Does anyone else have a little one...

Just curious if there are others out there. I don't think there's much else I can do to fix it. My son goes through phases where he wakes up crying several times a night. He might give me a week or two of not getting up. Then he's back to it. When he starts at it again I usually check on him the first few nights, go in and pick him up and calm him down. After that he cries it out. I would say in a given month he wakes up several times a night more than half of the month. Then he usually wakes extra early in the morning after a bad night. He's also the one who takes shorter naps. Always has. He's often gone through nap boycott phases too. This has been going on since he was about 8 mos old - when the separation anxiety started.

If it were just my daughter, I would think this sleep thing is easy. She rarely wakes during the night, and can take a solid 3 hour nap if her brother doesn't wake her.

Just wonder what the norm is, my daughter or my son? And what do you do about it, just wait it out? I wonder how many more years I have to go...

And when I complain to other moms, I wonder how many understand - do they know what a "bad" sleeper really is if they never had one? Am I doing something wrong? If so, how come my daughter is so easy? Just frustrated (and tired!).

 

your daughter sounds like my sisters kids and your son sounds like mine. they are all normal though, lol. Some babys will fight naps and sleep and if they don't get a steady amount of sleep, it makes it that much worse.

we had to finally put a foot down with waking up so often during the night, and refusing to be put back down. We no longer nurse in bed, cuddle in bed (except for story/song time prior to bedtime), or co-sleep. They would get up every 30 minutes to 2 hours and refuse to be put back down. They can be asleep and instantly wake up when they hit the bed. our FB did this and I HATED it. Especially when my sis would talk about her kids sleeping through the night did I hate it. I told DH that I wanted to work on this early with them, teaching them to self-sooth and go to sleep on their own, but he couldn't handle it and was always afraid they'd wake each other up. So every night we'd nurse and cuddle them to bed and 45 minutes later they'd be up crying. He'd go and hold/rock them until they were alseep and try to put them down. 9 times out of 10, they'd just wake up screaming again. After making sure they weren't hungry, filled diapers, teething, too cold, all we were left with doing was co-sleeping.. which meant eventually I slept on the couch downstairs.

For a few nights we tried CIO. We'd do a short routine, put them to bed and walk away. They'd scream for 3 hours or so. one of them would fall asleep propped up facing the door and the slightest noise or anything, she'd be up screaming again. We share a room with them. Me and DH in a room with one and the other with big sis. So eventually there was going to be someone in the room and they needed to know that we weren't going to get them out. For one of my girls, 3 nights in a row she was also pooping herself which showed duress. And I couldnt' handle that.

We started using a longer bedtime routine, one last nurse/bottle, brushing their teeth, reading peter rabbit, reading a second different book, and ending with the same song - over in the meadow), placing them in their beds and after talking to them and telling them what was going to happen, etc, we would lay down in our bed (and my First Borns bed which we moved next to the other crib) and offer a hand to hold through the bars. They complained for a few minutes and thats it. That's about the same amount of time they complained after a few days of CIO, but no poopy diapers and nobody half-way sleeping. They still wake around 1, looking or a sippy cup. We help them find it, but then we show them we are in bed and offer a hand and they go back to sleep. We still have early morning nursing but now I'm not offering it 3x a night (usually because my DH is desperate and thinks that's what RR wants). The past few mornings I've woken up to a sweet baby who is happy and ready to begin her day - and I'm getting more straight hours of sleep. Much more importantly, so is DH. I think he's secretly kicking himself for not listening to me earlier.

 

Sounds just like my two. DS is the best sleeper. DD on the other hand, wakes almost every night. I have come up with a 20 minute rule. If she cries for 20 minutes I will go in and get her but that rarely happens. I think it is when her sleep cycle changes because it is always at the same time of night. Naps too. DS takes a 2 1/2-3 hour nap. DD had been averaging an hour and 15 minutes. Due to this bad sleeping I am forced to put them in seperate bedrooms. I am going to get DS into a toddler bed soon and then put him in the full bed that is now our guest room. I really wanted to keep them in the same room but I now feel it is not fair to him. I have asked my Ped if her waking is normal and he said yes. She is just not a good self soother. Frustrating though because I too have to wake every time she dose.

