For the past month, Carter has been having some major sleeping problems. He used to go to bed peacefully at 7:30 or 8:00 pm put himself to sleep and sleep through the night. But NOW he's refusing to go to bed and sometimes I can't get him to go to sleep until 9:30 or 10pm!
So this is an average sleeping day for Carter now: He wakes up at 7:30 or 8 am and only takes one nap for 2 hours at noon (he goes down easily during naps still). And then at night I will try to put him to bed at 8pm and he will scream when I put him down. I've tried many times to let him cry it out, but he'll cry for 30 minutes or more before I give up, and when I go in to get him he will be sweaty and standing up in his crib practically trying to climb out. I think he would cry for hours he's that desperate to get out. So then I've tried rocking him to sleep, and he will just squirm and wiggle like he's not tired, and I can't get him to settle down. So then I put him back in his crib and the cycle continues. So usually I give up and let him play for a while and try again in another 30 minutes or so, and then I repeat. Finally he'll get tired enough to go to bed, but not until I rock him to sleep or almost to sleep, which I don't believe is healthy for a baby. AND lately he's been getting up at 2 or 3 am and can't soothe himself back to sleep, so I have to go in there and help him go back to sleep again.
I don't know if this is just a phase, or maybe the fact that he's sleeping in a different room because we have company staying in his room, but he should be used to that by now. I've also considered that maybe he is going to bed too late and he's over tired, so I will try to put him to bed around 7 or something. He's teething too, but still... nothing you would think would cause his behavior. But then again, Carter is a different kind of kid. Very touchy and sensitive, and things have to be "just so." So I don't know.
He acts like he's just not tired, but he's only getting like 12 hours a day. I have been reading some things that say that some kids just need less sleep than others, but that isn't very comforting to me. I just want him to go to bed by 8 or even 8:30 again! Is that too much to ask? I don't know quite what to do. Any great ideas?
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
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8 comments:
That's SO strange! Eddie is having the EXACT same problem! He just WILL NOT go to sleep when he needs to! He insists on playing until 9-10pm! He recently dropped his second nap and just does one big one around 11-12am, and I think his cycle has gotten way off. He also woke up 2 times last night! Once at 2, and again at 5! If you find some magical cure, let me know! Eddie has been such a crank lately, and he's never like that!
I would try and put him to bed a little earlier. Ben usually is up by 7, goes down for about a 2 hour nap around 11:30 and then goes to bed about 6:30. Maybe it is a combo of different things but I would try an earlier bedtime first.
That sounds like what Maryn used to do every once in a while after she turned one. Her sleeping patterns would change and what I found was that I just had to wait it out. I kept being consistent in trying to put her to bed, but ultimately it would just take a few weeks and things would get back to somewhat normal, with a little bit of compromise on both sides. Sorry, that doesn't really help much, it's all I've got. :)
You may try moving his nap to 1:00 of 2:00. Then don't try putting him to bed until 8:30 or 9:00. I know with the girls, this works pretty well. Personally I have never had a kid go to be before 8:30.
Do you have room darkening shades or anything? We are at the time of year when the days are longer.
This may sound bad, but with Tava teething and all sorts of things, we give her a small dose of Tylenol (5mL) and she goes straight down. It is the recommended dose but it stops the pain enough to get to sleep through the night.
my kids were always fabulous sleepers who absolutely came undone when they were teething...crying all the time and up in the middle of the night. Hang in there, try the tylenol and hope the teeth come in quickly.
I'm so sorry! I know how much my evenings mean to me, I need that extra 2 hours to calm down from the day. Hopefully, it's a very short phase.
Here's my email to send me yours so I can get you an invite to my blog: aundrea5802@yahoo.com
Hope the rest of the week goes well and the kids get better about their hearing aids. I really liked the suggestion of you & Brian having some too.
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