Friday, August 31, 2012

sleep.

when miss v sneaks into our bed in the morning,
she's usually doing the "snow angel", "h is for hell" and eventually "the stalker".


lately our little lady has not been sleeping well.
as a newborn she was tough.
we never had the newborn stage where she was supposed to sleep all day.
she would only sleep for 20 minutes at a time.
most of the time she only slept in her arms.
the minute she was set down in a cradle, swing or bed,
she would wake up and cry.
nighttimes were awful too. she would cry for hours most nights.

as she got a little older she started sleeping for longer periods.
then for a few months she was sleeping in her crib great at night.
we taught her how to fall asleep on her own.
she'd sleep 8 hours, nurse, and sleep 4 more. that was great.

over the past few months,
as separation anxiety set in, and she learned to crawl,
she won't fall asleep on her own anymore.
she sits up and cries. she will cry for hours.
she wakes up in the night again and wants soothing/nursing.
after a few months of letting her cry it out at bedtime,
soothing her every 10 min or so, for about an hour,
we decided crying it out wasn't working,
and that we personally preferred to rock her to sleep.
she's only this little for such a short time :)

there are a million parenting books out there,
but every baby is so different,
and we are very unlucky in the sleep department.
2 hour naps during the day? never.
try 30 minutes tops. she is just too on the go.
what she lacks in sleeping skills,
she makes up for in talking, clapping, waving, and all her cute social skills.
she made about new 5 best friends (old ladies) at the grocery store today :)

so anyway, she gets what she wants. spoiled girl.
for now, we rock her to sleep! (no more crying for an hour every night)
mamas, please tell me your special tricks for helping baby sleep.
what worked for you?

18 comments:

  1. Is it awful that I'm glad you're having the same problems as us? Link has always been a 30 min napper.and nothing any of the baby books suggested would help.we just went with it, and i totally rock him to sleep. It is the only time he will cuddle with me. Plus he only sleeps 11 hrs a night. Oh well...He doesn't get nearly the recommended amount of sleep, but he is rarely cranky. So just keep doing what you're doing. I think as long as they are happy, and it works for you, then your doing fine.

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    1. hahaha i love your comment. we're totally in the same boat right now!!!!! :) hope we can hang someday, with the babies too.

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  2. It's so hard how things are always changing! Blake didn't start taking 2 hour (sometimes 3 hours) naps consistently until a month ago! It's hard! Ignore the books. Take a little but go with your mama instincts! Love the baby sleep positions. Hilarious!

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  3. With Fisher, he slept well once he got to sleep... it was just the getting him to sleep. We tried the whole "let him cry" thing and in the end we rocked him to sleep too. They ARE only little for so long (he's turning 7 in two weeks!) Piper was/is totally independent. She wants you to lay her down and go away. I will say we don't travel anywhere without our noise machine. Rainfall makes my babies sleep. Good luck and enjoy that sweet little thing. She'll eventually sleep.

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    1. it's nice to know that every baby is different and makes me hopeful that my future babies will be better sleepers!!! thanks :)

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  4. I followed babywise and the babywhisperer for the most part... but you are right, every baby and every parent is different! Davis is a dream when it comes to sleep, James was a little harder, but once he was on a good schedule he got soooo much better! You gotta do what is good for you guys. We never have our kids in our bed, we just value that space too much and know it can form bad habits. But if you dont mind her in your bed, you do what works for you guys. I just know I dont sleep well even having them in the same room as me! You are a great mother and Violet is the sweetest thing. She might not be a great sleeper, but she sure is a good baby!

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    1. good for you! i wish i never had baby in my bed. but she wouldn't sleep anywhere else when she was a newbie. and i'm SO tired when i nurse her in the night. i try my best to get up and nurse in the chair but that last feeding is where i get lazy :)

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  5. I have had 3 horrible sleepers when they were babies (one is still a baby). My toddler use to wake up having night terrors because she wasn't getting enough sleep. My 1 year old still wakes up at night, but I think it is coming to an end. However, with permission from my pediatrician I gave my baby and toddler a little bit of melatonin. It was the miracle drug! My baby who use to take horrible 45 min naps now takes one 3 hour nap. Just an idea for ya. But it won't last forever and she will grow out of it. I could never do the "cry-it-out" method either.

