sleep specialists?

i called my doctors office for the 3rd time this month. my ds is having sleep issues. i am going in today at 1pm and they said they may suggest a sleep specialist. for ex. last night i put him to bed at 8:45 asleep from me holding him since it is the only way he will go to sleep without screaming. then he was awake att 10:30 and wouldn't go back to sleep until 4:30am which he was with me in my bed) and was awake at 7am. i have tried CIO which only wakes up his sister and then she cant gpo back to sleep and is very mad that he is making all this noise (they r in separate rooms) i have tried ferber method which that dont work either. then i have just done what i always did which was soothe him and stay in his room till he goes to sleep but now that isnt working either. then i result to picking him up and rocking him to sleep and he goes off when i put him in the crib and walk out of room then starts the scream festival so i go back and pick him up and he goes back to sleep after about a half hour or so then i try to put him back in crib and he is wide awake. so by 2am i give up and take him to my bed and after 20 minutes he is sleeping and wakes up at 7 or 7:30. well also sometimes he just refuses to sleep even in my bed and wants to play.
afternoon naps are 1 hour at about 11am then he is up till 8 Pm. he wont go for 2 naps a day unless i take him for a car ride.
UGGGHHHHH i am exhausted and emotional. i am cranky all day and i cry at the drop of a hat. i say things to DH that i don't mean and i have gotten so angry at night that i try everything and he won't go to sleep i have stuck him in the highchair infront of the tv so i can get away from him and i go in the bathroom and cry. i have yelled at him to go to bed already and after about 6 hours and total exhaustion considered banging my head against the wall to get frustration out but punched the wall instead. i feel as if i am losing my mind and i dont know what to do anymore. what am i doing wrong? my DD is the best sleeper she puts herself out within 15 minutes and all you hear from her before that is her talking. DS just likes to scream and scream and scream.

 

I wish I could help you. We have had a rough road when it comes to sleep, too. Some days, I wonder what I'm doing wrong... some days, I wonder what's wrong with my kids. 2 months ago, we went on a mini-vacation and Jackson cried for 4-6 hours straight, inconsolably, at night EVERY night for 4 nights in a row. He wouldn't nap while on vaca either. Jacob slept in our bed for almost a year and I spent many nights with Jacob nursing ALL night long because he would wake and scream for hours if I took my boob away, and I was too tired to deal with the situation-- I just tried to sleep while he nursed. Now, they sleep (what I would call...) very well at night but naps are he**. It seems like every time we get a good sleep routine going on, something gets in the way of it-- teething, traveling, colds, developmental milestones... who knows what! CIO has kind of worked for us... but it hasn't been as easy as some make it seem, and it hasn't been perfectly effective either... we have to do it often, and they regularly cry for a total of over an hour or more per day, in the course of 2 naps and one bedtime (and associated night wakings). Sometimes they now go down without crying, but that is rare. Honestly, I could write a book about our sleep problems. I know this doesn't help you at all... but I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone, and your anger and frustration and exhaustion is VERY well understood by another very sleepy mommy. :hug99:

Just a thought... does he take any meds? Jacob was on Prevacid when he was small and it gave him horrible insomnia. Maybe you could discuss that with your doc.

Good luck at the doctor!!

 

We have taken our boys to a sleep specalist at children's Hospital. If you have a Children's hospital by you, I would check that out. However, I can save you a bit of time - they completely recommend "How to Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" by Dr. Ferber. I know you said you tried it, but you have to stick with it to see results. Your daughter won't like it either, but it's better than living this way forever. They say it takes one week per age to change sleep habits.

Since your son normally falls asleep in your arms, EVERY single time he expects you to rock him and hold him to fall back to sleep. We all have brief awakings while we sleep, but we just turn over and put ourselves back to sleep. But that is because we have learned to put ourselves to sleep. Since your son needs you to fall asleep, every single time he wakes up you will be in his room holding him. PLEASE try this. You need to set a bedtime, do your routine, then put him down and LEAVE. You can go back in every 5-10 min to assure him that you are still there. But he NEEDS to fall asleep on his own without you in the room. We did this at 11 months for our boys. It was hard. They were VERY stubborn, and cried upwards of 2 hours the first few nights. But they figured it out and now go to sleep on their own.

YOU cannot function without sleep. It's not fair to you, your son, daughter or husband. It's miserable, believe me I know! I would make an appt with the sleep clinic, but try this method first. We had to wait about 2 months to get into the clinic, and they told me over the phone that this is the book they use. So I got it and read it before the appt.

Feel free to PM me for any questions. Please read this book and give this a shot. If you have to, see if your daughter can spend the first few nights at someone elses house. Maybe your parents? IF it's to hard for you to do CIO, feel free to leave after bedtime and leave your DH in charge. I did this many a nights, I would hit the grocery store after about 20 min of crying, as I needed out! My DH was much better with dealing with it.

thinking of you . . . .

