is it sleeping time again? raah!

alwaysquestions

Mon, Feb 08 2010, 2:36 pm

I know it sounds like another kid doesnt wana sleep post. I just dont know what to do. my 12 mth dd goes to sleep aroud 8:30-9 and wakes up around 7-8.she doesnt sleep enough so shes cranky the whole morn. then I put her to nap 2 hrs later and she sleeps fo maybe an hr. I dont know how to get her to sleep longer! then shes cranky again cause lack of sleep. and she hates going into the crib. she officially cries for little till she falls asleep.any advice please?? Mad

Mommeeeeeeee!

Thu, Feb 11 2010, 3:27 pm

Sounds a lot like my son. From my experience, 2 things come to mind:
1) Does baby know how to put herself to sleep independently in the crib? You wrote that she cries before going to sleep; does this mean you go to her and help her get to sleep or let her cry it out until she conks out? If she needs you to help her fall asleep, try to work towards independence in this aspect - often that will prolong the sleeping periods. If she is already falling asleep on her own but waking up too soon, one thing that worked for us was to go to the baby immediately when they first start to show signs of being about to awaken - at the first whimper, or if they sit up, or just get fidgety in the bed and start to open and shut their eyes...anything that you have learned is a sign that baby is about to wake up, go to her immediately and try to soothe her back to sleep before she's fully awake. The common advice to "wait and see if they are just sleeping restlessly but not really going to wake up," or "give them a chance to fall back asleep alone" never worked for us. If I get the baby back to sleep before he is fully awake, this will break the cycle of waking up so soon and hopefully eliminate the too-early waking eventually.
2)You cannot really change when they wake up, so you have to change when they go to sleep, so that they get enough sleep, are not cranky, and will sleep well next time. Good sleep begets more good sleep. Some kids, like my son, need a lot of structure regarding sleeping - put together a doable bedtime routine, not too long to make it difficult to do each night, and not too stimulating, and then keep your kid on a consistent schedule where you do the same things at the same time with little variation and put the child to bed at the SAME time EVERY night. Once you have this in place for a while, and baby is falling asleep quickly at the usual time, you can begin to move back bedtime in 15 minute increments, giving a week or so between changes, until it's at a reasonable time so the baby is well-rested when she awakens at her normal time.

Mommeeeeeeee!

Thu, Feb 11 2010, 3:34 pm

I just thought of something else - does your baby use a paci/bottle or other item to fall asleep? If she uses it during the day also, it might help to limit the use to only sleeping times. This way her comfort object will serve as a cue to go to sleep and help her sleep more deeply and longer at night and for naps. This worked great for my son - as soon as he gets his lovey, he calms down and starts to relax for sleep, since he hasn't had it all day. It could be a problem if they fall asleep with a paci and then they wriggle around so it slips away from them and then they can't find it and wake up, whereas if the paci was attached somehow and baby knows where to find it, she could just put it back in her mouth and go back to sleep if she's only semi-awake and still drowsy or tired.