Crying before sleep

I need some help with my youngest DS and sleeping! He cries now before every nap and at bedtime. I try making sure I start soothing him very quickly after he wakes up and eats, so he does not become overtired, but he still begins to scream and put up a fight as he starts to fall asleep. I think as he's becoming more alert and aware of his surroundings, he is fighting sleep. I'm using HSHHC by Weissbluth and tried using the method to let DS cry for up to 20 minutes at naptime, but he can not calm himself down. He then is so worked up it takes me even longer to get him to sleep, so I stopped trying to let him soothe himself. It can take me 30-45 minutes to get him to sleep for naps, and for bedtime it is usually an hour or longer. Once he is asleep at night he sleeps anywhere from 4-6 hours, eats, and then goes back to sleep another 2-4, so at least he's getting a good amount of sleep at night, but some days, he only naps for a total of 1 - 1/2 hours and if he does not nap longer than that, he is very fussy. Any advice is appreciated!

 

I don't have any great solution for you, but our boys were the same way when they were that age. It took forever to get them to sleep (but they also didn't sleep at night). They still aren't great nappers - they take two naps, usually around 40 minutes each, BUT, they do sleep at night now and go down on their own. We did CIO around 9 months, and that is what finally helped them sleep better at night and go down on their own without being rocked, etc. Hang in there - things will get better! You may have to help him learn to self-soothe when he is a bit older - I wish we had done CIO much sooner, but we just weren't ready before 9 months. Once I tried all the no-cry solutions with no success, I finally gave in and did CIO.

 

What are these? I have never heard of them.

 

There is the No-Cry Sleep Solution (a book), various Baby Whisperer books, and also the HSHHC that you mentioned - if you haven't read the twins version, you may want to check that out, too. Also, he is starting to get out of that age range, but there is also Happiest Baby on the Block. In a nutshell, it talks about the 5 s's - swaddle, sway, shush, etc. Those things might be worth trying if you're not already doing them. You can also try a white noise machine/CD and room darkening shades and see if that helps (if you don't do those things already).

 

Thanks! Sometimes it helps to hear that someone else experienced the same thing even if there is no solution at this time. I do at least 3 of the 5 s's (I haven't read that book, so I'm not sure what the other two are). The white noise machine and room darkening shades are good ideas. And then I think I'll have to hang in there and wait until he is old enough for CIO. We did that with the twins when they were waking up early but not hungry, and it worked really well (even though it is tough to go through).

 

Hey there..not sure how things are going for you but it seems to me that it may be a case of being overtired...According to your original post it seems that he is only getting 8-12 hours of sleep per day including naps. 3 month olds need AT LEAST 14 hours, but more like 16. I follow the 60- 90 minute rule and our day has fallen into this routine/schedule (my babes are 4 months- 2 adjusted):

7:30am - wake, bottle, tummy/play time
8:45am - 10:30 nap
10:30am - bottle, tummy/playtime
11:45-1:15 nap
1:15pm - bottle, tummy/playtime
2:45-4:00pm nap
4:00pm - bottle, playtime
5:15pm-6pm short nap
6pm-7:15pm playtime, bath
7:15 pm - bottle and bed

Not sure if this will help you, but it works for us :good: Good luck to you hun

 

I was all for sleep whereever it works best. So for us that was a whole lot of napping in swings at that age. Do you swaddle? That also helped my LO's settle down more quickly.

Good luck