Sleeping - A little advice ??

[Tillysmummy]

HI All

My 6.5 month (Is she 6.5 or 7 months - she's 28 weeks old and technically with a 4wk calendar month that's 7 months but there's 52 weeks in a year, not 48 - help pls ?! ?) sleeps quite well, she has between 2-3 hours during the day (3 naps) and then she goes down at 6.30 - 6.45 in the evening but wakes at 5.30 ish - we leave her till 6 before we get her up. Ideally I want her to sleep to 6.30 - we tried moving her bedtime back a bit to 7pm but she just gets to grumpy and then she seems to still wake up at the same time or sometimes earlier. Does anyone have any advice as to how to get her to go the extra hour ? I have a rule that I won't get her up before 6 anyway so she just lies in her cot and chats to herself or moans a bit (never really cries) but we can hear her anyway so we can't sleep. I know she is doing pretty well really and perhaps I am expecting too much although she didn't start 'sleeping thru' (if there is such a thing !) until about 4.5 months where most of the other babies in my NCT class were doing it from 8 weeks !!!!! Did someone say that girls sleep less because of their nosiness ?! Help would be welcome

Has he always slept badly at lunch time ?
30 minutes in the AM is not long. My daughter ( 8 1/2 months old) sleeps 45 to 60 minutes at 9AM every day. She then goes on to have at least 2 hours at lunchtime. IME they sometimes wake after 30 to 45 minutes but they usually settles themselves back to sleep within 10 minutes. This is because they get into a lighter sleep.

I cut my dd's morning sleep at about that age. She now has about 14hours sleep a day. Sometimes she gets grumpy about her afternoon nap, so I get her ready for it about 1/2 beforehand to get her used to the idea that she is soon to go to bed. If he won't sleep there is little you can do, but perhaps putting some toys and books in his cot so that even if he doesn't sleep he can have some quiet time playing and you get a bit of peace.

Sorry I can't help you more.

Patttsy2001, I am a great fan of the afternoon nap, DS still having an hour or so after lunch (most days) aged 3. Does it make a difference what time you put your DS down in the afternoon, I found with my DS at that age that straight after lunch was too early for him when he still had a nap in the morning, we tended to leave his nap until about 3pm.

I dropped my dd's morning sleep around 9mths. I found she was pushing it later & later so it nearly went into lunchtime & there was a danger she'd sleep over lunch then wake up very grumpy & hungry. You might go through a while of having a niggy child between 11 & 12 but I brought her lunch forward to 11.45, sometimes 11.30 on a bad day!, then she'd have a beautiful sleep of 1.5 - 2 hrs. Within a few weeks she could cope with being up longer & now (at 13mths) sleeps between 2 & 3 hours after lunch most days - bliss!!.

Hi!!!

My DD is 5.5 months old and she's terrible with her sleep pattern. She gets up at 7 am, then with a bit of cry she has her morning nap from 9 till about 9.45, then at about 12 noon she starts getting tired and irritable, but will never sleep (tried everything), she goes thru afternoon (sometimes sleeps in the pushchair when going out) and then I try put her to sleep at around 7 pm. This is the worst part of the day. She starts screaming and will fall asleep (if we are lucky) at about 8.15. I tried controlled crying (didn't really help as you need steel nerves), tried cuddling, nothing helps. May be you could suggest something.

LIlia:-)

Hi!!!

My DD is 5.5 months old and she's terrible with her sleep pattern. She gets up at 7 am, then with a bit of cry she has her morning nap from 9 till about 9.45, then at about 12 noon she starts getting tired and irritable, but will never sleep (tried everything), she goes thru afternoon (sometimes sleeps in the pushchair when going out) and then I try put her to sleep at around 7 pm. This is the worst part of the day. She starts screaming and will fall asleep (if we are lucky) at about 8.15. I tried controlled crying (didn't really help as you need steel nerves), tried cuddling, nothing helps. May be you could suggest something.

LIlia:-)

Hi!!!

My DD is 5.5 months old and she's terrible with her sleep pattern. She gets up at 7 am, then with a bit of cry she has her morning nap from 9 till about 9.45, then at about 12 noon she starts getting tired and irritable, but will never sleep (tried everything), she goes thru afternoon (sometimes sleeps in the pushchair when going out) and then I try put her to sleep at around 7 pm. This is the worst part of the day. She starts screaming and will fall asleep (if we are lucky) at about 8.15. I tried controlled crying (didn't really help as you need steel nerves), tried cuddling, nothing helps. May be you could suggest something.

LIlia:-)

Sorry, was refreshing the wrong screen

just briefly: I think she's definately overtired when she goes down at 7. She needs her mid day sleep - she's crying then, which shows she's tired. Could it just be that she doesn't know how to fall asleep on her own? How does she normally get to sleep? what's the light / noise level like? When does she eat her lunch? My ds is the same age. I know it sounds weird, but she doesn't sound 'terrible' with her sleep pattern to me. She's waking and going down at the right time, taking the right amount of morning nap for a baby of her age, and is getting tired for her lunchtime one around the right time, too. You could say she's a great baby - just hasn't got it for the lunchtime one yet

Well, she is used to be fed to sleep (I know my fault), I tried to teach her go to sleep on her own, but didn't have any success. She has her lunch (solids) at 12 noon and then I try to put her to sleep. Another problem is that she's got eczema and when she starts crying it starts itching, so I can't really leave her to cry.

