Sleep Deprived - Lakeland,FL

Hi D....My last son had a similar problem, until I would give him oatmeal right before bed. The good hearty homemade kind. He is now five and that is still his comfort food..if he is tired or sick he always asks for oatmeal!

good luck!

i hear you! i have a 6 month old, she is my second baby and she wakes up all the time- she is in the room right next to ours and i still hear her- i have started letting her fall asleep on her own for naps and now bedtime and now i am getting more sleep- you probably hear your son... i am fighting the same battle though- i just want to sleep through the night and i beleive that we just need to ignore them, unless there is a problem ofcourse but- for me, i do believe that i am the problem- i hear her and want to fix it and go back to sleep but i am learning to let it go and my sleep will come! i have started to think that i need to wrap my mind around that it may be a few more sleep disturbed nights to get to that happy place. is there any other place you can stick your son? our daughter is in the office- i cleaned the room out and it is only big enough for her crib and the changing table but atleast i have seperated myself some. good luck!

Hi D.,
I recommend a book called something like "Happy Babies, Healthy Sleep Habits." The person who told me about it said it changed her life (for the better) and it did the same for me. It explains all about the importance of sleep and has practical ways for getting your baby to sleep. It's FANTASTIC.
Good luck!
L.

Could you put his crib in with your daughter until the renovation is complete? I am also a very light sleeper and it could not work with the kids in the room with me(I have 5). I would put him in with your daughter and put a monitor on the low setting..so you can hear if he wakes up and cries but not the tossing and turning. I also would not just go in every time he whimpers. My youngest did that all the time but would go back to sleep. Two of my kids are not peaceful sleepers. They toss and turn all night(I do the same thing).

I would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend the No Cry Sleep Solution. One of the things she talks about is learning to distinguish between noises that require your attention and noises that don't. Babies make a lot of noise at night, but they don't always need to be picked up. My daughter actually has cried in her sleep - by the time I got to her, though, she had stopped - she never even woke up. If you wake your baby up to tend to them because they've been making noises, then you are making it harder on yourself and the baby.

I personally would advise you to AVOID Baby Wise and other methods that rely on "cry it out." Cry it out has been shown to cause permanent structural changes in babies' brains. What happens is that when the baby cries and cries, stress hormones flood the brain and cause permanent changes that have been linked to higher levels of ADHD, poor school performance, antisocial behavior, and even aggressive behavior. People will say, "Oh I did cry it out with my children and they're OK." Are they really? Are they through the teen years yet without ADHD, abnormal aggression, etc.? Also, these are only tendencies ... cry it out tends to cause more of these unfortunate consequences, but like all science, it can only tell you trends, not what will happen to any specific person. For more information, check out http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/handout2.asp

In addition, I don't see why any reason why people still promote Baby Wise. It is the only book that has been specifically targeted by the American Academy of Pediatrics for its unhealthy advice. The Academy has specifically contradicted Baby Wise and said that babies need to be fed on demand, not on a schedule. There are many reports of babies that have had to be hospitalized because their parents used the Baby Wise method and then failed to thrive. People say, "Oh, you just have to take the parts that work for you." Well, why even bother with a method that the Academy has said is bad for babies?

I had the same experience with my first born. She was 7 months and I had returned to work...She woke up every 3 hours for a meal so I was sleep deprived...Then I read this article, tried it, and within 3 days, my daughter AND I were sleeping through the night.

The article suggested that most babies wake up every so many hours not because they are truly hungry, but because they look forward to the comfort of being held by their parent. It went on to suggest that instead of jumping at the first sound of a wine/cry, to wait a minute or two longer...Everyday, an additional minute should be added. Once you get to the baby's crib, DO NOT REMOVE the baby from the crib. Instead, prop him or her up while still in the crib, offer one to three sips of WATER (not formula). Eventually, the baby will realize that it's not worth getting up (and having to cry for a longer period of time) if they are only going to get a couple of sips of water (instead of the cuddling that was the real motive behind them waking up). This worked witin days for my second daughter as well (I did this with her when she was about 4 months old).

Good luck getting more sleep...

I COMPLETELY understand!! I have a 7 1/2 month old and we had to train her to sleep through the night. It took about a week of some crying and no crying- we just didn't go into her room until morning. I had a video monitor on her so I could see her. We did this about a month and a half ago and WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! We all sleep now. I NEVER thought I'd see the day where I slept a full 8 hours- now we do nightly. In the morning she plays in her crib until I come get her- no crying. She's also in a better mood during the day b/c she's getting adequate sleep. Some suggestions: take a sleeping pill or a benadryl b4 bed. Also, it is possible to move his crib out of your room- maybe just outside the door. I did this when my daughter was 3 months old. I was hesitant to move her b/c I am very anal and I was worried that I wouldn't hear her, but believe me- you still hear what you need to hear. I had such a hard time sleeping and such bad anxiety that I was prescribed an anti psychotic to take b4 bed and man if that isn't the best thing I could have done. It turns your brain off but you still wake when they make sounds- it just makes it easier to fall back to sleep (much easier). I hope things get better for you and if there's anything else I can do to help, please let me know. (God knows I owe it to him to help others after I was helped when I was going through sleep deprivation!)

