Hello everyone!
Sorry for posting such a huge message but I just really need to let off some steam and hope more than anything to find some advise here....
My son is nearly 6 months old and has never actually been a bad night sleeper. But for a while now he has been waking up in the evening after being asleep for about an hour. The only thing that is different now is, he's a better sleeper during the day now. He always just used to sleep for half an hour at a time about 3 to 4 times a day. I never got stressed about it cause I thought he would take the sleep he needs. But now he has started sleeping much longer during the day and seems to be much happier during the day as well, much more rested and calm. Here a little daytime routine with the better sleeping:
7 am wake up
8 am breakfast
9 am first nap for about 1 and a half hours
12 pm lunch
1 pm second nap, anytime between an hour and a half to two hours
5 pm third nap for about half an hour
6 pm dinner
7.15 pm bath, massage, story
He will go to sleep until about half past 8 and then wake up, he will be awake for about 1 and a half to two hours....
What happened was, he never used to have that third nap in the afternoon but since he started waking in the evening my healthvisitor thought he might be overtired and then not find his way into deep sleep so I should give him a quick cat nap in the afternoon to see him through as he can normally only last about 2 to 2 and a half hours inbetween naps. The first day I tried that it even worked and he slept through from 8 til 8!!! I was amazed! But since then he still wakes in the evening. He will start to cry and then he will start to scream. The only thing that calms him down is if I take him out and hold him or just keep him with me. I have tried pu/pd but it doesn't work with him because first of all it takes ages for him to calm down even if I'm holding him and then if I only bend over to lie him back down he will start screaming again before he even hits the matress!!! So I haven't even got time to do the "put down" part. And the Shhshh pat doesn't work with him either, he just doesn't react to that, I might as well not do anything. And so I have given up, I will not let him scream like that, I can't!!! He's got little tears running down his face and starts breathing funny cause he gets so worked up. If I really don't pick him up and try to calm him down keeping him in his cot he will even get so upset that he will be sick. So what do I do now? I take him out into the living room with me, I put him on the floor and ignore him, and he's just happy there without any attention until he's ready to go to bed again. I know I shouldn't be doing that, but what else can I do? I haven't got the energy to go through all that screaming every night and it's not getting us anywhere.
I am so frustrated!!! My husband is away in Iraq and sometimes I think my son can feel that I'm on my own and easier to stress out. Does that sound silly?
Jake doesn't take any milk, he refused to take breast at 2 months, then refused to take the bottle at 3 months and when he started to lose weight my paedeatritian recommended starting solids early. That works well and he eats very well and puts weight on normally. He doesn't take a dummie and he goes to sleep on his own...
Does anybody know what the problem might be? I am so fed up, I really want some time to relax in the evening, I haven't even written my husband a letter yet!
Hope somebody can help me... I'm exhausted!
Thanks,
Jenny
