This kid doesnt sleep!

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   StevenPayneposted 13 years ago

   Rebecca marks baby number five for the Payne clan and she is the last. She's almost ten months old and she fights sleep worse than any we had before her......I might just be out of practice but man O' man, I am...I am exhausted of the humming and crying in stead of the sleeping. and as I write this she throws her binky over the crib and starts to cry again....

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      couturepopcafeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Nutrition issues.  You're an experienced mother.  Check out what she's eating or not eating.  May have wheat allergies, milk allergies, not enough carbs, too much sugar, whatever.  Also ADD babies behave this way but at that early age, you can likely cure her before she's diagnosed and medicated.  Don't let that happen.

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      Wendy Bradyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      When is Rebecca taking her last nap of the day?  The last nap of the day can affect how she sleeps at night.  Is she making up for the nighttime lost sleep during the day with additional naps?  If so, then you will have a rough few days by limiting her naps to 2 a day in order to make sure that she is tired enough at night to sleep.
      
      But I also agree with another post here that says to look into the diet.  My child has severe food allergies that I was fortunate in being able to identify right away.  Mild allergies can cause tummy troubles that do not allow her to sleep.  GERD is one of the most undiagnosed problems among infants and should be considered if she has always had this sleeping problem.  If GERD is an issue, then the acid could be causing her pain when she lays down, which means no sleep!
      
      Good luck to you!

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      Torys Tenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You're the mother five. You and the child will survive this one way or t'other. I have eight children. All eight of them spent their first two years in our bed. My wife breast-fed them and this way she could feed them and get some sleep too. The youngest is five and the oldest twenty-five. They are all happy and healthy. Now my wife and I have our bed to ourselves. I like it. But we did survive the other experience.

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      toddlerbedposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You should try winding her down very early , everyone in the house starting to wind down early would be good too. Starting early getting her prepared to sleep. And omitting an evening nap always helps! Good luck!

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      Juzaminposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Have you done the night bath and baby massage routine yet? I find that babies really get comfy best after they have a nice, warm massage.   I believe, for them to drift off into sleep, the comfort factor is high on their list. If they get all warm and snugly, and with a bit of soft background music to lull them, something even and rhythmic, they do drowse off eventually.
      
      Hang in there!

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   lrohnerposted 13 years ago

   My first child was a rock-solid sleeper -- 12 hours per night, every single night. My second child never slept. Ever. She's 23 now. It hasn't changed very much. Hang in there.
   
   She doesn't have ADD, allergies or anything else. It's just the way her body works. She's now a college graduate working as an elementary schoolteacher. All three of my kids had different sleep patterns when they were babies, and 20-some-odd years later, the patterns haven't changed.

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   shoganposted 13 years ago

   Hang in there, SP.  Same here...the youngest fought sleep harder than any of the others.  I believe they're just hard-wired a certain way.  Of course, look into nutrition, etc., but my guess is you're dealing with hardware, not software. 

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   Lisa HWposted 13 years ago

   There's the chance, maybe, that with all those other children in the house her days are a little more stimulating or frazzling than the younger kids' days were?  Is there the possibility she's allowed to have longer naps than the other babies did?  If someone tries to help her calm down, by, maybe, bringing her off to a quieter, darker, room and rocking back and forth, and maybe singing to her; that the rest of the house has too much activity not to let her tune it all out?  Just some thoughts about possibilities.

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   edueckposted 13 years ago

   Hi Steven.
   Have you changed some thing in the room? some times kids react to a change in their surroundings.
   For my son he had to have his teddy bear to sleep with. I remember one night he had been at the grand parents for the weekend. Lo and behold we forgot his teddy bear it was Ten PM when grandpa drove an hour to our place to bring his bear.
   My daughter got a new bed and we took some of her blanks away and again a restless night.
   So some times a small change can make the differences it can even be a smell. They have to have their comfort zone if that has change then it affects them.
   
   My son still at age twelve plays with some toy until he falls asleep and the light has to be on in his room.
   We have always had a light on in the house if they had to go to the bathroom. My wife was a roamer I would get up some times in the middle of the night.

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   StevenPayneposted 13 years ago

   Cutting teeth again found it this morning after she bit into her morning bottle. That explains the erraticness the past few nights, hopfully tonight goes better since it came thru.

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   leahleflerposted 13 years ago

   Thank goodness it was just teething! My kids were always really late teethers and we would be very confused when they started getting very cranky.. then a tooth would pop up! Nolan was so late with the teeth that we thought he might never get them all, lol! He finally got his two year old molars at the age of 3, so all is well.
   
