night owl | Imamother

imanut

Mon, Apr 03 2006, 9:39 pm

every night since purim my 7 month old son has been waking up for 2 hrs every single night (in addition to waking up several times to nurse and then going right back to sleep). nothing we do puts him back to sleep before 2 hrs.
I've tried everything I could think of (nursing, sleeping with him, sound machine to mention a few) and we're going crazy from lack of sleep. not only that, but he is also so tired and cranky during the day.
please, we need HELP!!!!
Anybody have advice?

supermommy

Mon, Apr 03 2006, 10:16 pm

does he nap during the day?

realeez

Mon, Apr 03 2006, 11:12 pm

my 7 month old has been doing that too Sad

Emuna

Tue, Apr 04 2006, 12:27 am

Your diet towards the end of the day could be a factor because the middle of the night feeding could stimulate him from something in the milk. Perhaps cut out nightime sugar, chocolate, etc. - anything stimulating. Even a multivitamin. Perhaps drink a nice cup of chamomile tea before bed and a calcium/magnesium supplement. THEN, have you heard of Dr. Harvey Karp and "The Happiest Baby on the Block"? Here's what he says (I'm copying the following from a website but I've used the techniques and they worked a little bit for us - of course it's never as perfect as they say it will be! For us the best S's were swaddling and swinging, but I think 7 months is too old for swaddling.):

The 5 S's
There are 5 components to this method which, when used together, work amazingly well to calm your crying baby and in many cases help your baby go to sleep with no fuss.
Using cross-cultural techniques combined with his own research, Dr. Karp has developed the "five S's system". Some babies will need all five, others just a few to help induce what he calls the "calming reflex."

Swaddling - Tight swaddling provides the continuous touching and support the fetus experienced while still in Mom's womb.

Side/stomach position - You place your baby, while holding her, either on her left side to assist in digestion, or on her stomach to provide reassuring support. Once your baby is happily asleep, you can safely put her in her crib, on her back.

Shushing Sounds - These sounds imitate the continual whooshing sound made by the blood flowing through arteries near the womb. This white noise can be in the form of a vacuum cleaner, a hair dryer, a fan and so on. The good news is that you can easily save the motors on your household appliances and get a white noise CD which can be played over and over again with no worries.

Swinging - Newborns are used to the swinging motions that were present when they were still in Mom's womb. Every step mom took, every movement caused a swinging motion for your baby. After your baby is born, this calming motion, which was so comforting and familiar, is abrubtly taken away. Your baby misses the motion and has a difficult time getting used to it not being there. "It's disorienting and unnatural," says Karp. Rocking, car rides, and other swinging movements all can help.

Sucking - "Sucking has its effects deep within the nervous system," notes Karp, "and triggers the calming reflex and releases natural chemicals within the brain." This "S" can be accomplished with bottle, breast, pacifier or even a finger.

imanut

Tue, Apr 04 2006, 8:50 am

thank you for your replies.
yes, he naps during the day but not within 3 hrs of bedtime. we have given him (diluted) chamomile directly with no noticeable affect. I've looked at my diet and can't really find anything there that would cause this. I've heard of the 5 s' and as I said we use the sound machine, nursing/pacifier. we've tried wrapping him up so he can't sit up but he still wakes and won't fall back to sleep. Crying

gryp

Tue, Apr 04 2006, 9:29 am

you mean there are 2 other 7 month olds besides mine who wake up all night?
I thought I was the only one.
and just when I thought things cant get any worse, my baby decided last night that he would rather nurse all night than have his pacifier.
and besides that he screams all day and all night too if I dont hold him.
he takes 3 35 minute naps during the day, so thats when I have a "break."

imanut and mommyabc123- things can be worse Wink

imanut

Tue, Apr 04 2006, 9:44 am

I also thought I was the only one. I couldn't imagine there could be another situation as absurd.
gr, I feel for you.

gryp

Tue, Apr 04 2006, 9:54 am

thanx, imanut.
with me the problem is not as much getting him to sleep, as it is getting him to stay asleep longer than 1-35 minutes.
let me know when yours starts sleeping thru the night.
I'm seriously considering weaning because of all this.

gryp

Thu, Apr 06 2006, 8:25 pm

So how are the sleep-strike babies doing?
any luck anybody?

