help! dd wont go to sleep!

tryinghard

Mon, Mar 15 2010, 2:52 pm

b'H dd (3 months) sleeps really nicely - anywhere from 6-9 hours and then usually another three after she eats first thing in the morning. my problem is that getting her to sleep to begin with is a huge ordeal - it never happens before 11, and usually closer to 12. I tend to start around 9:30, I feed her, change her, do my shema routine with her, and then when I put her in, within a few minutes she is screaming her brains out, and usually I find that she's hungry - though a few minutes before she refused to eat any more! so I feed her again and the same thing repeats itself for hours - last night I figured I would try earlier - I started to try getting her to sleep at about 8 - nd at 12 I finally said forget it and took her into my bed. I would just cosleep all the time except that I dont sleep well when I do cuz she's a restless sleeper and keeps waking me. what can I do?

6coop

Mon, Mar 15 2010, 4:27 pm

Maybe she's not tired yet. Try one night to only start trying to put her down at or after 11. I know that's annoying, but it's better than spending the whole night trying to put her down. Alternatively, you can cut her naps shorter during the day so that you know she'll be tired earlier.

MiamiMommy

Thu, Mar 18 2010, 10:03 am

When my ds was that age, he was also hard to put to bed. I found that he wanted to cluster feed at bedtime. I'd bathe him, pj's, etc. Then I'd settle myself on the couch to nurse and nurse and nurse! It was annoying but it worked, and now he's grown out of it B"H!

tryinghard

Thu, Mar 18 2010, 3:23 pm

MiamiMommy wrote:

Then I'd settle myself on the couch to nurse and nurse and nurse! It was annoying but it worked

I wish - I cant just "nurse and nurse and nurse" - I dont have enough milk for her so I need to supplement with a bottle - plus I am really sore right now and can't handle it after a while

Annie

Fri, Mar 19 2010, 12:18 am

is it possible she's overtired? That seems awfully late. My dd wakes up a bunch to eat, but B'H settles in for "night" sleep around 7. All my kids have done that. They might wake up every few hours to eat, but then they sleep -- it's nighttime, not playtime. Have you tried getting her to go to sleep earlier? What's the last time she eats after dinner? Wait about 45 min to an hour and then try and get her to sleep. Sometimes, I've found that if they're overtired it's much harder to get them to sleep.

That said, with my first dd, one of us used to have to lay down with her on a futon and almost fall asleep with her, but she was older at that point.

random

Fri, Mar 26 2010, 11:33 am

Annie wrote:

Agreed with Annie - everything I've read says that the later they go to sleep the less they sleep (counterintuitive, yes, but it seems that that's the way it is - apparently once they pass the "very tired" stage - between 6-8 for most babies , their bodies produce more of some hormone that keeps them awake). Now, granted, we don't usually even start putting DD (4 months) to bed before 9, but I know that in theory it should be earlier...

tryinghard

Thu, Apr 01 2010, 3:32 pm

just an update - I saw in another thread that people recommended Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I got it from the library, and from what I've seen so far, it's made a huge difference. granted, we're away from home and unable to have a real consistent schedule. but she is so much easier to deal with... b'H. thanks for the tips though - I was definitely starting too late. I think she was just generally overtired...