My kid is 13 months old. He has slept 8 hours in a row exactly 3 times in his entire life. Right now he sleeps about 2 to 2 1/2 hours at a time before he wakes up screaming. Like, end of the world, actual tears type screaming.
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| X around 2 weeks old— So cute when sleeping…. right!? |
The lack of sleep makes me and my {wonderful, gets up every time with me and takes the brunt of the work} husband more than a little worn out throughout the day. And, after a year of it, we are just useless most days. This isn’t good for us. It isn’t good for our responsibilities. It isn’t good for our friendships. But, most of all… it isn’t good for our child or our relationship. {No worries… we are doing okay, but it sure does take extra work with no sleep.}
Anyways… advice for a sleepless mom? I’ve read the books. I’ve read the blogs. I’ve done everything under the sun that I can think of to help him in this matter.
Doc says it might be the extreme growth spurts he has had throughout his life. He is pretty tall for his age. He also seems to be in a constant state of teething. He has 8 teeth and has 6 currently working their way out at the moment.
He wakes up HUNGRY all the time. He’ll drink 6 oz of milk and go straight back to sleep in most cases. We’ve tried water and he’ll drink it, but won’t sleep.
He screams himself to sleep (not more than 5 minutes) nearly every nap and every bedtime. We have a routine that we keep to in most cases. We’ve tried rocking him to sleep and he just hits and wiggles. We’ve tried waiting until he just collapses due to sheer exhaustion and he wakes up crankier than ever a few hours later.
Is he just fighting sleep? Is he just hungry due to growth spurts? Is he teething? Is it the crib—should I take him out of the bars? Am I doing something wrong? Do these questions ever end?
Maybe a trick your baby loves will be just the thing for my kid. Or, is your baby one of those babies that didn’t sleep for the longest time—even when everyone said it would be at 3, 5, 6, 9 months? Please, let me know that I am not alone. Or tell me what worked for you.
Thanks!
2 Comments
Oh, I’m sorry to hear that! It can’t be easy, and you’re one strong mama to keep with it! I’m not a mom, but I know my sister went through something similar. What finally worked for her? She let her little one jump in the crib while holding onto the rails. They’d kiss him goodnight, he’d jump for sometimes a whole hour and then put himself to sleep. Not saying that will work for you, but don’t be afraid to be unconventional and go with your gut. You guys know him better than anyone! Good luck!
Does he eat a bedtime snack? Our kids never could make it through the night until they had a bottle with an extra 25% more than they usually eat at a feeding and a rice based snack (like gerber puffs).
Also, with my son we had to pretty much stay up for 3 days straight and hold firm to no eating at night. You’re right, it seems to make it worse for a while but then it gets better. One clue whether he really needs to eat at night is if he eats a good breakfast. If he isn’t hungry in the morning, he probably doesn’t need that night time feeding.
Last resort suggestion: try a family bed for a while. Sometimes the comforting nearby presence is enough to keep them asleep or atleast lull them back to sleep quicker. Then, when he isn’t eating at night and not waking up as often, try going back to regular sleepibg arrangements.