Series Of Unfortunate Events
It's 5am now and Kayla literally just fell asleep. This week has been incredibly trying for me, just feels like everything has been going wrong, sighs. For some reason Kayla has been hyperactive the past few days and will only sleep after 3am-4am. And I don't know if it's because my period is coming, I've been feeling soooo lethargic and hungry all the time! So that plus Kayla's insomnia is making me feel super exhausted everyday. Last night's the first time I actually felt annoyed with Kayla since her birth. I'd like to think it's just PMS :///. To add on to this, D and I got into a couple of arguments this week too, which is pretty sucky since everything has been going so well between us for quite a long time. The fights were not major but it's just adding on to the negativity. And work-wise (D and I have our own business), we're facing some obstacles now that are just beyond our control and all we can do it wait.. which is fine but super annoying when people keep asking us "so how's things?". I mean I appreciate it when people care, but it's just really frustrating because I have no answers and I myself am tired of waiting too.
So that's about it, end of rant. Heading to bed now and crossing fingers tomorrow will be a much better day! xx
Is she too excited to sleep?
ReplyDeleteWhether she's being tossed into the air by his daddy, watching a video, or simply splashing in the tub, your baby may be spending her evenings doing the exact opposite of winding down. Not only will she think that going to bed equals missing out on fun, but those good times can make an already sleepy baby overtired. "When that happens it's actually much harder for him to fall asleep," says Jodi Mindell, PhD, Parents advisor and author of Sleeping Through the Night. "And she'll wake up more often during the night."
Sleep solution: Give her bedtime routine a makeover. Ditch the tickle-fests and replace them with a massage, lullaby, story time, or swaddling for a younger baby. And skip Baby Einstein screenings -- TV is stimulating and makes it harder to fall asleep.
You should also consider your baby's temperament when you choose a ritual -- not all bedtime staples are relaxing for every baby. Even baths may be a don't. "Some babies find them thrilling and get wound up," says Ann Douglas, author of Sleep Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler. If that's the case, move tub time to earlier in the day.
Pay attention to your mood too -- if you're tense, your baby will probably pick up on it. "When you're getting him ready for bed, you should slow down too," says Dr. Mindell. "Move quietly and dim the lights. Bedtime should be a cozy time with your child."
Alicia
To help your little night owl understand when it's bedtime, keep her room dark. Forgo nightlights and use dark curtains or blackout shades to simulate nighttime during the day. When it's time for her to wake up, whether in the morning or after a nap, open the curtains and let light in to help her to understand the difference. This always work in establishing a baby sleeping habbit.
ReplyDeleteBeth
It's no secret that consistent nighttime routines can help your baby understand that it's time to sleep. Choose a soothing ritual and stick with it. Consistency is key.
ReplyDeleteLike reading a bed time story and following a soothing music: It doesn't really matter at this point if it's Goodnight Moon or Twilight (she can't understand yet and you might as well entertain yourself), reading a story before bed in a soothing voice is relaxing. It's also a great habit to carry on throughout childhood.
Lolo
When your baby is born, your voice is already familiar and thus has a positive effect on her. Shhhh-ing or speaking in a soothing tone can help baby drift into dreamland knowing mama is safely nearby.
ReplyDeleteDon't give your baby the silent treatment! In utero, your baby was used to constant sounds, like your beating heart and noisy stomach, so silence might be startling for her. Some babies sleep easier if you turn on a white noise machine or a fan moving sound.
STEPHANIE
..Maybe that was just me.
ReplyDeleteWhen my first son was born, we had a horrible time trying to teach him how to sleep through the night.
For about 4 months, he never slept for more than 3 hours at a time. It was awful. I was exhausted and stressed beyond belief and actually feeling a lot of resentment toward my son.
Plus my relationship with my husband was in the dumps...
We barely had any alone time and were too tired and frustrated to enjoy what little time we did share together. And as far as romance goes? Forget about it!
The bottom line is that when we're sleep-deprived, that feeling of exhaustion pretty much takes over our life.
But there's good news: ( YEP, I'VE BEEN THERE TOO! )
It doesn't have to be this way. Face it and solve it ...
THINGS WILL GET BETTER... STARTING TODAY !
All the best to you....stay happy with your baby, with your husband and with all who are around you :)
Ela
I am an exclusively breastfeeding mom.
ReplyDeleteI believe in demand feeding and never waking a sleeping baby after 6pm for feeds.
My first child slept through from 10 weeks (10 hour stretches), and never fed more often than 3 – 4 hourly during the day. My second slept through from 5 weeks (9 – 11 hours), but unfortunately started waking 3 times at night after 12 weeks. We are down to 1-2 wakings now (5 months). I do have very good milk supply and storage capacity.
