Sleep problems

My girls have STTN since they were about 5 months old. Then Karina started waking up every time she lost her paci. We put about 15 pacifiers in with her and she started STTN again. Then she got a series of ear infections and stopped sleeping through the night. She periodically STTN now, but it is rare. She is getting her two bottom teeth. They are through the gums, but only about 1/4 of the way in. Last night I think she was awake 4 times. One time she went back to sleep on her own after crying for about 5 minutes. The other times we had to go in and soothe her to sleep. She isn't as easy to soothe as she once was. We used to be able to give her the paci and she would instantly back to sleep. Now we have to pat her back for a long time to get her to sleep. I don't think she needs to eat. She hasn't taken a bottle during the night for many months. I wouldn't have a problem letting her CIO if I could tell that she wasn't in pain for some reason. I can't tell if her failure to STTN is from teeth pain, or ear pain (she really has had a lot of ear infections), or if she is just waking up and we are being trained to come running when she cries. Help. I don't know what to do. I just know that if DH and I don't start getting more sleep soon, we're going to lose what's left of our minds.

 

Beth,

It sounds like she's waking up from habit. Especially since she has had a series of ear infections that interrupted her STTN. My guess would be that during that time she got used to you or your DH coming in to soothe her - which you have to do with a sick child - and now when she wakes up, she is looking for you or your DH to help her go back to sleep. It is tough, though, when you know they are getting teeth, have a history of ear infections, etc. How is she with her naps? Is she generally happy during the day or fussier than usual? Whenever I start feeling like an illness or pain might be interrupting my boys sleep - I try to look at how they are napping and how their general dispostion is during the day. If they are all around "off" - then I assume that they aren't comfortable at night - if they are only "off" while in bed for the night - I assume that they are wanting me to come soothe them back to sleep.

It is so hard to let them CIO - I just did this with our 2 at 9.5 months old for night-wakings out of habit - and it worked like a charm after they had been waking up every hour just wanting me to come in and pick them up. They would fall asleep as soon as I would lift them out of their crib - and they'd sleep just fine with me holding them, the problem would arise when I would attempt to lay them back down.

It seriously only took 2-3 days of letting them cry during the night - and the most they cried during the middle of the night was, maybe, 20 minutes. And they were SO happy when the woke up!

 

*hugs* I so know what you are going through. Since the boys got sick a bit ago they are up normally twice a night, around 11pm and around 3am ...and for bottles! They have STTN since they were 3 months old, now at almost 8 they are up way too much. I hope you guys can find a solution.

Dianna

 

As long as you can rule out an ear infection it sounds like it might be out of habit. Are you giving some Tylenol or Motrin before bed or maybe during one of the night wakings to try and combat the teething issue? :hug: I am sorry that you arent getting much sleep.

 

We let her CIO last night. I decided that I wouldn't let her cry more than 20 minutes and took a timer to bed with me. I think it went pretty well. She woke about 6 times. The first two times she cried less than 5 minutes and went back to sleep. The 3rd-5th times were all within about a 90 minute period starting around 3 a.m. She'd cry for 4-5 minutes and then sleep for 20 minutes or so. The last time was about 4:45 a.m. She cried for 19.5 minutes. It wasn't really hard, solid crying. She cry and whine for a couple of minutes and then take a 30 second breather. I was just about to go in when she stopped crying. She slept for 45 more minutes and then I went to get her when she woke up again. I guess it was successful since I never went into her room from the time we put her to bed until we got up this morning. I'm still tired though because even though I didn't go into their room, I still woke up every time she woke up. I guess we'll try again tonight and hope she wakes up fewer times.

 

:hug: Beth. Stay consistent.

 

It is so hard, isn't it? We've just gone through this with our boys - and Sullivan still wakes up every once in awhile and cries for 10 or minutes - and we lay there and listen. Not fun at all!

Keep the consistency - she'll wake less and less. :hug:

 

QUOTE(Beth*J @ Nov 1 2008, 12:48 PM) [snapback]1051363[/snapback]
We let her CIO last night. I decided that I wouldn't let her cry more than 20 minutes and took a timer to bed with me. I think it went pretty well. She woke about 6 times. The first two times she cried less than 5 minutes and went back to sleep. The 3rd-5th times were all within about a 90 minute period starting around 3 a.m. She'd cry for 4-5 minutes and then sleep for 20 minutes or so. The last time was about 4:45 a.m. She cried for 19.5 minutes. It wasn't really hard, solid crying. She cry and whine for a couple of minutes and then take a 30 second breather. I was just about to go in when she stopped crying. She slept for 45 more minutes and then I went to get her when she woke up again. I guess it was successful since I never went into her room from the time we put her to bed until we got up this morning. I'm still tired though because even though I didn't go into their room, I still woke up every time she woke up. I guess we'll try again tonight and hope she wakes up fewer times.


Sounds like you made the right choice and soon it will pay off :hug: if she had been in pain she would not stop crying at 4-5 mins.

 

I suspect Karina has an ear infection, so I was really bummed because I thought we had made progress Friday night, but I don't feel right continuing CIO if she isn't feeling well. So last night I gave her Tylenol for her ear and she went to sleep. She woke at 11:00 (about 45 minutes before it was time to get more Tylenol). I gave her the paci and she went right back to sleep. I expected her to wake again when the Tylenol wore off, but she didn't. She didn't wake up again until 5:45 this morning! Unfortunately, I was up at 1:00 with her sister (who always STTN, so she definitely must not be feeling well), so I still didn't get a great night's sleep, but it was definitely better than it has been in the past. These babies are so hard to figure out.

 

Hope they are both feeling better real soon.

Dianna