Saturday, May 5, 2007

SLEEPING PROBLEMS

Back on April 19th i said that both of my children are "finally sleeping" well (and I'm not kidding when i say this) since that night Hailey has not slept at all!

I really do not know what to do. She has been waking up 4-5 times a night. I know that she can sleep through the night, she did it for that whole week before i posted it, but for some reason she won't. Here is her nightly routine. Cereal at about 8:30-9:00, i put her down in her crib usually around 9:30 or 10:00. She sleeps in there until about midnight and then wakes up to eat, i feed her lay her back down and she wakes up in another hour to eat again! I know that she can't still be hungry but she will absolutely SCREAM until i feed her again and she will keep doing this every hour or so until i put her in bed with me. She is not sick, is not teething right now so i don't know what is keeping her up.

I talked to her doctor about this, i can only handle so many nights of not getting good sleep and this has been going on for about 3 weeks, and the only advice he gave me was to let her cry herself back to sleep. I know that alot of people do this and the children are alright but i just don't think that it is something i agree with doing. I read once that by using that method your child is just giving up hope that you will be there for them so that's why they lay themselves back down. Maybe that true ans maybe that's not but that will always be stuck in my head.

I need my sleep again! If anyone could give me any advice to try and help please do. Hailey is almost 10 months old and should really be sleeping through the night. Plus her 4 year old brother wakes up bright and early at 7:30-8:00 ready to play and i don't think its fair to him to be so tired and out it every morning (or at least until I've had my coffee:)

Another thing i wanted to mention, Hailey only naps about 45 minutes to an hour a day. She WILL NOT nap any longer. She has done this since she was about 4 months old. So if anyone has a schedule that you use to help your children, I'd love to hear it.

5 comments:

Drea said...

Is she getting more teeth? or does she have an ear infection? Thoes were always issues Caleb had if he wasnt sleeping well.

Last night Taite sturred at 3:00am. I got up and gave him his pacifier and rotated him a bit. He went back down. then 4:00am rolls around and he was fussing again. NOT CRYING just making fussy noises. We ignored it for 5 minutes, and he slept until 8:30am.

I cant stand to hear him cry or get upset... but if its only for minute im ok with it. As long as he isnt like hysterically screaming.

Hailey may have an ear infection tho? did the dr. check her ears?

Kell Rees said...

she just had a doctors app. yesterday and her ears are both good and she just got her 5th tooth through so she's not teething right now.

When she wakes up she doesn't just whine, she screams like she's mad and will only stop once i nurse her

Andrea said...

Oh...that sounds so frusterating! She doesn't have a sore tummy or anything does she? Tate is almost 9 months old and is definitely not sleeping through the night either! He wakes up a LOT if he has a sore tummy, and if he doesn't have one, he still wakes up usually at least 2 times, but I only have to feed him once...but trust me, that's good...it used to be 4-5 times a night and wouldn't go back to sleep unless I fed him. I don't have any good suggestions for you...I'm looking for some along with you!! :) But I just wanted to let ya know that I know how you feel...

Unknown said...

Ok, so here is my 2 cents worth, take it or leave it. When my oldest was about 6 months old my husband made me start putting her to bed at 8:30. The first couple of nights she cried and it made me physically ill. If she woke up in the middle of the night, I would feed her and put her back to bed. After about a week, she stopped crying when I put her down and stopped waking up to eat. I don't think she "gave up on me". She and I have a very close relationship and she will be 13 in a month. Even the big bad teenage hormones have not hindered our relationship. We did the same with the second child and, again, I don't think he just gave up on me.

Now, my lovely third child! When my youngest was born, my husband was working out of town. He was gone Sunday evening through Friday night. I was lazy with getting her in a routine and I still regret it. I let her sleep with me if she woke up in the middle of the night or if she didn't want to go to sleep in her crib. Now, at 9, she is still not on a routine and anytime I sit down, she wants to be in my lap. I have no idea if not getting her on a routine early on is what has made her so clingy, but it is my guess!

Kell Rees said...

i know i should've got her on a routine when she was a couple months old because now it's just going to be harder on all of us but thanks for the advice. i still haven't decided whether to let her cry it out or not but i'm getting so frustrated that i might have to try it.