   We also have a refluxer with severe central/obstructive sleep apnea, so he never sleeps. But that is fairly unusual.. most kiddos just have tough phases through teething or have a cold coming on. I hope your little one sleeps now that the tooth is in!

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      StevenPayneposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Like a baby, now im the one up. But Im coughing and nursing a head cold tonight so it is what it is I guess.

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         Lisa HWposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Any chance you're getting your wisdom teeth?       Wisdom teeth can cause a lot of problems.  (I'm not assuming you're 20.  People in my family get them in their thirties. )  For awhile there, my three kids and I were one, big, group of tooth-sprouting/tooth-losing  folks. 

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            StevenPayneposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            ha, yeah i had mine out when i was 17. I also had to have four moulers pulled because my teeth are so big!

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   Kathryn LJposted 13 years ago

   Some children need very little sleep, which is horrible for their parents but perfectly natural.  My son only slept for three hours a night.  He's 28 now and still  needs the same small amount of sleep  only now, he finds something constructive to do with all that awake time.  If it's any consolation, ( and it wasn't for me,) children who don't sleep tend to have a very high IQ.  Hang in there, you may have an Einstein on your hands!

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   lorie35posted 13 years ago

   As a mother of five myself I understand exactly what you are going through.  My youngest is going on 6 months right now and I am trying to avoid what happened with the my three year old, which may be what you are experiencing right now.
   
   When Rachael was about the same age as your child is right now I went through the same thing. We looked into her diet.  It was fine.  We tried changing her napping, this resulted in a more tired, cranky baby and mommy.
   
   At last I broke down and went to the pediatrician.  Scared that there was something wrong with my child I explained how she wouldn't sleep at night.  I had her in my bedroom, but luckily I had learned from the first two and had her in her own bed.  I waited, worrying about his reply.  He smiled, shook his head and said: "this is your fault".  This turned into a lengthy conversation and a lot of tears-on my part.
   
   Long story short this is what we did, and it worked.  It didn't work every night (even as adults we wake up through out the night-so sometimes we had to do it over again-which again was my fault).  Here is the broken down short version:
   
   1st night:  We gave her a bath and baby message with lotion.  Read 2 picture books, and put her in her crib.  She cried.  I stood outside the door, anxiously waiting.  Five minutes passed.  I went in and comforted her for a minute, rubbing back, soothing voice..did not pick her up.  Went back out and waited 10 minutes and repeated the comforting measures.  And so on till she fell asleep.  She woke a few times during the night and I did the same comforting and leaving the room.
   
   2nd night: Same bedtime routine, bath, books, crying, comforting, waiting 10 minutes the first time, 15 minutes the second and so on.  She woke in the middle of the night again, and the same there as the night before, but extended the length of time before going in her room.
   
   3rd night: The second night was easier than the first, so I was hopeful that tonight would be even better.  Did the same routine, bath, book etc. Stepped outside the door and closed it waiting for the crying to begin.  It did, but only for a few minutes and she went to sleep.  She woke in the middle of the night, but again went to sleep before I went into the room.
   
   This is not easy to do.  Others in the household will probably be woken up.  We chose to do this on the weekend to keep from having cranky children in school, and cranky adults at work.  The first two nights are the hardest and after about 4 days she would go right to sleep with out crying at all.
   
   A regular routine will allow the baby to know what is happening next, giving your child the chance to wind down and get into sleep mode, and give that little "extra attention" from mom or dad. 
   
   By going in and checking that they are not wet, sick, or in pain and comforting with out picking them up, it gives a child the assurance that you are coming back and they learn to comfort them self.
   
   If you do not stick to this routine or if your child becomes sick and they get more attention than usual you will have to start over again from scratch.  You will have to trade off a couple of nights of crying for many more nights that you will get some sleep yourself!
   
   Making sure that your child has no underlying medical conditions, or food allergies, is something that you do need to address before doing this.  If there are no underlying causes for this behavior it could be something as simple as this:  You have four other children who all demand your attention.  Your baby may see this as one on one time with mommy or daddy where there is no competition for attention. 
   
   I hope this helps.  Good luck and sweet dreams!

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      IzzyMposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Lorie, this advice is spot on! It is difficult to do, but it works a treat

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         lorie35posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks IzzyM.  I have 5 kids from 13 years to 5 months.  (And 5 years as a behavioral specialist working with children and teenagers helps too!)

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