Sleeping

[alotofyarn]

So the past 2 nights E has been a nightmare to get to bed. She's clearly exhausted and doesn't seem to be hurting (I gave ibuprofen last night, and she did the same thing), and she's nursed, so she's not hungry. She'll be fine when I'm holding her, but the second I put her in the crib, she screams bloody murder. She stops as soon as I pick her up and calms down, then starts again as soon as I put her down again. I can't hold her all night, and she doesn't fall asleep when I hold her either. I have no idea what to do with her when she does this.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

Is she learning to crawl? To pull up? I feel like when they're learning a new skill, it highly agitates them. D (same age as E) had a bad few weeks a little while back -- teething and learning to crawl. She would wake up bawling on all fours and scream until I cuddled her back to sleep.

I don't have much advice except to cuddle her, put her down and rub her back, and wait it out. These phases were generally short though they seem like complete agony when you're in the them. Just when I felt she was about to break me, she'd start sleeping better. Mine are complete sleep terrorists though, the big one didn't STTN until 14 months and little sister appears to be on the same trend. Maybe someone else has some more helpful advice.

But I feel you my friend, I feel you...

[scrub-jay]

Yup, development milestones mess with sleep for the week or two prior. It sucks, but after the milestone (or new skill) appears, the sleep settles out pretty quickly.

[moonlight]

Same here. The more she became aware of her surroundings, the more fussiness occurred. Seems like it would last only a few days, less than a week.

[ladymoreta]

Have you tried getting her to bed a little earlier? Maybe try moving her bedtime up by 15-20 minutes? She may be overtired. How many naps is she taking? You might compare her schedule to this sample: http://www.babysleepsite.com/schedul...baby-schedule/.

[alotofyarn]

She is working on crawling, and most likely teething - still no teeth broken through. I really hope this is a short phase. I thought we were doing so well when she slept for 10 hours a night a while back, and then she stopped and never started again. I miss that baby sometimes.

[MrsC]

Same here. The more she became aware of her surroundings, the more fussiness occurred. Seems like it would last only a few days, less than a week.

This is what's happening with us. C has cried more in the last few days than he did as a newborn. First he learned to sit up himself and this week he started to pull himself up to standing. He gets very fussy and clingy with developmental milestones. Sometimes they coincide with a growth spurt and all he wants to do is eat.
I've been letting him sleep in our bed after he wakes at 4 or 5am. He will sleep beside me with my arm around him. I don't sleep well but it's better than none. I hope it passes soon for you both!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

[alotofyarn]

LM - she's a terrible napper, although the last few days she's actually taken decent naps (1-2 hours). I get up around 6:30 and put her in the swing - sometimes she stays awake, sometimes she falls back asleep until I get her up to go to school at 7:30. Until this week, she has taken about 3 30 minute naps each day and we put her to bed at 7. I may try putting her down earlier though to see if that helps. I feel like nothing can hurt at this point. She nurses when she wakes, has breakfast around 8:30, bottle around 9:30, lunch around 12:30, bottle around 1:30, nurses around 4, dinner around 5-5:30, and nurses at 7 at bedtime.

[ladymoreta]

That could be it, then. She may be working on consolidating her naps, coupled with the crawling and teething. Not much you can do about the latter, except keep up the tylenol or motrin for a couple days and see if it helps (not just at bedtime - it is better to stay ahead of the pain) and give her lots of tummy time. I feel you on the good sleeping fake-outs. We're back to 1-2 wakings per night on average with DD, and she's 2.5 years old.

[alotofyarn]

From the Wonder Weeks app:

Fussy and irritable behavior around 29-30 weeks is not a telltale sign of another leap. E has simply discovered that her mommy can walk away and leave her behind. Funny as it may sound, this is progress. It is a new skill. She is learning about distance. The fussy phase that she is in now can last up to two weeks.

Fun times... I decided not to fight it last night. I was so exhausted, so when she woke up at whatever time, she just came to bed with me.

[alotofyarn]

Good night so far! I decided to try moving her bedtime up earlier to see how that worked out. I gave her ibuprofen at 6 when I started her bath. Afterward, I let her chew on a frozen teething ring while I read her a book. Then I nursed her and put her down, and she was out at 6:45. We'll see how the rest of the night goes...