Need sleep!

I haven't. They've never had an ear infection. I know when the doctor has looked I their ears she always says they have lots of wax in their ears. They haven't had too many colds, but they do get periodic random high fevers. About once a month. No other symptoms. My pediatrician ran a bunch of tests, everything has come back fine. If it continues she said we need to see a specialist.

 

I realize that CIO is difficult, but from most that I've heard from that have done it, it only takes a few nights, and gets shorter and shorter each night...another thing you could try is CIO for naps first and if it works, then work it into your night time routine...

mine used to have to fuss/cry for about 7-8 minutes each night (mostly my son) to settle down...if it was more than 10 minutes then something was really wrong and I went back in but less than 10 minutes was his "wind down"

 

just want to say.. hooray Elliot! i know you wish the first improvement happened with the night sleep. however, it is all connected. good job mom!.. i can only imagine how frustrated you are (and tired) but it sounds like you are going the right direction.

 

Just wanted to quickly add: I also did CIO with my older daughter (who's 12 now) and each time, within 7-10 minutes, she was asleep. I also had issues with her waking up at night around 14/15months and after 3 nights of CIO, she started sleeping through again. I guess until you give it a try, you won't know what's possible. It's not for everyone though and there lots of other methods which may take longer to implement but work just as well, as always it just needs to be consistent every time.

 

I feel your pain. I didn't have this issue with my twins who are now six, but the LO has been a terrible sleeper since day one. I feel like part of the reason she was so so bad was b/c with the big girls she did a lot of her napping on the go or on me as we were always running around for her sisters. We really got serious about getting her to sleep on her own, through the night at about 13 months and it took until about 15 months for her to get it. There were countless nights where we'd back track but we basically did the No Cry Sleep Solution. I weaned her slowly setting a time that I thought was reasonable for her to go with out a feeding at night and just kept pushing it back by an hour until she was able to go from 8pm to 5am. I just recently cut out the 5am feed and now she wakes between 6 and 7am. It definitely wasn't easy and there were a few tears shed (from both of us!) but we did it! The last thing I did after I had gotten her weaned but she was still waking was stick her in a sleep sack...not sure if she was cold or more comforted by it, but she is now sleeping through the night. Her issue, and I suspect it might be the same for your boys is that she was unable to get herself back to sleep after she woke up. She still wakes and cries out now and then, but she settles herself down. Do you try and get them back to sleep after they wake from the short nap? I used to have to help her back to sleep for a while after 45 minutes of sleep. Sometimes it was frustrating, and sometimes it didn't work, but now she sleeps consistently at nap time for at least an hour and a half. Not sure if any of this was at all helpful, but I truly hope you guys get more sleep, it's so hard!!!

 

Periodic random fevers without any other symptoms could be ear infections. If they have lots of wax the doctor may not be able to visualize the ear drum well enough to see if there is fluid (fluid without infection is painful too). A random fever without any other symptoms was always the signal for an ear infection with my first son.

I'm just following the potential causes. Some of the sleep stuff is very likely habit as it was with my son, but not feeling well or pressure in the ears due to fluid/infections is usually a common issue as well. I know the Dr. Sears sleep book talks about ruling out any health issues before working on sleep issues.

Yay for naps! I do hope things start to improve soon. And, yeah, I don't think any customized plan is going to be any better than one you can create using a book. I think keeping it simple is a good option and just sticking with it is really the best advice--consistency seems to be the key ingredient in all sleep books I've read, regardless of method chosen.

 

How are things going? Hope you've seen some improvement!

 

I'm not sure I've seen much improvement. Though, two nights ago they both slept 11 hours with just one wake up a piece and it was less than 20 minutes for each of them. I think I got close to 7 hours. I can't tell you how fantastic that felt.

Probably wont get a lot tonight. Elliot has spiked his monthly high fever (I just said to my husband yesterday that it was about time for that). I keep the babies with me because they are stubborn fevers and I don't want them to get out of control. Even if he sleeps I probably won't sleep much so I can keep an eye on him. I give the, ibuprofen and Tylenol and sometimes it still won't come down so I have to get in the shower with him. *big sigh* next few nights will probably be quite sleepless

 

Oh, and I just recently got over mastitis and had it in the other breast two weeks before that! I think it's because the boys have started eating a LOT more food in the past month and haven't been nursing so much.

 

It's been a while since I've updated, so I wanted to let you all who have offered up such kind thoughts and advice know how we're doing. The boys have seemed to have turned a corner. They have BOTH slept through the night (9+ hours each) 3 nights in a row now AND have been taking daily naps for over a week now. They had been doing progressively better for the past month, and occasionally one had slept through the night, but both of them 3 nights in a row... that feels like a heaven.

I really want to get Dylan napping better now. Elliot has been napping really well, usually around 2 hours. Dylans naps are rarely more than 45 minutes and he is very resistant to going back to sleep. Still trying to figure that one out. But overall, things are going so much better!

Thank you again to everyone who offered up suggestions and kinds words

 

:woman:

Wow what a great update! i have been wondering how you were. So glad things are better!

Even though he is getting TONS more sleep than he was, it sounds like Dylan still might not be completely caught up. If he is well rested he should have longer naps.
Maybe someone who has experience with this age (17.5 months) can give you some pointers about improving naps.

Great job mom! :drinks:

 

Yay, I'm so glad to read your update! I had been wondering how things were going.

With our first, we found that sleep just got progressively better as we approached age 2 as long we stayed consistent. I hope it will be the same with your little guys!