Help! sleepless in Disney

[jother]

As the days approach to the start of our trip, one big fear is reality: Lack of sleep! As of the last 2 weeks+ straight our 6 month old whom has been sleeping through the night since he was 2 months old, has decided he'd like to awaken at least 2-3 times a night. Actually, the last two nights he was up every 11/2 to 2 hours. I'm at a lost and very sleepy....I hate to think our trip in 2 weeks will be this way... I need sleep to function all day at the parks and be wife and mom to 3. Our baby was at the Dr last week and he is fine, ears ok, everything...she thought perhaps a growth spurt (breastbaby)...but for 21/2wks? He does nurse each time he awakens, except the last night I rocked him to sleep x1 and nursedx 2-3. Please if anyone has been through this and knows a way to break this nighttime awakening please help...I really need to get him back on track before our trip...thanks

 

[nuts4wdw]

I have a 8 month old and went through that at about 6 1/2 months because of teething. Once the bottom teeth popped through the nights were no longer sleepless. So, if that is the case maybe the teeth will pop through by then. If your baby is teething, and is still doing so on your trip give'em a little tylenol before bed, this also helped my ds. Good luck, hope it's the teeth.

 

[BuzzLightYear3]

First of all, you definitely have my sympathy....sleep problems are the worst!

Does your son fall asleep on his own (i.e., without being rocked or nursed to sleep before being put down)? If not, that could be the problem....there are whole other web sites devoted to debates over this, but I'm a big believer in helping the kids learn to go to sleep on their own because that's the only way that everything will seem as expected and they can return to sleep on their own when they have normal mid-night awakenings. There's lots of ways to help the kids learn to do this on their own (from cry it out to check every couple minutes to just make it gradual, etc), and with a 6 month old, I think it'd only take a few days (4-5 max) to see a huge difference if this is the problem. (Granted....it could be a few days with miserable bedtimes, but it's worth it in the long run for both the child and for you)

Of course, if you have 3 other kids, you probably have lots of experience with this night-time stuff, and maybe this isn't the problem at all....just thought I'd throw out the idea as I think this 'fall asleep on your own problem' is at the root of a lot of sleep problems in kids.

Good luck! Maybe it's just one of those unexplainable phases and last night was the end!

 

[jother]

Well, I've kinda thought that he may be teething for the last month, but still no tooth...I've tried the tylenol and numbing medicine, which didn't increase his sleep time. Teething is still a possible cause though?? I'm afraid that as the second responder pointed out, my baby can't fall asleep on his own. He doesn't fall asleep on his own and does nurse to sleep, and as of lately nursing during the night in our bed. This is my second child, I have a 10yr old and a 11 yr old step-son...so it's been a long while.... this baby is very demanding and I can't hardly stand to let him cry I honestly believe he would cry forever until mommy picked him up. My husband says I need to toughen him up now that he is 6months...but how? How without all the trauma of crying it out? He has done so well up till now about sleeping, I pray it is just the teething and not a sleeping problem.

 

[katefromny]

My son (who is now 22 months), just began sleeping through the night 3 months ago. And only because I finally decided that he had to cry it out. At 19 months and 28 pounds, I knew logically, that he could easily make it through the night without me. IN my heart, though--it was difficult to listen to him cry. The first few nights were the most traumatizing. I finally turned the monitor off, just so I wouldn't have to hear him crying. Then of course, when I went in, in the morning..I was convinced he was angry at me for not getting him in the middle of the night. It's amazing the way we mothers can beat ourselves up over something so simple. If you simply cannot let him cry it out, then try 5 minutes the first night and add on a 5 minute wait every night thereafter (you're a mom, I'm sure you know the drill) Or when he does cry, if you're using a bottle at all, give him only water in the bottle--maybe he'll figure it won't be worth the bother. My son sleeps well through the night now, sometimes he still cries out in his sleep but he is now able to get back to sleep on his own and with relative little problem. I now sleep with the monitor turned on again (listening for any real problems), and am pleased to report that we are all finally sleeping well. Once you go to WDW, your sleep patterns are going to be all disturbed anyway, so don't lose too much sleep over it!! Good luck...

 

[DisneyFix]

It sounds like you know in your heart you need to "wean him" from falling asleep in your arms or on your bed, but I don't know if you'll do it before WDW. If so, good for you - I know how hard it is (mom of 2). However, if you are still having trouble by the time you get to Disney, try to keep him awake as much as possible during the day. At 6 months old, he should be old enough for sunblock, so being out in the warm sunshine every day combined with all the excitement just might do the trick. Good luck!

