Baby Wont Sleep - Milford,CT

My advice to ANYONE on here with baby/child sleep questions is to get the book HEALTHY SLEEP HABITS, HAPPY CHILD by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. It is an easy read with wonderful tips - that I used and found to work!! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!!!!

Contrary to the popular belief, babies need sleep in order to sleep. A baby that is overtired, has a HARDER time falling asleep. Babies need to learn to put themselves to sleep and that takes a little patience and strength (listening to "protests" aka crying) from mom. But in a few days you will notice a dramatic difference. Seriously, GET THE BOOK - it is a HUGE help! I PROMISE!!! :-D

Oh honey, I feel your pain. My son was just like that. I'm sure he must have slept at some point during his infancy, but I don't remember it! My husband and I were so tired that we were walking into walls...it was not fun.

I wasn't able to breastfeed, so my situation was a bit different from that of a nursing mom. Still, here's what I can offer:

• I found most sleep books worthless, but the one that did actually help somewhat was The No-Cry Sleep Solution. I mention this because you say that sleep training is not working with him. There's a school of thought that some babies release tension by crying and some increase tension (more here: http://www.askmoxie.org/2011/01/tension-increasers.html). Perhaps you have a tension increaser. If so, you'll need to adjust accordingly.

• My son did not like sleeping on his back AT ALL. He wouldn't stay asleep more than an hour in that position. We toughed it out because we weren't willing to risk putting him on his stomach. Once he could roll over on his own, he slept better. Not great, but better.

• As suggested below, the Miracle Blanket is worth a try. It didn't help us; our baby escaped it very quickly. But it can't hurt.

• Have you tried white noise? We didn't start using it until our son was in preschool and I wish we'd done it in his infancy. It made a big difference. Lavender-scented bath products and lavender oil helped ever so slightly at the baby stage.

• What are your sleeping arrangements? If he's in a crib, are you willing to consider putting the crib in your room temporarily, next to your bed? Or using a cosleeper that's next to the bed but separate? Some babies sleep better with someone near them in those first few months and you can gradually increase the distance from your bed and your room as they learn to fall asleep on their own.

• For naps: I've got nothing. The only way I ever got my son to nap was in the swing or driving in the car. Not ideal, but I was desperate. I would sometimes get a book on CD and just cruise around.

• I agree with Megan about the overtired/overstimulated problem. You probably know all that since this is not your first rodeo, but we found that even making eye contact with our baby at bedtime was enough to get him fired up and alert.

• Do whatever you have to do to get a modicum of sleep at this point. If your baby will take a bottle, could you pump enough milk that your spouse/significant other can be "on duty" every other night and let you get as much sleep as you can? Even if you need earplugs or have to sleep in the guest room, you absolutely have to get some rest, especially if you have two other kids to take care of.

• Take comfort in the knowledge that very often, kids like this are super-smart, curious and lively. This has certainly proved to be the case for us. Their little minds are already clicking away, they're interested in everything around them, and they're afraid to miss a minute of the action. So exciting for them...so exhausting for you!

Big hugs, and hang in there. I promise that it will get better. I can't say that my son magically turned into a great sleeper - even now, at age 7, he has trouble drifting off - but at least he is now old enough to stay in his bed and stay quiet even if he's awake.

Hoping for sweet dreams for all of you soon.

Is he gaining weight. Forgetting about during the day it is night time you need to work on. I will get yelled at for this, but is it possible your milk is not satisfying. Ig you are willing to do anything try supplementing a bottle of formular at night. You have nothing to lose but u might gain sleep. Just a thought.

Again, I know you should not, but have you tried letting him sleep on belly.
Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to survive!!! I had a non sleeper so I feel your pain.

