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11.15.2009

Need Sleeping Advice!

Well blog friends, I need your opinions-- especially you moms and dads out there who have experience with sleep and kids!

Here's our situation. What would you do?!

Aly: Aly had been sleeping through the night, 10-12 hours without waking up, from 7 weeks - 6 months. Then, all of a sudden, she started waking up to eat once per night, which was fine. She wasn't eating the recommended amount of ounces (only 20-24 oz instead of around 30 oz), so she was probably hungry. We talked to the doctor, and he agreed. She needed that extra feeding until she started eating more during the day. Well, she has gotten up to that point AND started to eat a lot more solids (little bit 3x per day). So, hunger is definitely not an issue anymore. However, she's still waking up 2, 3, sometimes 5 times per night. This has been coupled with her being very clingy to me, and stranger anxiety.

Asante: Has been working on giving up his nap, so on days he doesnt nap, he sleeps from 6p-5:30a. On days he does, 8:00/8:30p-6:00/6:30a.

Momma: I am working on classes from 8:30p-midnight/1:00a most nights.

Dad: Gets up in the middle of the night with Aly AND gets up early most days with Asante since I'm going to bed so late.

This, as you can imagine, makes for a rough time for all of us. Both of us can't nap during the day, because Asante hasn't been taking naps, AND Aly only naps 2-3x per day, for 20-30 minutes each time.

Here's what we've been doing: If Aly doesn't go back to sleep when we go in to soothe her, Jake brings her up to me and I nurse her- she falls asleep- and then sometimes sleeps until the morning. Sometimes Jake ends up sleeping downstairs with her on the couch. I don't want to create bad habits, but, we need to sleep in order to function during the day.

I'm pretty opposed to the Crying It Out method because of Aly's personality. She's incredibly sensitive, and I refuse to allow her to cry to the point of vomiting. We've been trying the "wait 10 minutes" thing, but it's not working.

So, parents and friends, I'm soliciting advice :). What would you do in our situation?

3 comments:

Bld424 said...

Two books -- Healthy Sleep, Happy Baby (not currently at the DBRL), Baby Whisperer and Toddler Whisperer by T. Hogg (both currently at DBRL, or were as of last Friday!).

I have a younger kiddo than you, so my advice probably isn't too helpful. I have heard that sometimes babies wake up out of habit or routine...

post when you solve the problem!

Bld424 said...

I've been reading E. Pantley's "No Cry Sleep Method" and "No Cry Nap Method' and I think she addresses many of those same concerns.

I would be worried about setting up bad habits for Aly, unless you did the same things for Asante and now he can sleep through the night.

Post an update about the strategies that work!

Tiffany said...

Oh yes! Thanks for reminding me.