Are there any natural sleep aids for babies???

[perkinsrose]

No honey for kids under 1 year due to risk of botulism.

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weeklyquestion/a/04_infant_honey.htm

 

[blessedby3]

I'm glad you checked with your ped but honey is not reccomended for small children as they can become very sick from it. Honestly OP I think you just have to ride it out a bit. I know that's not what you were looking to hear but kids go through all sorts of spurts. Good luck.

Yeah, thats what I seem to be looking at, but the problem is this "spurt" has been going on since she was born.

Oh and I forgot to mention DH is 42 and Im 41. We are just plain old to begin with and need our sleep

I have also tried using a white noise machine and no success with that either.

 

[Camno's Mama]

We have also become quite addicted to warm milk and honey in our house. (You can leave the honey out...it's apparently the warm milk that does the trick, anyway). I really believe that it does make them sleepy and sometimes a well fed belly right before bed helps with the sleeping.

 

[Jenvenza]

We have also become quite addicted to warm milk and honey in our house. (You can leave the honey out...it's apparently the warm milk that does the trick, anyway). I really believe that it does make them sleepy and sometimes a well fed belly right before bed helps with the sleeping.

This is not always true - We do warm milk before bedtime - no honey - and it doesnt make any difference on her sleeping through the night.

 

[DISNEYFOS]

Yeah, thats what I seem to be looking at, but the problem is this "spurt" has been going on since she was born.

Oh and I forgot to mention DH is 42 and Im 41. We are just plain old to begin with and need our sleep

I have also tried using a white noise machine and no success with that either.

I feel your pain. My 14 month old was waking up 2 or 3 times a night. We got in the habit of bringing her into our bed (so she wouldn't wake up my older daughter) where she would sleep great but would toss and keep us up. We did the music & the white noise too.

About two months ago It seemed to be getting worse not better.. I said We've got to solve this now. Took her to the Ped to rule out ears, teeth whatever. I also was concered about milk intolerance because we had switch her over to whole milk at 1 year..and I swear (in my sleep deprived state) it was when things got worse.

We switched her back to the Go & Grow toddler formula..and then tried a night of cry it out. Let me say, I was so not a proponate of this.. We kept her in bed and just went in to calm her and lay her back down. It took 15-20 mins of going back in every 2-3 mins...but 1 night and.....drum roll... She sleeps thru the night now. 7:30PM to 6AM

 

[cheap traveler]

I know you said your DD sleeps with you, and for so many kids that helps, but I wonder if you DD is like my 2 year old. From the time she came home from the hospital, she didn't sleep more than an hour at a stretch. One night we decided to let her cry it out, and put her in her own crib to sleep. She was only about 5 weeks old, and she slept nearly through the night!! To this day she cant sleep if there is anyone else in the room. Vacation is tough, but she is usually worn out enough to sleep even with us in the room. I know that she is much older, and just moving her to her own bed would be enough to make her scream all night, maybe normal Mommy and Daddy sleeping noises are keeping her up . Just a suggestion. Good luck!!

 

[pweyl36]

Have you tried the Hyland's Teething Tablets? We alternate between those and the Camilia (liquid) but both were recommended by our pediatrician.
When DS was teething we gave him the teething tablets and Motrin. The combo didn't exactly knock him out but it did help him to sleep.
Our naturopath recommended them and you can get them at Whole Foods (in our area). Lots of people I know use them.

I just loved these tablets, they worked great!

 

[Camno's Mama]

This is not always true - We do warm milk before bedtime - no honey - and it doesnt make any difference on her sleeping through the night.

I guess when I said "them", I meant my kids. Everyone is different. Not every suggestion that we all use in our own home is going to work in someone else's, but it doesn't hurt to throw it out there!

 

[Relish]

Actually, I was thinking about this and there are people who have success with melatonin as a sleep aid. However, it is usually only used with older kids/adults who have troubles that are confirmed to be more than just developmental (and at 1yo that can't be ruled out).

 

[Willow25]

We have found the Hyland's tablets to be life savers and it is nice to have an alternative to tylenol.

On the sleeping front what worked for us was the Baby Whisperer. There are two books and the one we found most helpful was the Baby Whisperer solves all your problems. We are also not believers in crying it out but wanted our child to know how to fall asleep on her own as that is a skill she will need throughout life. When we first brought her home she would not sleep after two weeks I got the above book and put the methods into action. By 7 weeks my daughter slept 12 hours at night and had three two hour naps during the day. She is now 13 months and is sleeping 11 hours at night and sleeps for two hours in the day. There have been a few occasions when she was teething etc. that she would wake but with the assistance of the book's advice we never got into any bad habits.

I want to preface this last statement by saying that I am not against co-sleeping but this is just a thought I had.

I am the type of person that really likes having my own space when I sleep. I wonder if your baby is the same and maybe the co-sleeping really does not work for them. Just a thought.

Anyway good luck with everything sleep deprivation is so hard.

 

[It's A Small World]

Have you tried Hyland Teething Tablets yet? My girlfriend told me about them. They seemed to work for DD#2. I will tell you that she did not sleep through the night until she turned 18 months. We still have to get up off and on to comfort her. The lack of sleep is a killer!!!