 

i went to the doctors and what he said is he feels it is not a behavioral problem. since my DS was usually a good sleeper. he used to wake up and put himself back to sleep so i know he knows how to put himself back to sleep. the problem the doctor thinks could be reflux or heartburn. he prescribed me prevacid to try it out for 5 days and i need to call him on wed. to see if it worked or not. since DS cries whenever i put him down he thinks when he lays down thats when it bothers him. DS started STTN way before DD did and he used to be a real good sleeper. even when he used to wake up i would hear him putting him back to sleep and he never screamed when i put him ib bed. i have always had to put him to sleep first before he went into the crib but he always fell asleep in 10 minutes but after that when he woke up at night he would put himself back to bed or i would go in there rub his back for a minute and be able to walk back out besides for this past month. doc thinks it could also be since i have started to introduce milk to him maybe that is the reason since he was always on soy formula. so we check out prevacid for 5 days then see where we go from there..just seemed like everything i have done in the past wouldnt work and even holding him wouldnt work some nights either.

thanks for the support both of you. the ferber method is what i used from the beginning when they started sttn so i know it does work and they took to it pretty fast without a cry festival going on. i also used a light show that plays music for 20 minutes and by the time it was over they were out like a light.
twinboys maybe you can get one of these for your boys to use while home that will calm them while on vac. too. i got mine for 20 bucks at target. it is a big star and plays lullaby's and nature sounds for 20 minutes. i love it and have gotten 2 of them.

oh i hope prevacid works for him at least i will know whats up with him for the past month

 

I hope it works! Mommy needs sleep too! Keep us posted.

 

One of my boys still has some sleep issues. They started about 16 months when he started to get most of his teeth. Then it turned into not sleeping due to being hungry at night. He was unable to tell me he was hungry, to this day we have to give him a cup of yogurt with baby cereal mixed in before bed or he is sure to be up during the night. He won't necessarily eat, but is up screaming. It is very hard to deal with, especial after they have STTN with no problem

I hope the Prevacid works, or you figure out his problem. i would have DH take a night shift so you can get some sleeep. You are no good if you can't get any sleep.

 

I am so sorry you are so sleep deprived...it is such a mindbender when they stop STTN after doing it for so long. Just a thought, but I saw that you mentioned that your DD sleeps in a separate room. Is this how they have always slept or has this been a recent change? If it's recent, perhaps your DS is used to hearing his sister sleep and that was a comfort factor to him. I don't know...just throwing that out there.

I really hope your situation gets resolved quickly...if mama ain't happy, no one's happy!

 

QUOTE(benderboys @ Jul 19 2008, 06:29 PM) [snapback]885201[/snapback]
I am so sorry you are so sleep deprived...it is such a mindbender when they stop STTN after doing it for so long. Just a thought, but I saw that you mentioned that your DD sleeps in a separate room. Is this how they have always slept or has this been a recent change? If it's recent, perhaps your DS is used to hearing his sister sleep and that was a comfort factor to him. I don't know...just throwing that out there.

I really hope your situation gets resolved quickly...if mama ain't happy, no one's happy!


when they were born we all slept in the same bed they in their snuggle nests and me right beside them. it was the only way i could get some sleep. i did have them in the same crib for the first month then i took them to bed with me with the bed up against the wall. then when they started to roll over it was no longer safe for them to be in the bed with me so i put DS in his crib thats when he started STTN. DD was in bed with me for a month or 2 after then she started to roll and in her crib in separate room she went. they took to the cribs very easily and in separate rooms without a problem. it was a good thought though. i wish it was that simple. thanks

 

First of all, I am so very sorry! Your situation sounds horrible. I am never going to complain about my DD not napping anymore.
Second, You have gotten some excellent advice already! I completely agree to put him down and leave the house at least once. Go on errands or sleep at a neighbors house. You really need your sleep, and so does he. I really do hope the prevacid works!!! Please do keep us updated~

 

I was actually thinking reflux before you mentioned it. My daughter was diagnosed with reflux at around 15 months and has been on and off medicine since then. A few months ago she was given a endoscopy and they said gastritis, so she went back to prevacid. I'm switching doctors again to get some answers. The only signs I see of reflux are sleep problems. I hear her burping when she tries to go to sleep. Now on the medicine she is doing better. but beforehand she'd wake up nurse or drink water and just keep burping and not be able to get comfortable, bouncing all over the bed.

I hope the prevacid helps, I have never heard of insomnia as a side effect, so that must be a very rare one. Let us know. My twins never STTN, they do nurse often still or ask for water sometimes, but they usually go back to sleep pretty quickly. I hope things improve soon for you also.