Thursday, September 23, 2010

So. Tired.

Will went back and forth for a little while, between waking once during the night and sleeping through.  But after about a week of that he decided to go in a different direction.  So now he's back to waking 4-6 times a night.  And let me just tell you, it SUCKS.  Still no teeth, so we can't blame that, he was sick for a few days but he's better now so we can't blame that.  I think it's just time to admit that this kid is an awful sleeper.  AWFUL.

First of all, he fights sleep Every. Single. Time.  Most days it takes me 3 or 4 attempts to get him to go down for a nap, and bedtime is ridiculous.  He gets tired around 8.  But does he go to sleep then?  Oh, definitely not. He fusses.  He whines.  He nurses.  He cries.  He nurses.  He drifts off...  Then eyes pop open and he cries.  He isn't happy being held.  Or rocked.  Or cuddled.  Or on the floor.  He won't nurse.  Or take a bottle.  He rubs his eyes.  He sucks his finger.  He fusses.  He cries.  He whines.  And this goes ON AND ON.  Usually for 2 hours or longer.  I would be less annoyed by all that if it meant some real, actual sleep.  But it doesn't.  Often he'll wake up the first time less than an hour after he finally goes down.  Naps aren't any better.  I feel lucky if he sleeps for an hour and a half.   I am at a loss here.  We even tried letting him cry one night to see if he'd wear himself down.  10 minutes of crying and he worked himself up so much we couldn't get him to settle down for another hour.  So that's definitely not the way to go.  He's nine months old now, but I still feel like I have a newborn.  What do you do with a kid who won't sleep?

5 comments:

  1. Eli did that. I agree. It sucks. I read "Healthy Sleep, Happy Child." It was hard to do, but I let him scream...for an entire hour. I had to sit outside so I wouldn't hear him. He finally fell asleep at about 57 minutes. His doctor said it was fine, so I went for it. It took about a week and then the crying stopped after about 3-5 minutes. Good Luck!

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  2. Give him Tylenol. He seriously has to be getting some teeth soon! When we let Amelia cry it out we went in there every 2 minutes. I know that's not what's recommended but I couldn't stand hearing her cry. It took about an hour but it worked after a couple nights. Also, I couldn't let her cry until I was at my breaking point, which it sounds like that's about where you're at.

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  3. Charlie is almost three and still isn't a good sleeper and never was as a baby either...I totally feel your pain.

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  4. What do you do with a kid that won't sleep? Cry.

    I spent 8 years praying for patience. About 6 months ago I finally started sleeping through the night again. Guess what I noticed? I was a lot more patient. Turns out I was praying for the wrong thing. I should have been praying for sleep and the patience would come.

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  5. We used No Cry Sleep Solution and a lot of patience. Also be aware of the 9 month sleep regression (followed by a 12 month and 18 month one). Cooper didn't consistently sleep through the night until he was 14 months old, and then it all went to crap at 18 months. He's been great since 22 months.

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