Newbie with womit issues

[Nike2009]

Hi

My baby is one year old and she has been having troubles going to sleep periodically since she was about 7 months. She sleeps through the night for about 10-12 h so thatīs not the problem, itīs going to sleep that seems to be inpossible!

She doesnīt like her own bed and refuses to sleep there by night. Although she sleeps in it for her first nap after getting to sleep by bottle feeding (i know itīs not a good thing to do).

When it comes to her night sleep we have been following the same routin since she was around 5 months (until we gave it up a month ago). We brushed her teeth, red two books in the cosy chair in her room with Nike in our lap and  then let her go to sleep in our lap. If it was taking to long we put her in her bed and let her roll around/talk to her self and so on until she cried out loud (sometimes she fell asleep before that). Then we lifted her up and put her in our lap again and she went to sleep.

For the last two month though she started to cry when entering her room in the evening. She did everything possible to stay awake although she almost couldnīt keep her eyes open. She could be fighting for abaout to hours before finally falling asleep exhausted.

Since we gave it up she falls asleep in our bed but itīs not working very well either. She rolls around in the whole bed about 30 min- 2 hours and we have to rescue her from falling down the entire time. Sheīs happy though but we arenīt... She canīt lie still and gets upset if we try to hold her.

[babybarr]

What does her routine look like?  Post with wake up / nap / bedtime

I wonder if she's a bit overtired going to bed and also if you have become a bit of a prop.

((hugs))

[Nike2009]

Hi and thanks for your time babybarr

I didnīt have time to finish my message last time and also we have done some changes and actually started with baby whisper at bed time.

I also have to apologize for language mistakes, Iīm swedish .

The main problem, that I wrote in the headline, is her womit issue. When she gets really upset she womits and of course going to bed makes her angry and sometimes she cries until she womits. I donīt know if i should continue then or not? I feel so awfull .


As for now Iīm not quite sure if she needs one or two naps but I have been putting her to sleep for two naps this week.

Her schedule at the moment is:


E. Wakes up about 6-6.30 and has breakfast (gruel)
A. Playtime indoors
E. Eats a banana or simulair
A. Reads a book with me
S 9.00-10 nap
Y

E. 11.00 Lunch
A. Mostly outdoors
S. 12.30-14.00
Y

E. 14.30 Youghurt and berries or simulair
A. Mostly outdoors
E. 17.30 Dinner
S. 19.00-19-30
Y
y

E


But I think she wont need two naps much longer.

[babybarr]

What sort of things are you doing to get her to sleep independently?  Why is she so upset at bedtime do you think?  Is she still falling asleep in your lap?

From your routine I would say the time between her last nap and bed is too long and maybe giving a 6-6.30pm bedtime may help.  Do you wake her after that first nap or does she only sleep an hour?

[deb]

If she's napping twice and not tired enough to sleep when you're putting her down, that might be why she's fussing so much till she vomits. Have you tried stretching out her A time to maybe 4-5 hours? Does she seem sleepy when you put her down 9AM-ish? The transition from 2 naps to 1 can take a while, so some days they may get by with a single nap and some days they may need two for a few weeks until the new cycle is established.

It's also possible that she has teething pain which is causing her discomfort, especially since you mention this has been going on since about 7 months, when many babies cut their first teeth. You can try some infant pain reliever maybe 20 minutes before sleep times and see if that makes a difference. If it does, you know that pain is an issue. It's good to rule out other possible pain sources like ear infections or tummy-aches, but at least you can narrow it down to pain (or rule it out if pain meds don't work).

Oh, and your English is a LOT better than my Swedish!  No worries!

[Nike2009]

When I put her to sleep I do the "gradual whitdrawal". I sit beside her bed and just say ssschhh and "You are going to sleep now" to calm her down and sometimes I hold her hand or rub her back.

Her first nap at 9AM-ish has been necessary since she was a new born. When she was younger she was only awake for an hour before her first nap.

I know that the gap between the last nap and bedtime is very long but beleive me, I have tried to put it later and then she wont go asleep until 22PM-ish. 

Today has been a good day though . She only had one nap (11-13.30) and it took me about 3 minuites at both the nap and the night bed time (donīt know what the last one is called and no womitting.

[deb]

We pretty much call them Nap and Bedtime. When the little ones have a short nap before a short A and then bed, it's called a Catnap.

It does sound as though she is at a point where she may need to drop to one nap, at least for some days during the 2-1 transition period. You can try to extend her morning A time by 15 minutes, wait a couple of days, extend some more, and so on, see if the morning A time can be extended. Then if she gets a good long nap from say 11:00-13:30 or 14:00, that may get her thru the rest of the day with a reasonable bedtime. The hour-long A time is more appropriate for a 2-month-old, more like 2 hours from 4 months or so, and by now she should be able to be awake for a good stretch of time.

Have you taken the personality test? Is she Textbook, or Touchy, or Spirited or Grumpy? Some of more than one type?

[Nike2009]

I think I will try to make two naps into one as you say!

She has more or less been teething for three months now so i suppose that increase the problem. We do give her pain releiver sometimes but itīs still the same. She started teething at five months and she now has 11 teeth. 

I took the personality test and according to that sheīs a textbook baby but I donīt think it fits her. She has been late when it comes to movement but early with words. Although she was almost an angel baby too.

She is a easy, happy baby when itīs not about sleeping.

[deb]

She is a easy, happy baby when itīs not about sleeping.

A lot of them are like that! Heck, mine still are sometimes and they're now 5 and 8YO! LOL

With regards to the naps, for the first few days it might be a big adjustment, and if it turns out that she still needs two naps, that often happens, or maybe one day she'll be OK with one nap and the next day two, and so on until one day she only needs one most of the time. She may take a big late morning nap and need a shorter one late afternoon (like maybe 30 minutes) to get her through till bedtime, or a short nap like that may still mean a later bedtime (it did with my older one!). But - you won't know how she will respond without trying a few experiments.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[babybarr]

She has been late when it comes to movement but early with words.

This is very typical too. They normally concentrate on one or the other!  Vocal or physical.

keep us posted.

[Nike2009]

Today she woke up at 6.30 and she was so tired at 8.30 that I tried to put her to sleep. She started to cry like in panic and then I actually stoped. Though Iīm not quite sure that she is in need of two naps I couldnīt continue. When I took her up she was happy and alert as ever. I went to my neighbour who has a son in the exact same age as my daughter. They played for two hours and then I gave her food and put her to sleep at 11Am instead and it took her about three minutes to go to sleep. Actually sheīs still asleep at this very moment (13.30pm). Normally she never sleeps more than 1,5 h in daytime.

Why is she sooo tired at 8-9am-ish and what can I do to help her through that if not putting her to sleep?

[deb]

Low blood sugar? Can she have a feed at that time?

[Nike2009]

Hmmm... Maybe?! She gets very tired when she eats but maybe I can try to giver her some fruit while sheīs playing instead of putting her in her chair and feed her.

[babybarr]

Give her a snack yes, also was that a time when she used to previously have a nap?

[Nike2009]

Yes, thatīs right! She used to have a a nap at that time.

It has been easier to put her to bed now but usually she still cries for some minutes. Will that ever stop?

Also she woke up at 4 oīclock this night . She was really hungry and I gave her some gruel and she went back to sleep until 7AM. She ate really good yeasterday so I donīt think she should be hungry at that time! What can I do to avoid this? Itīs not the first time. Usually she eats at night about three nights a week.