7 month old ex colic with 4pm bedtime?
ByHi, I really need some help please! My 7 month old wakes up every day between 4 and 5 am cheerfully. I feed him and then leave him along
because I think most babies wake up at this time adn will go back to sleep after a while. That’s what he used to do but now he stays awake for an hour or so and when he gets tired he starts to scream like crazy sometimes for an hour just to go back to sleep for 15 or 20 minutes.
I hate letting him cry, but honestly, nothing I do calms him. He wont go to sleep breastfeeding, rocking, patting,shushing, not next to me in bed, nothing.
When he wakes up again at 6 or 6:30 am he is already tired and grumpy to begin with. When I put him down for his morning nap, no matter if at 7, 8 or 9 he will yawn, maybe rub his eyes,
but the second I put him down in his crib he is wide awake again. He’ll play for a little while and when he feels that sleep is overcoming him he starts crying hysterically. The only thing that calms him is taking him out of the crib, but then he is still tired, fussy and miserable to be around and he wont take a nap all day, and if at all he will nap 15 minutes after one hour of crying. After noon he is so tired that he only wants to be held all the time he cries a lot, has no patients for toys or people, is hyperactive and inattentive.
I then start counting the hours until 4 pm when he will just go off to sleep without fuss. He really still needs his late afternoon nap, but there is no way I can get him to sleep even for a minute after 12pm. I know he needs a later bedtime, but I cant keep him up he is overtired all afternoon.
I read Dr. weissbluth’s book and loved it. When my little one was 5 1/2 month I did CIO for the night (he used to wake up every hour to nurse, I was cosleeping out of neccessity) and it worked sooo well.
I discovered that he slept much better without me, he hardly cried, it was jsut really light protest and I thought CIO was great. As Dr. Weissbluth metioned, after learning how to sleep my LO wanted to sleep most of the time, I would put him to bed pretty much every hour
and he’d sleep for 40 minutes each time. But then we had visitors and since they arrieved, no naps at all unless with lots of crying and waking up every two hours again after sleeping through the night for one month. I can’t do the CIO again,
this time he cries really really hard and he doesnt stop, I am scared he wont sleep all night if I dont go in to him.
I cry when he is in his room crying and there is nothing I can do for him to calm him down, I feel like a big failure and I am superclose to having a real big burn out. Please someone tell me what to do!!!!
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4 Comments
April 28th, 2010 at 5:58 am
Maybe it’s just a phase. My son was like that for the past month and a half, and now finally he’s starting to sleep regular. It was SOOO hard but I just kept a real STRICT schedule. At a certain time I’d wake him up, feed him, play with him, then nap time. after that he’d eat again, play again, take him a bath & get him ready to go to sleep.
don’t start thinking negative because he can get the sense of how you feel which could be another reason why he’s acting up. Just be patient
April 28th, 2010 at 6:20 am
Im sorry to read this. We have a little one that fights sleep during the day and I have found the only thing that does calm him is his swing. He will sleep tho but only for the 10-15 minutes.. But he is teething so I know the cause (or atleast thats what I think lol). Just take one day at a time and know that it does end. Also not to sound rude but I have never been a fan of the CIO method maybe you need to look into new methods. I co-slept with my eldest son and still do (he is only 2) and its the best thing we ever did however my new son (5 months) hates to be in our bed so not everything works.
Good Luck
April 28th, 2010 at 6:47 am
poor you! it sounds as if your having a really tough time.
it will probably take some time to re-train you little ones sleeping habits and get him in to a good routine so have you got the support of someone to help you?
do you think that your little one may have developed a bad sleep association?
i think what i would be tempted to do (although i am no expert) is start off working from the 4pm bedtime, how about turning that in to a nap for say 2 hours and then waking him up for a play, food, bath and then bed at say 8 or 9 pm.
this in turn may have a knock on effect with getting up in the morning and you may see that time creeping forward eventually, i dont think it will happen straight away but my health visitor said it takes one week to alter sleeping patterns and to be persistent, i have a 14 week old and have been trying to get my own routine sorted.
if the fuss is down to a sleep association you could try moving your babys cot to a different place in the bedroom or swap the end which he sleeps to break the pattern?
like i said tho i am no expert, i did read a good book called the contented little baby book which i thought was really good, you could see if there are any suggestions in there.
good luck x
April 28th, 2010 at 7:40 am
4 pm is WAY too early