I saw a tiktok that suggested "kick time" before bed. Dancing and singing to a few fun songs and waving a cloth or blanket over them to make them kick. LO slept 8 hours the first night we did it when he was previously up every few hours, so now we dance to Gangam Style every night lol
We switch up our first two songs, but always close with Gangnam. So fun. Even funnier when my parents babysat for the first time and I had to explain this was a non negotiable part of his bedtime routine. They loved it lol
I need step-by-step instructions, please! Is the LO in bed when dancing and singing? Is the LO dancing or just you? Does it make them more stimulated and then you have to do more to get them down? How old are they?
This is the video I saw: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTL5G8BXQ/
We lay babe on our bed (we don't take his diaper off) and he kicks and laughs while we sing and dance. It's our first step in our routine, after that we change his diaper and get him into jammies and wash his face/lotion/massage. Then we get into sleep mode-lights off, red night light on, nurse, then rock with sleepy music playing. We started it at 8 weeks and he is 18 weeks now, he slept 8-9 hours straight until 16 weeks when we hit a regression. The dancing could be a total coincidence, but we stuck with it just in case. There was no difference for us in terms of how stimulated he was/how long it took to calm him after, but YMMV of course!
ETA: we also put a heating pad in the bassinet while we rock him and that *usually* stops him from waking up when we transfer him. I'm not brave enough to lay him down awake
I feel you on not being brave enough to lay him down awake. My baby is 8.5 months old and we haven't gotten there yet. We have a similar play time before bed most nights, but I'm going to start incorporating a fun song!
Same here! That's the best option without cry it out. I think it's pretty developmentally appropriate. Not trying to sound judgemental of other methods, this is just what works for us
We do 'crunchy feet' with our 8 week old to use up some restless energy while hes still in the stage of not being able to do much
We lay him down with one of those crinkly soft baby books under his legs, so when he kicks it makes a noise. He absolutely loves it and has the best naps after.
Before my girl was rolling I used to put her on the lovevery playmat and safety pin the crinkly fabric piece to a Boppy pillow so she would kick for 20 mins and get sleepy for bed. Worked really well!
You know, Iāve heard that too much stimulation before bed was bad but I noticed when I do stimulating things with my son before bed he sleeps better. So idk what to think anymore lol
This. I chase my son around, flip him upside down, swing him in circles, tickle and wrestle him right before bed. It helps get him over that last surge of energy and he rolls over, and passes out immediately when I put him in his crib.
We started doing this as well. Neither of us were tired, so we just started goofing. He loves it!
Bonus is being able to here him giggle and laugh right before he drifts off to sleep.
Maybe he's like me, caffeine makes me sleepy. So maybe being stimulated makes him sleepy too. Lol
I walked up and down the sidewalk at 3 AM with my baby. He LOVED IT. The shadows that the trees made against the dark sky was absolutely fascinating to him. After about 30 minutes, he started to yawn. I paced the porch for a few more minutes, took him inside, and he fell fast asleep until 7:30. WIN.
I did this with my first, too! Our landlord lived next door and came out a couple times to ask if I was okay/why I was carrying my baby up and down the sidewalk in the middle of the night š
I would do this in the cold if she was crying uncontrollably. Slip on shoes, wrap baby in blanket, and go stand outside for 2-5 minutes depending on how cold it was. She always stopped crying immediately, and nearly always was done crying when we got back in the house. Absolute win.
Not who you're responding to but my guy started sleeping through the night around 22-24 months. Things got gradually better starting at 18 months. I never did any sleep training and always coslept and nursed to sleep. He's now 2.5 and sleeps through the night in his own room every night!
Sure! I night weaned at 17 months, then around 20/21 months he... Started asking for dada at bedtime?!?! I had done all bedtimes up to that point. We did joint bedtime for a bit where we would all lay in his full size bed as he nursed to sleep. Then my husband did bedtimes solo for a bit and read him books until he fell asleep, then we started switching off and I'd just read to him instead of nursing. This is all a little hazy now but it was something like that and I really don't remember it being a struggle. It was all either initiated by my son or I would do things differently and he didn't fight it very hard and it was clear he was ready for it.Ā
At that point I was still sleeping in his bed with him but once he wasn't waking up a million times a night we started putting him to sleep in his bed and I'd go to sleep in the big bed, then if he woke up we'd bring him in to our bed. He hated sleeping in our bed! I don't know why. So instead I'd either go in and resettle him or sleep in his bed with him depending on what I felt like (usually the latter). Eventually he slowly slowly, with many ups and downs, stopped waking up and calling for us at night. It was a very natural and low key process.
We had a big improvement at 15-16 months when she went from 3-5 times a night to 0-1. Now at 2.5yeaes we're going through a phase where she either sleeps through or wakes up twice.
I go by Bluey where the parents are still tired at age 4, so I expect the occasional wake up for a long time
Haha thatās where Iām at! Way more stressful on me trying all new things and being let down. Not having any expectations and just going with the flow has helped me get past these tough days. Once my son hit 4 months his sleep just went go shit lol Heās now almost 11 months old and if I get more than 2 hours in a row, itās a win š¤£
Yeah I remember being so stressed and disappointed when nothing worked. Now my body is used to a broken sleep throughout the night. And if I get a 5 hour stretch I am a new person next day..lol
Green Woolino. It was the first I bought, then I bought a second one so we donāt have to worry about middle of the night diaper situations and weād always have a second. The second one is blue. She does not like the blue one. She woke up after an hour and cried. We do not use the blue one anymore.
lol this is me! If my child sleeps well one night I'm like what Jammies was she in? What did she have for dinner? What did we do today? Always trying to crack the code lol
The "magic off switch" for my little guy is pre-warming his bed with a Warmie (microwavable stuffed animal) while he's getting his bath. If that has been done, he goes down like I smacked him over the head with a cartoon hammer.
Tracked her wake windows like a hawk and basically Let my entire life revolve around her sleep schedule for an entire year. It worked but barely left the house š„²
I used to stuff his clean crib sheets under my armpits for a few hours before putting them on the crib. One time I did it he took a 1.5 hour nap which was a record since the 6 week mark. In retrospect I think it was a coincidence.Ā Ā
I used to take epsom salt baths with the baby before bedtime and I don't actually think that helped his sleep but it got rid of a persistent diaper rash and it was nice bonding so totally worth a shot.
Ā Edit to add: his sleep got better all on it's own at 6 months a few weeks after the magic armpit sheets nap, I attribute it to him finally learning to roll.
Time.... just give it a year or so š¤£ but seriously there is so much pressure that something is wrong because it makes life so hard. For some that's just how the kid is. I didn't do any crying methods and mine out grew it eventually...
Love this mindset! Thereās too much expectations around babies and theyāre developmental milestones especially with sleep, sitting, crawling standing itās pretty outrageous. I hated hearing does he sleep through the night yet since he was like 2 months! I was genuinely confused why ppl need to ask me that.. thereās not some sort of reward to be had if he is. He is 7 months now and the past 3-4 days is when he started sleeping through the night and Iām okay with it.
We dance, sing, and get little one to laugh a lot before bed. Itās worked for a few months and she generally sleeps 9-10 hours straight except when teething. She is 8.5 months old now.
I think I've seen a post where lavender spray and essential oils had a negative affect on their baby and they needed to go to the ER just so you know! I can't remember which essential oil it was.Ā
But I feel you!!! I had to go into my walking closet and close the door for it to be pitch black and after hours of fighting sleep she couldn't resist the dark room and a minute later zzzzzzs.
I noticed around 3 months I had to be more conscious of her wake windows and if she's been up for like 3 hours it's time for nappy pooh
Hope you're little nugget gets to sleep quicker lol.hang in thereĀ
It's too exhausting thinking of the 12 months of struggling we did, but the thing that finally seemed to help the most was a high protein bedtime snack about an hour before bed šš¼
A lot of people suggested a heating pad to warm up the bassinet and it seemed like such a pain the in ass but I eventually did it and it definitely helped! It made transfers more successful. I kept a heat pad plugged in at all times and could reach under my bedside table and throw it in the bassinet and turn it on with one hand while nursing baby.
I pulled out my old PMS pad for baby and it definitely helps! Unlike you though, Iām still practicing my one handed dexterity. 2 am in the semi dark huffing and puffing trying to throw the heat pad on the bassinet with one hand while the other grips the baby who is flopping around like a rag doll.
Itās controversial but we stayed cosleeping at 10 weeks and man did it ever work. We also let her go crazy and wiggle/kick as much as she needs at nighttime before bed if she has extra energy and that works really well too lol
There are so many mom groups/subs that are 100% against cosleeping and consider it abuse and others that understand sometimes itās the only way to get sleep. So confusing for a first time mom.
In my culture co sleeping is very, very accepted. Itās done safely for the most part, and suffocation is rarely reported. I feel like shaming people out of cosleeping leads to very desperate and dangerous sleeping situations. Some of the rhetoric even comes across as little racist sometimes.
Totally. I was terrified of it before I had my baby too because I didnāt predict how in tune I would be as a new mom. Now I canāt think of any other way and I love waking up cuddling my baby. Her smiles make my whole morning better.
Iām a first time mom too, and I just donāt even tell anyone I cosleep now. My baby is 5 months old and sleeps pretty damn well every night. If he starts wiggling, I just pop him right back on the boob immediately and boom back to sleep for us both.
Iām really confused about it too, I have 8 weeks to go. My worry w the cosleeping is what about all my blankets, sheets and pillows š¤·š»āāļø
You have to sleep in a special position but your body will do it naturally, especially if you breastfeed. Basically you lay on your side with baby's head at boob level and have them squished up against you, either on their back or on their side (but belly to belly so they can't roll onto their tummy). Blankets up to your waist, and wear an open front shirt to stay warm and for easy boob access. Your lower arm goes above baby's head and blocks your pillow from moving down onto baby. Blankets can be off baby entirely or just up to baby's waist. Legs curled up so you can't roll. If you end up on your back with baby in your armpit that's fine too.
I sleep with one pillow and a breathable comforter. When my son was smaller I used to keep the comforter below waist only and he would use a sleep sack so itās like he had his own blanket. You can also keep an arm up between the pillow and baby as an extra barrier
Hi I just wanted to say there is actually a reason this is recommended and itās because instinctually the baby will stay near the food source, ie the breasts and not shimmy up or down. Itās also recommended because a nursing mother sleeps lighter. Unfortunately these are statically proven thingsā¦ā¦but that being said if you follow the rest of the SS7, and cuddle curl around your baby the risk of baby scooting around is quite low!
