Tired Mommy

Kaleigh - posted on 01/25/2009

Quoting Deena:

Stephanie, at the risk of sounding mean, try the Ferber method.  Back in early December I had open heart surgery which restricts me from lifting/holding my son.  During the day I have a nanny which is great, but once she leaves its just me and my husband.  My husbands works 12 hr days and refuses to have his sleep interupted, regardless of the reasoning.  My son started the night wakings too and I do the Ferber method.  I go in there, talk to him a little bit, rub his tummy or stroke his head, put the teething medicine on his gums then make a mad dash for the door.  Its simple and it works!  By going in there and picking them up it teaches them to cry until mommy comes in.  By limiting your contact with them it teaches them to be more independant.  I'm not saying it will work for you but its worth a shot.  Good Luck!

i do agree with the ferber method, when all the sleeping methods fail doctors, healthy babies, early childhood educators and most importantly many moms suggest it. I know many moms who used this method and most often it works, as for it being mean... it isnt even ask the experts. they say to let your baby cry for a bit (no longer than 20 minutes) before you go to them(unless they actually need something like a bottle or something) and when you do be reassuring but dont pick them up and dont linger for a long time in their room. and its true what they say about it teaching independance. children i know who have been "ferberized" now that they are older are the ones who will go and pick out their bedtime story and hop in to bed when they know they're tired. my son started the habit of crying until i went in and picked him up and then hed just start laughing and thats when i decided to do this method and it worked for me. it was a couple of nights where i had to go into his room but now once hes in bed he knows hes there until morning and im finding hes sleeping a lot better. hes also started jabbering in his crib for a while if he wakes up before 7 which is when i usually go get him and hes doing a lot better at occupying himself in general. whatever method works for you and your baby is the right one but i feel the ferber method has been given a bad rap so "at the risk of sounding mean"  I agree with Deena, try the ferber method.

Jennifer - posted on 01/24/2009

It is hard being so tired all the time.  My son has been waking up for a few months now, and we are trying all kinds of acid reflux meds to get it under control.  After a few months we became desperate, so against everything we ever promised, we started bringing him into bed with us on those nights that are just unbearable.  He hasn't made a habit out of it (yet!), but of course we worry he will.  Sometimes you have to just do something for yourself and worry about the consequences later.  As long as you are sleeping together safely, the worst that can happen is she will want it and you'll have to break the habit.  After losing so much sleep, though, I really believe sometimes you just have to bandaid the problem instead of trying to fix it. 

Also, I'm not trying to state the obvious, but have you given tylenol/motrin?  It should help with the teething pain a ton!

Deena - posted on 01/24/2009

Stephanie, at the risk of sounding mean, try the Ferber method.  Back in early December I had open heart surgery which restricts me from lifting/holding my son.  During the day I have a nanny which is great, but once she leaves its just me and my husband.  My husbands works 12 hr days and refuses to have his sleep interupted, regardless of the reasoning.  My son started the night wakings too and I do the Ferber method.  I go in there, talk to him a little bit, rub his tummy or stroke his head, put the teething medicine on his gums then make a mad dash for the door.  Its simple and it works!  By going in there and picking them up it teaches them to cry until mommy comes in.  By limiting your contact with them it teaches them to be more independant.  I'm not saying it will work for you but its worth a shot.  Good Luck!

Rachel - posted on 01/22/2009

thats got to be hard. my son is the same way. he slept thru the night at 10 days old and did that until about 4 months ago when his teeth started coming in. my husband is around so it's not as hard as your situation, but nights are pretty much just me(my husband works a very physical job and he has active Crohns Disease, so he needs lots of sleep). it gets so hard staying up most of the night, and the sleep i do get is broken up in 1-2 hour segments. i wish i could give you advice, but there's not much to say except, have patience and grace. i just wanted you to know that your not alone in that. is there anyone you can have watch her for the day, like once a week, so you can take naps and just rest? maybe that would help, my mom did that for me when my son was first born, and it helped alot then. good luck!