My 3 1/2 month old son wakes up within 15 minutes after I put him down at bedtime. This has happened every night for the past month; sometimes he does it 2-4 times in a row. Here is my routine: we have the exact same bedtime routine every night. Bedtime is about 7:30 each night, although it varies a little depending on his last nap. I have to swaddle him and bounce him on an exercise ball to get him to sleep. I wait until he is asleep to put him down in bed. Anywhere from 2-15 minutes later, he wakes up crying. I bounce him back to sleep (takes 20-30 minutes), and we repeat the process. Sometimes it takes 3-4 hours before he finally stays asleep for the night. Needless to say, my back is killing me, and I miss spending time w/ the rest of my family at night. I've tried just getting my son up when he wakes up, planning to try again later - but he is definitely sleepy and remains very fussy until I help him back to sleep again.
I've tried later bedtimes (just gets him exhausted), earlier bedtimes, putting him in the swing... you name it. always the same thing happens. He does not wake up like this in the middle of the night after I feed him. He also does not wake up this quickly at nap times (although he typically only naps for 20-30minutes). I have tried putting him down while drowsy but awake - he does not seem ready for this yet; he just cries and cries, and I can't let him do that yet.
has anyone been through this? I realize he may be waking and needing me to help him back to sleep, but why is he waking up so soon in the first place? He does have reflux, but again, this doesn't seem to wake him at other times during the day/night - only at bedtime. Sometimes he seems to have gas, but I don't know why this would only be a problem at bedtime either.
Thank you!
My son had severe colic, so you can imagine what bedtime was like. We got a white noise machine and that thing was the best $50.00 I have spent! My son (who will be 4 this weekend) still has it running in his room every night. The white noise is soothing and sounds sort of like a box fan.
http://www.amazon.com/Marpac-SleepMate-980A-Electro-Mecha...
Hope this helps!
Could be his schedule is changing. Remember at this age, they are becoming more aware he is awakening from his birth. He will not need to sleep as long month to month for a while. Follow his lead.
At this particular feeding maybe instead of trying to put him to sleep instead talk with him, put him in his seat and let him watch you while you cook, clean the kitchen, fold the clothes. Keep a conversation going the entire time, he is listening to you. IF he gets restless, carry him around in a carrier close to your body or have his dad play and talk with him.
I found with both daughters that 7:30 was too late for them to get a good night's sleep. Babies have a different internal clock than we do as adults. I found that if I put my girls to bed at 6:00, awake but calm, they would fall asleep on their own and would stay asleep all night. Any later than that, and they'd wake up every few hours all night. Also if I put them down asleep, that was no good because then they'd wake up, and my only guess was that they'd be confused as to how they got there and would have no idea how to get themselves back to sleep. If you can get into the habit of putting him down calm but awake, he will learn to put himself to sleep. That way if he does wake up, it won't be a big deal to him. He will know how to calm himself down and fall asleep again.
Also, I'd try the calm-but-awake thing for his daytime naps as well. I found that if I scheduled naps within a 4-hour eat-play-sleep routine, that worked really well. For instance, baby wakes at 6am, eats, then stays awake until naptime at 9. Sleeps until 10, wakes up, eats, stays awake until 12, sleeps until 2. Wakes up, eats. Then around 5pm, have bath time, get ready for bed, eat, burp etc, then at 6pm, down for the night. If your baby can be in his crib awake and learn how to fall asleep on his own, this will solve MANY problems for you down the road, as well as he will probably sleep all the way through the night for you as well.
My other suggestion is, allow him to stay in his crib by himself after he wakes up. Being awake in bed is not the worst thing that could happen to a baby. Sometimes they even make a fair amount of noise, but are not really awake. Babies do go through a stage of very restless sleep before falling more deeply asleep. One of my daughters would even kind of sound like she was crying, but her eyes were closed! If I left her alone for a few minutes, she'd calm down and keep sleeping.
Anyway, just a few thoughts for you! I hope you find something that works!
Frustrating for sure. It may be a phase he's going through, but I think I would try something other than the bouncing ball routine in case that is part of the reason. I had a similar situation with my son and it got to where I would just let him cry. After maybe 10 or 15 minutes (or 20) I'd go in and just be with him and rub his back or legs to let him know he wasn't alone. It's really hard to hear them crying and my response was always to pick him up, but keep in mind he is ok and it may be a whole lot harder on you than on him. I think the kind of tired they are in the evening is a different kind than at naptime and I think it can be more difficult to fall asleep when that deeper tiredness sets in. - We as adults don't sleep 'perfectly' either. It's just tough when they are crying though. You'll find the right 'rhythm' or he may just grow out of it. - Hang in there! I've been there and it is difficult.
This was my son but he was at 1/2 an hour. He has now grown out of it, but it took 5 months. I couldn't figure out why, but he just did. Hope you can figure it out.
Hmmm....I had a couple of thoughts to share:
1. Have you tried elevating his mattress a little so if it IS the reflux, that might help.
2. Do you think when you put him in the crib, the sheet feels cold to him? This would happen to my son sometimes.
What is his routine before bedtime? is he full when he goes to sleep? Feed, burp, sit up a little then start the bounce?
Sorry--no other ideas.
And you're right! He's too little for CIO!
