When he's concentrating on something, he sticks his tongue out.
He had a major blow-out today, but it had been several weeks since he had a poopy diaper. I can usually anticipate when he needs to go.
He's been sleeping terribly much of this last month. We're lucky if he only wakes up every 3 hours at night, but sometimes it's every hour and a half or every two hours. And naptime is sometimes just as bad: 30 or 40 minutes and then he wakes up and is exhausted but I can't get him back to sleep. And to top it all off, he's started waking up at 6:30 am, instead of his usual 7:30 or 8 am. What's up? I don't know if there's anything different I can do to help him sleep better. At night, he starts out in a separate room. He's bundled up to stay warm (but has one arm free so he won't struggle). There's a fan running for white noise. But he seems to wake up just as frequently when he's in a separate room as he does once I bring him in with us (around 1 am, or whenever he wakes up to nurse after I've gone to bed).
Dio can crawl quite quickly now. He's started pulling himself up on the furniture all by himself. He hasn't figured out how to get back down, though, so I have to come to the rescue.
He loves to stand up in his crib, hold onto the bars, and bite the rail. This comes in handy for when I need to get dressed or fold laundry or dry my hair. Zari climbs in to join in the fun, and the two of them bounce around and laugh together.
maybe a stretch...but I wonder if the increased mobility has something to do with his lack of sleep. When Pyper figured out how to stand she woke constantly through the night and ditched the naps too... before that she was a super-good sleeper... and once the "novelty" wore off she got back to her old, good habits!
ReplyDeleteIf it's any consolation, my 9.5 mo. old boy is doing roughly the same thing - up every 3-4 hours at night, and naps shortening to under an hour. I attributed it to his silent reflux not being under control, so we switched meds yesterday, BUT, maybe it's a developmental thing as well. It sounds pretty brutal, though, and I hope you figure it out soon.
ReplyDeleteYou have my sympathies!
ReplyDeleteMy baby boy has been doing the same wacky sleep stuff for the past few months too. I was digging around on the internet and found this study (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1934318?dopt=Abstract) that helped me see things in perspective.
A quote:
"Following a decline in the number of interruptions from 3 to 6 months, an increase in night waking at age 9 months was recorded."
I kept thinking he should be sleeping better as he gets older, but I guess he's normal.
That doesn't get me any more sleep, but at least it helps me see his behavior as developmentally consistent instead of thinking, "What's wrong with you?!" when he wakes me up for the fifth time in the night and it's only 3:00 a.m. :-)
I've got The Wonder Weeks (http://www.thewonderweeks.com/) on hold at the library too. I think that it will shed even more light on these periods of fussiness and wakefulness.
Maybe it's time to unbundle him. Just layer some footy pajamas and let him have room to roll. My daughter went through a few sleepless nights at 9 months. Out of desperation, I removed her sleep sack and she immediately rolled onto her tummy, pulled her legs under her and stuck her little butt in the air and immediately fell asleep. She apparently didn't like the lack of mobility the sleep sack caused!
ReplyDeleteAnon, an interesting idea. I do already unbundle him when he comes into bed with us (it would be way too hot with our warm comforter plus his blanket), but if anything he seems to like it.
ReplyDeleteDio has never really slept well, but it's just been particularly bad. The only time he started to sleep reasonably well was when he was between 2-3 months old.
I am so mystified by children's sleep patterns. I know mothers who've had kids all over the spectrum, from sleeping through the night at just weeks after birth, to kids like mine who seem to wake up every 2-3 hours into eternity. Okay, so Zari finally did start sleeping in nice long stretches around 20-21 months. But that's a loooong time away for me, still, and no guarantee that Dio will even do that.
Yawn. Need more sleep.
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, MD.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation. I'll go ILL it right away!
ReplyDeleteI doubt you're gonna like Weisbluth's views Rixa. He is a big fan of cry it out. He even argues that this is what you owe your child and family. After 28 months of night wakings in my daughter, I'm starting to believe him, even though I can't seem to make myself do it...
ReplyDeleteI take my kids to the chiropractor when they are not sleeping. Usually 1 adjustment and they are back to normal. Just a thought!!
ReplyDeleteI think there is more to Weissbluth's research than "cry it out". I'm sure you'll have an open mind. I have 6 kids and they are all good sleepers and happy campers during the day. Also, my oldest had colic and his book "Crybabies" is the only one that made any sense at all.
ReplyDelete