Well, this just sucks. I know Jamie already brought up 4 month sleep regression, but I'm having a slightly different problem. After FINALLY getting bedtime under control, L has reverted back to her old ways, and quite frankly, it's making me lose my mind a little. Before we left for Hawaii, I'd take her on nightly walks and she'd usually fall asleep as soon as we got home with minimal, if any, fussing. Except for taking a couple days to adjust to the time change, she did pretty well in Hawaii too. Then we got back and the shit hit the fan. At first, I thought that it was probably her trying to get back on her regular time... but we've already been home for a week and a half, and if anything, bedtime is getting worse. I noticed that she seemed to be over her nighttime walks and wouldn't last more than 15 minutes before wanting to come home, so I've eliminated them for the time being. Now, I'm greeted with about an hour of crying before she finally gives up and falls asleep. Whether I hold her, rock her, bounce her, swing her, dance with her, or simply put her down, she is crying. She'll fall asleep for about 5 minute intervals, but without fail will wake up screaming. Then, she'll get to the point where she's sleeping but still crying. Just an hour ago, she was sleeping on my shoulder with tears running down her little face. She cries until she can no longer cry and eventually, passes out for good.
I don't know what I'm trying to get at here. I've come to understand that this is typically a difficult period for babies (and parents), so I'm not asking you for answers... unless, of course, you have them. I guess I just need to get my frustration out into the universe and let it go. Because right now, I hate that I don't know how to help her, and I'm overwhelmed, and on the verge of tears, and feeling ever so slightly broken.
Photo, Clarissa Londero
I'm so sorry darling. We're in the same place right now, bedtime was a dream and now it's hell and everyone cries, except N, who just frowns. We're up for hours, rocking and swinging etc etc and eventually they fall asleep about 3 hours later. I have no answers, just wanted to let you know that you're not alone.
ReplyDeleteOh non! This is not cool! Especially after that awesome comment that you left on my blog about baby sleep. I know that my friend in pretty much in the place right now and she generally calls me before she "wants to put her baby in a container and send it far far far away"! As you said, it is good to let your frustrations out.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I have no answers. But I do have sympathy! Babies, if only they could TELL us what's wrong... Yes that would be very handy indeed. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteWestley is almost 4 months and he has been doing the cry for an hour thing at night too. It's the most difficult when I have to put him to bed alone.
ReplyDeleteI figured I'd leave a comment just to let you know that you are not alone. Hang in there good Mama.
We're all pulling for you and hoping L gets the hang of this SOON. Mama needs sleep, too! xo.
ReplyDeleteWe face this at naptime with our almost-5-month-old. I spend more time getting her to sleep than the time she spends napping (never more than 45 minutes, sigh.) I'm reading the No-Cry Sleep Solution... I'll let you know...
ReplyDeleteWe also just decided to move bedtime earlier, as a lot of people have said that this solved their "go to sleep already!" frustrations. We shall see...
We went through a terrible sleep regression at three months and are about to leave on a European vacation the day our baby turns 4
ReplyDeletemonths. What were we thinking?!
I don't have any advice. Just commiseration. I'm sure if you stay the course this too shall pass.
Reflux?
ReplyDeletehey lauren g.! she shows no other signs, so it's definitely not reflux. other than at bedtime, she's a very happy baby and has been gaining weight like a champ. she also sleeps 5-6 hour stretches once she's actually asleep, and getting her back to sleep when she wakes in the middle of the night is never a problem. if she had a problem with any of these areas, i think it would be safe to assume that she might have reflux. pretty sure it's just a bedtime issue.
ReplyDeleteDang. It's good that it's not, but it also would have been an easy answer ;)
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to send a note and let you know that our little one does this too...and he's only 7 weeks! He now sleeps roughly five hours a night (glorious) though only while swaddled and it takes at LEAST an hour to get him down. Feed, bathe, cry...dance, swing, bounce, blah, blah, blah. Oh and naps? Forget it. He's usually down for about 45 minutes. Sigh. Good thing he's so dang cute!!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any advice but wanted to let you know that we are in the same boat. Napping during the day is out of the question, I cannot put her down without an hours worth of crying, she cannot self-soothe herself, and she is up every 2 hours all night long. She is exactly 20 weeks today and this has been going on for 3 weeks now. A total disaster. We even went to the doctor yesterday to find out if there was something actually wrong with her. Luckily, there is nothing wrong...but with that, there is also no easy answer to the problem. I just hope that things get better soon...since I am quickly running out of ways to calm her down and get her to sleep. Good luck and I hope that things improve for you soon! (and if you figure out how solve this problem, please post on how you did it!)
ReplyDelete