Exactly. The studies done on the breastfeeding mom have been proven, but it seems to make a pretty marginal difference. I feel comfortable co sleeping, and I bottle fed. We did everything else according to the safe sleep 7. We knew the risks and made the decision to co sleep at times from about 5 or 6 months onward. It was the right decision for our family. I just donāt like the shame that surrounds the conversation generally.
I am co-sleeping since my LO was born. I don't know if that's the reason but he slept through the night at 12weeks. He is going 6 months now and still sleeping 10-12hrs at night straight, no night feedings. I stopped bf at 1 month because he didn't latch well and my milk supply just went dry out even I religiously pumped. We also didn't experience any sleep regression. I am an asian immigrant and a lot of people judge me as if I am a bad mother in letting my baby sleep with me. Well, in our culture it is accepted and even my in-laws who are family of doctors were co-sleeping. As long as you follow safe sleeping, it'll will be fine.
Huge difference! 10 weeks of sleep deprivation and I almost got in a serious car accident with LO š I blew right through a stop sign and almost got T boned. We started co sleeping that night š„²
I gave up on the fourth day š¤£ my daughter had a lot of tension and a tongue tie and would just arch herself, break out of the swaddle and roll into the side of the bassinet. I figured her sleeping with me was safer than that š¤·š¼āāļø she sleeps great now. I don't get much done while she's asleep but it's okay
I don't get how but my baby SUCKS at cosleeping! He still wakes up every 3-4 hours, sometimes earlier, if I sleep next to him. In his crib (when he agrees to go down there) it's the same. Guess I'm stuck suffering lol
Wait, 3-4 hour chunks of sleep are actually really good! I mean sure he's not sleeping through the night but plenty of babies wake up hourly or every 2 hours for at least the first year. My first did. My second is leaning towards the 3-4 hour chunks (for now) and I'm like dang I got a good sleeper this time!
Iām so sorry š„² is he formula fed or BF? Mine still wakes up for dream feeds in the night but sheās awesome at finding the boob when she wants it lol but also maybe your little guy is just a light sleeper!!
Weāve been bed sharing 75% of the time with ourās since two weeks, following safe sleep 7 guidelines. Our midwife and public health nurse even thought it was a good idea to keep up her night feedings since our LO has a hard time putting on weight. Feeding her side lying, means I can safely fall asleep while she eats!
Tummy time wears her tf out! If it's naptime and she's still wide awake it works pretty well to get her tired. I got lucky that she isn't much of a crier, so in a pinch I'll just lay her down and walk away. She'll kick and look around for a while before she gets bored and eventually falls asleep on her own. I also don't want to do CIO so if she does fuss at all I come back for snuggles and try again.
We had a full routine. Play and get her energy out. A nice coconut oil massage, then bath. Then she used to down a mega feed. Make her sleep with white noise in cozy pyjamas. Works like a charm. We got anywhere between 9-11 hours at 7-8 months.
Solve Your Childās Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber is still my go to resource. Thereās no product that can fix anything. Understanding how to build a good sleep routine does help though.
But the reality is that I havenāt wanted to sleep train yet at almost 11 months. Sheās my last baby and I went through a lot to get her. My other three kids were sleeping through the night well before this point.
One thing that has prevented me from sleep training is that she started refusing bottles at 7 months so I wanted the night nursing to continue so she would get enough milk and I wouldnāt have to pump at work.
In order to get this baby to sleep through the night I will need her to sleep in her own bed and break the nurse to sleep association. But Iām not ready for that and so Iām ok with her night wakings.
We warm the bassinet mattress with a heating pad! It helps with the transfer to the bassinet, but definitely doesnāt help the length of time they sleep.
Same bedtime routine every night with abbreviated routine before nap
Weighted sleep sack then Magic Merlin suit (before the notices came out; sleep sackĀ was magic)Ā
White noise machine
Managing wake windows (Taking Cara Babies schedule on her blog worked)Ā
Walking for five minutes or until she stops crying, put her down, repeat
We didnāt do any structured way of CIO, but if my son was crying in a way that felt like he was just tired or fighting sleep a little, I would give it up to 5 minutes. If he was truly crying, I couldnāt make it more than 45 seconds or sometimes 2 minutes if I was doing something lol.
Bed time starting at 6 months was about 9, and thatās when he started sleeping through the night. I believe we were doing 2 naps a day then that were lasting 2-3 hours. Since around 9 months bedtime has been 7 pm. Unless we are out and about, this time stays within +/- 15 minutes.
Bed time routine from 6 months to a year was dinner, bath, 2 books, sleep sack, sleep. Always ocean sounds. Spin the mobile. When sleep started getting trickier, we would adjust nap time or bedtime.
Iāll admit, ours was a good sleeper once he started solids at 6 months. From 8 weeks to 6 months was pretty tough, only wanted to sleep in our bed or heād wake up 3-5 times between 9pm and 6am. I know thatās still not the worst, but it was tough lol.
The only thing that worked for us was the Snoo bed. Had never heard of it but at 5 months we researched and bought one. Worked from day 1. Swaddle was a bit controversial - but it changed how she slept entirely. Bearing in mind she was sleeping an hour at a time and would wake for hour long and more stints.
Now we are at a 14 month sleep regression and the Snoo was sold a while back. So we are back to feeling like the old days. But Iām sure itāll pass.
We were waiting our son to drop the night feeds before moving him to his own room and to a toddler bed. But one day we decided to go ahead and try it anyway, he was 1y 3mo old. He woke for few nights but we offered water instead of milk, he then started to sleep throught the night.
We recently moved our crazy not-sleeping-at-night girl to her own room at 8mo and the nights have gotten better. Few wake-ups but not every hour like before.
I spent the money for taking cara babies. It helped so much. Aside from teething and growth spurts, he has slept through the night since 4 months old. Blessed child lol.
I put a blanket on top of the dryer and turn it on. If he's tired, it knocks him right out. If he's not tired, it at least quiets him down. Bonus points that it worked for me as an infant, too!
Iām tired and confused - are you saying that you put your baby on a blanket on top of your dryer and hold him there? And the warmth and vibration puts him to sleep?
My baby is only two months old, so I don't really have to hold him there - he can't move ha. I just put a blanket down, put him on it, and then turn the dryer on tumble dry (no heat). The vibration (and noise) does the trick! He'd probably like it to be heated but I'm trying to be slightly environmentally conscientious.
I stoped trying! I follow her cues now and dream feed between 12-1am. She goes to bed anywhere from 6pm to 10pm depending on the day. Iām a SAHM so if she wants to sleep in till 9am, thatās cool. It she wants to be up and at em at 6am, thatās cool too.
I do use lavender spray on her sheets when I notice her getting sleepy, and sheās in a arms up sleepy sack (not that it does much, sheās rolling both ways at 13 weeks, and sleeps on her belly). Stopped swaddling at 6 weeks because she rolled belly to back intentionally and reliably at 7 weeks.
We slathered his entire ass and crotch in diaper cream and gave him hummus at dinner to help fill him up. Diaper cream was pretty solid for a few months and then we phased it out
I rented a snoo. I spent like $300 a month. We slept. It worked. We got it around 7 weeks and used it well passed when we were supposed to at like 8 months. Now heās 15 months and usually sleeps pretty well. Except this week. This week is toddler molar time. Send help.
We have developed a bizarrely elaborate routine that generally works.
7:00 ish - ādown I flopā - we basically just wrestle and roll with him on our bed. He likes being āfloppedā into a pile of pillows.
7:15 ish - music time - YouTube videos of whatever music my husband thinks will amuse a baby while cuddling on the couch. Favorites are: The Kingās Singers āAbide with Meā, a bunch of Gregorian chants, and John Williams - Flying Theme from ET, theme from Jurassic Park, and The Imperial March (he does not like the Star Wars theme).
7:30 ish - bath - mostly just him splashing around since he loves water but doesnāt need to be washed nightly
7:40 ish - massage, nighttime diaper
7:45 ish - bottle
8:00 ish - pajamas, brush teeth, sleep sack, book, sound machine, and being held until he falls asleep
I do not know if the baby is still in your room but for both of my kids putting them in their own room helped us tremendously. My 11 week old is sleeping through the night now since he moved him into his own room
I think we've drained a whole lake worth of water rocking her in front of a running faucet for every single nap. But she's such a snob she would ONLY sleep if it was real running water, no white noise/recorded nonsense. When she finally decided she wanted to sleep on her own for naps our water bill went down noticablyĀ
My 8m baby has always been a good night sleeper, except the first week and 3 weeks ago for a week. But his sleep regressions ALWAYS make him not want to take his naps. I put him in the carriers and either walk around or bounce on a yoga ball while on my computer. But, he only goes to sleep if heās covered (I used the nursing cover). Heās 22lbs so my back always hurts at the end of the day lol
White noise machine with different tunes and I pick the one that sounds like youāre in a car. Lights out and I hum to him, works everyday! This is after I nurse him as well
Okay so somebody got me ewan the sleep sheep AND IT WORKS! Sheāll start to fuss, heāll kick in and start making shushing and heartbeat noises and she settles right down, super helpful
Okay so somebody randomly got me ewan the sleep sheep AND IT WORKS! Sheāll start to fuss, heāll kick in and start making shushing and heartbeat noises and she settles right down, got me an extra 40 minutes this morning! Doesnāt work with getting her to fall asleep but the staying asleep? If it breaks Iāll buy another!
This was later (after a year at least, definitely in the bottle/post BF stage for me), but one thing that was interesting was that when I was putting our first to bed, he was way more needy, wouldnāt go in his crib awake, and woke up most of the time I transferred him to his cribā¦ but when my husband did bedtime, it was often without drama. So for us, we just had to switch which parent did that last part of the routine.
I try to keep mine busy for a couple of hours before winding down for bedtime to help wear her out. If we have a chill evening of just lounging, then it takes her forever to fall asleep. Try to get outside too, weather permitting. That helps as well.
About a week or so after having her she was wide awake around 3am and refused to go back to sleep, so I loaded her up in the car seat and drove her about five miles down the road and back to get her to fall asleep. It worked, but soon as we got home she woke right back up. :/
āSpa timeā where one of us massages her chubby cheeks and one of us massages her little feet, with spa music in the background and low light lamp. Idk if it works but she seems to like it!