I also know a mother that tried to enforce a feeding schedule and distract her hungry baby for hours on end – she ended up with low milk supply and a baby that failed to thrive and never slept.
Christine Hahn
Dear New Mama,
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you spoke out loud of your frustration...and you are not a lone!
However, the truth is that sleep is incredibly important for us a an adult as well as our children – no matter how old they are! Doctors agree that healthy sleep habits are just as important as a diet and exercise – and some argue it’s even MORE important for our children..
Just to mention a few of those studies mentioned in the medical field:
Children who sleep longer have higher IQs. (Sleep Med. 2010 March 11)
Children who get at least 10.5 hours of sleep per night are significantly less likely to be obese. (Pediatrics. 2010 Feb 8)
Boys who sleep well are at a significantly lower risk for hyperactivity. (Pediatrics. 2009 November 1)
Children who sleep well score higher on all kinds of tests, including math and literacy. (SLEEP Abstract #0040 San Antonio, 2010.)
Babies who sleep well at night consistently perform better on tests designed to assess memory, emotional control, and organization. (Child Development. Nov/Dec 2010.)
In other words, both common sense AND the scientific community agree: Sleep is really, REALLY important for your child! If you DON’T give your child the necessary skills to sleep well, you’re putting them at a dramatically increased risk for the things that ALL parents want to avoid!
I’m not saying this to scare you… I’m just really passionate about how important sleep is for baby and children – and I think it’s our job as parents to give our children every advantage we can!
Cheers for the soon coming happy sleeping time to your baby and your family,
Lisa
Hi this sound like " 4 Month Sleep Regression" which is very common for babies!
ReplyDeleteThe related information below is good for all new mama:
This probably sounds familiar: your sweet little 4 month old baby, who was sleeping well at night and taking long, restorative naps during the day, has suddenly turned into a sleepless, cranky mess. Gone are the long stretches of sleep between feedings. Gone is the somewhat predictable sleep schedule. Now, you have an exhausted, fussy baby on your hands – one who won’t fall asleep (let alone stay asleep). What’s going on here? Ear infection? Early tooth? Sudden and dramatic personality change? None of those, most likely – this is the 4 month sleep regression.
The 4 month sleep regression marks a permanent change in your baby’s sleeping habits. What do I mean by that? Simply this – babies don’t have distinct sleep stages like we adults do. While we cycle between deep and light sleep, our babies don’t – they sleep deeply pretty much all the time. (This explains why newborns and very young infants tend to sleep anywhere, through anything!) When you look at it this way, it’s clear that the 4 month sleep regression is a very normal, very healthy developmental milestone, just like learning to walk and talk. So if your baby is currently going through the 4 month sleep regression, congratulations – her growth and development is right on track!
Here’s the thing to remember about the 4 month sleep regression: it doesn’t go away. It’s different in that sense than the other sleep regressions that happen at 8, 9, or 10 months, and the toddler seep regressions that happen at 18 months and 2 years old. Those sleep regressions ultimately pass in a few weeks, and your little one’s sleep returns to normal. Not so with this one. The changes that happen with the 4 month sleep regression are permanent.
In the beginning, though, here’s our advice: cope as best you can. Continue helping your baby fall asleep in the way he has been falling asleep up until now.Then it’s time to start teaching your baby a new way to sleep. This process is called sleep training, or sleep coaching.
How does this work? Well, for starters, you look at how your baby falls asleep – those are your baby’s sleep associations. Many babies depend on mom or dad to feed, or rock, or hold them to sleep, for example. Once you’ve identified your baby’s sleep associations, you begin to slowly wean your baby away from them, in an effort to help your baby learn to fall asleep alone. There are many techniques and methods to do this – the one that you choose will depend on your family’s unique circumstances, on your baby’s temperament, and on your own unique parenting philosophy.
Once you have begun weaning your baby aware from her sleep associations, you will also want to work on teaching your baby to fall asleep alone. Typically, parents start working on this by putting their babies to bed drowsy but awake. Once your baby can fall sleep alone, without help from you, she will be able to put herself back to sleep at night when she wakes, and to eventually (when she is ready and is done with night feedings) sleep through the night.
Now, trust me when I say that this process is much easier said than done! Some families can do this on their own, with the help of books and other resources. If you feel ready to tackle your baby’s sleep challenges on your own, but want to read up on sleep training first, you might consider taking a look at our e-Book, The 3-Step System To Help Your Baby Sleep. or
http://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-sleep-through-night-free-ebook/ Emily
I had a similar issue here:
ReplyDeleteIt’s 530am & I’ve been struggling to get my 4 month old back to sleep for the last hour & half.