I read and followed: "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weisbluth. My 11 month old son now sleeps 11 hours straight. He used to wake up every 3 hours for the firs 9 months of his life. Sleep is a beautiful thing!

Hi D.. I totally know how you feel. My first daughter did the same thing to me. She slept in the living room in her play yard until she was around 16 months old. I only have one bedroom so where a little cramped. If the living room wont work maybe you can find another spot in the house and if your play yard is too big you may want to look into getting one of the smaller play yards. You need your sleep!! I have looked into getting my newest baby girl to sleep through the night and it really doesn't seem like she will until she's ready. Some kids wont sleep through the night until after they turn two years old and that's completely normal. As long as they're getting enough sleep and you keep up with a routine things should smooth out. I hope this helps. Good luck.

D.

Hi D.,
Is your son standing up crying and looking for you to come and get him or just making noise? Everyone wakes up several time each night and the key is teaching them to go back to sleep on their own, even at his age. With all our children, I would say one of the best things we ever did is to teach them to put themselves to sleep and and to go back to sleep without a lot of assistance from us. We are now not sleep deprived :o) Our youngest is also in our room. We have a box fan in there to help drown out the noise for her as well as for us. And then there's always the couch :o)

Have you tried using a fan in the bedroom? My daughter slept in our room up until 8 months as well due to space issues. My husband and I have always slept with a rotating fan and my daughter slept through the night with it great. The noise prevented me from jumping at every little thing and of course I woke if she really needed me! I had to purchase one for her room when I moved her to it and now she is sleeping much sounder. Good luck!

We had the same problem with our middle child(who also had to sleep in our room) until someone suggested that we use a box fan at night. It worked perfectly because it drowns out all of the other noises. When we had our last child (she's 7 mo.) we put one in her nursery from day one and she has slept great. My husband and I also found that we liked having the fan and whenever we go stay anywhere for the night the fan comes too. Good Luck!!

Hi D.,
I've got a lot of friends who are having babies and a friend of mine HIGHLY recommended a book called "Baby Wise" to give them. You have to be flexible with how you read it, but the basic idea (from what i understand - i haven't read it) is that sometimes when mothers feed, they babies haven't quite had enough to eat and that makes them wake up throughout the night. You may want to check it out.

Is your babysitter having him sleep all day? Does he get a nice meal and warm bath before bedtime? I think you may have to giv ehim some time when he makes noises, you may be right that you are getting up too often. There are a lot of good book reccomendations here, so I would try those if all else fails. But definitley talk to your DC provider, make sure he isnt sleeping all day or taking late naps. Good Luck.

Hi,
Just let him fall aslep on his own when he wakes up at night. He might cry a little bit (he might have a bad dreams), but then he will get back to sleep. If he is crying for more than 5 min then you need to pick him up. We tried it on our son and it worked. He sleeps through the night since he was 8 mos old (he is 22 mos now). He still wakes up at night sometimes and then falls right back asleep. We also got him "birdies" (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5420735) when he was 4 mos and he still sleeps with it. When he wakes up at night sometimes he will turn it on himself and it drifts him away.
Good luck!
O.

Hi D.. I went thru something similar. I have 2 boys (4 yrs and 8 months). My oldest slept in his crib in our room as well as in our bed. He woke up constantly. We kept him in our room and heard everything as well. If you plan on keeping him in your room, you need to be prepared to hear some crying. We finally (after 14 months) let him cry when he woke and put him to bed fully awake). He slept like a champ from then on. My little guy is a different story. I put him in his room at 3 months. At 7 months I let him cry it out every time he woke. He sleeps awesome!!!! I take a benadryl so I sleep hard (even though he I only hear him occasionally- sometimes I hear him fuss for 10-15 seconds in his sleep and that's it). My pediatrition told me every time you enforce something, they will expect it 10 more times.
So, every time you go to him when he cries at night, he expects it every time. Your behavior will change his behavior. Not to mention my guy wakes up fully rested and is happy and pleasant. Everyone needs a good night sleep. They don't cry all night, and the benefit is for everyone. Many people say "don't let that baby cry" - it is temporary and the outcome is a happier, heathier family.

D.,

you are not alone. I have a 19 month and he still sleeps in our room. I hear every sound and movement. well your son wont sleep thru the night until he is out of your room. Just like you hear him he hears you as well. When his room is ready it does not get easier because when he is not there you will be straining to hear him breathe on the baby monitor. Try earplugs it helps for my husbands snoring maybe it will help for you?