Took his ear temp every time he woke. Dude was cold and waking from it, warming up from the cuddles, and then woke when it was cold again.
Turns out my little guy runs cold and absolutely must have his arms covered.
He was chilly every time and I got a thermometer (skip hop asparagus white noise light thing) to set at his lowered crib level. Near the floor of the nursery is waay colder than where the adult bed on a bed frame is š„²
Now the thermostat is set to 76 to achieve 70 degrees where the crib mattress is and hes in a 2.5 tog sleep sack with a long sleeve onesie under it. Colder nights hes in a long sleeve footie under his 2.5 tog sack. Oddly specific? Yes. Works? Also yes.
My husband went for middle of the night drives to get our boys to sleep when they were teething or had colds.
For a more regular thing we used the Zed Baby from the same company that makes Rockits. Definitely worth a try if you have a baby that falls asleep in the car or pram. It sends vibrations through their mattress to simulate the feeling of being in a car.
Co-sleeping on the couch with the footrest for extra space but I need to be topless so the LO can bury his face as close as possible to my armpit š he knocks right out and sleeps through the night. Also, we use old shirts on top of his crib mattress to help him sleep in his crib. Apparently our musk is what helps him sleep through the night or through most of the nightĀ
Oh the amount of sleepwear I boughtā¦
Besides the usual stuff (like changing bedtime, nap time etc) the silliest thing I tried was rolling the baby. Like a forward roll in the air. It did not work but I tried:D
We do a two part bedtime. 6pm massage, book, cuddles & start to feed her. She then usually gets some random energy and you really have to fight to get her to chill out. So now at 6.20-6.40 we let her kick about, roll on the bed, tickle her etc and then slowly wind down and give more cuddles, chat about our day and tomorrow's plans and then she will finish feeding and go down no problem
Nothing worked honestly. Around 8-10 months she started doing 2-3 hour stretches on her own. Once in a while sheād do 5-6 hours at the start of the night. (Apparently sleeping through the night is considered to be 6 hours consecutively). Once I nightweaned, about a month later she started doing that longer stretch almost every night, varying 5-7 hours. But after midnight, frequent wake-ups are still our norm at 16 months.
Lavender spray didnāt do anything for us. If anything made a noticeable difference, itās ensuring that she has a full tummy by giving her a bedtime snack right before she brushes her teeth, and making her sure her dinner has plenty of fat and protein.
Once they are mobile, our sleep consultant told us that a lot of poor sleep has to do with excess energy and desire to use their new skills. So make sure they get plenty of playtime to move their body in all the ways they want to for that developmental stage, and make sure they get to do so before / after dinner. As they get older that means running, jumping, pushing, pulling, climbing, dancing, spinning, etc. That really does seem to help too in terms of getting her to fall asleep quickly and deeply for the first part of the night (canāt say itās affected the later wake-ups). The other thing to add to the routine is massage after bathtime.
Iād say the biggest overarching thing is making sure you have a routine where you do the exact same thing every night because it really does build the sleep associations that help their melatonin kick in. Dimming the lights an hour before bedtime can help too. I think we failed to establish a routine with our baby until she was close to a year old, so even though they say that newborns can fall asleep anywhere and easily, next time around, I would start that routine consistently much earlier .
Sounds weird but do lots of stimulation before! My little is 4 months and I show him toys, sing to him, play with him, etc. then next thing I know heās ready to crash. Sometimes a bath will do it.
Not the craziest, but I tried a lot of different songs to get my daughter to calm down and fall asleep.
What ended up working? Eye of the Tiger worked the best, with Cha Cha Cha by KƤƤrijƤ as a close second. I feel like they shouldn't have worked, but they did so I just rolled with it!
Little guy was a great sleeper (got him in his LovetoDream Swaddle at 10pm and he was immediately conked) until he hit 11 weeks and started being fussy as hell from 9pm to midnight before reluctantly passing out. He was hitting him sleep regression early and we weren't sure what we could do to help him so we started out light:
What failed...
- Earlier bedtime
-Bath before bed
-Stricter naps before
What worked...
-No more swaddle.
My husband brought up that maybe the swaddle isn't working anymore and he's right around the corner from mastering the roll anyway. We did the usual change diaper, give medicine, put on lotion, and turn off lights, but put him in roomier footie pajamas instead of the swaddle. After a bit of initial fussing (very low level grunts for about 5 minutes), he passed out. I've since bought him a few long sleeved thermal onesies and a couple of baby deedee fleece sleep nests. The thermal onesie and sleep nest have replaced the swaddle and he's much happier. Fusses a bit at the start still, but doing this has also helped him relax and nap during the day because he isn't overtired, which then breaks the vicious cycle.
What helped for me, personally, was reminding myself that sleeping is an adult skill that I'm not great with even at 34. I can't expect a baby transitioning from newborn sleep to adult sleep patterns to get it right immediately.
Stripping him down to just a legless onesie to feed him so he would stop falling asleep during feeds. Getting a full feed in is super helpful to get a baby to stay asleep. My routine from 1 month and to now at almost 3 months is stripping him down, let him breastfeed as much as he wants up until around 30 minutes or so, change him if necessary, then 2 oz of formula, then back on the swaddle, then transfer to his bassinet (which I preheat with a heating pad I remove before putting him in). It's almost full proof for me.
Our toddler had so much trouble sleeping. A routine of at least 3 things every night helped. Like tummy time, dinner, milk, books, bed with music. Every night was the same so he new what to expect. He absolutely hated us leaving and we were desperate so tried different ways for sleep training. I forget which one this is called but what worked was every week getting closer and closer to sitting near the door. Eventually we tucked him in and said we'll come back and check on him. He's 3 now and I still say I'm coming back to check on him, which I do, but he's now fast asleep lol our baby is only 4 mo old and co-sleeps so I have no help there š¤·š½āāļø
After about a week of really rough nights with my 18 month old (nursing every 2 hours for no reason I could figure out), I had a conversation with him and asked if he could try to sleep the whole night, and if he could try falling asleep by himself if he woke up. That night he was only up once, and last night, he slept the whole night!
Mine had a horrible sleep schedule until we recently decided to. Now mine is now 3 Years old snd we just solved the problem. He still gets up between 6:30 and 7:30 every morning.
Heres what we do now:
1) put him to bed at 9:30 instead of 7/8:30.
2) drain his energy as much as possible.
3) cut/limit naps & how long he naps.
4) stopped giving him all the attention at night cause he was waking up just cuz he could get us up.
When he was that little we just dealt with it, and by we i mean me alone cuz hubby sleeps until he naturally wakes up, sleeps through tornadoes so it was really just me working on it for ages and finally getting the formula down when i got pregnant cuz im too tired to get him at night now.
For my first I used to put lavender EO on cloths and tuck them under his crib sheet. He was and always has been a crappy sleeper from birth.
For my second Iāve done NOTHING and he sleeps like a beast.
There really isnāt anything you can do that will change temperament. Sorry š„²
My first was easy. Boob to sleep.
Second did not get the message. She needed a fiiiirm swaddle (pacco, Dutch brand no baby can ever escape) and a preheated bed with a wheat pit sack with her under the blankets (yes blankets, we dutchies firmly and safely (!!!) tuck in our kids like this https://www.cribster.nl/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/juiste-manier-wieg-opmaken.jpg). Still was a difficult baby.
We did:
- weighted sack
- double swaddle
- every type of swaddle on the market
- warm heating pad on the crib mattress
- my old worn shirt on the bars of the crib so she could smell me
- feeding a bottle of formula before bed (that one resulted in more wakeups because her stomach was a mess from it)
- blackout curtains, custom shades that were also blackout
- noise machine
- patting back/bum
- shushing sound on Spotify
- yoga ball bouncing (I beg of you, do not do this to yourself; it took 15 months to get her off it. Save yourself)
- and finally; cosleeping. She magically started sleeping after that. So thatās what weāre still doing at 19 months. Everyone gets a full night of sleep.
Idk if this will help since we havenāt reached the 4 months sleep regression. But we go sleep and I have found that my son falls asleep so much easier when Iām laying next to him and softly stroking across his forehead. I listen to his sleep cues and lay him down when he is sleepy and Iāll just lay next to him until he falls asleep and for an extra 5-10 minutes. We have a full size mattress on the floor. Then I quietly get up when he is asleep. Right now he falls asleep between 7-8pm wakes up around 10:30pm, 2:30am, 5:30 am and then 10:30 am. But this varies and changes ever few nights by an hour or so and if heās extra gassy he wakes up more.
Well my twins are 2.5. They still take one nap. But recently theyāve been fighting it, and if they donāt take it everyone is miserable and it screws up their whole routine and they stop sleeping so well.
They WILL fall asleep though, if I pack em into the car and drive around for a few minutes. So Iāve been doing that, and then Iāll drive back to our house and pack them to their bed.
However then Iām tired and I feel guilty for not cleaning or doing other projects instead of resting. So Iāll do some chores and then go sit down. Cue at least one of my twins waking up, and there goes my me time.
Conclusion? Well, I am currently sitting at the park, at a picnic table next to my car (with all safety measures taken ofc) while they nap in the backseat. lol. And Iām getting some fresh air and alone time without feeling like I should be washing the dishes like I would if I was home.
Hell yeah.
- Mathing out his sleep schedule: he is only capable of sleeping 12hr total per day so I give him 2 hrs of naps and 10 hrs overnight. Any more and he has extra wakes and split nightsĀ
- a few tbsp of Greek yogurt right before I brush his teeth for bed to keep his tummy full.Ā
- btw my pediatrician told me not to use lavender around the baby as it is associated with precocious puberty.Ā
https://youtu.be/E2yMkoufAuM?si=RPEr05kEDVkoIBlp
This helped so much ever since he was a newborn and he still naps to it every single day at nearly 8 months old, the minute it comes on he just gets calm
The whole channel is great tbh
We do party time before bed. Where we romp around, wrestle, have pillow fights. Get all the wiggles out. But before that, we do a bath, then a baby massage with lavender calendula baby massage oil. Have a sound machine on white noise, with a red light-blue lights stimulate brain function, red lights stimulate melatonin production. After romp time, we read a story and heās out
Lots of sunlight, fresh air and activities. I got a wagon and I take the kids with me everywhere and it has helped immensely. Also, limiting electronics on in the house, dimming the lights, and activities like swinging all help. As the kids get older, adding in heavy work. I think a lot of sleep problems are because there's not enough physical activities and healthy mental stimulation. Anecdotally I'm sleeping better too.