 

Logan is a horrible sleeper too. He used to fight it like crazy and until just recently he woke up once every night. You could set your clock by when he was going to cry. We had to let him CIO and once we did that the crying was just a minute or two. That went on for months and months. At the 18 month appt the doctor told us to jiggle his bed or pat on him just enough to wake him a little, where he shifts positions or sighs but doesn't actually wake up. I know this sounds crazy, but it seems to work when I'm brave enough to do it. Now he's only doing it once every week or two. He still naps horribly at home, but does better at daycare.

Mason on the other hand sleeps wonderfully and while he doesn't want to take a nap, once he does he's down for awhile.

 

I have one that I rarely hear from and one who will go through phases of crying out. I do the wait 20 mins before I go in. I find looking at the clock is the best way to make sure it is 20 mins. I think often it is just "night terrors" which sounds worse than it is. I think in their sleep cycles they go from light to deep sleep and sometimes it just gets a bit too "light" and they wake up ... sort of. I find most times they are actually just crying in their sleep. Going to get them wakes them up further and they cry more. If I leave them they go back to sleep. My one used to drink a bottle sitting up and then go right back to sleep. If it keeps up after 20 I do the sniff test outside their room to see if I smell poop. I then will often wait a bit longer, if it continues I go in.

 

I have two of 'em. :gah:

And I've darn near lost my mind...they finally started STTN at 13 months, and within the last week they've both awakened about once or twice a night. If they are disrupted even one night the waking cycle starts all ove and again, and we have to do CIO.

We go in and they quiet down, and then as soon as we leave they go crazy. It's been better to just not go in at all, but I always worry soemthing is really wrong.

 

I have one twin that has STTN since 6 months and the other one who is FINALLY doing it at 15 months!! I think both of yours are normal...its just soooo hard when one will and one wont!! Hugs!

 

I have one too. I'm actually exhausted today because she was up between 2 and 4 multiple times. My other DD is a great sleeper, but her poor sister is just not and I'm not sure what else to do to help her. Its exhausting.

 

My girls are the same; one has always been a better sleeper and seems to need more sleep. I have stopped trying to figure the bad sleeper out; someetimes I know her teeth are bothering her so I giver her Tylenol but sometimes I think she just wakes up and can't fall back to sleep. I have tried putting a few soft toys/books in her crib and that has helped. We also put one of those crib tents up- she was getting in the habit of throwing her paci and blanky out of her crib multiple times a night and then screaming. That has helped too. But last night she was up twice...it seems like slow torture sometimes.

 

I have one of each as well; I think they're *both* normal! Nate has STTN since 3.5 months, and has woken in the night probably a handful of times. Jack started STTN at 4 months, but from 10-12 months woke EVERY NIGHT, MULTIPLE TIMES. I was so exhausted from him night waking I almost quit my job. We tried just about everything, and nothing worked. Finally about a month ago I decided to give him a nightly pep talk; "night time is for sleeping, close your eyes, sleep all night, Mama is here, Dada is here, Nate is here, you're never alone", etc. I do this every night and for the last month (apart from a few times where he'll cry once and fall back asleep), he's STTN every night but one. And that night we were in a strange place on vacation, with no nightlight. Maybe it was just a timing thing, but it seems to be working!

My SIL had a son who didn't STTN until he was almost 2. The ped told her to do the same thing: tell him what you want him to do.

It might be worth a try. :unknw:

 

This is interesting and sounds exactly right in our case. He is such a light sleeper, if I just tip toe in to peak on him he jumps up. It's like he never gets in - or stays in - that deep sleep cycle for very long.

 

My DS used to be a really bad sleeper & we wound up having to do a lot of CIO with him. It got to the point where, if he cried during the night, I couldn't even go in & comfort him because if he saw me, forget it, he was up. He's never napped as much as his sister either & he's definitely our early waker in the mornings. I have found though that as he's getting older, his sleep is getting a little better. I make a point to really try & wear him out during the day too. I find if I do that, he sleeps a little better.

 

I have one of each too. My DS is finally to the point where he wakes up a lot less than he doesn't. I find with him the key is routine. If he doesn't take a good nap, then nighttime is a mess. If he does, it's fine. So, we are all about routine, routine, routine. Given that you know this is a pattern with him, you may try holding off on going in more than you are already doing, but I think some kids are just tougher sleepers.