Friday, August 12, 2011

A Sleep Deprived Mommy's Plea for Help

Let me start by saying that my children are my reason for living. I love them more than air and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. That being said, if my sweet baby boy doesn't start sleeping soon I may check myself into Guantanamo Bay just for a little relaxation.
Phillip has never been much of a sleeper. From the day he was born he has been up every hour to 2 hours every night. I've talked with the pediatrician and followed all of his advice. I've tried letting him cry it out and refused to nurse at night. Nothing helps! He is one of those charming little babies that throws up when he cries too hard.

Daddy and Philly during one of our sleepless nights.  


The last week or so, he has added insult to injury by refusing to nap. At. All. I still put him down at his scheduled nap times and let him cry in the hopes that he will give up and go to sleep. No dice. True to form, he cries until he throws up.
I've been dealing with sleep deprivation for almost a year and I thought I could just push through it. My thoughts changed yesterday when I almost fell asleep driving home with all 3 of my precious treasures in the back of the van.
I am calling out to my amazing readers out there and begging for your help. Have you been through this? Do you have a magic technique to get your kids to sleep?

14 comments:

  1. I don't know if there is anything you haven't already tried but I'll still give some advice :) We had a little hammock meant for kids that mine slept in. They'd wake up and start crying and I'd just push the hammock and they'd fall back to sleep. You just cushion it with a blanket and tie it up at the top so they don't roll out of it. It's very safe, there's no chance of them getting hurt so you don't need to worry about that :) My son liked to play with my hair while he slept. He'd rip a lot of hair out but he'd sleep without waking up crying. My youngest loves her blankie so she always has her blanket to sleep with. So I don't know if there's maybe a blanket, stuffed animal or your hair he likes but whatever is his favorite thing, put him to sleep with it. I hope you're able to find some way tp make him happy :) Good luck!!!

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  2. You poor thing, my heart goes out to you, my twins were like this for 9 months, thankfully I didn't have any older kiddos to look after.

    Eventually we had to get professional help, nothing major, just sometimes talking it through with someone else can highlight something.

    We did what some call the disappearing chair, one parent, has to be same one every night, will sit next to the cot when baby is put down for the night, no real talking, just reassurances that mummy / daddy still there. Do not pick up, no matter how hard (unless of course in danger), eventually baby should realise that parent isn't going anywhere and fall asleep. Gradually you move the chair away from the cot and nearer to the door, until you are just outside the door. The next stage you just peak back in the room every 5 minutes or so, reassure baby then go. Eventually baby should come to realise that mummy and daddy are just the other side of the door and not disappearing!

    The whole process took just over a week, the first night they cried for about 2 hours and it gradually decreased until we could settle them for the night and they would fall asleep themselves.

    This worked wonders for us, was horrendous to do, which is why hubby had to sit with them, think they also realised he wasn't as soft a touch as me!

    Hope you find something to help, I can still remember those days, so tired I'd cry when it was time to get up!

    Oh, and a night light and musical thingy seem to help, we have a couple that spin around with a kinda story on the ceiling.

    Fingers crossed your all getting some good nights sleep soon x

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  3. Sorry, just seen how long my comment is, opps!

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  4. I love you and I am sorry. Crying it out sucks, your neighbors don't help that much. Cadence had to cry for almost 4 hours at a time in the beginning but she still woke every few hours.
    We found out Cadence needed the temp in her room adjusted. She is a warm person,and sleeps best in 78-80 degrees. To avoid the whole house being a sauna,she has a child/pet safe heater. Cool to the touch with auto off if tipped or picked up. We also have ALWAYS put her to bed with her 3 'lovies' the blanket buddy, the wubbanub, and her musical seahorse. We are putting off weening her wubbanub off of nights simply because I need sleep.

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  5. I feel for ya!! You do need to get some sleep sometime. Maybe when your hubby gets home you can take a nap. To get the babe to sleep I am not sure. After 5 little ones all I can say is that they are all so different. You really need to find out what works for him. One of my kiddos did well with just crying it out. One of them didn't and need to sleep with hubby and I for a while. He is 2 and still when he feels like he hasn't gotten enough attention in a day he will come to sleep with us at night. My sisters boy ended up being allergic to milk and wouldn't sleep at all! She had to cut all dairy out of her diet for a few weeks (still nursing) and then he got better. I wish I knew some fantastic magical way to help them/you get their sleep. All the kiddos do have a blanket or stuffed animal that they love. My 10 month old wont go to sleep with out her teddy bear to snuggle with. I don't know if any of this helped. I hope you get a nap today! :)

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  6. Maybe try peppermint and lavender essential oils in a diffuser in addition to the disappearing chair. Both are great at calming and relaxing.

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  7. This might sound really strange but take him to a chiropractor. When I first had Sylas I went cause my neck hurt and I couldn't turn my head. Well while I was there he told me that once he starts sleeping though the night or if we start having a problem with colic to bring him in and see if he needs adjusted. The week before last Sylas started waking up every hour through the night and I was starting to get extremely cranky and lose my patience, which I have very lit of to begin with, so I took him in. He was adjusted and has went back to sleeping though the night. Some people are against them, but me personally know that i havn't been injured and the one I go to doesn't crack and pop you like they used to and it helped me. My sister in law has been taking her daughter since she was a baby, and she is almost a year old. It might be worth a try since you have tried everything else.

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  8. I know what you're going through! Our son would cry to the point that he would throw up too. After many doctor appointments we finally found out that he had acid reflux, even though I nursed! He was in so much pain and that was the reason for his crying all the time. I continued to nurse, however the doctor put him on a prescription medicine to reduce the acid reflux. After about a month, it was like a miracle! He stopped crying and rarely threw up. He was on the medicine for almost a year then we weaned him off and he has had no problems since. I hope this helps because I know how hard it is. If you need to talk, my email is on my blog. Take care :)

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  9. I hear you! I went through the same thing with my little guy! I tried everything and then at 17 months old he just started sleeping through the night! I nursed him until 18 months because it was just easier to feed him! I am convinced he has a high metabolism and was just hungry, despite pediatricians telling me otherwise. I thought I would never sleep through the night again! But now I barely remember what it was like! :)

    As far as naps, UGH! I would suggest that you start putting him to bed at night earlier. Start at 30 hour to an hour early. It sounds like the poor guy is exhausted. By putting him down earlier he will hopefully get into a deeper sleep before being woken up, which will help him sleep longer. Good luck, mama!!

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  10. I am so sorry to hear that! We had a no-sleeper, too, for a while. But turns out it was due to medical reasons- she had a dairy allergy and acid reflux. So once that was under control, we were good to go.

    Our pediatrician has awesome pod casts that you can download about sleep and other topics. Some are free, and some cost $5-7, but it may be worth it to check them out. Here's the website:http://pedsinapodcast.com/

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  11. I am sorry to hear this. My daughter was a bit the same. The first 5 months I wasnt allowed to put her down and no one else could hold her. the only time she ever slept was if i held her while standing. i was sure she wanted me hungry, dirty, sleeping, and in the end border line crazy. I finally broke down and called her pediatrician. He had me cut all dairy, spicy, and otherwise eatable foods out of my diet and suggested i give her mylicon drops (there are new ones now, one is called gripe water). it turns out she suffered from indigestion and gas and it hurt to lay down. at 5 1/2 months she took a 2 hr nap and I was overwhelmed with freedom.
    Whatever it is will pass. Try not to be too hard on yourself as a mommy. We can't fix all problems but we can endure them together. Please contact me if you would like to talk.

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