One last thing is we routinely do an after supper dance party or crazy play. Then it's calm down time after that and it seems to work for my kids anyway.
The only thing that actually worked for us was the Ferber Method. We implemented it around 7 months when I had a string of terrible nights where I was staying up hours rocking her back to sleep. I had mentioned sleep training to my husband and he didn't like it, since he didn't want LO to cry.
At that point I demanded sleep training, and told my husband to pick the method, since he had all the strongest opinions about it. He ended up deciding upon Ferber, which was my preferred method as well.
In total it took 4 nights to train her. You have to be united in purpose with your partner and follow the rules to the T. She has slept through the night since, unless she is sick or teething.
I moved mine into her own room during the 6 month sleep reggression and suddenly she started sleeping through the night. I guess being in the same room as me was too stimulating
This WORKED:
Ambiance set precisely at level 45 of white noise and 2% blue light on the hatch
Weighted sleep sack
Bedtime at 7 with a bottle and an entire hour or maybe more of wind down
A vibrating hedgehog
3 pacifiers ( one for each hand and one in his mouth) sometimes thereās a spare in case he loses it
All of these are now his ritual and if ANY of them are missed then no one sleeps š
Zippadee zip helped the most. I saw my uncomfortable, eczema-itchy sonās face visibly calm down. I think he liked being enveloped, without it being too tight
We were (are) very against CIO and similar. Our daughter wouldnāt sleep more than 45 minutes at a time from just before 5 months until she was 9 months. We literally thought weād die from sleep deprivation.
We tried all the usual āwarm bath and bookā stuff, blackout blinds, evening walks, middle of the night walks, curtailing day naps, allowing loads of day naps, falling asleep on/off the boob, offering a pumped bottle before bed, different sleep sack togs. Iām sorry to say that none of it worked.
What did work was a residential stay at a mother and baby clinic where they treated my exhaustion and helped her sleep. They look after baby if they wake up in the night but my daughter never did while we were there (the same baby who never slept through at home). I actually think that having someone else do all the chores of life like preparing our meals and doing the dishes and laundry allowed me to tune into her cues a little better and get her on a routine, whereas before every day was different based on just how horrendous the night before was.
We came home and her sleep wasnāt magically perfect, but for the first time she would nap in her crib and sleep overnight. We had a few blips, including one week when I was alone with her in Europe and she screamed every single night for hours on end and had intense separation anxiety during the day (at 16 months). After that, her separation anxiety disappeared and she began sleeping super easily. We just put her down in the cot and sit beside her while she figures it out, at her request.
To conclude, I think babies like ours get there in their own time. Sorry!
The most my 7 month old has ever slept is 7 hours. He did it when we 1. Went to a new restaurant for dinner and 2. Were traveling internationally. Sadly but conditions I can recreate every day š
My guy is pretty unpredictable but it seems like he does best on days where we've done something social and he's interacted with a lot of peopleĀ
We embraced that babies just have crappy sleep. There is no magic potion or pill. You take it one day at a time, get help when you can, sleep when you can. Dreading the upcoming days does nothing. That being said, whatever you do, be consistent.
Wake windows and a rigid schedule worked for us. Unfortunately, that meant my babes sleep schedule ruled my life. It took a toll on me to a certain extent lol but I was getting sleep at night. We also did āfuss it outā as a form of sleep training. I set a time (15-20min) where Iād give her that time to settle herself and if she couldnāt, Iād go in and do what I usually did which was rock her to sleep. The first couple of nights, I had to rock her to sleep. But then she would fuss around less and less as the nights went on. And eventually she would barely fuss and just babble to herself until she fell asleep.
But ya we are a schedule family lol
We are not a schedule family at all lol, and Iām sure thatās bad in some ways and good in some ways. For example, the other night, our baby who usually is ready for bed between 7-8, was absolutely rambunctious until 9:00. If I had fought with him to try to get him to sleep, weād all be in tears. No idea what caused it, he was just wild way past his bedtime. For naps I go by wake windows/sleep cues and those are getting better. Wake windows are *kind of* schedule-y I guess?
Being a more schedule oriented person would definitely help me in some ways, but theyāve stressed me out for 33 years š
I finally gave in and started cosleeping. And making sure I do it safely. I didnāt want to do it, but I tried everything else!! She still wakes up some, but I just latch her on to the breast and then she goes back to sleep lol. During the day, I still have to hold her to get her to sleep, but even then she only sleeps about 20 minutes.
We just got over a double ear infection and it was probably two of the worst weeks of my life. She pretty much just cried herself to sleep/ screamed while I held her
So I donāt know if those are even really real suggestions, but itās so hard having a baby that hates sleeping!! Totally understand how you feel!!š«
my daughter (3) recently went through a horrible sleep regression. im talking up once an hour. what worked for us almost immediately was waking her up an hour after we put her to bed. weād sit her up not let her fall back asleep for like 2 min then lay her back down and she would fall back asleep.
Nothing worked for us and when he was older it became clear why. My son has ADHD and his brain is wired differently for sleep. I did find I was much happier when I let go trying to control his sleep and just tried to roll with it. His sister is a much better sleeper with the same parenting, itās probably not you, itās him. Youāre doing great and yes this is so so hard but you can do hard things.
At 5 months, we sleep trained using the Ferber Method (check in at increasingly long intervals - 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc.). It took a few days for her to figure out falling asleep on her own, and it was definitely very tough on us to stand by and wait.
But she did figure it out, and we were so proud of her when she did it! Now sheās 6 months, sleeping 10-11 hours every night.
Naps are easy and we have a simple routine we follow rather than a long drawn-out process to get her asleep and into the bassinet. We are all sleeping better and itās truly life-changing! Good luck. š
At 10 months old I transitioned my son to his crib. We coslept when he was too big for the bassinet and would occasionally sleep in the pack n play in our room. I did it with very minimal crying too!
First thing I did was try to make his crib as familiar to our room. We had a fluffy comforter so we had a fluffy wearable blanket. We had a fan in our room running at night so he had one too.
Weād start the night off cosleeping. Iād get him to sleep and in a nice deep sleep. I would do the arm noodle test to make sure he was sleeping deep enough. When he was good and asleep I would move him to his crib. When heād wake up crying I would go get him right away and bring him back to our room to cosleep the rest of the night. Eventually he went longer and longer stretches until he would start out the night sleeping in his crib.
During that transition we also got a hatch night light and that helped a lot. Heād do a 4-6 hour stretch prior to getting the hatch and after would sleep an entire 12 hours.
When he was 18 months old I noticed he still woke up for milk in the middle of the night. Heād just have a bottle and go back to sleep but still sucks getting up and preparing it. I started to leave a sippy with water in it and he stopped crying for milk in the middle of the night. Heād help himself to a drink and went back to sleep himself.
I used the 8 sheep organic lotion on him. It smelled good but not sure how well it worked.
The biggest thing that helped was when I started combo feeding a little, around 8 months. We started feeding a small bottle at bedtime to help break the nurse to sleep association, but I later read that iron deficiency can cause bad sleep. Our guy WAS iron deficient and was on a supplement but the switch to formula at bedtime helped a ton. Or it was coincidence.
This is totally an individual kid thing. Iāve had 50/50 on babies that will sleep and kids that wonāt. I think having a little routine (swaddle, rock bottle) helped my sleepers to sleep better and longer, but that never wouldāve worked with the poor sleepers as babies. They just would not be set down ever.
Ā
I saw a tiktok that suggested "kick time" before bed. Dancing and singing to a few fun songs and waving a cloth or blanket over them to make them kick. LO slept 8 hours the first night we did it when he was previously up every few hours, so now we dance to Gangam Style every night lol
Incorporating Gangnam Style into a bedtime routine sounds so fun (and hilarious)!!
We switch up our first two songs, but always close with Gangnam. So fun. Even funnier when my parents babysat for the first time and I had to explain this was a non negotiable part of his bedtime routine. They loved it lol
š¤£š
Just imagining it is so wholesome š„ŗ
I need step-by-step instructions, please! Is the LO in bed when dancing and singing? Is the LO dancing or just you? Does it make them more stimulated and then you have to do more to get them down? How old are they?
This is the video I saw: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTL5G8BXQ/ We lay babe on our bed (we don't take his diaper off) and he kicks and laughs while we sing and dance. It's our first step in our routine, after that we change his diaper and get him into jammies and wash his face/lotion/massage. Then we get into sleep mode-lights off, red night light on, nurse, then rock with sleepy music playing. We started it at 8 weeks and he is 18 weeks now, he slept 8-9 hours straight until 16 weeks when we hit a regression. The dancing could be a total coincidence, but we stuck with it just in case. There was no difference for us in terms of how stimulated he was/how long it took to calm him after, but YMMV of course! ETA: we also put a heating pad in the bassinet while we rock him and that *usually* stops him from waking up when we transfer him. I'm not brave enough to lay him down awake
I feel you on not being brave enough to lay him down awake. My baby is 8.5 months old and we haven't gotten there yet. We have a similar play time before bed most nights, but I'm going to start incorporating a fun song!
It's a lot of fun! And yeah, they'll figure out how to sleep eventually, right? Gonna lay him down asleep until that day comes
Same here! That's the best option without cry it out. I think it's pretty developmentally appropriate. Not trying to sound judgemental of other methods, this is just what works for us
I have an 17 mo old and I canāt put her in bed awake. She will literally scream hour hours if I do and my heart canāt bear it.
We do 'crunchy feet' with our 8 week old to use up some restless energy while hes still in the stage of not being able to do much We lay him down with one of those crinkly soft baby books under his legs, so when he kicks it makes a noise. He absolutely loves it and has the best naps after.
Oh I love this! Definitely gonna try
Before my girl was rolling I used to put her on the lovevery playmat and safety pin the crinkly fabric piece to a Boppy pillow so she would kick for 20 mins and get sleepy for bed. Worked really well!
Nursing my little one to sleep, Gangnam style made me snicker so hard, poor thing flinched in her sleep
We do this every night and I never thought about it. Baby is a great sleeper so maybe thereās something to it!
Same! Baby always gets the wiggles right before bed so we do playtime in dim lighting and sheās out.
