom is at an optimal 70 degrees regularly. He usually wears long sleeves and footless bottoms. I cover him with a comfy blanket that usually stays in place (until he flips over.) He goes to bed at the same time every night (8pm) after his evening bottle. He usually falls asleep during his bottle, after burping, I snuggle him for a few minutes and lay him down (I am fully aware that I should be laying him down groggy so he can fall asleep on his own…that’ll come next.)
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| G's first nap in his big boy bed! |
I’m also fully aware that I could let him cry it out but that is not something I’m ready for now. If I try everything else with no success, that will be my last resort.
So, what suggestions do you have? I’m sure there are a million things I should’ve done prior to this but I’m more interested in ideas to help him sleep soundly from here on.
4 comments:
My first thought was also that he may be hungry. Also, he could be teething and waking up because of that. It's also not uncommon for babies who were once sleeping through the night to go through a sleep regression around this age. Is he crawling yet? Babies who are on the verge of a big developmental milestone often start waking again at night. Sorry for the rambling, I'm a fellow tired Momma! My guess as to what could be causing the waking are: teething, hunger (maybe just a growth spurt?), "normal" sleep regression, or he may just need some extra cuddle time to reconnect.
I also agree that you should just give him a bottle then. My kids were not good sleepers at ALL! We didn't feel comfortable with crying it out until they were nearly 10 months old. It is the only thing that ever really worked, although at 16 months there are still times when they wake up and need a snuggle or a drink, but they are usually sick if that happens. Hang in there!
I would try some Tylenol or Motrin before bed bc it could be teething. Also, is he looking sleepy before you do the bedtime routine? Sounds crazy, but often when babies are overtired they sleep more restlessly and wake up more. You might try putting him down 30 min earlier to see if that does anything. I used Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth for my sleep advice. It helped me so much!
Baby C didn't drop his midnight feed until he was nearly 9 months old, so hopefully that suggestion from Bestie will help. Also on the crying it out... the first week or two I would sit in the kitchen with a timer and cry while Baby C cried, and the very second the timer went off I raced up the stairs to get him. Eventually though I got used to it, AND learned that it really is better for our entire family, including Baby C, for him to sleep better and he was such a stubborn little butt that this was what it took. Sleep is still a HUGE struggle for us and he's 13 months old. Sorry for the bad news :( but most babies get over it much sooner. At least now he's in a phase where, if he cries, it's usually only about 1 minute.
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