My daughter is almost 3 months old and is no where near sleeping thru the night. I give her a bottle around 8 or 9 (has quite a bit of cereal in it per my pedetrician's advice b/c of her reflux). She will lay down in her crib fine b/c she is usually knocked out asleep. She usually wakes up around 1 or 2 to eat again. After I feed her she will fall asleep on my but when I lay her down she wakes up and won't go back to sleep or pacify herself. If I put her in our portable swing in our bedroom she is fine. She likes to sleep in her carseat - I let her most of the time during the day. I have her mattress elevated a little bit but she wants to be more upright and with the comfort of something around her like in her car seat. Does anyone have any suggestions? I need her to sleep longer at night as well as go back to bed when she does get up! I literally got maybe an hour or 2 of sleep last night. I can't function! Please help. My son was an awesome sleeper - was sleeping thru the night at 2 months and entertained himself in his crib. My daughter wants to be with the action and sleeps as little as she can get away with!
Both my kids had reflux. We put my daughter on prevacid and it helped so much. We started at 2 months and took her off at 4 1/2 months. I can hear the uproar as I type this... but I let them both sleep on their tummy. After researching reflux and SIDS as well as speaking with my pediatrician it was the best decision for us. Good luck! Most babies grow out of it between 4-6 months.
Have you tried swaddling? One of my little ones would not sleep without being tightly swaddled AND placed in the swing in our bedroom, on high(my swing only has two settings, low and high). Just wanted to pass on what worked for us. :) Good luck.
Hi J.,
"I feel like a zombie" is exactly the reason you have to stop feeding her during the night and let her cry it out. I swear it will take 3 nights or less of this before she gets straight. Part of the reason they continue waking up is because they are used to the feedings and so a hunger signal is triggered at that time. You need to help her lose the hunger signal by ditching the middle-of-the night meals. My favorite analogy is when they tell you on an airplane to place the oxygen mask on yourself first, then on your child. You HAVE to take care of yourself first or everyone suffers. I remember so well what it felt like to be a zombie because I was up all night with my first son - it's just awful. I really hope you feel better! You will blink and they will be teenagers - seriously!
K.
J. - I can so relate. My daughter who is now 28 - had the same problem. I know that things are different know but my grandmother said to let her sleep sitting up - that she would be ok, and so we did. She turned out just fine. We had one of the old wind up swings that clicked and my husband rigged up something that kept it swinging all night. I think he used a fan??? Hope this helps
I would let her sleep in the car seat if that's what makes her most comfortable- it probably cradles her better. With one of my babies who prefered the car seat, I would strap her in and put the car seat in the crib to try to relate the idea that crib equals sleep time.
Hi I know somewhat how you feel. My son when he was 2 months old had trouble going back to sleep at night. I know alot of mom's are going to be upset with what I tell you but it worked for me. I had a vibrating bouncer chair that I would put him in and place right on the matress in the crib. I had it on vibrate and he would sleep for 3-4 hours. But I only had to do this after his 1 or 2am feeding. The rest of the day and early evening a could lay him in his crib with no problems. It was just the 1 or 2am time frame that he wanted to be in the vibrating bouncer. You could give it a try. Make sure you strap you little one in nice and secure before going back to bed. Good luck! Oh and by the way, nothing bad happened to him, he stayed in one position the rest of the night. When he started to turn over is when I stopped using it.
Hi J.,
Acid reflux is going to make her want to be upright most of the time and it is always worse at night. A probiotic will help with the reflux but you may want to get her off formula (I'm assuming that's whats in the bottle)and try Rice milk or even Organic Cow's milk. Most "diagnosed" allergies to milk don't have as much to do with the milk protein as much as they have to do with the chemicals/processing in the formula.
Check your formula. AVOID anything from China that has any milk in it. (I don't buy ANYTHING from China) The melamine is more common than the news is telling us. Melamine will not only toxify the system but will also shut down vital organs.
If you want to pursue the probiotic let me know and I can recommend one.
Hope I helped!
The ped knows about the reflux...have you tried any meds? I didn't want to at first, but what a world of difference it made in our lives. My daughter finally started sleeping flat and happy. We started on Zantac and then went to Prevacid around 6 months. The Zantac made a big difference, but the Prevacid was the best! Good luck!
Hi J.,
I have a 9 y.o. daughter. Our daughter would only sleep in her car seat/carrier.When I asked her ped. about it, he advised me to let her sleep there if that is where she is most comforted. I just made sure her neck was supported well. She had several things that may have caused her to be more comfortable in the seat, some we didn't know about until she was over 1 y.o. She had alot of ear infections & at 14 months had tubes put in. She had seasonal allergies. And then as she got older we realized/found out she has night terrors as well. She stopped sleeping in the seat after the tubes, although she did have to have one tube removed after about 8 months due to chronic infection. Now, at age 9, she no longer has ear infections & her seasonal allergies are minimal. She does still have the night terrors though. She has been on medication for it & as long as she takes it nightly, she doesn't have any problems.
As long as your daughter is safe & comfortable, let her sleep in the carrier or swing. She and you both desperately need the rest. Our daughter did & she's wonderful.
my dr slept in her bouncy seat (strapped in) for almost 3 months. If she likes having her head elevated, try putting a folded blanket under her crib mattress to raise her head a bit. check with your dr and see what he/she suggests.
Hi J., my twins didn't sleep through the night until almost 1 year old. When I was concerned I went on the internet and looked up some info about this. What I learned is that only around 50% of babies sleep through the night prior to their 1st birthday, most of the rest start sleeping through the night around 1 year. I nursed my girls and was up quite a bit the first 6 months.
I did have a friend who let her babies sleep in bouncy seats, they were just much happier there. I don't see what would be the problem with that. You may also want to check out the reflux, as it may be that she is having this and that's why it is uncomfortable for her to lie flat. As far as just sleeping through the night, you may just have to be patient until she is able to sleep for longer patterns at a time. Some do this early, some take longer. Although it is hard for mom's and dad's, there is really nothing wrong with the latter. Best of luck! F.
My daughter was like that She didn't even sleep the night she was born, she was at the nurses station and they were playing with her while I got some rest. She never needed sleep, didnt even nap more that an hr if I was lucky, usually closer to 30 mins. Some babies just don't need sleep. I tried EVERYTHING to get her to sleep and she still didnt sleep through the night till she was almost 3yrs old. My son was completely different and I didnt' do anythig different from his sister. they will sleep through the night when they will. As for the sitting up it's prob the reflux she may have it so bad that she may need a perscription. letting her sleep in the swing or car seat is not a bad thing, you get um to sleep anyway you can.