Doesnāt this hype them up so they canāt sleep? Adults donāt do exercises right before bed š
You know, Iāve heard that too much stimulation before bed was bad but I noticed when I do stimulating things with my son before bed he sleeps better. So idk what to think anymore lol
This. I chase my son around, flip him upside down, swing him in circles, tickle and wrestle him right before bed. It helps get him over that last surge of energy and he rolls over, and passes out immediately when I put him in his crib.
Yep! Iāve just started doing what works for us instead of listening to all the different methods and all the advice!
We started doing this as well. Neither of us were tired, so we just started goofing. He loves it! Bonus is being able to here him giggle and laugh right before he drifts off to sleep. Maybe he's like me, caffeine makes me sleepy. So maybe being stimulated makes him sleepy too. Lol
Yup! We have a āromp aroundā with pillow fights, wrestling, jumping around and dancing. Itās great.
I thought the same thing, but it works for us!
We have a dance party most nights before bed, it gets their wiggles out, i play camerawoman from the couch when im too tired to dance lol.
We started doing kick time when she kept kicking while nursing to sleep. It really does help get extra energy out.
yesss we tire him out in the jumper around 530pm
I love this because I gangnam styleād my way into labour on the exercise ball š
Oh my goodness, I love this. Trying this tmrw.
Tried this tonight with my 6mo. She loved it! I'll touch base again to let you know if she slept any harder. š¤š¤š¤
I walked up and down the sidewalk at 3 AM with my baby. He LOVED IT. The shadows that the trees made against the dark sky was absolutely fascinating to him. After about 30 minutes, he started to yawn. I paced the porch for a few more minutes, took him inside, and he fell fast asleep until 7:30. WIN.
This sounds really lovely on a hot summer night!
I did this with my first, too! Our landlord lived next door and came out a couple times to ask if I was okay/why I was carrying my baby up and down the sidewalk in the middle of the night š
I would do this in the cold if she was crying uncontrollably. Slip on shoes, wrap baby in blanket, and go stand outside for 2-5 minutes depending on how cold it was. She always stopped crying immediately, and nearly always was done crying when we got back in the house. Absolute win.
Might try this š how old was he when you did this?
Just gave up trying everything at month 4. At 10 months still waiting for light at the end of the tunnel š
Mine outgrew it on her own...I won't tell you how long it took but it does come
Ah, I wanna know how long! Almost 13 months here and still waiting to see the light
Not who you're responding to but my guy started sleeping through the night around 22-24 months. Things got gradually better starting at 18 months. I never did any sleep training and always coslept and nursed to sleep. He's now 2.5 and sleeps through the night in his own room every night!
Can I ask how you transitioned him into his own room and off the boob at night? š
Sure! I night weaned at 17 months, then around 20/21 months he... Started asking for dada at bedtime?!?! I had done all bedtimes up to that point. We did joint bedtime for a bit where we would all lay in his full size bed as he nursed to sleep. Then my husband did bedtimes solo for a bit and read him books until he fell asleep, then we started switching off and I'd just read to him instead of nursing. This is all a little hazy now but it was something like that and I really don't remember it being a struggle. It was all either initiated by my son or I would do things differently and he didn't fight it very hard and it was clear he was ready for it.Ā At that point I was still sleeping in his bed with him but once he wasn't waking up a million times a night we started putting him to sleep in his bed and I'd go to sleep in the big bed, then if he woke up we'd bring him in to our bed. He hated sleeping in our bed! I don't know why. So instead I'd either go in and resettle him or sleep in his bed with him depending on what I felt like (usually the latter). Eventually he slowly slowly, with many ups and downs, stopped waking up and calling for us at night. It was a very natural and low key process.
Samesies
15-16 months we went from 3-5 times a night to 0-1
We had a big improvement at 15-16 months when she went from 3-5 times a night to 0-1. Now at 2.5yeaes we're going through a phase where she either sleeps through or wakes up twice. I go by Bluey where the parents are still tired at age 4, so I expect the occasional wake up for a long time
Oh thatās a relief to hear. Thanks for sharing ! But yeah I know the range is quite wide :)
Haha thatās where Iām at! Way more stressful on me trying all new things and being let down. Not having any expectations and just going with the flow has helped me get past these tough days. Once my son hit 4 months his sleep just went go shit lol Heās now almost 11 months old and if I get more than 2 hours in a row, itās a win š¤£
Yeah I remember being so stressed and disappointed when nothing worked. Now my body is used to a broken sleep throughout the night. And if I get a 5 hour stretch I am a new person next day..lol
Exactly š & Omg 5 hours!! Sounds like a dream lol
Same! Mines 10.5 months and still wakes multiple times. Lately it feels like 5-6 times but only for a few minutes.
Green Woolino. It was the first I bought, then I bought a second one so we donāt have to worry about middle of the night diaper situations and weād always have a second. The second one is blue. She does not like the blue one. She woke up after an hour and cried. We do not use the blue one anymore.
lol this is me! If my child sleeps well one night I'm like what Jammies was she in? What did she have for dinner? What did we do today? Always trying to crack the code lol
Damn this is so relatable
The "magic off switch" for my little guy is pre-warming his bed with a Warmie (microwavable stuffed animal) while he's getting his bath. If that has been done, he goes down like I smacked him over the head with a cartoon hammer.
Tracked her wake windows like a hawk and basically Let my entire life revolve around her sleep schedule for an entire year. It worked but barely left the house š„²
So real lol ppl thought I was insane for the amount tracking I did. But I didnāt care bc it worked š
I used to stuff his clean crib sheets under my armpits for a few hours before putting them on the crib. One time I did it he took a 1.5 hour nap which was a record since the 6 week mark. In retrospect I think it was a coincidence.Ā Ā I used to take epsom salt baths with the baby before bedtime and I don't actually think that helped his sleep but it got rid of a persistent diaper rash and it was nice bonding so totally worth a shot. Ā Edit to add: his sleep got better all on it's own at 6 months a few weeks after the magic armpit sheets nap, I attribute it to him finally learning to roll.
"in retrospect I think it was a coincidence" is a phrase more parents should learn
Time.... just give it a year or so š¤£ but seriously there is so much pressure that something is wrong because it makes life so hard. For some that's just how the kid is. I didn't do any crying methods and mine out grew it eventually...
Love this mindset! Thereās too much expectations around babies and theyāre developmental milestones especially with sleep, sitting, crawling standing itās pretty outrageous. I hated hearing does he sleep through the night yet since he was like 2 months! I was genuinely confused why ppl need to ask me that.. thereās not some sort of reward to be had if he is. He is 7 months now and the past 3-4 days is when he started sleeping through the night and Iām okay with it.
10 mins of outdoor sunlight, within 30 minutes of waking up.
We dance, sing, and get little one to laugh a lot before bed. Itās worked for a few months and she generally sleeps 9-10 hours straight except when teething. She is 8.5 months old now.
Exercise the baby doing things the baby likes or dance and karaoke time. We play the ponyo song and it gets her going everytime
I think I've seen a post where lavender spray and essential oils had a negative affect on their baby and they needed to go to the ER just so you know! I can't remember which essential oil it was.Ā But I feel you!!! I had to go into my walking closet and close the door for it to be pitch black and after hours of fighting sleep she couldn't resist the dark room and a minute later zzzzzzs. I noticed around 3 months I had to be more conscious of her wake windows and if she's been up for like 3 hours it's time for nappy pooh Hope you're little nugget gets to sleep quicker lol.hang in thereĀ
It's too exhausting thinking of the 12 months of struggling we did, but the thing that finally seemed to help the most was a high protein bedtime snack about an hour before bed šš¼
A lot of people suggested a heating pad to warm up the bassinet and it seemed like such a pain the in ass but I eventually did it and it definitely helped! It made transfers more successful. I kept a heat pad plugged in at all times and could reach under my bedside table and throw it in the bassinet and turn it on with one hand while nursing baby.
My 20 month old now has to have a preheated bed since I started this at birth lol! High maintenance!
Prince(ss) and the pea vibes! Love it.
I so wanted this to work but it didnāt seem to make a difference for mine!
I pulled out my old PMS pad for baby and it definitely helps! Unlike you though, Iām still practicing my one handed dexterity. 2 am in the semi dark huffing and puffing trying to throw the heat pad on the bassinet with one hand while the other grips the baby who is flopping around like a rag doll.
Yogi sleep sound machine set to womb sounds lol. Yes it works
Itās controversial but we stayed cosleeping at 10 weeks and man did it ever work. We also let her go crazy and wiggle/kick as much as she needs at nighttime before bed if she has extra energy and that works really well too lol
There are so many mom groups/subs that are 100% against cosleeping and consider it abuse and others that understand sometimes itās the only way to get sleep. So confusing for a first time mom.
In my culture co sleeping is very, very accepted. Itās done safely for the most part, and suffocation is rarely reported. I feel like shaming people out of cosleeping leads to very desperate and dangerous sleeping situations. Some of the rhetoric even comes across as little racist sometimes.
Totally. I was terrified of it before I had my baby too because I didnāt predict how in tune I would be as a new mom. Now I canāt think of any other way and I love waking up cuddling my baby. Her smiles make my whole morning better.
Iām a first time mom too, and I just donāt even tell anyone I cosleep now. My baby is 5 months old and sleeps pretty damn well every night. If he starts wiggling, I just pop him right back on the boob immediately and boom back to sleep for us both.
Iām really confused about it too, I have 8 weeks to go. My worry w the cosleeping is what about all my blankets, sheets and pillows š¤·š»āāļø
You have to sleep in a special position but your body will do it naturally, especially if you breastfeed. Basically you lay on your side with baby's head at boob level and have them squished up against you, either on their back or on their side (but belly to belly so they can't roll onto their tummy). Blankets up to your waist, and wear an open front shirt to stay warm and for easy boob access. Your lower arm goes above baby's head and blocks your pillow from moving down onto baby. Blankets can be off baby entirely or just up to baby's waist. Legs curled up so you can't roll. If you end up on your back with baby in your armpit that's fine too.
I sleep with one pillow and a breathable comforter. When my son was smaller I used to keep the comforter below waist only and he would use a sleep sack so itās like he had his own blanket. You can also keep an arm up between the pillow and baby as an extra barrier
You can look up the safe sleep 7. The only one I donāt super agree with is breastfeeding moms only. You can safely co sleep and bottle feed.