 

[BuzzLightYear3]

There's a book by Ferber called 'Solve your child's sleep problems' that explains lots of problems and how to resolve them. The number one being the child not knowing how to fall asleep on his/her own. It recommends that you follow a soothing routine that helps the child make the transition but that you put them in bed when they're fully awake. It then also recommends that if they cry, you check back after 5 min. and wait progressively longer (5 more min each time.) I have 3 kids, and on the worst night it seemed like 45 min. was the max that it took with the time progressively shorter each time.

I did this with my first when he was 4 months old, and the results were phenomenal.....he's been my best sleeper ever since. It took 3 nights with a max. crying of 20 min. the first night. Of course, that was the longest 20 minutes of my life!!!! The 4th night he just went to sleep and never had a problem again.

With my second I was more careful not to establish poor sleep habits from the start, but I did occasionally lapse into bad habits (it's really hard to not let an infant fall asleep blissfully while they're nursing), so I had to let her cry a couple times but never had to do any major intervention.

With my 3rd (now 20 months), I was actually the worst about this, and he has the worst sleep habits. We had a nightmare visit with some relatives over the Christmas Holidays when he woke us and the rest of the house (including young cousins) up repeatedly for multiple nights, and after that, we decided we needed to break our bad habits. Given that he was about 16 months by that point, it took more probably a week to get him to go to sleep without crying and then probably another week until the benefit carried over to no waking at night.

Net, I'd recommend that you do it while he's young....it's awful but still easier than when they're older (and you'll be getting sleep between now and then.)

I personally would do it now because I think it'd be great to go on vacation with this problem behind you. I do seem to recall that the book recommends that if you have a vacation coming up within 3 weeks you wait until after you return given that vacation also messes up sleep habits.

Anyway, best of luck....it's one of the hardest things to do and it's gut-wrenching to listen to a baby cry for even a few minutes when you know you could comfort them, it really only takes a few days of sticking with it, and in return the whole family gets a lifetime of good sleep.

 

[merryweather's twin]

You say the little one selpt fine untill a couple of weeks ago... Have you changed anything? Could you put him in a room with an older sibling? He may be comforted with an person in the room even if they are asleep. If that is not an option have you turned the air on yeat? This can make a little one cold even if the temp is warm to you. We have allways had a problem when we change from winter jammies to summer. He may just be missing your snuggly warm arms... We have used a fleace blanket streached very tight with clips underneeth to solve this problem . Babys have very little body heat and if they change there position in the night the sheet may be cold or scrachy. The fleace feels like your sweatshirt and if you sleep with it for a day or 2 ith will smell like you 2. I have even made these for gifts for baby showers by sewing a sheet using fleace for fabric. Well I hope some of these ideas help. Every baby is different and it may take a bit of time but as you know he will soon be 3 then 5 then 8 so enjoy the way he looks at you know and the fact the words MINE and NO are months away And most of all Have a great trip with your family.

 

[wdisneyaholic]

jother,

We had that sort of problem with our first child. He pretty much slept through the night by 4 months, but at 6 months old he started waking up. Looking back on it now it was teething, I could not feel anything until the teeth poped out. after they came through he started sleeping through the night. It was the same when his other teeth came through, it was a good 2 weeks or so that everything happened until he got his teeth.

As far as falling asleep on his own, I used to rock him to sleep. Then I got pregnat with twins and decided he needed to learn to fall asleep on his own. It was very hard, we did the cry yourself to sleep approach. We started by putting him in his crib, he would cry, we would go in to check on him but we would increasingly leagthin our time in between checking on him. Alot of books use that approach to crying it out. It took about a week of this and he has been going to sleep on his own ever since. I can really understand how you feel. It is hard but worth it in the end.

 

[Dr. Happy]

Its hard to recommend something to a family when you don't know all the variables and circumstances that exist around a behavior...

With that said, here's a book I think is excellent and also a good place to start thinking what can be done to help your little bambino through this period in time.

The book is Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber, MD, published by Simon & Schuster.

I've recommended this to many families, and have used it in parent education classes.

You can probably get it from your local library, or obtain it through interlibrary loan, should it not be at your branch.

Easy reading and informative. Start here to explore the issue in depth.