Months later

[Stac]

My daughter is now 10 months and I am so thankful to be out of the colic stages. I used to have to walk her all day long. I started out on here and got some great help from others!!
Though now...I do still have problems getting her to go to sleep. Any time I lay her down for a nap she cries. But the worst is at night!! She screams and screams. It's so frustrating for us cause she is in our room. My husband can't sleep and he gets up early for work. I end up taking her out of the room and putting her in the playpen in the liv. room and letting her scream out there so she won't wake anyone up.
I feel so bad doing this and I am at my wits end. I thought things would be much much better by now. I'd love some help if anyone had any suggestions here.

Thanks!

[chele]

What is her bed time routine? and what is her daily schedule like? Can you think of any reason why she screams?

the only things I can think is maybe you are trying to get her to go to bed to early but I really don't have enough information to give you any advise.

I can tell you what I do with my dd is every night we take a bath and then we relax with a Baby Einstien video. From there she is put in her bed and I rub her back til she falls asleep. If she stands in her crib I leave the room for a few minutes and she screams, then I will go back in and she lays back down and we start over again until she falls asleep. It isn't the best system but most of the time it does work.

[Stac]

Honestly I cannot think of any reason why she would scream at bedtime every night. She is a pleasant child all day. I can't possibly be putting her to bed too early as the times range from 11 - nearly 2 am. Just because I can't get her to go to bed I end up getting her back out so Dh can sleep since we share a room with her. She will play & play and not have a problem but I make her go to bed cause it gets late.

On occassion she will fall asleep during her last bottle depending on when that is. I turn out the lights and I still have the tv on for some light and she eats and falls asleep and then i put her to bed. but she still wakes up screaming. ???????

Daily routine....well because she is up late fussing all night she sleeps in pretty late too. I tried getting her up early and all that did was make her kranky all day. She takes 2 naps during the day and they are 30-45 min. naps.

I can't even hold her and walk her to sleep or anything like that. She just looks around. Nothing really seems to be working for me. Baths don't help at all - nothing!

Thank you for replying to my post!!!! I appreciate it.

[honeybunny78]

You may just have to turn everything off and let her cry herself to sleep.
(((HUGS)))

[Stac]

I have pretty much just ended up letting her cry. Like I said though problem is that she has to sleep in our room. I don't have a room for her. And she keeps dh up. So then that's when she ends up out in the liv. room sleeping in her playpen. I just feel so guilty doing that to her. But she goes to sleep! (after crying)

[supermum?]

oh my god that would stress me out. all i can offer is that i would be worried that your baby isnt getting enough sleep for a 10 month old. jacob has always been in bed by about 7pm and i think that is pretty normal. he will wake about 6am and i would have expected him to sleep about 2hours through the day in 2 x 1hour sleeps. the problem is when they get over tired that they fuss more and have bad routines. i know you say that your child is over colic but to only sleep a 45 minute sleep cycle in the day is not good. we had that with jacob until he got better. and sleeping less that 45 minutes is worse as that isnt even a whole sleep cycle and therefore something must be waking them. you really need to break the bad cycle. it not great but try some of those homeopathic remedies that rel;ax baby and if all else fails maybe give them something to help them sleep for one or 2 nights to get into routine. i would think that babies should be in bed at 8pm at the latest. both my babies have been early risers so i would always have them in bed by 7pm. its not easy i know. jacob at 16 months is still waking in the night and drives me crazy. but routine does help. good luck.

[Stac]

Thank you for your suggestions!
Though she is up late she does sleep in. Lately it's been 11 - noon she gets up but that's cause she is up so late. And her sleep just isn't real consistant. It all depends on when the naps fall during the day. Sometimes they are longer than 45 min. but not that often. And she has 2. She is usually up for 2-3 hours between naps and then like I said bedtime is a whole new game. I got her into bed last night before 10:30 and yes she still cried. but she went to sleep and dh wasn't even in there for it to keep him up so that worked. but then around 11 she started fussing so then we are afraid to go to bed to wake her up. i slept on the couch until 4 AM.
Her dr. seems to think that some babies just need to go to bed later. I just don't think he realizes just how late she is wanting to go sometimes. He is retiring next month so we will have a new dr. and a 2nd opinion!!!

[chele]

You might try reading the book "The no-cry solution". There are a lot of good suggestions on helping your baby learn to fall to sleep on their own. Like supermum, my dd still wakes in the night and it gets frustrating some nights.

As for the going to bed late, I agree some babies do go to bed later but the book above, gives some clues on how to get it earlier. It will be a lot of work but will be worth it in the end. I can't stress enough how important it is to have a bed time schedule.

I don't think you should feel bad about your baby sleeping in the living room. She may sleep better there for the simple fact that you and your husbands sleeping noises aren't waking her up. We had our dd in with us til she was 3 months, on her 3 month b-day I said it is time to sleep in your own bed, she slept the entire night. Freaked me out, but was extremely happy when found her safe and sound, snoozing all comfy. I don't think she will notice that she isn't in a bedroom, there won't be any psychological effects from you having her sleep there. It might actually help her to learn to sleep alone, and that is a very good thing.

Let me know if you want the author of that book, I will look it up for you at home. I think it is a very informative book. I hope it will help you in some way.

[Stac]

Thanks for your suggestion of the book! I might have to get it. I found it on amazon!!! mmmmm!! Ya know you just want to do what's best. But then you end up spending a fortune in trying everything you can! I have cds and all kinds of things now that I won't ever use again and don't know what to do with them. I am so afraid to invest in another item. I am considering it though. I read the reviews on it.

Stacie

[chele]

Stacie,
If I were you, and I have done this. Go to the public library and get it from there. Then if you think it is worth it buy it. I have gotten a bunch of books that way and it has helped me weed out the ones I didn't really want. I agree, we spend so much trying to do everything that is supposed to be the best for our babies and about 20 % is all that works. The problem is every baby is different and a lot of times things will work once and then won't work again.

Good luck! Chele

[MaryK]

Hello, just my 2 cents worth here. My first baby went to sleep late. Usually between 9pm-11pm, depending on age. He slept in also in the morning. He took longer naps during the day. Usually 1-1/2 hour naps, but that varied, again by age. My 2nd baby was my colic baby, and he has almost never taken more than a 30 minute nap during the day. He takes 2-3 naps, and goes to bed usually around 7:30 or 8pm. Last night he went to bed at 6:30 . He wakes up very frequently, but I am breastfeeding, and it is easy to nurse him back to sleep. I think that all babies are just different.

One good piece of advice that my Dr. gave me is that you should pick a method, and stick to it. You either let the baby cry at night and not pick up the baby.........or you always pick up the baby and rock back to sleep (or whatever works for you.) If you sometimes let the baby cry, and sometimes comfort the baby, then the baby gets confused, and the baby takes his chances that you will comfort, and he will cry. I personally don't like the cry-it-out method, but it might work good for you. You might have to let your husband suffer for 2-3 nights, but if you stick to the routine of the cry-it-out schedule, then your baby will probably be sleeping through the night after that. Be sure to get a good book and do it the right way. You might also want to try some of the things in that book "The no cry sleep solution." I have heard that they don't always work, and if they do, it will probably take longer than 3 nights, but it is a good alternative if you have a hard time letting your baby cry. Good luck, and I hope you get some sleep soon.