Does my baby have insomnia?

Nessy - posted on 06/03/2012

hi jill
i know exactly were your coming from my son slept at most 3hr intervals at night with feeds in between and i was luckly to get 2hrs per day nap time, at 15-16 months i couldn't do it anymore and sort help these are the things that helped me, give this a go if you like, and let me know how it goes. My son now sleeps from 7pm till 6.30am
1. buy a sigle bed doona ( you will need it anyway for when your daughter is older) and a sigle bed sheet. fold the sheet so it fits in the cot neatly then put the bed sheet over it tightly. so that they feel more snuggly.
2. buy a white board and a book called " SAVE OUR SLEEP" by TIZZY HALL and she will give you alternative routines . because i was so tired and fraustrated i went straight to the routine and read in between. when i could. but the book is great.
3. Make a routine on the white board and try to stick to it as best you can
3. i bought a cd called "PEACE BABY" it's really nice soothing music, i had my sterio in the lounge room and had to turn it up quite loud for the first few weeks but oh well the neighbours shouldn't mind.
what i also did in my routine was at no later the 5pm dinner, 6pm bath time ,6.30-645 bottle ,7pm bed time. i would put him straight to bed after his bottle still slightly awake just so he realised what was going on.
If they do cry (which mine did) she will tell you in the book what to do ,
It took about 3 an ahalf weeks in total and it also helped him transition into a big boy bed because he felt safe . It might take a little longer it might not
When i had my second i already had a routine in place for him as i didn't want to go thru the same hell and by 12 weeks he was sleeping through the night 6.30pm-700pm/-7am.
i hope this helps, and good luck
ness

Rachel - posted on 06/02/2012

We had that problem. What did we do? Pretty much lost our ever-lovin minds. You have my deepest sympathy. I tried everything. Eventually she outgrew it, but nothing I ever did (and I did plenty) ever amounted to anything. My advice is go into survival mode. Stop assuming your kid will sleep at night, and talk about a plan b for getting you guys some sleep. Of course, you may not be at the point of surrender yet. I'm only thinking what Id do different in retrospect.

Jill - posted on 06/02/2012

We have tried letting her cry it out (she just cries for hours straight), rocking her, nursing, not nursing, co-sleeping. We usually now just lay in bed with her while she plays, or if she's tired she tosses and turns all over the bed, until she falls back to sleep. If we are lucky we can pick her up and put her back in the crib but she often wakes up as soon as she hits the mattress and back to bed with her we go. I'm not a big fan of co-sleeping, I'm worried I'll roll on her or that she will get hurt somehow. Plus I just can't sleep well with her in bed.
I know some tots just wake frequently but everyone I've talked to has never had a baby stay up for such long stretches that frequently.

Kaitlin - posted on 06/01/2012

What do you do when she wakes up? Do you go in right away? Do you turn lights on? Do you feed her, or let her play, or pick her up out of her crib? You may be encouraging her to stay awake with whatever pattern you have- but maybe not. more info please ;)