What am I doing wrong?

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

He has been better these last couple of nights, I've been forcing him to have naps, but his going into bed is still erratic. Maybe it was just the lack of naps? If he does daytime naps in the crib he doesn't sleep well at night, but 3 daytime naps and he sleeps for longer. Maybe I have to force him to sleep more!

I don't eat foods to which DH is allergic, very rarely have fake colours, eat boring food... tbh I'm sick of it! But will stick it out another year, then be pleasesd I'm not preggers again as I tuck into food I love!

Dummies - I hate the misuse my in-laws put dummies to so try to avoid them. When DS gave me a love-bite I did let him have a dummy, but he spits it out as far as he can hen I try it. He prefers my knuckles, shoulders and arms, or his fist. He doesn't even like his teething ring!

He is teething, the teeth are about to break through as you can see them, and we've both had a cold. I'm thrilled, his first cold was mild and we've started the cold antibodies!

[paradise lost]

Hey Ryn,

I can't help i'm afraid as DD is also doing some crazy erratic thing with her sleep patterns but i wanted to tell you that when i was a baby i was a NIGHTMARE and didn't sleep well until i was like, 6 or something, BUT my mum told me that she felt it was my intellect (child-genius, but where is it now?) making me so thirsty to learn. I still find it difficult to "switch off" now.

I was a straight-A student and i gave them the least worry as a teenager as i was so level-headed, and they always maintained the sleeplessness was worth this. So, no comfort for just now but i'm sure these things do balance out in the end....

for you

Hana

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Hey Ryn,

I can't help i'm afraid as DD is also doing some crazy erratic thing with her sleep patterns but i wanted to tell you that when i was a baby i was a NIGHTMARE and didn't sleep well until i was like, 6 or something, BUT my mum told me that she felt it was my intellect (child-genius, but where is it now?) making me so thirsty to learn. I still find it difficult to "switch off" now.

I was a straight-A student and i gave them the least worry as a teenager as i was so level-headed, and they always maintained the sleeplessness was worth this. So, no comfort for just now but i'm sure these things do balance out in the end....

for you

Hana

Hana, I slept through from 8 weeks, slept until 8am every morning as a baby and toddler, was a child genius (although a B student at 16), would buy my mum chocolates/flowers when she was feeling fed up with the world, never went off the rails... my sister gave my mother 13 months of sleepless nights, is highly intelligent and was completely off the rails most of her senior school life - my mother still worries about her; she's now 24.

Still, who ever heard of a 15 year old needing rocking, jigging and singing to sleep, then crawling into their mother's bed the second they wake up? A big plus is that while DS doesn't sleep through I don't have to sleep with DH!

Needing a big feed every 2 hours overnight... well, he is due a growth spurt!

[smylie]

Hey Ryn

Just a thought, as you know as all Jemima does is sleep (only one wake up from when we brought her home as I dont count 10pm and 5am as i was awake anyway) (and then she dropped the 2am at 5 and a half weeks) she loves to cat nap, i dont know what makes her catnap but i just have an idea.... you are sounding like you will try anything... I cant believe YOU mentioned controlled crying!

anyhow.... you said that you go out everyday and that you point everything out and that you talk to him lots and you massage him and you exercise his limbs and stuff AND we all know how advanced he is with rolling and stuff like that.... could you MAYBE be overstimulating him?? Could he be so excited about what he 'learnt' in the day he just cant sleep?

When my neighbour was having 'trouble' with her bub (6 weeks old) she took the step of staying home for a couple of days in a row (she was HAVING to take bub to hospital to visit sick father for a week or two everyday) anyhow she found that when at home her baby was a lot less overstimulated and relaxed a lot more and then did some 7 hour overnight stints and more.....

Maybe DS just needs to have quiet awake time??

Perhaps he is feeling your frustration for him to "sleep through" and therefore doesnt understand so stays awake?

[luua]

Oh Ryn! poor thing.

Naps during the day definitely helped our bubs learn to sleep better during the night. (its like practice sleeps)

Hope this improves for you.

Ann

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Well, he has been more champion lately, but maybe he is overstimulated - we had a busy day yesterday and a bad night. But if we get up at 6.30 he sleeps better than if we get up 7.30-8, so maybe it's that. DS hates home days, we do have to get out for my sanity, but he's great at sleeping in the car and in the pushchair. I'll try to cut down to one "outside" activity a day as that helps. (For example, the day we did a trip to the beach he loved his sleep!) He does have quite a bit of quite time too, lying on his change mat playing with his hands, sitting in hias chair watching the fish, but he likes me playing with him more, even if it's a storybook or joining in on my tummy. I've been told to exercise DS's limbs, massage him and constantly talk to him to boost his brain, tbh I would have done that anyway as he loves it! But I will try cutting back - I've been feeling bad for not doing a running commentry some days!

I am wondering if it's my presense that wakes him - he often wakes just after I go to bed. He has slept through it a few times, but not often.

Day sleeps are frequently one cycle only, the odd long sleep, I just have to keep persevering with them I suppose.