Hi everyone. I am desperate for any advice on getting my son to sleep better at night. He USED TO BE a pretty good sleeper, ( although always woke often to feed.. but 2 times at most during a night, which I can handle)and now, after a cold, teething, beginning to crawl/stand we are in trouble!!!
I try so hard to be consistant everyday, we have a routine which I will post below and I just can't figure out how to help him get back on track. He won't go down for his daytime naps anymore either (he used to have 2) now i can only get one in the late morning after several attempts. I'm so frustrated. He is up between 4 and 7 times every night, and I am just totally exhausted. I breastfeed him, so that makes it tricky too because i KNOW that if i feed him, he'll go back to sleep within 10 minutes with no crying, no soother etc. easy. BUT i KNOW he doesn't need to heat every 2 hours during the night!!!
So last night.. somewhere around 4 am, I decided he was going to go back to sleep without a feeding. HE had previously eaten at 7, 8:30,10, 11 30, and 2 30, so i knew i wouldn't be starving him by any means! Well.. there was a lot of crying...and he was getting more and more upset.. so i held him ( i know... but it was 4 am!!!) anyway, that stopped the crying right away, but didn't put him to sleep.. which is good i guess, cause i want him to fall asleep on his own.. and i have always let him do that and he's been pretty good. (I've never fed him to sleep .. other than in the night i guess... or bounced, rocked etc... just plopped him in his crib, said goodnight, light off, door closed and he's gone about 5 minutes later.. no fussing... nothing. it's been great! ANwyay, since he was calmed when i held him, i waited a few minutes, then put him in his crib. As long as i had my hand for him to hold on to.. or just resting on his back.. he would roll to his side and sleep. As soon as I would leave, he'd cry, sit up, then pull himself up to stand, and we'd be back at square one again! This is a new thing in the past couple days... so could he be getting some separation anxiety at night? CAusing him to wake up wanting me there? He has never been a clingy baby, in fact, he doesn't really like to be held at all.. loves to move around, and I won't stand there all night for him!!!! So i'm not sure what to do.. maybe it has to do with the crawling/ standing.. or maybe it's all of the above, including feeding him too much. HE ALWYAS wakes up at the same times so i'm SURE he is a habitual waker...
Sorry for such a long post!!!
HE uses a soother too, but during the night he only needs it to innitially fall asleep, then it falls out. He doesn't seem to need it again for the rest of the night, just goes back to sleep after I feed him. I just can't be up feeding him 7 times a night! seems ridiculous to me. He eats solids as well... and he eats like a champ.. i still breastfeed him during the day too..
My Routine... based on a 7 am wake up. Same routine and spacing, for earlier wake ups.
6:30 - 7:00 - Wake up ( however, the last few weeks it's been much earlier.. between 5 45 and 6:30)
7 00 - 710 - Breastfeed and change bum
730 - 8 00 - breakfast ( cereal, yogurt, juice/water, fruit, some cherios
8- 830 - playtime with mommy
8:15 - 830 quiet playtime to transition for nap
830 - NAP (never falls asleep ... I've tried this nap earlier, at 8, later at 9 doesn't help. He appears tired but won't sleep)
11 - breastfeed, change bum
11 15 - 1200 - playtime
12- 1230 - lunchtime (cereal cookie, veggies, fruit, meat)
NAP - sometime before 2 sometimes not at all.... if i can't make him sleep!
3:00 - breastfeed
315 - 430 - playtime
430 - 500 - dinner ( cereal, fruit, veggies, toast with cheese)
600 - breastfeed, Bed around 6 15.
Thank you so much in advance for any advice you have for me... this is my first baby and I'm trying to figure this all out!
