night waking

[Anonymous]

ok, Aidan does sleep in his crib, but has never “put himself” to sleep, as in I can’t just give him a bottle, rock him a bit put him in the crib, pat him say nite nite and close the door. I tried that and he screamed “MA MA MA MA” for what seemed like an hour(didn’t have a watch so it probably wasn’t really more than 20 mins but instead of windig down he just got more and more ticked off)…so I have another little bugger who won’t go to sleep by himself!!! If I rock him til he falls asleep, he’ll sleep til 12, then at 12 on the dot (literally on the dot, I check the clock every night) he wakes up..I let him cry a bit to see if he’ll go back to sleep, he does wake up a few times before that but always goes back to sleep in a minute or so, well, he never goes back to sleep unless I give him a bottle…after the bottle he’ll sleep til about 6..not so bad, I know, but I can’t figure out if he needs the bottle or wants it..I have tried NOT giving him the bottle, and he’s fine, but he stays up til 1 and then falls back asleep….do I just let him scream? I’ve tried going in his room and patting him for a few mins..them leaving..waiting longer, going in patting him…leaving..etc and he just screams weather I’m in there or not..sending my huband in when he’s here is a nightmare, Aidan really freaks out then. So I guess my ? is..how long should it take for a baby to go back to sleep if you decide to let him cry it out? I tried it with my first son and the child cried for THREE HOURS before I decided he wasn’t goeing to stop….I don’t think Aidan would do that…but I’m just wondering what the average time is that most babies take to soothe themselves when they cry it out to learn to sleep. Aidansmom792006-7-5 14:54:33

[Anonymous]

Jill,

I think the only way you are going to solve this problem is to put him to bed awake, and not rock him to sleep. When a baby wakes up in the middle of the night they will want/need the same routine to fall back to sleep again. If they were rocked to sleep, they’ll want to be rocked again. If they were fed to sleep, they’ll want to be fed again.

It’s great that he is sleeping as well as he is. He’ll do even better once he gets used to falling asleep alone.

I would try waking him slightly after his bedtime bottle so that he is aware that he is going to bed, instead of putting him down sound asleep. That’s how I taught all of my three to fall asleep alone. I fed them and they usualle did fall asleep but before putting them down I’d kiss them and jostle them a little so they would be awake but groggy when I laid them down. Eventually I could put them down wide awake and they’d go to sleep on their own.

If he wakes up and cries when you first put him down, I’d try the “Good Night Sleep Tight” method. Sit in a chair next to his bed until he falls asleep. Have you heard of this book? I think the author’s name is Kim West. I don’t have the book but I’ve heard about her method and it sounds really good. I always stayed in the room with my babies if they cried, or I came in and out, but I didn’t pick them up.

What I learned as a nanny, mommy, and reading lots of sleep books is that babies do not sleep all night long. They all wake up during periods of light sleep. Adults do too. When we come to light sleep we may roll over, fluff our pillow, go to the BR, and go back to bed. When a baby comes to light sleep they will need whatever routine they are used to in order to fall back to sleep. That’s why it’s so important that they learn to fall asleep in their bed. Then when they wake up during light sleep they will “remember” being able to go to sleep alone and they will put themselves back to sleep.

Christine

[Anonymous]

Regarding the “good night sleep tight” book that Christine refers to, I have it, and yes the author is Kim west. She also has a website, sleeplady.com, I believe.

I hear you about the nightwaking. We have been trying to sleep train Hailey, but for some reason if we put her down less than TWO HOURS!!! after her last feed, she ends up puking everywhere. Something wakes her up about 45 minutes to an hour after she goes dows, and she cries, and then just pukes everywhere no matter how long she cries, how hard or not hard she cries, I just don’t get it!!! Even if we get her right away, the second we’re in there it’s pukefest 2006. I can’t figure it out! She doesn’t do this at any other time at night.

Anyhow, sorry to hijack. Obviously I don’t have any advice.

