All of a Sudden Fighting Sleep????

Walking him was the worst thing you could have done. Once you start it it is very hard to stop. He may be not getting enough to eat. You don't say if he acts normal the rest of the time. But there could also be a medical reason that he is not sleeping. It is hard to give anyone advice without knowing if his behavior is normal the rest of the time. Babies do change sleeping habits as they grow. It just may be that he doesn't need the required sleep he once needed. I always put my youngest down around 10:00 or 11:00 at night and she would sleep all through the night. Six seems really early. Try a later bed time. Oh, and stop walking him unless you want to walk him every night until he is three......

Oh the frustration I know!! My 10mo son took a while getting to sleep as well. He went through a time where during the day i would spend it either feeding him or fighting to go to sleep...not a fun situation. My doctor told me that the little ones will change their sleeping habits and during which will go through bouts of not sleeping. Doesn't help I know! But, the best thing you can do is try to establish that routine (like you are). The problem with rocking is that you may be getting him to sleep, but he may become dependent on rocking in order to get to sleep. You may try putting him in his crib while he's awake and happy, instead of just being a sleep area. My husband and I always try to read some books in his room too before we put him to sleep. And when he went through the stage of fighting it, the first night i gave him 10 mins crying, then went in and calmed him down, then 15 mins crying then when in and calmed him down, and so on, adding 5 mins each time, and each night started 5 mins later. Eventually you will work through it. The thing you want to make sure is you're not setting yourself up for more sleeping struggles, but giving into the crying...it killed me but so worth it. Now, we place my son in bed awake and he falls right to sleep.

I would also call my dr, and just make sure he doesn't think something else might be up that you're not aware of. You never know!

Oh one question, when does he typically nap during the day? You may have to adjust that to get the nighttime better.

Sorry I can't help more.

There is a great book - Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child. It explains the sleep cyles of newborns and it will probably have an answer for you. Is your child napping? At 5 months he should be taking 3 naps - one around 9am one around 1pm and one around 4pm. At about 8 months the last nap drops out so you will have to put him to bed earlier otherwise he will be overtired and fight falling asleep. My daughter was asleep by 5:30 when she was 7 months old. Start the wind down earlier - keeping him up later is not the answer because it sounds like he is overtired and can't settle down.

Good Luck!

K.

That's normal. They're just becoming more alert to their surroundings and it's almost like if they go to sleep they will miss something so they fight it and stay up. Unfortunately, you will have to spend more time with your baby when you're normally used to him going to sleep early. Mine started staying up a lot later and we would just sit her in a bouncer seat that vibrates and keep her around us so she could watch what we were doing. A swing does wonders and soon he'll be able to start learning how to sit in an actual jumperoo. That keeps them occupied and tires them out some.

HI J.,

It can be really hard sometimes being a mom, let alone a new one. My daughter is almost 5 months and she too has begun to change her habbits. With my first child I spoiled him by nursing him to sleep with me in bed and he did not find his bed till about 5. Now with Nina I do have somewhat of a shedule and it seems to work. The older they get the more they change. Try starting your routine an hour later tonight. or maybe prolonging his nap in the afternoon. Routine is the best thing for baby. Kids need structure and need to know what is happening next. He may be teething and need that extra comfort. which is fine but walking him around to sleeep will become an old habbit fast. Try a swing and reading to him. Let me know how you make out. Best wishes.
jen

I would try giving him a little more to eat, maybe even try cereal. Also if you have a baby swing, that might be a god send. Good Luck and do not worry, this is only a phase, and in no time he will be on to the next phase.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with walking him, holding him,rocking him or any other snugglu means of showing him you love him and care about him. Keep up the good work at being a warm, loving parent! Parenting isn't all about rules and schedules.... It's nice to just go with their flow and give them whatever they need at their different stages. You will raise an affectionate, loving and secure child from the way you care for them and respond to them now. You are right to not let him cry for you. Nothing could be more stressful and traumatic to be a young baby that has parents that refuse to respond or hold them when they cry...

These sleep patterns sound totally normal. Just when they develop one routine, they will grow, develop and change again! Hang in there, keep giving all the love and support you can and enjoy every moment.... Even when it's frustrating or your tired. These days will pass in a flash and you will only have memories of walking your little one until they sleep! Best wishes!

He might be teething. There's a homeopathic teething liquid made by Gentle Naturals (the kind with the disney characters on the bottles) and it has chammomile in it, so it helps stop the pain AND calm the little one down. I've found it to be a lifesaver. The only place i can find it, though is Sweetbay and online. It's about $10/a bottle, but lasts a long time and is worth it! Some other things that worked for us are music, and checking on him on increasing increments of time, for example: 3 minutes, then 6 minutes, then 12 minutes. You can gradually increase the time. It hurts your heart to hear him cry, but you'll appreciate it later if you can nip this now. :) Hang in there, guys....you're doing a great job!!!!

Could it be that he is still hungry? Both my kids did the same thing, but it ended when I started to feed them solids right before bed.