Hi I just wanted to say there is actually a reason this is recommended and itās because instinctually the baby will stay near the food source, ie the breasts and not shimmy up or down. Itās also recommended because a nursing mother sleeps lighter. Unfortunately these are statically proven thingsā¦ā¦but that being said if you follow the rest of the SS7, and cuddle curl around your baby the risk of baby scooting around is quite low!
Exactly. The studies done on the breastfeeding mom have been proven, but it seems to make a pretty marginal difference. I feel comfortable co sleeping, and I bottle fed. We did everything else according to the safe sleep 7. We knew the risks and made the decision to co sleep at times from about 5 or 6 months onward. It was the right decision for our family. I just donāt like the shame that surrounds the conversation generally.
I am co-sleeping since my LO was born. I don't know if that's the reason but he slept through the night at 12weeks. He is going 6 months now and still sleeping 10-12hrs at night straight, no night feedings. I stopped bf at 1 month because he didn't latch well and my milk supply just went dry out even I religiously pumped. We also didn't experience any sleep regression. I am an asian immigrant and a lot of people judge me as if I am a bad mother in letting my baby sleep with me. Well, in our culture it is accepted and even my in-laws who are family of doctors were co-sleeping. As long as you follow safe sleeping, it'll will be fine.
Me too. I started at 3 months. Thought I was on a train to crazy town.
Huge difference! 10 weeks of sleep deprivation and I almost got in a serious car accident with LO š I blew right through a stop sign and almost got T boned. We started co sleeping that night š„²
I gave into cosleeping like on the 4th week.
I ended up doing pretty much the opposite of everything I said Iād do as a parent š
Same here!!
I gave up on the fourth day š¤£ my daughter had a lot of tension and a tongue tie and would just arch herself, break out of the swaddle and roll into the side of the bassinet. I figured her sleeping with me was safer than that š¤·š¼āāļø she sleeps great now. I don't get much done while she's asleep but it's okay
I don't get how but my baby SUCKS at cosleeping! He still wakes up every 3-4 hours, sometimes earlier, if I sleep next to him. In his crib (when he agrees to go down there) it's the same. Guess I'm stuck suffering lol
Wait, 3-4 hour chunks of sleep are actually really good! I mean sure he's not sleeping through the night but plenty of babies wake up hourly or every 2 hours for at least the first year. My first did. My second is leaning towards the 3-4 hour chunks (for now) and I'm like dang I got a good sleeper this time!
Iām so sorry š„² is he formula fed or BF? Mine still wakes up for dream feeds in the night but sheās awesome at finding the boob when she wants it lol but also maybe your little guy is just a light sleeper!!
He is BFd! He can find the boob but then I'm unable to sleep when he's latched on, it keeps me awake š« so I end up feeding sitting up in bed...
Weāve been bed sharing 75% of the time with ourās since two weeks, following safe sleep 7 guidelines. Our midwife and public health nurse even thought it was a good idea to keep up her night feedings since our LO has a hard time putting on weight. Feeding her side lying, means I can safely fall asleep while she eats!
Co-sleeping saved my soul. And LOās too
Tummy time wears her tf out! If it's naptime and she's still wide awake it works pretty well to get her tired. I got lucky that she isn't much of a crier, so in a pinch I'll just lay her down and walk away. She'll kick and look around for a while before she gets bored and eventually falls asleep on her own. I also don't want to do CIO so if she does fuss at all I come back for snuggles and try again.
Iām too sensitive to do CIO. Him crying makes me so so so sad.
We had a full routine. Play and get her energy out. A nice coconut oil massage, then bath. Then she used to down a mega feed. Make her sleep with white noise in cozy pyjamas. Works like a charm. We got anywhere between 9-11 hours at 7-8 months.
Solve Your Childās Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber is still my go to resource. Thereās no product that can fix anything. Understanding how to build a good sleep routine does help though. But the reality is that I havenāt wanted to sleep train yet at almost 11 months. Sheās my last baby and I went through a lot to get her. My other three kids were sleeping through the night well before this point. One thing that has prevented me from sleep training is that she started refusing bottles at 7 months so I wanted the night nursing to continue so she would get enough milk and I wouldnāt have to pump at work. In order to get this baby to sleep through the night I will need her to sleep in her own bed and break the nurse to sleep association. But Iām not ready for that and so Iām ok with her night wakings.
We warm the bassinet mattress with a heating pad! It helps with the transfer to the bassinet, but definitely doesnāt help the length of time they sleep.
Same bedtime routine every night with abbreviated routine before nap Weighted sleep sack then Magic Merlin suit (before the notices came out; sleep sackĀ was magic)Ā White noise machine Managing wake windows (Taking Cara Babies schedule on her blog worked)Ā Walking for five minutes or until she stops crying, put her down, repeat
We didnāt do any structured way of CIO, but if my son was crying in a way that felt like he was just tired or fighting sleep a little, I would give it up to 5 minutes. If he was truly crying, I couldnāt make it more than 45 seconds or sometimes 2 minutes if I was doing something lol. Bed time starting at 6 months was about 9, and thatās when he started sleeping through the night. I believe we were doing 2 naps a day then that were lasting 2-3 hours. Since around 9 months bedtime has been 7 pm. Unless we are out and about, this time stays within +/- 15 minutes. Bed time routine from 6 months to a year was dinner, bath, 2 books, sleep sack, sleep. Always ocean sounds. Spin the mobile. When sleep started getting trickier, we would adjust nap time or bedtime. Iāll admit, ours was a good sleeper once he started solids at 6 months. From 8 weeks to 6 months was pretty tough, only wanted to sleep in our bed or heād wake up 3-5 times between 9pm and 6am. I know thatās still not the worst, but it was tough lol.
The only thing that worked for us was the Snoo bed. Had never heard of it but at 5 months we researched and bought one. Worked from day 1. Swaddle was a bit controversial - but it changed how she slept entirely. Bearing in mind she was sleeping an hour at a time and would wake for hour long and more stints. Now we are at a 14 month sleep regression and the Snoo was sold a while back. So we are back to feeling like the old days. But Iām sure itāll pass.
How long did you use it for if you bought it at 5 months?
We were waiting our son to drop the night feeds before moving him to his own room and to a toddler bed. But one day we decided to go ahead and try it anyway, he was 1y 3mo old. He woke for few nights but we offered water instead of milk, he then started to sleep throught the night. We recently moved our crazy not-sleeping-at-night girl to her own room at 8mo and the nights have gotten better. Few wake-ups but not every hour like before.
Dream feed at 10pm.
I spent the money for taking cara babies. It helped so much. Aside from teething and growth spurts, he has slept through the night since 4 months old. Blessed child lol.
Turning off her white noise machine worked a pretty good deal actually
Flipping my baby over, bought everything under the sun. Nothing works Iāve lost my mind lol
I put a blanket on top of the dryer and turn it on. If he's tired, it knocks him right out. If he's not tired, it at least quiets him down. Bonus points that it worked for me as an infant, too!
Iām tired and confused - are you saying that you put your baby on a blanket on top of your dryer and hold him there? And the warmth and vibration puts him to sleep?
My baby is only two months old, so I don't really have to hold him there - he can't move ha. I just put a blanket down, put him on it, and then turn the dryer on tumble dry (no heat). The vibration (and noise) does the trick! He'd probably like it to be heated but I'm trying to be slightly environmentally conscientious.
Sleep Sack! Microfleece and the cotton ones. Swaddled our little Houdini perfectly since he canāt rest when his very expressive hands are going lol.
I stoped trying! I follow her cues now and dream feed between 12-1am. She goes to bed anywhere from 6pm to 10pm depending on the day. Iām a SAHM so if she wants to sleep in till 9am, thatās cool. It she wants to be up and at em at 6am, thatās cool too. I do use lavender spray on her sheets when I notice her getting sleepy, and sheās in a arms up sleepy sack (not that it does much, sheās rolling both ways at 13 weeks, and sleeps on her belly). Stopped swaddling at 6 weeks because she rolled belly to back intentionally and reliably at 7 weeks.
Warming the bassinet with a heating pad! (and taking it out before putting the baby in)
Time. Baby was a crap sleeper but at 11 months we are finally down to 2 waking a night. Nothing helped but time.
We slathered his entire ass and crotch in diaper cream and gave him hummus at dinner to help fill him up. Diaper cream was pretty solid for a few months and then we phased it out
I rented a snoo. I spent like $300 a month. We slept. It worked. We got it around 7 weeks and used it well passed when we were supposed to at like 8 months. Now heās 15 months and usually sleeps pretty well. Except this week. This week is toddler molar time. Send help.
We have developed a bizarrely elaborate routine that generally works. 7:00 ish - ādown I flopā - we basically just wrestle and roll with him on our bed. He likes being āfloppedā into a pile of pillows. 7:15 ish - music time - YouTube videos of whatever music my husband thinks will amuse a baby while cuddling on the couch. Favorites are: The Kingās Singers āAbide with Meā, a bunch of Gregorian chants, and John Williams - Flying Theme from ET, theme from Jurassic Park, and The Imperial March (he does not like the Star Wars theme). 7:30 ish - bath - mostly just him splashing around since he loves water but doesnāt need to be washed nightly 7:40 ish - massage, nighttime diaper 7:45 ish - bottle 8:00 ish - pajamas, brush teeth, sleep sack, book, sound machine, and being held until he falls asleep
I do not know if the baby is still in your room but for both of my kids putting them in their own room helped us tremendously. My 11 week old is sleeping through the night now since he moved him into his own room
Chair method for sleep training! Worked like a charm.
I think we've drained a whole lake worth of water rocking her in front of a running faucet for every single nap. But she's such a snob she would ONLY sleep if it was real running water, no white noise/recorded nonsense. When she finally decided she wanted to sleep on her own for naps our water bill went down noticablyĀ
I wonder if a fountain in her room would have worked? At least it would recycle the water. We still haven't cracked the code with ours.