[Anonymous]

Most of my friends said their babies cried for maybe 20-30 minutes before falling asleep. I read a book that said babies who are *difficult* (defined as colicky when newborns and then fussy as older babies) will not self-soothe if left alone to cry. I found that to be true with my daughter. When we tried letting her cry it out, she only revved herself up more until she cried so hard she gagged/coughed. I think she would have cried for hours. So we have accepted that she needs our help to fall asleep, whether it’s caused by teething or just highly stimulated by her environment, I don’t know. She just doesn’t fall asleep as easily as some babies. Fortunately she does usually sleep all night once she falls asleep.

For the midnight waking, I would try giving a pacifier and helping him fall asleep without a bottle, even if it takes quite awhile. Eventually he will get out of the habit of waking at that time. If you must give a bottle, try a bottle filled with water. One thing I have learned is that these stages pass rather quickly. I know some of the sleep books say that you will create a monster if you help your baby fall asleep or give a bottle during the night, but we haven’t found that to be true with our daughter (although every baby is different I know!). I did like the Baby Whisperer book, which I thought gave realistic approaches that might take some time to implement but do get results.

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys! My sister actually told me about kim west a few days ago! It’s gotten a lot worse the past few days, his schedule (what little ofa schedule he had) has been totally screwed up, the 4th, staying up late for a few days last weekend…..it’s driving me nuts!!!He’s awake now, but I don’t know what the point would be of me going in there, he cries the same amount if I go IN there and pick him up…..will post more soon!!!

Christine, I like that idea! I’ll try it!!1 (heck I’ll try ANYTHING at this point!!!!!!!)

[Anonymous]

I had to let my son cry it out. The book I read said to not let them cry for more than 1 hour (then go in and hold/calm them for 15 mintues before laying them back down to CIO again). When he was under a year old. He’d cry 45 minutes before going to bed, wake up 2-3 times in the middle of the night, he’d cry for 15-20 minutes before going back to sleep. When he turned 2 years old, it was down to 10 minutes of crying before bed and him waking up 2-3 times in the night, me going and putting the blanket back on him and he’d go right back to sleep. When he was 2.5 years old I read on another site that moms were giving their kids a H2 Blocker before betime and their kids slept through the night. I was desperate, I did not think acid was waking my child in the night, but I tried it and he’s slept through the night ever since!!!!!!

The following is cut and pasted from a website:

Recent evidence confirming night-time break-through acid secretion in patients receiving PPI’s may occur. Concomitant administration of an H2-receptor antagonist in the evening appears effective in such individuals.
http://www.aboutkidsgi.org/GERD.html

I have read to just make sure the PPI and the H2blockers are non given at the same time and should be 4 hours apart from each other.

As always, check with your doc.

lansima2006-7-11 16:37:31

[Anonymous]

We have been tryint to sleep train Hailey using any and every method possible. But what I find is that 75 percent of her nightwakings are normal and she can put herself back to sleep. One of them, she lets out the most horrific scream and just starts hysterically crying. After 45 seconds of this she has vomitted everywhere (and I mean everywhere!), and when i pick her up she’s covered in sweat (and puke). Two other nightwakings also require picking up and holding briefly to console. My doc won’t refer to either a sleep specialist or an ENT. I don’t know what would cause a child to wake up so horrified…reflux, apnea, night terrors? She’s done this since she was a few months old. I’m starting to accept that we’re never going to get sleep around here..

[Anonymous]

Lori – that sounds like night terrors to me – I know Hailey doesn’t
really nap, right? Overtiredness can definitely lead to night terrors.

[Anonymous]

We started cio at around 6 months when her ppi dose was raised and she was not in pain. I started a being very consitent with her bed time and how i put her to bed. I wanted her to be able to fall a sleep by soothing herself in her crib, like other moms suggested. She had always fallen asleep at the bottle before. She cried alot but then got used to the routine. It worked for a good few months until the teething monster came and she got a double ear infection. Now we are running around like we have a newborn again. But.. I still make a point never to talk to her in the middle of the night when she wakes up. I just change her and feed her water now (stopped with the formula from ped. advice- said she should be able to go 9 hours without milk). I have reflux, and it helps to get a drink of water or something when it is bugging me at night. Hope you get some needed zzzz’s soon!

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