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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

sleep is not happening

Gavin is not a good sleeper.  And we haven't been very good about "sleep training".  I've started writing this post at least 3 times and never finished or posted anything because his sleep habits change so frequently.

I know a little bit about what we need to do to get him to sleep because we did it with Emily and it worked, she's an awesome sleeper.  But with Gavin, it's different- totally different.  It's like he doesn't need sleep!

-- He goes to bed at 7:00 every night- we feed him to sleep- a big no, no in the sleep training world- I know this has to change.
-- He wakes up around 12:00 and has a bottle, goes back to sleep.
-- Then he wakes up at anywhere from 3:45- 5:30 and is up for the day.  Seriously- awake and WILL NOT go back down.  And if you try to keep him in the dark or keep him quiet all hell breaks loose.  Boy wants his toys and he doesn't care if it's 4am.

He only takes 2, 1 hour naps at daycare (sometimes less).

He won't take a paci and the only thing that will calm him down enough to go to sleep is a bottle.

We haven't been able to really let him "cry it out" because he is loud and Emily wakes up.

Any ideas?

Someone send help (and chocolate).

11 comments:

  1. Check out troublesometots.com -- hands down the best sleep resource out there. Non judgemental or fire & brimstone - just lots of good ideas. Good luck!

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  2. Wow, this reminds me of Avery. Less on the eating side and she did nap well, but the getting up for the day at 4:00am is soooo her. Avery was always a terrible sleeper, she would do it, just not for long periods.

    I wish I had better advice for you. There were two things that helped us. Age (she grew out of it at 18 months), I know that does not help you at all. And we turned the monitor down, so that we can only hear her if she is freaking out. But nothing less. Now she magically sleeps through the night (or if she doesn't we don't know about it) and she wakes up happy.

    If she is sick even in the tiniest way, we do turn the monitor up, as this isn't a time to sleep train.

    However, these were the only things that worked. That and tubes.

    I hope you get this changed soon. I know what it feels like to be exhausted before the rest of the world even wakes up.

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  3. Has he had his PE tubes put in yet? I know that helps with some kids. Did the ENT check his tonsils and adenoids too? Some kids with ear infections have enlarged tonsils and adenoids which contributes to sleep apnea which could be part of the problem (snoring is a major sign of tonsil an adenoid enlargement in both children and adults).

    Other than that, I've go nothing. I have no experience with this but do wish you the best of luck!

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  4. I really wish I had some good advice but instead I just wanted to say that I hope things start to turn around soon and hope someone else has some great tips for you! Poor you!! Waking up that early every morning must be exhausting. Lids doesn't tend to wake up really really early but whatever time it is that she decides she is up, she is up and there is no changing that, so I know that part isn't easy and really don't know how to change their mind :/ Like I said, hope he starts sleeping better soon!!! Hang in there!

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  5. Awwww - sorry to hear this. I can't add any advice, but I can provide sympathy. At least he's adorable - even at 4am.

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  6. Check andreadekker.com. She has a daughter who doesn't require a lot of sleep, and she may have some tips for you. She's not a parenting expert or anything, just a mom who might understand what you are going through. My advice would be to try pushing his bedtime back a bit further, maybe he'll take that bottle later, then sleep a bit longer? We opted to do the Babywise thing, more for the routine aspect. It's controversial, but we took the parts that we felt might work for our kids and were pleased with the results!

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  7. Ugh, I can't imagine how wearing and tiring that routine would be every day. Could you try putting him to bed a little later? Drake is very hit and miss with the pacifier, honestly I can't remember the last time he took it, which is the complete opposite of his sister. So when he cries in the middle of the night, I don't know what else to do other than feed him also. Luckily he's just done that this past week and I blame a cold/DST. But I told JJ I didn't like it b/c I feared he was going to revert to waking up every few hours to eat again. I really do think/hope the tubes will improve things for you guys. Fingers crossed, and let us know in a few weeks if it's gotten any better.

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  8. Sleep issues suck! Sorry that I don't have any advice for you. If you figure out a way to get G to sleep in a bit PLEASE let me know. We were all good until about 6 weeks ago. Now it's up between 5-6am 95% of the time (which I know it much later than G but still).

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  9. L. and A. share a room. Their cribs are five ft from each other. We let her CIO a bit this past month. L. slept right through it. I think it is like white noise at this point :) I was worried he would wake, but didn't. And trust me, little girl is a LOUD one. Hope things work out for you soon!

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  10. I wish I had good advice to share, except to maybe keep him up an hour or so later... my little girl has had similar problems (but only lately), and letting her stay up 30-60 minutes later has made all the difference, and she is sleeping through the night again... best of luck friend!

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  11. Hiiiii :) we were having MAJOR sleep issues over here for about a month or so.. Zack was staying up til 11:30pm ( which made my days LONG) and he kept waking up all throughout the night, then would be up for the day at 6:00am.. Finally, I knew I had to get tough ( I hate hearing him upset tho).. I decided after many failed attempts of trying to establish a new routine/schedule, that we just had to let him cry it out.. Omg, it was torture.. I set a bedtime for 9:00.. The first night he cried for 40 minutes :( it was heartbreaking.. He woke up at 2:30am and self soothed, took him 2minutes to fall back asleep.. I watched the clock so closely because I hated hearing him cry.. The 2nd night, he cried for 15 minutes.. Slept all night.. The 3rd night, he cried for 2 minutes.. We're a few weeks in, and he's going down just fine without crying, and sleeps all night.. He knew we'd run in and get him every time he cried, so we had to break that habit.. My advice wouldn't necessarily be CIO, but to establish a routine, and stick to it.. Babies are smart, and they'll eventually get the new routine :) good luck!!

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