4.5 month old is still sleeping in Mommy and Daddy's room.
4.5 month old does not go to sleep for the night until after 10:00 pm.
4.5 month old will only take catnaps when put to sleep in her bed.
Mommy and Daddy want her O-U-T.
Mommy and Daddy (especially Mommy) wants her to take GOOD naps during the day.
Suggestions?
11 comments:
Man, few things are worse than a sleep-deprived baby. Especially when they won't nap and give you a little time to accomplish stuff during the day. I actually have some advice. Do what you will with it.
Get her out of your room. She'll live. And you'll ALL sleep better. She can't move herself out, that's up to you guys. And when she takes a really short nap, leave her in her crib for a while after she wakes up. She may cry herself back to sleep, or she may just babble and amuse herself. If you need to, go check on her, make sure she's dry and such and then give her a kiss and say goodnight and then let her stay there for a while. She may cry, but eventually she'll start napping longer. Do you still rock or nurse her to sleep or do you let her settle herself down? If it's the former, she may not know how to soothe herself yet, so if she wakes up for some reason, she can't get back to sleep. You'll have to let her cry it out for a couple of weeks until she learns to get herself back to sleep.
Oh, and I find that if I'm vaccuuming and making other noise while Jules is settling down and falling asleep, I don't have to be quiet during her nap, but if she falls asleep when it's quiet, the littlest noise will wake her up.
She may be teething or having a growth spurt or something... Jules never sleeps well during those times. But she probably just needs to learn how to calm herself down. Does she at least sleep late when she goes to bed late?
Novel, much?
Wendy is right on. I know you are a little concerned about what affect the move to the crib and in with Aidan will be...but everyone will adjust. Go for it!
Amen to everything.
I also recommend reading "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer" I owe that book so very much.
Also, My babies slept in the same room for nearly a year and never woke each other when either of them wailed which I understand is pretty normal for room sharing siblings.
one thing that helped us... was to change chas' room around- that way he knew something was changing. (but it will be pretty obvious there is change if she isn't in your room). it does sound tough though. i also remember chas would sleep and sleep and as he got older he was cat napping. it was extremely frustrating... but when i cut a nap he took better naps. maybe it is time to taper? i don't know. i am so so sorry that you are having trouble. i am sure i'll have similar issues soon enough.
Another thought. You could try putting Emily in the crib first and keeping Aidan up a little later. After Emily has gone to sleep - and she will eventually, put Aidan in bed. Work through the daytime nap cycle the same way. You got Aidan to be a great napper and sleeper. You can do the same with Emily. Quoting an often used phrase from your father, "Remember who the parent is." You can do it!!
Thanks for all the great advice everyone. Emily is all over the place with falling asleep. Sometimes I can put her down wide awake and she'll fall asleep on her own without a problem. Other times she needs me to hold her binky in her mouth while she dozes off (she physically is unable to keep her binky in her mouth for whatever reason). Sometimes she can cry herself to sleep, sometimes it's the rocking chair. She goes down pretty good for her morning nap and she'll sleep for 45 minutes to an hour, but after that she's all over the place, cat napping here and there. I guess I need to just decide when she's going to nap and stick to it, like I did with Aidan (eventually). And get the hubby on board. He doesn't like to let her cry. :)
It would be helpful if Travis got on board with the plan. If you get started today, it's possible that by the end of the week she's sleeping in the crib and taking good naps. She should still be doing two or more naps a day. Remember - sleep begets sleep.
Try nixing the binky. I know how it must sound, but if she relies on it to sleep, once it falls out, she'll be up.
Your mom's idea about putting Emily down first is a good one, too. I've heard great things about "The Baby Whisperer", and I swear by "Baby- Wise". You can get them on ebay for a few bucks, or probably even at the library.
I've been thinking about taking away the binky for months. Yes, I realize she's only been on this planet for months, but it really is such a pain in the you know what having to keep it in her mouth for her. She doesn't wake up once it falls out, though. But binky nixing is up for consideration. We got rid of Aidan's binky at six months.
Things have been going fairly well. We're both sick right now, but she has taken to sleeping in the crib during the day and will usually go to sleep on her own. I even tried getting Emily and Aidan to take a nap at the same time in the same room today. It was mildly successful. Emily went down first, then Aidan. Then Emily woke up first and woke Aidan up, but Aidan went back to sleep. We're getting there.
I'm going to track down those two books.
Another great book if you're up for more reading is "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." That and "Baby Whisperer" have been life savers for me. By the way, Hi Annie this is Lizz Davis. I'm loving your blog!
Welcome Lizz! Looks like I have some serious reading to do. :)
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