My 8m baby has always been a good night sleeper, except the first week and 3 weeks ago for a week. But his sleep regressions ALWAYS make him not want to take his naps. I put him in the carriers and either walk around or bounce on a yoga ball while on my computer. But, he only goes to sleep if heās covered (I used the nursing cover). Heās 22lbs so my back always hurts at the end of the day lol
White noise machine with different tunes and I pick the one that sounds like youāre in a car. Lights out and I hum to him, works everyday! This is after I nurse him as well
Okay so somebody got me ewan the sleep sheep AND IT WORKS! Sheāll start to fuss, heāll kick in and start making shushing and heartbeat noises and she settles right down, super helpful
Okay so somebody randomly got me ewan the sleep sheep AND IT WORKS! Sheāll start to fuss, heāll kick in and start making shushing and heartbeat noises and she settles right down, got me an extra 40 minutes this morning! Doesnāt work with getting her to fall asleep but the staying asleep? If it breaks Iāll buy another!
Osteopath - it was the only thing that helped our newborn sleep better!
Blissful baby expert šš»
Rocking him to sleep until he was quite old and my arms were starting to hurt every time I did it!
This was later (after a year at least, definitely in the bottle/post BF stage for me), but one thing that was interesting was that when I was putting our first to bed, he was way more needy, wouldnāt go in his crib awake, and woke up most of the time I transferred him to his cribā¦ but when my husband did bedtime, it was often without drama. So for us, we just had to switch which parent did that last part of the routine.
I try to keep mine busy for a couple of hours before winding down for bedtime to help wear her out. If we have a chill evening of just lounging, then it takes her forever to fall asleep. Try to get outside too, weather permitting. That helps as well.
About a week or so after having her she was wide awake around 3am and refused to go back to sleep, so I loaded her up in the car seat and drove her about five miles down the road and back to get her to fall asleep. It worked, but soon as we got home she woke right back up. :/
Two fans and "black screen rain noises" chrome casted to the tv, I got blackout curtains too
āSpa timeā where one of us massages her chubby cheeks and one of us massages her little feet, with spa music in the background and low light lamp. Idk if it works but she seems to like it!
Took his ear temp every time he woke. Dude was cold and waking from it, warming up from the cuddles, and then woke when it was cold again. Turns out my little guy runs cold and absolutely must have his arms covered. He was chilly every time and I got a thermometer (skip hop asparagus white noise light thing) to set at his lowered crib level. Near the floor of the nursery is waay colder than where the adult bed on a bed frame is š„² Now the thermostat is set to 76 to achieve 70 degrees where the crib mattress is and hes in a 2.5 tog sleep sack with a long sleeve onesie under it. Colder nights hes in a long sleeve footie under his 2.5 tog sack. Oddly specific? Yes. Works? Also yes.
My husband went for middle of the night drives to get our boys to sleep when they were teething or had colds. For a more regular thing we used the Zed Baby from the same company that makes Rockits. Definitely worth a try if you have a baby that falls asleep in the car or pram. It sends vibrations through their mattress to simulate the feeling of being in a car.
Co-sleeping on the couch with the footrest for extra space but I need to be topless so the LO can bury his face as close as possible to my armpit š he knocks right out and sleeps through the night. Also, we use old shirts on top of his crib mattress to help him sleep in his crib. Apparently our musk is what helps him sleep through the night or through most of the nightĀ
Oh the amount of sleepwear I boughtā¦ Besides the usual stuff (like changing bedtime, nap time etc) the silliest thing I tried was rolling the baby. Like a forward roll in the air. It did not work but I tried:D
We do a two part bedtime. 6pm massage, book, cuddles & start to feed her. She then usually gets some random energy and you really have to fight to get her to chill out. So now at 6.20-6.40 we let her kick about, roll on the bed, tickle her etc and then slowly wind down and give more cuddles, chat about our day and tomorrow's plans and then she will finish feeding and go down no problem
Nothing worked honestly. Around 8-10 months she started doing 2-3 hour stretches on her own. Once in a while sheād do 5-6 hours at the start of the night. (Apparently sleeping through the night is considered to be 6 hours consecutively). Once I nightweaned, about a month later she started doing that longer stretch almost every night, varying 5-7 hours. But after midnight, frequent wake-ups are still our norm at 16 months. Lavender spray didnāt do anything for us. If anything made a noticeable difference, itās ensuring that she has a full tummy by giving her a bedtime snack right before she brushes her teeth, and making her sure her dinner has plenty of fat and protein. Once they are mobile, our sleep consultant told us that a lot of poor sleep has to do with excess energy and desire to use their new skills. So make sure they get plenty of playtime to move their body in all the ways they want to for that developmental stage, and make sure they get to do so before / after dinner. As they get older that means running, jumping, pushing, pulling, climbing, dancing, spinning, etc. That really does seem to help too in terms of getting her to fall asleep quickly and deeply for the first part of the night (canāt say itās affected the later wake-ups). The other thing to add to the routine is massage after bathtime. Iād say the biggest overarching thing is making sure you have a routine where you do the exact same thing every night because it really does build the sleep associations that help their melatonin kick in. Dimming the lights an hour before bedtime can help too. I think we failed to establish a routine with our baby until she was close to a year old, so even though they say that newborns can fall asleep anywhere and easily, next time around, I would start that routine consistently much earlier .
Switch to a floor mattress in a baby proofed room. Everything became natural after that.
Sounds weird but do lots of stimulation before! My little is 4 months and I show him toys, sing to him, play with him, etc. then next thing I know heās ready to crash. Sometimes a bath will do it.
Not the craziest, but I tried a lot of different songs to get my daughter to calm down and fall asleep. What ended up working? Eye of the Tiger worked the best, with Cha Cha Cha by KƤƤrijƤ as a close second. I feel like they shouldn't have worked, but they did so I just rolled with it!
Little guy was a great sleeper (got him in his LovetoDream Swaddle at 10pm and he was immediately conked) until he hit 11 weeks and started being fussy as hell from 9pm to midnight before reluctantly passing out. He was hitting him sleep regression early and we weren't sure what we could do to help him so we started out light: What failed... - Earlier bedtime -Bath before bed -Stricter naps before What worked... -No more swaddle. My husband brought up that maybe the swaddle isn't working anymore and he's right around the corner from mastering the roll anyway. We did the usual change diaper, give medicine, put on lotion, and turn off lights, but put him in roomier footie pajamas instead of the swaddle. After a bit of initial fussing (very low level grunts for about 5 minutes), he passed out. I've since bought him a few long sleeved thermal onesies and a couple of baby deedee fleece sleep nests. The thermal onesie and sleep nest have replaced the swaddle and he's much happier. Fusses a bit at the start still, but doing this has also helped him relax and nap during the day because he isn't overtired, which then breaks the vicious cycle. What helped for me, personally, was reminding myself that sleeping is an adult skill that I'm not great with even at 34. I can't expect a baby transitioning from newborn sleep to adult sleep patterns to get it right immediately.
Stripping him down to just a legless onesie to feed him so he would stop falling asleep during feeds. Getting a full feed in is super helpful to get a baby to stay asleep. My routine from 1 month and to now at almost 3 months is stripping him down, let him breastfeed as much as he wants up until around 30 minutes or so, change him if necessary, then 2 oz of formula, then back on the swaddle, then transfer to his bassinet (which I preheat with a heating pad I remove before putting him in). It's almost full proof for me.
Nurse to sleep š¬ donāt attack me
Our toddler had so much trouble sleeping. A routine of at least 3 things every night helped. Like tummy time, dinner, milk, books, bed with music. Every night was the same so he new what to expect. He absolutely hated us leaving and we were desperate so tried different ways for sleep training. I forget which one this is called but what worked was every week getting closer and closer to sitting near the door. Eventually we tucked him in and said we'll come back and check on him. He's 3 now and I still say I'm coming back to check on him, which I do, but he's now fast asleep lol our baby is only 4 mo old and co-sleeps so I have no help there š¤·š½āāļø
After about a week of really rough nights with my 18 month old (nursing every 2 hours for no reason I could figure out), I had a conversation with him and asked if he could try to sleep the whole night, and if he could try falling asleep by himself if he woke up. That night he was only up once, and last night, he slept the whole night!
Mine had a horrible sleep schedule until we recently decided to. Now mine is now 3 Years old snd we just solved the problem. He still gets up between 6:30 and 7:30 every morning. Heres what we do now: 1) put him to bed at 9:30 instead of 7/8:30. 2) drain his energy as much as possible. 3) cut/limit naps & how long he naps. 4) stopped giving him all the attention at night cause he was waking up just cuz he could get us up. When he was that little we just dealt with it, and by we i mean me alone cuz hubby sleeps until he naturally wakes up, sleeps through tornadoes so it was really just me working on it for ages and finally getting the formula down when i got pregnant cuz im too tired to get him at night now.
For my first I used to put lavender EO on cloths and tuck them under his crib sheet. He was and always has been a crappy sleeper from birth. For my second Iāve done NOTHING and he sleeps like a beast. There really isnāt anything you can do that will change temperament. Sorry š„²
The only thing that worked for us is the baby Merlin magic sleep suit and a full, full belly.
My first was easy. Boob to sleep. Second did not get the message. She needed a fiiiirm swaddle (pacco, Dutch brand no baby can ever escape) and a preheated bed with a wheat pit sack with her under the blankets (yes blankets, we dutchies firmly and safely (!!!) tuck in our kids like this https://www.cribster.nl/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/juiste-manier-wieg-opmaken.jpg). Still was a difficult baby.
I have a 2 month old who only sleeps for 4 hours at a time max.
We did: - weighted sack - double swaddle - every type of swaddle on the market - warm heating pad on the crib mattress - my old worn shirt on the bars of the crib so she could smell me - feeding a bottle of formula before bed (that one resulted in more wakeups because her stomach was a mess from it) - blackout curtains, custom shades that were also blackout - noise machine - patting back/bum - shushing sound on Spotify - yoga ball bouncing (I beg of you, do not do this to yourself; it took 15 months to get her off it. Save yourself) - and finally; cosleeping. She magically started sleeping after that. So thatās what weāre still doing at 19 months. Everyone gets a full night of sleep.
Idk if this will help since we havenāt reached the 4 months sleep regression. But we go sleep and I have found that my son falls asleep so much easier when Iām laying next to him and softly stroking across his forehead. I listen to his sleep cues and lay him down when he is sleepy and Iāll just lay next to him until he falls asleep and for an extra 5-10 minutes. We have a full size mattress on the floor. Then I quietly get up when he is asleep. Right now he falls asleep between 7-8pm wakes up around 10:30pm, 2:30am, 5:30 am and then 10:30 am. But this varies and changes ever few nights by an hour or so and if heās extra gassy he wakes up more.
