Everyone dreams of having the perfect baby; a baby that rarely cries and begins consistently sleeping through the night at 2 months. I too had this dream, but my reality is quite different. Miles is now 5 months old and still not sleeping through the night. Not only is he not sleeping through the night, but he seems to be getting worse. When he was three months old he was sleeping til 5:00 or 6:00 and then would go back to bed until about 8:30. He did this consistently for about a month, then he started waking up at 3:00 a couple times a week. Then 3:00 became the norm.
That being the case we decided it was time to start sleep training and that we would let him "cry it out". Well, it has now been 9 days on the "cry it out" plan and again he is consistently getting worse not better. The first few nights he only cried for 45 minutes, then an hour, then an hour & a half, and tonight he woke up at 12:00, cried for 2 hours, fell asleep for 10 minutes before waking up and crying some more.
Even his naps have become irregular and frustrating. Again, about a month ago I could lay him down wide awake and he would put himself to sleep tear free. Now he has a freak out when I try to lie him down.
Needless to say this approach is not working and I am literally on the edge of psychotic break and tonight was the last straw. For the life of me I can't think of anything that I have done differently that would cause such drastic changes in his sleep patterns. I feel like a failure, not only because I can't get my child to sleep but also because every day my patience grows thinner.
Ultimately, the point of this gloomy post is to ask for any and all advice. I guess I am reaching out to other moms to reassure me that it gets better and to give me any alternatives that we might try.
Thanks for listening to a desperate mom, sitting in the dark, typing through her tears.
7 comments:
Sarah,
Miles sounds like he is really testing his fences. Jacob did the exact same thing at about six months, and I also felt like I was loosing my mind. I did my best to make bed time a routine. I gave him a relaxing bath, even read the exact same books just to try and get him in the mood to sleep. It was rough going. But with time it did get better. I also discovered that when he wasn't sleeping well it was usually because he was having a growth spurt, or teeth coming in. This has proved to be true with all three of myne. Hang in there, it will get better. He is probably just as confused as you are. I also had no patience. I still think my patience is so thin when it comes to my own children. I guess we love them so much that we expect so much more from them.
Stacey
Sorry to hear about your stress...I wish I could help. If you ever feel like letting him cry somewhere else feel free to drop him by. :)
Oh you poor thing! Is he teething? I know that teething can affect their sleep. It will get better. Babies go through so many weird phases, as you already know. I wish I could offer more advice! I will ask my mom sometime, I know that she had a few TERRIBLE sleepers!
It does sound like he's testing the limits. When they start to realize that being awake is more fun than sleeping, they try to stay awake at all costs. If he does continue for too much longer though, I would take him in to the pediatrician. Eden had a really hard time sleeping, and had weird stools for awhile. I tried to blow it off for way too long, and finally took her in. She had a nasty sinus infection that took 2 rounds of antibiotics to kill. It may be teeth, it may be growing, but it never hurts to get a Dr's opinion. You are doing a great job Sarah. I know it is so hard when you are at your wits end. Love you!!
It seemed like with Holly she would sleep all night for a while and then start waking up again and it was usually just because she was going through a growth spurt and was hungry. I would feed her and put her back down and she'd go back to sleep. If she was sick, her sleep patterns would be really weird as well. She still doesn't sleep through the night when she is sick. Anyway, good luck and I hope he gets better so you guys can get some sleep too. Sharon
I'm so sorry Sarah. I wish I could give you patience and a full nights sleep. I think you have enough patience, it's just the sleep deprivation combined with everything else that makes you lose it. If it helps at all, I'm praying for you and Miles. You can do this. Love you girl.
Jace had some struggles with sleep for a while, he still wasn't sleeping through the night at 1 year old.. Don't let that depress you though. I discovered that mostly what he really wanted was ME. Just some cuddle time, it is annoying and tiring. You could try I guess to go with it by cuddling him, and rocking for a few min then lay him back down, if he crys let him for a bit then go back in to reassure him that you are still there, love him and that you aren't far. They just really crave to be close sometimes. Though I read the advise about the sinus infec, it could be ears or teeth. Definetly if it gets worse or stay's for much longer take him in. Better to be a "over worried parent" than feel guilty for "not catching" something. You are completley normal Sar I love you and Miles to pieces!
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