Going to Sleep

although most people don't agree with me, i slept with my daughter everytime she napped. she would never sleep without me, and besides tell me as new mother that you couldn't use a nap?! yes the house work gets a little neglected but for real, what's more important, rest and peace of mind, or both of you being out of your mind with exhaustion and the dishes being pushed back?

Hi,
I have seven children myself. I can tell you from experience that if she is not ill, then she has only shifted her sleep patterns. She will go through this for a while and then shift again. I went through that with all of my kids who range from 26yrs down to 5years. My youngest two are still changing. Only not quite as often. What helped was down time. Start by closing the shades, turn down the tv, speak in hushed tones, and keep in mind to do this about the same time every night, and gradually she will get the hint so to speak. Good luck.

I am going through the same thing with my 8 month old. Let me know what works!!!!!!!

my daughter did the same thing so what i tryed was i'd put her into her swing and got a nice soft fuzzy blanket wrapped it around her and she would fall asleep in the swing and it helps if it is a swing that is battery operated then it swings all nite and eventually she got used to being by herself and finally slept in her crib i also tryed leaving a light on that wasnt to bright some children just dont like being in the dark please dont let her get in the habbit of sleeping with you i did that with my first child and he is now 6 yrs old and still comes into my bed in the middle of the night every now and then its a hard habit to break and you can also try letting her cry it out just go in every 5 min at first to let her no everything is ok then the next go every 10 min and so on it will work but it takes patience

did u just move maybe it is some kind of change. If this is the case you may have to make her fuss her self to sleep all over again

Have you tried giving her a warm bath with chamomile essential oil (if she isn't allergic) before bedtime? I even think Johnson & Johnson has something like this. The Chamomile Oil will relax your baby. You will benefit too :) Good luck!

You may want to look for a blanket that emits a low vibration that simulates a heart beat. Something like a low-heat heating blanket you can wrap her up in. Start by wrapping her up while you hold her. Sit in a chair or on your couch and read her a story or listen to some lulling bedtime cd's with the lights down low. Gradually move her to lay beside you wrapped up while you read, then start doing the same in her room sitting beside the crib. Then in the crib with the railing down, then eventually in the crib alone.

It sounds like she associates her room at night with being alone and scared. You need to, I guess, reprogram her so that she associates being in the room with being with you, snug and warm. It will take a few weeks, making the changes every three or four days (time depends on how she takes each step... fussy vs. contentedly). Just follow the same routine every night and she will become secure with each stepping stone.

Whatever you do don't give up. It's going to take a few months before she is going to recognize the recurring pattern and feel comforted by it. Don't do it for a few weeks and then give up if you're not getting immediate results. I made that mistake with my son, he's my first and I didn't know better. I just needed to sleep so bad that I let him sleep with me, or on a mattress beside my bed. Now he's three and wont go to sleep unless I go to bed with him.

I've seen my suggestion work. My sister has three children and after making my mistake with her first she tried this with her second and it did take some perseverance, but it did work.

~C.~

R. I feel your pain caitlyn was like that just alittle bit thou we are trying to get her almost asleep then laying her on our bed next to us till she is fully out then transfering her to her bed also get some soothing music to play in her room that will help lul her to sleep and some soft light hope this works

My son was born 3/16/05 - We had an issue with his formula - As it turned out he was lactose. Then it turned into colic. I was at my wits end trying to get him to go to sleep. I finally turned on the vaccume cleaner and he fell asleep. It really worked well for me as crazy as it sounds. My son is now 18 months old and every now and again I need to turnt he vaccume on near his crib. Good Luck!

I have a 7mo old daughter as well. Do you have a night time routine? We do a bath every night, bottle then i hold for a little while she sleeps, then we make the "transfer". The Fischer Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium works also. Its some thing about the light and the music that puts her to sleep.

My daughter, who is 22 months now, was like that too. She didn’t want to sleep alone, and you could forget about the crib. I worked, and I needed to wake up in the morning, and I was willing to do anything I needed to do to sleep, but I didn’t want her to get use to my bed, nor did I want to disturb my husband. So for the first few months I slept with her on the couch. Then I moved her into one of her chairs, which she couldn’t get out off on her own. It was one of those vibrating ones that played music. Eventually I got to sleep in my bed, and she slept on the floor next to me on her crib mattress, but of course being the nervous first time mom I was up every hour making sure she was ok. Then we got a twin bed, and the baby rails, and we (my daughter and I) slept in it together. Now she sleeps by herself, well at least half the night by herself. We have the baby gate up and when she wakes up I go in and comfort her. To be honest, if I didn’t have to get up in the morning I would just go back to my bed, but since it’s EASIER to just curl up with her, that is what I do. Besides, we get so little time with them, and it goes by so fast.
To sum it up; Do what you got to do!!!!! Weight your goods with your bads, and choose what’s best for you. Remember every choose has a consequence, so choose the one you can live with. I CHOOSE to sleep; my cost is I don’t do it in my bed next to my husband. And the reality is I might have to do this for a long time. OH well, I want to sleep!!
My best advice is to listen to everyone’s “stories”, but you do what works for you and your family.
I copied this from advice that I gave someone else who asked about sleeping babies a few months ago.

Hi R.,
Do you have a cradle swing? I used to put my daughter in her's when she was a baby and it would help her to fall asleep.

The only way to get over this is to let her "cry it out". I made the mistake of not doing this with my first daughter and now, 3 1/2 years later, she's still sleeping in my bed between my husband and me. On top of that, she stays up with me until I go to bed so in addition to not having any "couple" time in bed, we don't have any adult conversation either. I did a little better training my 18 month old. My husband will lay in our bed with her while she drinks her bottle and falls asleep. I'll go up 30 mins later and put her in her crib. She used to wake up during the transfer but I would put her in the crib, say lay down it's night night time, and walk out. Sometimes she would lay right down and go to sleep, but a few times she would scream. It would last 5 mins or so and then she'd stop. It only takes a few nights to train them. Do it now before she starts talking because it's a lot easier to ignore a cry than when they start throwing a "mommy" in with the tears.
***Important to keep in mind*** giving in now will only prolong the issue and you will deal with it for a long, long time.
Good luck and be strong.

I'm reading this with much enthusiasm, becuase my 8 month old girls have started doing this too. I hope someone has some advice to share.