tough times -- won't be comforted

[HollyH]

Hey y'all,

I'm looking for some advice... my husband is about ready to give up on the shush/pat or PU/PD deal, he'd rather leave our little one to cry.   :cry:

Grace is 5 months... she hasn't ever slept through the night, but lately things have been worse.  She used to wake up twice to eat (12-ish and 3/4-ish) and go back to sleep on her own.  In the past few days she's been waking lots more and is not easy at all to put back to sleep.  She cries and cries, and sometimes the pacifier (which used to work wonders) will make her even more upset.  This occasionally happens with the naps, too, but usually not.

THe shushpat doesn't seem comforting to her when she's gotten worked up at all.  And little Grace gets more upset when my husband picks her up!  For me sometimes the picking up will help, but other times she continues to get more and more upset.

Any ideas?  I don't want to leave my sweet little Grace to cry and cry, but if I can't offer a successful alternative we may wind up with that.

thanks much

-holly

[Erin M]

I wouldn't leave her to cry - to me, it sounds like something is bothering her and she needs you even more.  Is she getting teeth? going through a growth spurt? getting sick? getting over being sick? starting to roll over?  All of this can interfere with baby's sleep.  Since you say it's only been a few days, I would definitely try to ride it out and see if things get better.  I know with my DD when we had days like that around 5 months, it was because she was teething.  Hope you find some answers soon.

[GG]

I agree with Erin... something's up.  If it's none of the things listed, maybe she's not getting enough to eat?  Is she bf or formula fed?  Maybe her naps during the day are getting too disrupted and she's overtired at night, so she's waking up.  However, if she's not taking her pacifier as per usual, I'm going to say she may be teething.

Don't penalize the baby because she's waking up with something bothering her.  It's not her fault.  True, you and your DH are tired but it shouldn't be taken out on the baby.  It's possible that she cries when your DH takes her because she senses his tension.  It's amazing what babies pick up.

One thing to keep in mind is not to try quick fixes because, if you do it for too many nights in a row, she will get used to that and continue to wake up.  If you're still doing pat/shush, give her a day or two more of doing it.  You will see a difference (but you do need to get down to the problem).

Good luck!