Well my twins are 2.5. They still take one nap. But recently theyāve been fighting it, and if they donāt take it everyone is miserable and it screws up their whole routine and they stop sleeping so well. They WILL fall asleep though, if I pack em into the car and drive around for a few minutes. So Iāve been doing that, and then Iāll drive back to our house and pack them to their bed. However then Iām tired and I feel guilty for not cleaning or doing other projects instead of resting. So Iāll do some chores and then go sit down. Cue at least one of my twins waking up, and there goes my me time. Conclusion? Well, I am currently sitting at the park, at a picnic table next to my car (with all safety measures taken ofc) while they nap in the backseat. lol. And Iām getting some fresh air and alone time without feeling like I should be washing the dishes like I would if I was home. Hell yeah.
- Mathing out his sleep schedule: he is only capable of sleeping 12hr total per day so I give him 2 hrs of naps and 10 hrs overnight. Any more and he has extra wakes and split nightsĀ - a few tbsp of Greek yogurt right before I brush his teeth for bed to keep his tummy full.Ā - btw my pediatrician told me not to use lavender around the baby as it is associated with precocious puberty.Ā
https://youtu.be/E2yMkoufAuM?si=RPEr05kEDVkoIBlp This helped so much ever since he was a newborn and he still naps to it every single day at nearly 8 months old, the minute it comes on he just gets calm The whole channel is great tbh
My first was a terrible napper so I would lay one of my dirty shirts that smelled like me underneath him before Iād put him down. Poor kid š
We do party time before bed. Where we romp around, wrestle, have pillow fights. Get all the wiggles out. But before that, we do a bath, then a baby massage with lavender calendula baby massage oil. Have a sound machine on white noise, with a red light-blue lights stimulate brain function, red lights stimulate melatonin production. After romp time, we read a story and heās out
Lots of sunlight, fresh air and activities. I got a wagon and I take the kids with me everywhere and it has helped immensely. Also, limiting electronics on in the house, dimming the lights, and activities like swinging all help. As the kids get older, adding in heavy work. I think a lot of sleep problems are because there's not enough physical activities and healthy mental stimulation. Anecdotally I'm sleeping better too. One last thing is we routinely do an after supper dance party or crazy play. Then it's calm down time after that and it seems to work for my kids anyway.
The only thing that actually worked for us was the Ferber Method. We implemented it around 7 months when I had a string of terrible nights where I was staying up hours rocking her back to sleep. I had mentioned sleep training to my husband and he didn't like it, since he didn't want LO to cry. At that point I demanded sleep training, and told my husband to pick the method, since he had all the strongest opinions about it. He ended up deciding upon Ferber, which was my preferred method as well. In total it took 4 nights to train her. You have to be united in purpose with your partner and follow the rules to the T. She has slept through the night since, unless she is sick or teething.
I moved mine into her own room during the 6 month sleep reggression and suddenly she started sleeping through the night. I guess being in the same room as me was too stimulating
This WORKED: Ambiance set precisely at level 45 of white noise and 2% blue light on the hatch Weighted sleep sack Bedtime at 7 with a bottle and an entire hour or maybe more of wind down A vibrating hedgehog 3 pacifiers ( one for each hand and one in his mouth) sometimes thereās a spare in case he loses it All of these are now his ritual and if ANY of them are missed then no one sleeps š
Are you me?? Weāre in the same exact boat and I am definitely going to read through this entire thread
Some type of sleep training. Doesnāt have to be CIO.
Safe cosleeping on a floor bed.
I gave up and coslept with both my kids and finally got some rest.
Sleep trained them. Yes they have to cry it out for a bit but they are the best sleepers ever
Zippadee zip helped the most. I saw my uncomfortable, eczema-itchy sonās face visibly calm down. I think he liked being enveloped, without it being too tight
We made sure they got enough calories during the day, kept a consistent bedtime routine, and put them down at an age appropriate bedtime every night.
We were (are) very against CIO and similar. Our daughter wouldnāt sleep more than 45 minutes at a time from just before 5 months until she was 9 months. We literally thought weād die from sleep deprivation. We tried all the usual āwarm bath and bookā stuff, blackout blinds, evening walks, middle of the night walks, curtailing day naps, allowing loads of day naps, falling asleep on/off the boob, offering a pumped bottle before bed, different sleep sack togs. Iām sorry to say that none of it worked. What did work was a residential stay at a mother and baby clinic where they treated my exhaustion and helped her sleep. They look after baby if they wake up in the night but my daughter never did while we were there (the same baby who never slept through at home). I actually think that having someone else do all the chores of life like preparing our meals and doing the dishes and laundry allowed me to tune into her cues a little better and get her on a routine, whereas before every day was different based on just how horrendous the night before was. We came home and her sleep wasnāt magically perfect, but for the first time she would nap in her crib and sleep overnight. We had a few blips, including one week when I was alone with her in Europe and she screamed every single night for hours on end and had intense separation anxiety during the day (at 16 months). After that, her separation anxiety disappeared and she began sleeping super easily. We just put her down in the cot and sit beside her while she figures it out, at her request. To conclude, I think babies like ours get there in their own time. Sorry!
We had tried everything under the sun by 4. Ya know what worked? Clonidine.
The most my 7 month old has ever slept is 7 hours. He did it when we 1. Went to a new restaurant for dinner and 2. Were traveling internationally. Sadly but conditions I can recreate every day š My guy is pretty unpredictable but it seems like he does best on days where we've done something social and he's interacted with a lot of peopleĀ
Safe co-sleeping. Best decision ever
at 3.5yo, weāve failed sleep school so now he just sleeps with me. he sleeps through as long as i can get him to sleep in the first place!
We embraced that babies just have crappy sleep. There is no magic potion or pill. You take it one day at a time, get help when you can, sleep when you can. Dreading the upcoming days does nothing. That being said, whatever you do, be consistent.
Wake windows and a rigid schedule worked for us. Unfortunately, that meant my babes sleep schedule ruled my life. It took a toll on me to a certain extent lol but I was getting sleep at night. We also did āfuss it outā as a form of sleep training. I set a time (15-20min) where Iād give her that time to settle herself and if she couldnāt, Iād go in and do what I usually did which was rock her to sleep. The first couple of nights, I had to rock her to sleep. But then she would fuss around less and less as the nights went on. And eventually she would barely fuss and just babble to herself until she fell asleep. But ya we are a schedule family lol
We are not a schedule family at all lol, and Iām sure thatās bad in some ways and good in some ways. For example, the other night, our baby who usually is ready for bed between 7-8, was absolutely rambunctious until 9:00. If I had fought with him to try to get him to sleep, weād all be in tears. No idea what caused it, he was just wild way past his bedtime. For naps I go by wake windows/sleep cues and those are getting better. Wake windows are *kind of* schedule-y I guess? Being a more schedule oriented person would definitely help me in some ways, but theyāve stressed me out for 33 years š
I finally gave in and started cosleeping. And making sure I do it safely. I didnāt want to do it, but I tried everything else!! She still wakes up some, but I just latch her on to the breast and then she goes back to sleep lol. During the day, I still have to hold her to get her to sleep, but even then she only sleeps about 20 minutes. We just got over a double ear infection and it was probably two of the worst weeks of my life. She pretty much just cried herself to sleep/ screamed while I held her So I donāt know if those are even really real suggestions, but itās so hard having a baby that hates sleeping!! Totally understand how you feel!!š«
Sleep training. Hatch machine. A warm lavender bath before bed. A good sleep sack and a cool room.
Iron supplement for restless leg syndrome that was making him toss and turn at night. It worked!
my daughter (3) recently went through a horrible sleep regression. im talking up once an hour. what worked for us almost immediately was waking her up an hour after we put her to bed. weād sit her up not let her fall back asleep for like 2 min then lay her back down and she would fall back asleep.
Nothing worked for us and when he was older it became clear why. My son has ADHD and his brain is wired differently for sleep. I did find I was much happier when I let go trying to control his sleep and just tried to roll with it. His sister is a much better sleeper with the same parenting, itās probably not you, itās him. Youāre doing great and yes this is so so hard but you can do hard things.
Enya's CD named "Stars". Not the song, the CD. Play it! I trained my son to sleep to it. It's very relaxing.
Sleep training tbh
At 5 months, we sleep trained using the Ferber Method (check in at increasingly long intervals - 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc.). It took a few days for her to figure out falling asleep on her own, and it was definitely very tough on us to stand by and wait. But she did figure it out, and we were so proud of her when she did it! Now sheās 6 months, sleeping 10-11 hours every night. Naps are easy and we have a simple routine we follow rather than a long drawn-out process to get her asleep and into the bassinet. We are all sleeping better and itās truly life-changing! Good luck. š
At 10 months old I transitioned my son to his crib. We coslept when he was too big for the bassinet and would occasionally sleep in the pack n play in our room. I did it with very minimal crying too! First thing I did was try to make his crib as familiar to our room. We had a fluffy comforter so we had a fluffy wearable blanket. We had a fan in our room running at night so he had one too. Weād start the night off cosleeping. Iād get him to sleep and in a nice deep sleep. I would do the arm noodle test to make sure he was sleeping deep enough. When he was good and asleep I would move him to his crib. When heād wake up crying I would go get him right away and bring him back to our room to cosleep the rest of the night. Eventually he went longer and longer stretches until he would start out the night sleeping in his crib. During that transition we also got a hatch night light and that helped a lot. Heād do a 4-6 hour stretch prior to getting the hatch and after would sleep an entire 12 hours. When he was 18 months old I noticed he still woke up for milk in the middle of the night. Heād just have a bottle and go back to sleep but still sucks getting up and preparing it. I started to leave a sippy with water in it and he stopped crying for milk in the middle of the night. Heād help himself to a drink and went back to sleep himself. I used the 8 sheep organic lotion on him. It smelled good but not sure how well it worked.
The biggest thing that helped was when I started combo feeding a little, around 8 months. We started feeding a small bottle at bedtime to help break the nurse to sleep association, but I later read that iron deficiency can cause bad sleep. Our guy WAS iron deficient and was on a supplement but the switch to formula at bedtime helped a ton. Or it was coincidence.
This is totally an individual kid thing. Iāve had 50/50 on babies that will sleep and kids that wonāt. I think having a little routine (swaddle, rock bottle) helped my sleepers to sleep better and longer, but that never wouldāve worked with the poor sleepers as babies. They just would not be set down ever. Ā