He’s has scheduled feeding times during the day but not overnight & is exclusively breastfed. By 2 months old, he was able to sleep 5 to 6 hours before getting 1 overnight feeding around 3am & would go back to sleep. Shortly after 3 months, his sleep pattern changed where he would wake up consistently around 1am, 3am & 6am but would only be fed at 3am. At both 1am & 6am I was able to use a pacifier to get him back to sleep in about 5 minutes. In this past week, his overnight pattern is still the same but the biggest difference is now he won’t fall back asleep even with the pacifier. Sometimes I let him cry for 5 min before burping him & giving him some water while still in his crib. Interestingly while he’s sitting up he doesn’t cry but the second I lie him back down he cries. Though I can calm him down with his pacifier & favorite toy to the point where he almost asleep, he seems to wake up 5 minutes later making it a vicious cycle. I feel horrible in that I have to tell my other half not to pick him up to soothe him to sleep or bring him to our bed, as I know it will only start a bad habit that I will need to break. Help! I’m not sure if the issue is caused by myself that I’m letting him fall asleep for the night while breastfeeding.....
However, I somehow get some ideas from the comments of your comment box here. Thank you for your blog.
Sandra
Just when I thought I had Natalia on a sleep routine and consistent schedule…::pop:: Yes, that is the sound of my happy little bubble being burst. Up until a month ago I was in heaven. Nat was going to sleep at 8:00pm, staying asleep at least 8 hours, waking up once to eat, and then sleeping another 3-4 hours. Getting the little one to drift off to sleep had become a snap as well. Bath time would start off our sleep routine about and hour and a half before bedtime. After that we play a little bit with dad, maybe read a picture book, and then I would give her one last feeding. Usually all of this would trigger her to relax and I could put her down in the crib drowsy but not asleep. Within ten minutes she’d be sound asleep. As I said, that happy little scenario is gone. For now at least. Getting her to drift off to sleep takes forever, sometimes she’ll wake just 2 hours after being put down. You get the idea, it’s like having a newborn again! Natalia is close to 5 months now, and I know I’m not alone in my sleep dilemma. It’s called 4/5 month sleep regression. Is it true? I don’t know, but it does seem to make sense. Basically this period in a baby’s development is a time of rapid growth, especially mental. Some experts reason that babies at this age are fast learning and “mastering” new skills. In my browsing for more info on the subject I found that it is believed that sleep is disrupted (or in my case hard to obtain) because baby’s brain is racing and focusing on getting a certain skill down. Such a skill may be grabbing objects, mastering holding that heavy head up, pushing up when on her tummy, or my little one’s new favorite – pulling herself up from sitting to standing. I guess it’s something that could be compared to an adult having trouble getting to sleep or tossing and turning because they’re worried about a deadline the next day. So I’m hoping we get back to our previous sleep schedule soon. Like I said, I feel like I have a newborn again. A very crabby one. Natalia’s new communication skill is grunting to show her displeasure. What’s a mom to do!? Just know if you too are having sleep problems with your 4/5 month old, you’re soooo not alone!
ReplyDeleteMama of Natalia
Sleep Training
ReplyDeleteWith the date looming of my inevitable return to work, Roland and I thought it was about time to see if we could get Rosalie to sleep through the night. Long story short:
I don't know what this thing is called, I don't know how much it costs, but it is an awesome invention. I bought her crib off of Kijiji and the guy left this thing on it, and it's kind of a pain to take off, so I understand why he left it. But thanks to him and thanks to Baby Einstein!!
This "fish" thing (The tiny aquarium) is Rosalie's method of putting herself to sleep. We've used this as a nightlight and part of our bedtime routine since she "outgrew" her sleep sheep (he was great for the heartbeat, and for the waves for a while, but then it just stopped working for her). I would turn this on right before I fed her her last feed before bedtime, then put her in her crib while it was still playing. It lights up, plays music and the little fishes rotate around it. It turns off after about 25 minutes of being on (it progressively gets quieter and less entertaining as time goes on). SO now, when I put Rosalie down for a nap, she cries for a bit (I think this is because of a mixture of not wanting to nap, and not being asleep already) then she smacks that big blue button on the front to turn it on, and then she's out cold within a matter of minutes.
Just so you can see how much light it throws out: The light on the wall is peeking through the curtains, but the light on the crib is from the fish thingy. Not too bright to keep her awake.
I have a feeling that rather than a blanket or a stuffed toy, this contraption may be transferred from her crib to her toddler bed, then her toddler bed to a real bed, then from that bed to her collage dorm. Whatever works! Right? ;)
This aquarium