Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Saved Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Flip

Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler.

Sleep

my 7 month boy goes to sleep ok but won't stay asleep

15 replies

suss · 19/08/2005 20:16

my 30 week boy used to sleep very well at night (up until about 3 weeks ago) but his day time sleep has always been variable. We sleep trained him quite young and has no difficulties going to sleep but he keeps waking up. the more his night time sleep is disturbed by him waking (we don't have to go in) the more overtired he becomes and there is a vicious circle begining to emerge. He is becoming increasingly unhappy and I am worried that his sleep deprivation is causing him harm. He naps at about 9am for anything between 30mins and an hour and then again after lunch between 12.15 and 12.30 if he wakes up after 3omins that is the nap over. I can leave him in his cot for well over 2hours he won't cry but he won't sleep either. I have read healthy sleep habits, happy child, gina ford, tracy hogg and every other book under the sun please is there anyone out there who has the same problem or who can offer any enlightenment. i am desperate

OP posts:

Report

hermykne · 19/08/2005 20:43

suss
sometimes around this age they go thru an unsettled sleep phase. it could last a week or a month, its natural imo, and quite a few mumsnetters seem to hae gone thru the same thing.
i would keep the 9am nap to 30 mins, strectch him as long as poss to 12.30 for his lunchtime nap, if he wakes after 30/40mins, leave him and see if he resettles, if he is happy to lie there leave him.

those naps would suggest he goes down at night round 7pm, maybe push that to 7.30 but keep the morn up time the same, that might alter the lunch time nap.

lack of sleep presently will cause him no harm.

my ds had a similar phase and it passed, at the time, it seemed like forever.

Report

hermykne · 19/08/2005 20:44

another thing?
how are his solids intake? is he pooing ok or could that be causing a bit of discomfort in his tummy/intestine/bowel?

Report

suss · 20/08/2005 08:36

he eats v well and has no problem pooing atleast twice a day. he usually goes to bed between six thirty and seven depending how tired he is and how well (badly) he has napped. I will try and limit his morning nap to 30 mins and see what happens. I do leave him when he wakes in his lunchtime nap and yesterday he just babbled and kicked for two hours before having a v brief nap. last night he woke 3 times between 11pm and 5am. I am so knackered I actually didn't hear him the second time my husband did! thanks for the reassurance though - i'll let you know how it goes

OP posts:

Report

mumtosomeone · 20/08/2005 09:07

I wouldnt reduce his naps at all. let him sleep naturally when he wants to. He will settle eventually! Stopping him from sleeping will cause overtiredness then he wont be able to sleep!
just my opinion!!!

Report

highlander · 20/08/2005 09:08

teeth?

DS wakes about a million times a night for 2 weeks before his teeth emerge.
Torture.

Report

hermykne · 20/08/2005 13:56

m2someone, not reducing just strategically placing naps
my ds naps for 30mins at 9/9.30 and is usual snoring when i lift him, but he comes round and then sleeps for 2hrs at noon/12.30. gives me lots of time to get things done and play a little with dd, and he's in ggod form all afternoon til bed (unless teething)at 7/7.30.

he's done this pattern since about 5/6 months.
sometimes he only napped for an hr at noon other times heslept on after 2hrs.

but he sleeps all night, practically in the same position.

Report

mumtosomeone · 20/08/2005 17:22

ok..if it works for you. mine sleep when they want. usually 2 to 3 hours in the morning and upto an hour before tea.

Report

suss · 20/08/2005 19:41

if i let him sleep when he wanted to he would never want to sleep. he has no stop button i have to put him in his cot or car seat (when travelling) to make him go to sleep, he used to sleep in his pushchair but not for long and now I'm not sure he would nap for a good length of time. he has been like this since he was six weeks old, when even seven midwives at my six week check couldn't get him to go back to sleep. So unfortunately planned naps seem to be the only way! I was going to be this relaxed mother and my child was going to sleep anywhere - but I didn't bank on having a son who doesn't stop! I don't mind how much or little sleep he gets as long as he is happy and healthy but at the moment he isn't.

