Yep, that's what we've created with this little boy:
What's that? You can't believe that this sweet little face could possibly be any trouble? Well, really it's not his fault...
You see, before he got sick Dylan was a good sleeper. At night he'd wake up to eat but would go right back to sleep...sometimes he's even still be a little awake when I put him in his crib, but he'd drift off to sleep on his own. During the day, I would just rock him a bit to get him to sleep and when I'd put him in his crib he'd usually wake up a bit but would go back to sleep on his own, or with a little mattress jiggling by me. Now, he did start having a few problems just before he got sick, but we were working on them...
However, once he got sick we were willing to do whatever it took to make our little boy comfortable so he could rest and get better. The result was sleeping in his bouncer (with the vibrations on, which I tried to avoid if some naps were taken in it before this time) all night and for most naps. If he had problems napping, he would take his nap laying on one of us. Now I do believe all this good quality rest helped him get better fast, but now we're paying for it.
You see, since getting better (and we know he's better since the doctor checked him out and his night sleep has significantly improved), Dylan won't sleep in his crib...at all. I can have him sound asleep in my arms and after a few minutes in his crib he's WIDE AWAKE and grunting, which eventually leads to crying. Now, he won't even nap in his bouncer for more than 40 minutes at a time. I can put him in it still partially awake and he'll drift off just fine, but 40 minutes later (like clockwork) he's up and crying. He won't go back to sleep in the bouncer, but will fall asleep in my arms and I can put him back in his bouncer, but he won't sleep for more than 40 minutes at a time. The only way he'll nap for more than this is sleeping on one of us...and then he'll sleep for forever (meaning 2-3 hours) so I know he needs more sleep than he's getting.
Luckily at night he's getting better. Last night he only woke up once and the night before he actually slept from 9:30 PM to 5:30 AM (but that was after his shots which I think knocked him out so it doesn't count), but all of this sleeping is in his bouncer. I think I'm afraid to move him to his crib at night because he'll be waking up all the time...I'm hoping to try tomorrow night so that Shane doesn't have to go to work the next day in case it all goes terribly.
Today we're already on nap attempt #4. Here's how each nap goes: I rock him until he's very relaxed and usually asleep. I lay him in his crib. He stirs a bit but eventually falls asleep...about 5 minutes later (the longest so far today was 15 minutes) he starts grunting and about 10 minutes after that he's screaming. I'm currently letting him cry for about 10 minutes or so at a time to see what happens. Then I go in, put in his binky, and bounce his mattress for a bit to let him calm down, but he's usually crying again by the time I'm out the door. So we do this little dance until we've been trying for an hour and then I pick him up and we go play, eat, or change his diaper and wait to try again when he starts acting extra sleepy again (which is quite frequently now since he's pretty much a zombie). I really am trying to avoid resorting to the bouncer and I really don't want to let him sleep on me (even though I love it) because I know that won't help him get any better... Needless to say, I'm having an awesome day...
Whoever said you can't spoil a newborn obviously had never met Dylan... Wish us luck in the transition process.
2 comments:
Okay so I could swear you are talking about my Andrew. He did this EXACT same thing. I finally just always let him sleep in his bouncer because I was afraid to try the crib. But then one day he hated his bouncer, I tried the crib and he never went back. Eventually he just got uncomfortable being in the bouncer. Also, Babywise saved me because I had a set naptime and that helped him figure out the cues of when it's time to go down. If he is still doing it by like 4 months (which my sisters baby did) then just let him cry it out for 20 minute increments. He will catch on after like 3-4 days. Our Andrew "spoiling" happened when he was sick too. Babywise says to go back to "normal" as soon as you can tell they are better.
Good luck Jess!! I know how frustrating it can be, especially when you need to get stuff done during naps. Just be patient and go with your gut. Here's to sleeping nights and naps (in cribs;)).
I didn't know this until Cpc was like 8 months old, but it's very common for babies to sleep well until 3-4 months, and then have problems. That's when child abuse rates spike. Knowing that helped me a lot with being more patient with my own ability to deal with sleep issues.
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