Lilia :-)

What are you doing to solve her eczema ? Do you know what causes it ?

No, I don't know. I talked to the health visitor she could not find anything wrong, she said that sometimes babies get eczema when they are teething. Doctor prescribed Fucidin, we just use it for flare ups and we also use oilatum. Plus the hot wheather doesn't do any good.

Just to ask which teething gel is the best for teething?

Lilia,

I have used Teetha granules (homeopathic - think they are camomile ) and these seem to work a treat. My dd was teething at 6 weeks ! I also use camomile drops (also from health shop) which soothe her and seem to help her eczema (which seems to be anger / stress related). I tried the gel but didn't find it very useful.

Re the sleep thing. I agree with Manna - I think she is definitely overtired. If she sleeps well in the pram can't you take her for a walk each day around lunchtime to get her off - fresh air is very good. My dd loves sleeping in the fresh air and I always put her in her cot for her first morning nap and for her late morning nap we go for a walk. I really enjoy this too. She gets the fresh air and I get some good exercise. When I get home from the walk I often put her pram in the garden so she can continue to sleep outside.

Re night time sleeping - have you got a good bedtime routine. I find this helps a lot. As soon as we go upstairs and start taking her clothes off she knows it's bathtime and then bedtime and starts winding down. I feed her a bottle after her bath and then put her over my shoulder for a final cuddle and kisses before putting her in her cot. She puts herself to sleep very well and normally rabbits a bit first. Perhaps then you could just stay in her room fiddling around so that she feels secure ( I used to use this time to fold and put all DD's washing away) and then I would leave after a few minutes but not straight after I put her down so she felt secure. Maybe also try singing to her to soothe her. Once she gets into a good pattern of going to sleep early (why don't you try putting her routine forward to bed at 6.30 and start the routine at 6 ?) then you can worry about teaching her to go to sleep on her own. Sounds like you need to teach her to go to sleep first and unwind.

From what you say, I would think she is probably getting overtired.At 5.5 months I know my dd was having 3 naps a day (and still is ) and between 2.5 to 3.5 hours a day. I would think that she needs another nap in the afternoon as well unless she has a long lunchtime nap. I know that if my dd gets overtired she is much harder to put to sleep.

I hope this helps a little

I used Calgel and Bonjela, I was having impacted wisdom teeth problems a the same time so we were sharing the tooth gel. I found the granules good as a distration.

Hi!!!

Ooh, last night was unbeleavable! PUt my DD to bed at 7.00and she screamed until about 10.00. I put some calgel on her gums, but today she developed a spot by her mouth, don't really know what to think, it's sort of spot that you get when rub your face with dirty fingers or eat a lot of doughnuts. Do you think it's because of the gel ot because she was scratching herself yesterday?

About the routine.

I give her solids at 6 pm. Then we go upstairs have bath, change cloths, put cream on. Then I give her breast milk and put her in her cot, but she won't go asleep. :-(

It's pretty likely she's putting her hands in her mouth a lot if she is teething so she may well have scratched herself. A reaction would prob look more rash-like.

Having you tried telling your daughter all about the day that she has had and what she has been doing. The soothing sound of your voice going on and on might help.

She has her hands in the mouth all the time and dribbles a lot. I think she is teething, her gums became very hard, but we can't see the teeth yet. She's got only one spot, which is really red.

I've never thought of talking to her before going to sleep. In most books it says not to talk to or look at your baby before she goes asleep. I'll try that. Thanks

Lilia

Lilia, if you are still there - re teething - my dd is six and a half months and has been wearing an amber necklace for about three months I think. It is meant to have a calming and protective effect by being on the skin and is recommended for teething. She has got two teeth come up recently, (after months of dribbling and fingers in mouth) and we haven't noticed any grizzling or crying. She's generally a very happy baby anyway. It's quite expensive and who knows if it really does work, but it's a lovely natural thing to try and it might do the trick.

Purp, is it just a necklace, isn't it dangerous for the baby (suffocation, etc)?

Lilia, yes it is just a necklace, of amber 'stones'. I worried too at first that she would choke on it but she wears it 24 hours a day and there hasn't been any cause for concern as yet. It's a good size, not too loose nor tight.

Thanks for all the advice/messages.

He seems to sleep heavier in the morning, will sleep dispite noise etc. Usually between 9.30 and 10am (20-30 mins). I will think about shortening with a view to cutting it out all together.

The afternoon sleep seems lighter, and he goes down after lunch between 1.30 - 2.30pm. The real trouble is because it is a light sleep, so when he wakes up after 30mins, he can hear his siblings downstairs. (We live in the house made of straw I think, like one of the 3 little pigs!). Today with the house being quiet (elder sibs at nursery), he slept for 1 hour and was a happy bunny in the early evening. So I know he can do it and that he needs it. Maybe things will get better after the summer.

Sorry I couldn't reply sooner, sleep deprivation!

We have 2 boys aged 3 & 2 who love sharing bunk beds (& a 6 week old boy), but every night we have to move the younger one into a travel cot in another room otherwise they both wake up at around 5am. As it is they wake at about 6am. We tried not to last night and it was a disaster.

Also, they both wake up nearly every night at some stage for no apparent reason. They both used to be such good sleepers.

Any suggestions for either of these problems?