Much Needed Sleep!

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weisbluth is my favorite sleep book. In addition to solving sleep problems with my son, it taught me so much more about sleeping patterns than I ever dreamed I would need to know. Based on what I remember about this stage, it will tell you to go to her in intervals (at the 3am waking) and console her. Some babies just get more wound up when they see mommy or daddy, so the consoling won't work. Consoling is great IF you are able to soothe your baby. If your little girl has the same temperment as my son, the consoling did not work, and you just have to let her cry (according to the book). I'd check on her once (maybe 15-30 min into the crying) to make sure there is no fever, problem, etc, but then I'd let her go. If she cries for 2 hours, then hopefully the next night would only be 1 hour and then it will continue to lessen. We only had 2 nights of crying when we did this. The first was 1.5 hrs and the next about 25 min. We've been golden ever since. Good luck! I know it is hard.

When I took my son at daycare at 10 wks he REALLY had a hard time taking naps for several wks during the transition period until he felt comfotable there and then I had to take him out because I had medical issues but when I returned months later it was the same ordeal plus he would not there w/them unless I came to feed him, Thank God that I was working at the daycare where he was.

It takes time and patience.
Good Luck and God Bless

M.

I have heard that the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child is wonderful. It talks about ways to break night time feedings, and good sleep versus not good sleep. I haven't read it yet but I am planning on it. At 5months old she should be going more than 2.5 -3 hours between eating, you might try giving her juice to hold her off a little and try for 4-5 hours.

S.

J.,

I have a 6 month old as well and we really struggled w/sleeping, and still do on occasion. Our little guy still struggles w/a daytime routine, but what we found helped his night routine the most was waiting until later. We started prolonging his night time ritual by an hour later! It really made a difference. Ours just wasn't sleeping through the night when we were putting him down earlier. You might try that!

Hope that helps!

I have a 6 month old too. And she was waking up to feed for awhile but grew out of it. I assumed that it was a growth spurt. We just kept pushing back the time to feed her from 3am to 4am, then 4am to 5am. We let her cry until that next hour so we could keep pushing it back. Now she gets up btwn 6 and 7am.
As for the naps, our daughter is the same way. She won't go to sleep unless she has her entire ritual, her room is dark and we've given her enough time to slow things down before putting her down for her nap. Her early morning naps seem to be the best, but by mid day it's so hard to get her calm enough to sleep. Overstimulation is our battle. We finally found that perfect window. For Ava, she has to be in her room and starting the ritual so she can be in bed by 2 hours after she woke up. If we miss that window then she will cry for an hour. We also found that she won't take 3 naps like her peers, only 2. That's fine with us because she can get her 3 hours with just those 2 naps. Good luck!

I /had/have the opposite problem with my baby, she does sleep at daycare but not at home during the day. I talked extensively with the daycare to find out what they were doing and I mimiced it, I am wondering if you could tell the daycare exactly what you are doing at home and that might help her sleep more at daycare. Things that helped my daughter were, a sound machine (maybe she can still hear the other kids playing when she is trying to sleep?), a darker room, having a few minutes of down time before she is put in bed, putting her down at the same time you do at home and allowing her to fuss a little (if you feel comfortable with this). I dont know if this is workable at daycare, but when my daycare and I got on a similar schedule and had a similar atmosphere it really seemed to help.
As far as the nighttime feedings go, again we had the same problem. I felt certain that nothing would work for my baby, but I stopped feeding her at night a six months. It was really hard for me, I would allow her to cry, pat her back, rock her, etc, After two weeks she slept through the night and was able to put herself back to sleep.
Good luck and do what works for you and your baby.