5 month old refusing to go to sleep.

[laurajess]

hey mums.

my 5 month old dd refuses to go to sleep during the day. i can see she's tired as she rubs her eyes and whinges a lot and then i try and put her down in her cot (having been fed and changed) and she just cries.

when she was about 3 months old we realised she sleeps a lot better if we put her on her side but whenever i try to roll her over she rolls onto her back and cries even more. i'm so frustrated.

i've tried everything including leaving her to cry (i want her to learn to get to sleep on her own), burping her, cuddling her, rocking her, singing to her, feeding her more, giving her baby rice, putting her mobile on. i just can't think of any more things to try.

she had an operation on friday so she's obviously still sore but i've tried giving her calpol which the nurses gave me and nothing works. i'm really starting to lose my marbles.

anyone have any suggestions?
thanks in advance
Laura

You know you're going to be flamed for saying you've given her baby rice before she's 6 months, don't you?!

Does she just want to be hugged/rocked/sung to slep? Does she fall asleep in the pushcahair/car?

Have you tried half swaddleing and putting her on her side in the dark?

A little bit of lavender oil srayed int he room?

yeah i know, i shouldnt really give her baby rice but i was running out of ideas. she seemed to like it though.

most times i try hugging and rocking her to sleep she goes off fine and then when i put her into her cot she wakes up and cries again.

and she'll fall asleep in her pram if there isn't much to look at and it depends how tired she is. the same applies for the car.

she hates being swaddled as well, she's never liked having her arms trapped.

i haven't tried lavender oil but i may just have to. i tried it in my room once and it was lovely.

thanks for the reply

Try getting her to fall asleep on your, the putting her in her cot, and resitng your hand on her so she knows you are still there...then when she is really asleep you can leave.

I know it's much easier if babies can self settle, but they aren't babies for ever.

Hi there,

I am sure you are aware of this, but getting them to bed before they get too tired usually enables them to fall asleep better. As a general rule, at 5 months my LO was never awake for more than 1.5/2 hours.

Also, at this age he refused to sleep in his cot so every sleep I was walking the streets to get him to sleep as I wanted him to get his body clock to go to sleep at similar times each day. I covered the pram with a blanket and went marching. About 2 months later, I put him in his cot, in a very dark room and now he happily sleeps there. I would probably take away any mobiles etc as you don't want to stimulate your LO just as you want her to go to sleep!

Also, there is nothing wrong with baby rice...my DS was on a lot more than that by 5 months!

Good luck

Does your DD like being in her car seat? I think they feel secure but don't have their arms trapped. Try bringing it into the house in a darkened room. You can sit next to her and sing or put your hand on her so she knows you are there.
My DD used to be a real pain to get down to sleep during the day even though I could see she was tired. I discovered by chance that she liked sleeping in her car seat and so used to stick her in that (in the house!) when I was at the end of my tether. I dreaded it would start a terrible habit but she just kind of grew out of it without any fuss.
I hope you find something that works, I'm sure she will eventually grow out of it.

ds was/is a terrible napper. various things worked for me for a while. these included:
white noise - radio tuned out and turned up louder than his cries - this worked in 2 minutes the first few times i did it.
classical radio left on in the room
going for a drive - i just gave in and thought it's more important for him to get some sleep than it is for me to get him into his cot.
patting his chest very vigorously - hard enough to make the mattress bounce - this used to send him off in 30 seconds
very vigorous rocking in the glider worked a few times
on one occasion i put him in the sling and did the hoovering - out like a light!
lots and lots and lots of walks.

now he's 9 months i can fairly reliably give him a feed and put him down to grizzle on his own for ten minutes before he goes off. having said that, i resorted to a special trip to the tip this afternoon to give him his last nap of the day!