Ok so I need some advice. For the last month or so Kade has been waking up throughout the night to play. I don't feed him so technically he is still sleeping through the night but its getting kind of ridiculous. At first he would just get up once but sometimes he would play for over an hour. It would end up in him crying. I am sure that he decided he wanted to eat because if I am up too long at night I realize I am hungry, but I knew that if I fed him it would only make this problem worse. After a while he quit playing, for the most part, and he usually just goes back to sleep. But now he just wakes up several times at night. I think this is the 6th time tonight. He goes right back to sleep (usually) but I just don't get why he wakes up that many times! But how do I force someone to sleep??? So anyways, I have no idea why he is doing that and I am wondering if there is a way to TEACH him to stay asleep. Any ideas please??
Fyi I still love him loads! I just want him to learn to sleep through the night. It would be a plus to not have to get up and give him his binki several times a night. Our master bedroom is over the garage so there are STAIRS that I have to go up. Poor me huh. :)
Update on Bear
6 days ago
14 comments:
He is so cute...and I totally feel your pain. If you figure it out, let me know :) I'm sure he'll get back to normal...it just may take a while. Hang in there!!!
I'm so glad you found our blog! Your little boy is so cute! I'm so glad you feel the same way as I do :) I hope you are doing well!
Danelle,
I don't know if this helps at all, but we started having problems with Caydence waking up, which was crazy because she has slept 12 hours a night since she was born. I asked the pediatrician and he said kids have night tremors, and just to lay them back down and they would stop within a few weeks. It doesn't sound like he is having nightmares, but I really think if you just lay him down and walk right out he will learn in a few nights. I know it is such a pain, but atleast you can get him to start sleeping through the night again. I had to go in a few times a night, but I would only go in to lay her down and leave immediately. It worked pretty fast, and she's sleeping great again. Also, get rid of your baby monitor. We never bought one, and it was the best thing we ever did. Hope this helps a little.
I don't have any advice for you. (Sorry!) But I just saw your DARLING family pictures on Erin's blog! I love them! You're lookin so skinny!! Way to go!!
I obviously know nothing about keeping kids asleep seeing how I'm still pregnant with my first. However,I have heard that for all things bedtime the best book to read is Baby Wise. I don't know if you've read it--I haven't, but I've heard rave reviews. (Although I did hear one person say she hated it...but mostly I've only heard good things.) Anyway, if him waking up a few times to play is your biggest problem you sound pretty lucky. I hope our little one will be so great. I am sooo nervous--I hardly even feel excited right now. Is that crazy? I am just so overwhelmed with the thought of being a mommy--I feel like I can hardly care for myself right now--but I've been terribly sick and hospitalized a few days this week so I guess that's why. Anyway, good luck with everything!
Our baby used to do the same thing. I just walked in, turned on her soother, gave her the binkie and shut the door. It works wonders now but it did take a little while. Since she is a little older now, she turns on her own soother and most times finds her binkie when she's awake. There is hope! Just keep trying. :)
Our pediatrician told us that it is really common for babies to start waking up during the night right before a growth spurt, or a major milestone --like crawling or walking.
BUT, if you want good sleeping advice, you might try the book, "On Becoming Babywise" by Gary Ezzo or "The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Harvey Karp. You can probably get them at the library or they are super cheap on Amazon.
let him cry for a minute, and if he doesn't stop then go to him. Keep the place dark where you have him... if he does get up but can't see the toys or anything, then he will get bored and go back to sleep. :)
Sleeping is a hard thing... right when they figure it out again and start sleeping through the night, something happens. With Kaleb its been either teething or a cold that makes him wake up several times. It's usually just a phase that will be lived out shortly. The first time Kaleb went through a phase like this Kyle would be the one to go put him back to sleep first and he usually stayed asleep. Sometimes babies just want their mommies, which is sweet, but not so much at 3 in the morning. Maybe try sending Alex in the first time around and see if that makes a difference. Good luck to you. Welcome to the first of many phases(unless you get super lucky and this is it)
around this time, they start to have separation anxiety, and they have a realization now that even if they can't see you, they know you exist, and they can summon you by crying. and when they sleep, they go through cycles of deep and not so deep sleep. they starting waking up out of habit. so i'm pretty sure that's what we have going on with caleb right now too. but if he's only depending on you to come give him his binky and then goes right back to sleep, and it's several times a night, i would stop giving it to him and see if crying it out a little helps him remember how to sooth himself back to sleep. you don't want him depending on you to give him his binky if that's the only way he'll go back to sleep. and are you up playing with him, or is he just in his crib awake? if he's just in his crib, leave him be. he'll get tired enough and go to sleep. turn off the monitor!!
I agree with the other people that said just go in, lay him back down and leave quietly. DO NOT talk to him, coo at him, etc. Just rub his back lovingly, tuck him back in and LEAVE. It may take several tries and cries, ut don't give in, or it will never work.
Think long and hard first if you can let him cry, otherwise giving in opens a whole new can of worms... (same trick will work with giving up binkies, bottles, etc.) Make your decision and STICK WITH IT. Good luck.
One of the reasons I liked Happiest Baby on the Block was that it offered a different suggestion -- say he wakes up, you would wait 10 minutes, and then go in and settle him back down. The next night 15 minutes, and then 20, etc. This was good because you could still go to him, you just had to wait. And it helps them to learn to settle back down without the "abandoning" feeling. Landen could put himself back to sleep by the time we got to 20 minutes.
So Lilia was doing the same thing recently- and still does sometimes. But she would just wake up crying. The BEST thing to do is to make him cry it out- and DON'T go in there- it is SO hard not too but seriously he needs to learn to fall asleep on his own- without you putting the binki back in his mouth. Just let him play if he wakes up or cry and then he will go back to sleep. Eventually without you interfering he will sleep through the night- I know it is hard to hear him cry it out, but you will be SO happy when he doesn't do it anymore because he can sleep on his own.
I say if he is not crying leave him be. I also found that sometimes my kids would wake up at night because they would hear a noise or something. Put something in their room that makes white noise so it drowns out the other noises the house makes. I find fans to work the best. It helps them stay asleep because they don't hear every little noise. You can't force him to sleep but you can allow yourself to sleep. If you don't want to get woken up every time he wakes up then turn the monitor off and turn a fan on in your room. That way if he is just up playing and making a little noise you won't hear it. If he is screaming and crying you will hear him and will be able to get him. Hope that helps.
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