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Maybe you just need to wear her out better. Take her outside and let her run and climb etc. Some kids just don't need as much sleep. If it has been going on since birth you might want to talk to your doctor about a possible dairy allergy or sensitivity. You don't really need the doctor to diagnose it, you could remove all dairy products from her diet for a few weeks and see if that helps. It's worth a shot. Good luck!

 

[disneyandme]

If you have not had the reflux check in a while, the amount of medication may not have kept up with the weight gain. Both my children have reflux and must sleep on an incline. Sometimes I wake my dughter up before the usual cry time and this seems to help break the pattern. You should also look into whether or not switching the milk at 1 is the best idea. If you already use hypoallergenic formula, it might indicate that the child is waking up because they are reacting to milk in other foods that they cannot properly digest and therefore causes pain.

 

[brymolmom]

I'll second the idea to try letting her sleep by herself. I also have a ds who doesn't sleep well at all with us. AND, as a bonus, you might be exhausted enough to actually sleep a few hours without the baby in bed with you. And don't be too concerned about the other kids. IMO a few nights/couple weeks of 'pain' to get through this will be worth it in the end for the whole family as mom is better rested, etc.

My dd shared a room with her 17 month old brother right when she came home from the hospital. It was tough on the nights during the first few months when she would cry - we would take her out of his room and put her in a pack n play right NEXT to his room. Now, he is a GREAT sleeper - can sleep thru anything so that's a side benefit that he had to teach himself to sleep through it.

Might as well give it a try...

 

[blessedby3]

If you have not had the reflux check in a while, the amount of medication may not have kept up with the weight gain. Both my children have reflux and must sleep on an incline. Sometimes I wake my dughter up before the usual cry time and this seems to help break the pattern. You should also look into whether or not switching the milk at 1 is the best idea. If you already use hypoallergenic formula, it might indicate that the child is waking up because they are reacting to milk in other foods that they cannot properly digest and therefore causes pain.

I have wondered about the milk thing too. I was just figuring he would say to switch to milk, but after being on Hypo I thought that may not work. I was going to talk with him more in depth at her check up in a couple of weeks.

 

[blessedby3]

I'll second the idea to try letting her sleep by herself. I also have a ds who doesn't sleep well at all with us. AND, as a bonus, you might be exhausted enough to actually sleep a few hours without the baby in bed with you. And don't be too concerned about the other kids. IMO a few nights/couple weeks of 'pain' to get through this will be worth it in the end for the whole family as mom is better rested, etc.

My dd shared a room with her 17 month old brother right when she came home from the hospital. It was tough on the nights during the first few months when she would cry - we would take her out of his room and put her in a pack n play right NEXT to his room. Now, he is a GREAT sleeper - can sleep thru anything so that's a side benefit that he had to teach himself to sleep through it.

Might as well give it a try...

We have tried putting her in her crib or pack and play at times, but she always woke up more. Thats why we kept her in the bed with us- Im not opposed to letting her sleep in the crib, it just seemed to make things worse. She really seems terrified when she wakes up in it too. Like for naps I will put her in it, and when she wakes up she is shaking and crying uncontrollably. Maybe she is just so used to us being there when she wakes up and if we arent right there she gets so upset? Thanks for all the help, maybe I will try the crib again tonight. I just dread doing it because I am so sleep deprived as it is I just want as much sleep as I can get and I know that this wont be it......

 

[pooh4evr]

my 20 month old usually doesn't sleep through the night either - she wakes up crying for me i go in eventually and hold her or rock her until she is asleep again- yes I know it is my fault but OH well! for a whiole after we took her off the bottle at a yr it was better then we stopped givin her milk and went to soy and it got better them too 9each better time lats about a week or so) then we moved her to a twin bed at 15 mos better too but now back to waking - althought the last week she watches sprout goodnight show in our room and falls asleep there and then i take her to her bed later! whatever works riht!

 

[disneyandme]

My DDnow 4 has all kinds of food issues which effect her sleep-- she never slept through the night for the first 3 yrs. I recommend putting her crib up against your bed. You can put an arm through the slats and hold her hand or pat her back. This seemed to comfort my DD and help her to learn to sleep in her own space, but still be next to Mom. Also, make sure the mattress is at an incline. There are crib wedges out there, but you can also use several folded bath towels. Find the right height that works for you. My DD also moves around a lot. When she gets truned around-- head down on the incline-- I just pick her up and swing her back the other way.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I just wanted to add that I would try rice milk instead of soy milk. Soy breaks down in much of the same way that cow milk does so a lot of children who have dairy issues will also have issues with soy.

 

[Jenvenza]

I just wanted to add that I would try rice milk instead of soy milk. Soy breaks down in much of the same way that cow milk does so a lot of children who have dairy issues will also have issues with soy.

Okay - I hate to hijack this thread, but I am very interested in this. My daughter seems to be sleeping less through the night since she started on whole milk almost a month ago. It gives her gas like she has never had and I think it wakes her up at night.

I am going to call her pedi today - but have any of you done soy or rice milk instead of cow's milk? I just know the cow's milk is what is waking her up in the night!