OP posts:

Report

Yanka · 21/08/2005 11:57

Just started having a similar problem with DD (17 weeks). She reduced her morning (8.30) nap to 45 mins - used to sleep about 1.5 hours but now wakes up after one sleep-cycle and won't settle. It is then such hard work to keep her awake and entertained until 11.30 when she goes down for her afternoon nap (usually 2 - 2.5 hours, with 1 or 2 wakings in between when I have to resettle her). I wouldn't mind that much that she is a bit grumpy as I believe she is quickly going to adjust to her new self-induced day routine, but she now also wakes at 3, 4, 5 and 6 am (not always all of those, but sometimes 3, sometimes 4, sometimes 3 and 5, etc. both me and DH are getting very tired but have no idea how to deal with her - hopefully it's just a phase that will pass...

Report

suss · 21/08/2005 19:52

Hello yanka I hope ds is going through a phase too - broken nights after getting sleep seems worse than the complete tiredness when he was small. today he did well 45mins am and 1hr 3/4 after lunch. Has your dd just dropped her late afternoon nap because my ds naps went out of the window when the 4 - 5pm nap went. I think he wanted it back and thought if he shortened his other naps it would come back. His daytime naps have been suffering since but it is only recently it has begun to affect his night sleep. Good luck

OP posts:

Report

Yanka · 22/08/2005 16:48

We had a huge drama last night when DD wouldn't settle to sleep no matter what we did - no matter how much we shh-patted her, she just screamed (refused the dummy altogether). We managed to settle her after about 1 hour and - surprise - she slept through the night without a sound (of course, I didn's as I was up every hour since 3am to see if she wakes up )

The morning nap seems to be getting even shorter (45 mins originally, now we are down to 35 mins...) Lunchtime nap is a nightmare with two to three breaks between the sleep cycles. The only predictable nap is the late afternoon one - she sleeps for half an hour either in her buggy or in the vibrating bouncy chair.

DH and I have agreed that if things don't improve this week, we will give P.U. /P.D. a try

Good luck suss!

Report

suss · 22/08/2005 21:59

she's probably overtired - its all a vicious circle i'm afraid. once they start not sleeping well then their sleep just gets worse . You just have to keep putting them down and hope that they sleep well that night or nap and it has a knock on affect. DSwoke three times last night but has done well today 45mins am and 1hr 40 after lunch but I take nothing for granted! I have to admit to being rather mean about his sleep training as we let him cry it out at about three months - yes I am an evil mother - but one night he was just crying so much ( for nearly an hour) and every time I comforted him(PU/PD) he got more and more wound up so I put him in his cot and shut the door - 20 mins later he was asleep he has never cried more than 20 mins since. I cried outside his door when I did it. I know this method is very unpopular but i have friends who did controlled crying and they said it was a very painful week or more and there was a lot more crying. good luck with the PU/PD! I hope it works for you if not I suggest you get a book called healthy sleep habits happy child by Dr marc Weissbluth - its quite a tome but it makes a lot of sense.

OP posts:

Report

suss · 23/08/2005 14:08

after two days of good datime sleep and one ok night my ds decided to wake up at his naps after half an hour. It seems that he will nap to cure cronic tirdness and then go back to his bad habits. I have left him in his cot for 45 mins now in the vain attempt that he will go back to sleep. he is not even crying just moaning every now and a gain. I am trying to exhaust him with the bouncer and making him roll over a zillion times. Please tell me this gets better he's not yet crawling I hope this will knacker him because I am exhausted, not from the lack of sleep but the constant attention he requires to get him through the day when he is overtired and all the holding a carrying to stop him descending into complete meltdown.

OP posts:

Report

Yanka · 23/08/2005 14:17

It sounds like you have my lo's twin there - her lunchtime nap which is supposed to be 2 hours usually takes 3 hours - not because she sleeps for so long, but because she takes it in 2 -3 'installments' with 30-45 mins breaks in between when we are desperately trying to re-settle her. Today I went into her bedroom a few minutes before her first usual 'up' time so that I was there ready to re-settle straight away - still didin't help and we took half an hour before she would settle herself again

We also find bouncer very useful - keeps her from grizzling for at least 10 minutes...

Report

suss · 23/08/2005 19:59

DS won't settle this pm - I know its because he hasn't slept enough today. we are supposed to be going away on holiday on thurs - to stay with my father- first time since DS was born. My dad isn't what you call tolerant and I am getting a bit stressed about the whole thing - my mum died two years ago and its all a bit difficult going home I just wish my DS would surprise me and sleep better.