Our boys are 9 months old and although they go to bed around 7-7:30pm, they still wake up around 12am or 1am. In the past we have been able to get them to sleep and then we had a few rounds of colds and were doing some soothing at night. Trying to get them to go back to sleep in thier own beds has proved difficult...on top of that I am doing this all myself...so I don't really know what I meant by 'we'...he,he... They are getting heavier and it is getting more and more difficult for me to rock them both back to sleep and place them back in thier cribs without dropping them on thier heads! or at least set them down so they don't wake up again. Trying to get my husband to help out does more harm than good, and after I get one or both of them back to sleep at 1am, it starts out again at 3am... I am starting to feel alone and slightly crazy...I need some help and direction. I need someone to tell me how to get through this and perhaps some suggestions on what to do differently or what? Thanks! =@ =@ =@
First I want to send over some :hug99: :hug99: IMHO, I think rocking your kids to sleep is aksing for trouble. Eveytime they start to wake/stir they will want to be rocked and then wake fully and cry until you come in and rock them. I have a friend that did that with her girl and she still needed to be rocked to sleep when she was 3 years old!! I never rock my kids until they are asleep. I will hold them a minute to console them then put them in the crib, crying if needed, then walk out. It takes a lot of patience but if you do that eventually when they wake in the middle of the night they will just go back to sleep on their own without needing you. IT is hard to do but is a gift to them in the long run to teach them good sleep habits. Good luck!
We are more or less going throught the same thing. I actually just posted about doing CIO. Ours wake 6 - 7 times a night per child, and I can't do it anymore, so we are going to try CIO, I don't know what elso to do. Sorry I can't offer you any help.
:hug99: I wish I could help but it appears as though Kevin is NEVER going to sleep a night through either and he is almost 1!!!!! He ges up between 11-1 at least once a night. :hug99: Just wanted to tell you I know how you feel. I am tired too.
That happened to us around 6 months. Prior to that both had been sleeping 12 hours straight. Then they got a cold and we began to sooth at night. From 6 to 8 months they both woke SEVERAL times a night and we were stuck bouncing them. Finally my husband went out of town and I just couldn't do it on my own. I had to CIO. The first night they cried for about 20 minutes and then slept straight through. The second night they cried for 10 minutes. Now they cry for about 10 minutes when we put them down and then they sleep from 7 to 6:15. It is really hard to CIO but in the long run EVERYONE is happier! We got ourselves into a bad situation by bouncing them - but up until 6 months I really think you have to do whatever you can to make sure that you are all sleeping. After 6 months I think that they need to learn to sooth themselves. Good Luck!! I am sure that you guys will figure it out!
My biggest concern with the CIO method is the first time I tried it my son Bryce puked! LAME! I think I might try it again, but it is gonna be soooo hard...should I try it at naptime forst or just at night? I want to keep the good thing I have going with naptime if I can... thanks!
You could try the Ferber method. Basically it's CIO, but you go into them 5 minutes after they first start crying, pat and soothe, then 10 minutes, then 15 etc etc. There are books too - Healthy Sleep Habits Healthy Child, Best Baby on the Block (is that right?), Sleeplady etc etc.
we did cio at 10 months.. i would say make sure they are warm.. dry, change then feed in the dark so they realize its still night. if you are nursing.. place a night shirt with milk smell in their crib so they may smell you.. the next big thing is routine.. be sure to feed bathe teeth and bed.. let them cry it out.. it only takes afew days for them to learn.. i used to put my kids to bed then walk out the front door.. because i couldnt stand the crying.. it tore me up.. the other thing that STILL WKS 1.5 years later is i turn on the bath water for 20 minutes.. place them in their crib.. turn on bath water WALK OUT.. and they are asleep.. even if the bath room is next door.. it drounds out noise.. ie dishes laundry videogames mine still sleep through the night.. hang tight m
Everyone I know with twins has run into the same issue btw 9 and 10 months -- kids who previously slept better start waking more often. This is a HUGE developmental time for kids and they wake more as a separation anxiety response -- cause they are practicing what they do all day and they need reassurance that there is someone there to take care of them (they can no venture farther from the "nest" -- mom and dad) So, I totally get CIO -- but I think it's mis-diagnosed in this case... waking frequently during developmental milestones is really common and there are scientific studies on this stuff. It's hard(and i'm a mom who has had kids who've woken multiple times every night since birth -- and we're nearly 10 months old) .. but I've read the research on what CIO does to kids and I'm torn between saving myself and making sure my kids have the ability to trust my hubby and I. Oh well - I guess I always offer a dissenting view, but the science supports this stuff. Babies' brains just aren't developed enough to handle all the stuff we throw at them in their first year of life. Good luck, I totally understand what it's like -- and thank god I have a hubby who has always done half the work at night... but I think this may be a phase that will settle down with a little prodding (aka no feeding, and maybe patting on the back instead of holding) on its own schedule. Teri D
You could try sitting in the room with them till they fall asleep. I would take my laptop in there and sit on TS till they feel asleep. I would just talk to them and sooth them that way. I stopped doing it when they began sitting up - I was to much of a distraction for them.
Around 5 1/2 months we had to do CIO. The first few days were tough but now they sleep through the night and wake up happy. I could not take it anymore. My guess is that they are waiting for you to come. They know that if they cry, you will come. They really have no reason to stop crying!! I never thought I would be able to do it but my tiredness brought me to it! Good Luck! You need sleep!
