It's really hard when your baby has slept through the night since 4 weeks old to run into some sleep issues. You have no clue how to handle the issues, you aren't a pro at dealing with it, and the lack of sleep isn't helping either initially. Brooke went through a 2 month period of up 4-6 times per night, and at least once staying up for 1-3 hours. this means, tired baby, tired mommy & daddy. But why wasn't she sleeping? What was it that all of a sudden made her change her sleep patterns and be up all night? Who will ever really know. We tried everything, sleep training, letting her cry it out, sitting with her till she fell asleep..and it was nearly a frustrating hour even to get her to sleep every night. it makes you feel like your not a good mother, you should know what is wrong with your child, you should be able to comfort them to make them sleep at night, that should be enough??
Although most mothers would love to believe this to be true, it isn't the case!
SO was it teething? a cold? nightmares? Some studies show that around the 1 year mark, babies can begin to have nightmares, of what I'm not certain. maybe childbirth is traumatizing, and they are reliving every moment of it, maybe the thought of running out of milk makes them wake up screaming. Whatever it is, my advice to sleepless mothers out there...stick to your gut, try and stay patient, and you will get through it.
We finally have made and stuck to a routine pretty closely in efforts to get Brooke back sleeping, and for the last 3+ weeks it has worked. She is going down better at night, maybe 5 minutes, and often on her own, and she is sleeping 12+ hours straight, and if she wakes up, she puts herself back to sleep. MY CHILD IS BACK! Here is another piece of advice...
BABIES NEED SLEEP TO SLEEP WELL.
Most people think that if you want your child to sleep at night, get them really tired so they are knocked out...this may be true for kids who are much older and no longer require naps during the day, but at 15 months, naps are so important. But its not that simple. there are no generic rules about napping for babies...every child is so different.
Brooke requires 2 hours of napping a day...anything more or less she is up in the night. Yes we have tried and tested this theory, trust me, Ive kept logs of her sleeping and waking up, and this is how we have come to this realization. You might think this is overkill...but after 2+ months of not one night of good sleep, I was ready to try just about anything to make it work...I have read book after book, and searched every website google has to offer...I took piece of everything, and created something that works for us. this is our routine.
7:30 pm we go upstairs and on the change table we go, Brooke gets a massage legs, feet and tummy to get that gas out just in case using lavender infant massage oil, then her diaper is changed, PJ's go on, we sit in her chair and read a storey, Jeff brings up her bottle, we sit in the dark and she drinks her bottle, then I lay her down, tell her I love her, and off to sleepy land Brooke goes!
We used to keep a night light in her room, more for my benefit in the middle of the night, however, since we have made it lights out in there, she has slept much better. Your eyes will adjust eventually!
Anyhow, knock on wood, I'm glad its over for now, she is much happier in the day, and I don't have anxiety all afternoon as bedtime approaches. If your having these issues, do whats right for you...don't just accept that your baby doesn't sleep, really and truly try and find something that works because a good nights sleep is important for mommy and daddy too! And how they sleep and fall asleep now, will shape them for the rest of their childhood.
Good luck.
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