Bedtime Advice Needed

I have just spent the last 3 plus hours fighting with Noah to go to sleep. At 7 pm he started to get ratty so I brought him upstairs to go to sleep. We have no set sleep routine at the moment as I have found it nigh on impossible to get him into one. So...he fights the sleep and fights it, he thrashes around in my arms, he cries and screams in the co-sleeper, I try pick up put down, I have a white noise machine. I bring him downstairs, I give him another bottle...he sleeps for 2 minutes...as soon as I put him down BAM he is awake and crying...so now its 10 pm...I have had enough, I bring him downstairs again so I could look at the internet...and what do you know, he crashes and he is asleep.

So...now at 9 weeks I really need some advice on how to get him to sleep. He does nap during the day, but we are so busy doing so many different things to get us out of the house, I am afraid that he is not getting enough sleep in the day. He will not nap in the evening and is such a grotty creature until he crashes, thats the only way I can get him to sleep. When he is asleep though, he is asleep for a good long time. I have been letting him crash at around 10 lately and he has been sleeping until 5 am...

Help us!

edited to say:
a - I am five hours ahead oh NY in case you are confused
b - no sooner did i write that he was asleep but he was up again and now, at 10.50 pm...he is dozing in my arms

Message edited 3/16/2006 5:52:12 PM.

Re: Bedtime Advice Needed

I have really no advice as my babies go to bed at like 10:00 every night - most of the time they don't sleep through the night. And they are 5 1/2 months old!


ETA::::

Message edited 3/16/2006 7:49:27 PM.

Re: Bedtime Advice Needed

Try reading "Healthy Sleeping Habits, Happy Child" by Weissbluth (sp?). It really helped me put Nate on a napping and bedtime routine. He was about 11 weeks when I started using recommendations from the book.

Maybe start an evening routine like bath/massage, nursing/bottle, story and then bed. It might help wind him down. Do at the same time and place and in a couple of weeks he'll start to respond to it.

Good Luck!

Re: Bedtime Advice Needed

I know that for us our routine is everything! But still she has really rough nights sometimes. I dont know what to suggest--- just that it eventually does get much better.

BTW I forgot that you lived in England till the bottom of the post and thought it was so funny that you used the word "ratty" -- my FIL was born and raised in Liverpool and he describes Emily as ratty whenever she's cranky -- and you're only the second person I've ever heard use that term!!

Re: Bedtime Advice Needed

Posted by steph4777


Maybe start an evening routine like bath/massage, nursing/bottle, story and then bed. It might help wind him down. Do at the same time and place and in a couple of weeks he'll start to respond to it.

Good Luck!

Re: Bedtime Advice Needed

At 9 weeks we were still bouncing Miranda to sleep on the exercise ball. I think you just need to keep trying and give it time. I think things got better as far as getting her to sleep around 3-4 months. She does still wake several times a night but getting her to bed is a breeze.
Do you swaddle him?

Re: Bedtime Advice Needed

Thanks everyone for your help. Last night was a total disaster...he woke up every hour or so and just lie in his crib whimpering,so I let him whimper after I realized that he wasn't hungry....so we woke up at 9 am. Got dressed quickly to go make our Friday 10.30 breakfast date...and waited there for an hour...turns out I slept through the phone call from my friend telling me that she was sick and wasn't going to come out to breakfast...blah blah blah.

Then went to the supermarket, which was full of people standing in my way...etc etc. Now through all this Noah has been fast asleep in the car seat waking only to have a quick bite/poo combination. Thats the life.

We don't swaddle him because he likes to **** on his fingers and he goes crazy if he can't reach them. I have tried, but its not for him. He likes to be held by his mother. I wound up sleeping with him on my chest for around an hour last night.

So here is the plan for tonight...we are going to have a chinese takeaway, watch American Idol and all the while keep Dr. Noah up until he drops (which will hopefully be around 10ish)

As they say in the NorthWest of England...Bloody Hell my love.

Rachel & the very sleepy Noah

Message edited 3/17/2006 8:43:51 AM.