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    1. oh no! 3 horrible sleepers. i can't imagine. melatonin is a good idea. i will look into it. i personally am okay with cry-it-out but it just never worked....it should take a few days and we did it for months. haha. so yeah we do whatever works :)

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  6. There is something about those itty bitty babies that make them not want to sleep! Tristan was just like Violet. He's 3 now and he's still my horrible sleeper. Betsy on the other hand wants to stretch out in her crib and fall asleep with her thumb in her mouth. So wonderful. I promise that your 2nd one will be a good sleeper. They always are! I can't promise that your first one will ever sleep for you, jk you may get lucky! I love that little Violet girl. Good thing she's so cute!!

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    1. it's so good to hear that!!!!! i can be hopeful for my future babies then! yes, good thing she's so cute. but that's how they get spoiled! haha

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  7. Tanner was a horrible sleeper--still is. After around 20 month, he stopped napping all together but we adjusted and started really early bedtimes. When he was young, we resorted to letting him sleep in our bed. People gave us so much flack for it, but it was the only way we all could get some rest at night...and turns out, if Tanner hadn't slept in our bed and kicked brad, his cancer Might have been beyond treatments. Anyway, I read all the books and nothing worked. Tanner was like Violet and would just cry for hours. I dreaded bedtime for a long time, but he is fine now. He still wakes up at night and comes in our room but we have now made him a little space on our floor with a blanket and pillow that he can sleep on. Sorry--I know it's rough but hang in there. She will figure it out eventually.

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    1. oh my gosh, no naps at 20 months. how hard for you!!! i heard about that kick from tanner. that is just so rad. i have only read a few books but they usually just end up making me feel guilty (for not following them exactly) plus of course there is so much conflicting research. it's good to think about the fact that they'll grow out of it. that's so true. i do look forward to having no more babies/toddlers and just SLEEPING all night long each night :)

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  8. ugh i'm so sorry, no sleep is the worst. it just makes it so much harder to get through the day. i can't imagine having to go to work like you as well! i'm totally spoiled, i got lucky with two great sleepers but one thing i noticed that made them sleep even better at night was a big bowl of rice cereal, or some kind of carb, an hour before bed, and then nursing right before i laid them down for the night. and you're probably already doing this, but i always nurse them right before any nap so they don't wake up early from their nap because they're hungry. the wrong temperature, too hot or too chilly, can make them wake up at night as well, or maybe it's too quiet and they need a white noise machine. i hope you find something that works for you soon!!

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    1. yes, i try to take care of all of those things. tonight she had a bath, then i gave her a bowl of rice cereal, read a book, sang a song, nursed her to sleep and then put her down. the a/c is on and the noise machine too. what more could you ask for? then she woke up an hour later. and then an hour later again. she definitely does not know how to fall back asleep on her own and the only way she stops crying is if we come in and pat her back, rock her, or nurse her (depending on how long it's been since she nursed last). spoiled baby!!!!!!! :)

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  9. I feel your pain! It's the little light weight babies that don't sleep well Henry was always in the 2%ile. I am an advocate for breastfeeding, and I loved it! But I realized that Henry was waking up every 2-3 hours at night, because the milk was "on tap". So I weaned him at 10 months. Within 2 days he was sleeping through the night. I also, let him cry in the middle of the night, but it stopped right away. He still takes a bottle at nap time and night time, he sleeps 14 hours straight at night. And 2-3 hour naps (one a day now) mind you, he never gained more weight, just genetics on that one. Good luck, it's rough!

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    1. I love this comment. I think you are right. I have been hearing that more and more. Too bad she isn't good with bottles. She only takes a little bit. I am going to try to get her to take formula after I nurse her, before bedtime. If we can get her to take a bottle well again, I'm ready to start replacing one of her nursing sessions with a bottle. I think my breastmilk is like non-fat milk! Low calories and not filling I guess. Thanks for your suggestions :)

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