New to the site, have questions

[kramsey88]

Hi!  I have a beautiful 9 month old little boy, and we are in need of some help with sleep.  I have a few questions about the pu/pd method.  We are having problems with naps AND with night-time awakenings.  Should we be tackling both naps and nighttime sleep at the same time, or first one and then the other?  Also, Isaac is currently teething; he has about 6 teeth coming in at the same time.  (He had no teeth until 8 1/2 months, and now it seems that as soon as we get over one, another one pops thru)  We've had a really hard time with teething...is it appropriate to start sleep training now while teething?  Otherwise I feel like we will have to wait forever, and I don't think that my relationship with my husband can handle that.  Sorry to be so wordy.  Any advice will be appreciated.  Thanks!

[Jayri]

hi there I will see what I can do for you.
I was wondering a couple of things, waht is his routine like, and how is he with solids.
What I found with my dd is that we have her on an EAEASY routine, by that I mean that she E-solids or bottle, A-plays, E-whichever she did not have at the last feed,A- some more play, and S-sleep.
My dd is also teething and I have found her to need a longer wind down time, I guesss due to the discomfort she is in.
So for example, she can be awake for 3hrs in total, but when she reaches 2.5hrs, I pick her up, start to snuggle with her and wind down, and usually by the 3hr mark she is ready to go down on her own or, as I have been slipping lately, she falls asleep on me before I get a chance to put her down.
I think if you tackle the routine in the day then you may find that it will in turn after maybe a week or so, will most probably affect the night time wakings too.
I hoope that this helps you out somewhat, let me know if you need any more ideas.
Good luck hun, keep a log of what you do if you need to, it will work itself out if you stick to it...it will get better,oh! and one more thing, I make sure my dh is on in everything to do with dd's routine, that way there is no conflict in what goes on with her....

[kramsey88]

Thanks for your response. 

As far as a schedule goes, I am embarrassed to say that he does not have a nap schedule.  I was home for the first 4 months, and had him on an EASY schedule.  When I went back to work, he started daycare and the schedule went out the window.  I spoke to the caregivers every day, and emphasized how important a schedule is to me.  I found out after a couple of months, that the baby who I used to just lay in the crib when sleepy and he would drift off to sleep, was being rocked and walked to sleep, and allowed to sleep in the bouncy any time he wanted.  So, I spoke to the caregivers more, who would tell me what I wanted to hear and then do what they wanted to do.  I put in my notice at work, 8 weeks because of what I do. 

Not to say that I didn't mess up myself some too.  With daycare he got 2 ear infections, multiple colds in the last few weeks, and then started teething!  So, I held him and rocked him and fed him at night again because he wasn't eating well during the day because of teething.  I feel like I am in such a mess, and I don't know where to start fixing it! 

On the plus side, he is a good eater, although I think I need to go to every 4 hrs instead of every 3. 

Tomorrow is my first day at home as a Stay At Home Mom!  So, now I want to get Isaac back on track, and I don't know where to start.  I held his feeding last night until 6:00 AM, and will do the same tonight.  I will keep a journal of his schedule, and just keep working at it. 

Sorry to be so long.  Hope I didn't bore you to tears.  I will appreciate any input that anyone has.

Thanks,