imanut

Thu, Apr 06 2006, 9:41 pm

last night was awful. baby screamed from 8-10 and we couldn't stop him Crying

finally we got him to sleep and he woke up 45 minutes later Exclamation

right now he is still asleep. I'm holding my breath.
maybe we should sleep in the living room tonight?

gryp

Fri, Apr 07 2006, 9:23 am

imanut, is it possible that he's hungry?

shoy18

Fri, Apr 07 2006, 9:39 am

I am certainly no expert but is he teething?? maybe put something on his gums to numb them, I dont have much experience but I do know that when my son was teething he would scream all night until we gave him some orajel and some tylenol

imanut

Sun, Apr 09 2006, 9:58 pm

we tried both tylenol and orajel-no affect.
it seems part of the problem may be hunger.
friday night was terrible so last night we moved him into his sister's room. he slept a little better so he's there again tonight.
he's really sensitive to sound and would wake up when we came in the room so at least that issue is solved.
part of the waking up is probably habit, and part seems to be separation anxiety.

gryp

Mon, Apr 10 2006, 9:56 pm

imanut, I started supplementing with formula on a hunch that he was hungry, and he is such a calm baby now.
together with teething, and now he has his first cold Sad

, we're not getting much sleep.
it didnt work for me to try and change his habits.

so he's not napping normally, since he's uncomfortable with his stuffed nose Sad

and he sleeps with me all night, waking up hungry twice, and waking up for no reason at all about every hour. Confused

I try and out him in the crib but he just wakes up two minutes later because he doesnt feel me next to him. Confused

im planning to buy a small crib which is level with my bed. if he agrees to sleep there, then eventually I'll work on moving it inch by inch out of my room into his. this is the only solution I can think of.

good luck to you.
can you try white noise? I do that from the start since I live in a building.

imanut

Sun, Apr 16 2006, 8:44 pm

[quote]imanut, I started supplementing with formula on a hunch that he was hungry, and he is such a calm baby now
so he's not napping normally, since he's uncomfortable with his stuffed nose

gr, I don't understand. is he calm or uncomfortable? he was calm for a while and now has a cold?
my dr also recommended supplementing with formula, but he eats solids so I don't really see the benefit.
we've tried white noise. it never made a noticeable difference.
this past week my baby has been sleeping with me, but I don't get much sleep that way. Crying

[/quote]

gryp

Sun, Apr 16 2006, 9:09 pm

Imanut- my baby was nursing, eating a normal lunch and dinner- real food! but he was still so clingy and always kvetchy.
on a hunch I gave him formula a few weeks ago, and from that day on he is sooooo calm. he actually smiles and lets me put him down for a few seconds at a time.
he is a different baby. so I say, if you think he's hungry, try the formula!
even now on pesach, he eats fish, chicken, latkes, potatoes, applesauce for one meal, and he still wants a bottle little while later.
it is not that he is attached to the bottle, I only taught him to drink from it like two weeks ago!
he is finally bh getting over his cold, so I can put him down to sleep without me lying down with him. (bli ayin hara, im scared to type these words)

I sleep better with him sleeping with me, than if I put him in the ctib and have to wake up every half an hour while he wakes up realizing that he;s not next to me. and once I put him back to sleep, he just wakes up again five minutes later.
but I wish he would just sleep through the night in his own crib!
I would sleep much better without him in my bed.

Tefila

Sun, Apr 16 2006, 11:30 pm

Oy girls I do feel for you. But realize a) it's normal and good if you are supplementing. b)This too shall pass Wink

gryp

Mon, Apr 24 2006, 12:06 pm

imanut- how are things going?

no progress here, my baby's been sick.

imanut

Tue, Apr 25 2006, 12:15 pm

I'm sorry you're baby is sick- that's really difficult.
nothing has changed here, things are as bad as ever. for a few days I tried formula but I didn't see any change. it was just replacing regular food so I stopped.
this morning he was up from 4:15 to 5:45 Exploding anger

yesterday he was up from 11:30 to 2:30 Exploding anger

imanut

Tue, Apr 25 2006, 12:17 pm

[quote="Tefila" b)This too shall pass Wink

[/quote]
WHEN??????