JP didn't feel well so she wanted Mommy & Daddy to snuggle her. Since I roll around the bed at night, Steve put her in the crook of his arm and slept with her in the 2nd bedroom.
Snuggles with Daddy
Completely understandable right? She was sick and we had to comfort our lady.
Yes. Except it didn't end there....
Suddenly she finished her antibiotics and was feeling better but she was used to being held and had enjoyed snuggling with Daddy for 8 days.
That had to go. So we dealt with a few nights that were pretty bad, but eventually she started to sleep on her own in her crib again.
But then the following parade of happenstances occurred...
- She caught a cold and felt yucky again
- After no nightly feedings for 3 months she was hungry again at 2am!
- She caught a fever...poor baby
NOW...
She has recovered from her latest illness, but she wakes up 6-7 times a night for (we think) one of the following reasons: she's hungry, dropped her pacifier, uncomfortable, teething or has gas.
Or she's mad at us for denying her the pleasure of eating her washcloth. If so, she must be feeling awfully saucy about it!
Stuff we've tried:
- "CIO" Otherwise known as "Cry It Out" which isn't working out so hot... She just cries harder!
- Trying to get more food into her before she goes to bed. BUT, sometimes she just won't take a bottle or eat any more rice cereal.
- Switching her position by putting her on her side, stomach, or back...she seems to be enjoying all 3 during different times of the night depending on her mood. She's sort of turned her crib into a dance party by rolling to and fro all over!
I guess it's time to try something new.
I have some ideas:
- Giving JP Tylenol because she might be teething? We will have to ask the doc first.
- Doing a "wake up" feeding at like 11pm to prevent lots of crying on and off until 2am.
- Getting this book, "Solve your child's sleep problems by Richard Ferber, M.D." and giving his suggestions a go.
If anyone else has any additional suggestions please leave them in the comments section!
My tired eyes will love you for it.
In the meantime.....
TGF Coffee!
And um Shark Week paraphernalia in general....which is awesome.
XO,
Krista
How old is she? Lorelei started this around 4 months and we actually got rid of the pacifier and it helped A LOT. At this point with the pacifier you are either going to suck it up and have to replace it a million times a night until she can find it herself or get rid of it. There are pros and cons to both.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably normal for her to eat at least once in the night so I would do the dream feed around 11pm then if she wakes up at other times give her less at each feeding each night so she trains herself to not need the calories. Load her up with formula before bed. If she is teething you can give er tylenol if she is over 4 months. Do you have a set routine at night? Baths help relax Lorelei.
Does she wake up at the exact same times every night or is it random?
SHe is 5 months. We do give her a bath most nights but our schedule is always insane with us both working so her bedtime is between 8:30-9. She doesn't have trouble falling asleep each night just starts waking up around 1am-2am and then keeps doing it until her morning feeding at 6 or 6:30am. Thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteI would say an earlier bedtime. I used to hate when people would tell me that, but sleeping from 9-6 isn't long enough for her at her age. Also, I think if you can find a way do the SAME thing every night at the SAME time. It makes such a huge difference. SERIOUSLY. For example, we start Lorelei's bath every night at 7pm. So she gets a bath, pajamas, nurses, a story, and in bed by 730. Plus she loves it. Since you are both so busy i would do a routine that can be done by either parent so only one of you has to be home and she can stay on her schedule.
ReplyDeleteShe is still small enough you could cluster feed before bed if she is interested to kind of load her up. If there is a consistent time she always wakes up in the middle of the night, say 11pm go in her room and dream feed her at 1030 (so 30 minutes before the waking). This will break her of the habitual waking. Plus if she still wakes up at 11 you know she isn't hungry, but I bet she won't wake up. Then you can take that dream feed and move it closer and closer to her bedtime until she stops waking for it. So basically 1030pm a few nights then move it to 10 pm for a few nights and do this until it is almost the time she goes to bed then just stop it. Then you have basically trained her to not need the feeding. You can essentially do this with all of her her night time wake-ups that are habitual.
Lorelei still gets dream fed at 10, but this is because I need to keep my milk supply up and I don't want to pump and I like her to just hang out in her crib for a while in the morning so I can sleep in later.
Lorelei also still had one nighttime feeding until 8 months. This was SUPER annoying, but she needed it and dropped it on her own. Since you do formula this may not be the case, but they have growth spurts all the time so it can be hard to tell. My rule of thumb is if you have a baby waking at a random time screaming a hungry cry it is probably a growth spurt so just feed them. Random wakings with no pattern is usually a sign of hunger.
I wouldn't try CIO until 6 months if you can survive. It's supposed to be much more effective at that age because of brain development or something. Personally, I never did CIO because I couldn't handle it. I basically made up my own sleep training. It took a while, but I stand behind it. Lorelei liked to be nursed to sleep so basically, I started waking her right before I laid her down. At first, I started just waking her a tiny bit and she would fall right back asleep. I did this more and more until i could put her in bed wide awake. A few times she cried for like 3 minutes, but it was more like whining. So maybe whatever Juliet is dependent on to go to sleep do it less and less. We did the same thing with rocking to phase it out.
Hopefully this helps. I have a friend who is a sleep trainer who told me most of this stuff. Obviously, I only have one kid so I am no baby expert!