Wait until he gets older. He sound like he might be gifted, since that's how my son was. We had to take turns at night putting him back to sleep and sleeping with him. I do not recommend sleeping with him...It takes way too long to break that habit. Pacifier only lasted 1 week, but I never let him sleep with it in his mouth. I used to just pull it out of his mouth when he was just about ready to fall asleep. He drove the daycare center nuts too and was dubbed the "sleepless baby." I discoverd that he was basically nosey and wanted to see everything that's going on, so I never forced him to sleep during the day. I used one of those carriers you can put on your back or in the front and placed him in the front in a position he could see everything. I'd take time out to carry him around pointing and naming things, which got to the point he'd look at an object and expect me to tell him what it was. The daycare center wound up doint the same thing. They put him in the back of the cart so he could see everything. When they'd get back from their walk, all the babies were asleep except him so they'd take him on errands. He wound up saying his first word at 3 months, which was "hi." At night the only thing that worked was country line dancing. We'd hold him and sing or turn on the radio and dance with him until he'd fall asleep. Guess what? He started walking early too! Thank goodness he's not a baby anymore.

One of mine was like this, and it was because he had reflux and lying down was painful for him and woke him up immediately. Have you or your pediatrician considered reflux? Babies don't have to actually spit up alot to have it (google silent reflux).

The eating often is a classic sign. Breastmilk is a natural antacid. So he nurses, it makes him feel better. But then he lies down and the acid comes up and hurts, so then he wants to eat again to feel better. I had a lot of sleepless nights with this vicious circle when he reflux was acting up. So, I say talk to your doctor about reflux.

In the meantime, you could try some of the classic reflux sleeping stuff: will he sleep in a wrap on your chest when he is verticle? Will he sleep any better in something inclined like a swing or car seat? If you hold him verticle for at least 20 minutes after each feeding to help the milk stay down, will he sleep any better? These things are free and worth a try.

Have you tried having him nap in the swing or the boucy seat or his carseat? My kids did some of their best napping in those locations. Seriously, try it.

Remember, the best place for baby to sleep is wherever baby WILL sleep. At 3 months, it is way too early to develop habits. As soon as you find something consistent, he will change. Do what works until it no longer works. Then find something else that will work. Forget sleep training. If it worked before ... you got lucky. Go with what works!

I would talk to your doctor soon about this. I had one that needed very little sleep and he still sleeps very little and he's going to be 43 years old. He would wake at 5 a.m. smiling and spent most of the day watching his 1 yr. old brother hoping to be like him soon. He was happy all the time but awake. He rarely napped as a toddler and never seemed tired. I now wonder if I should have talked with the doctor about it. Some kids just don't seem to need as much sleep but we know without a doubt that your little guy should be sleeping at night at least. Please talk to a good doctor about it and see if they have any ideas. Do you put him in a quite dark place to sleep? Is he in your room where he hears you? Have you tried music at bedtime? A swing might help. I'm not for letting them sleep in swings but sometimes it does work with the motion. It's worth a try at least.

do you swaddle him at night? if not try it! the miracle blanket works wonders.. my daughter went from waking up every 2 1/2-3 hrs to waking up only once through the night or sometimes not at all, she will sleep until morning. She also though, is not a napper during the day.. i will get about 10 -15min at a time from her throughout the day, very rarely 20-30 minutes.. but hey im not complaining about it since she sleeps all night!
--oh and also id try letting him eat a little more before is time for bed .. we've been giving our daughter and extra ounce in her bottle at night before bed, it definatley keeps her asleep longer
--and i definatley agree with megan, once they get overtired they have a harder time sleeping.. we had a family party the other weekend, my daughter was exhausted.. when we got home it took almost a half hour of my rocking her for her to fall asleep and not wake up - which is very unusual for her, she usually gets swaddled and falls asleep in a minute

When both of my sons were that age they took their naps in their bouncy seat. The wanted to movement. I think with my youngest we took one of the vibrators off of an old bouncy seat and put it on his bassinet. That was the only way he would sleep without being held. My oldest sometimes wanted to ride in the car. Has he had issues with gas? That could cause him to have a hard time sleeping. If he does use gas drops. I would put it on the boys pacie's and they were happy. If this keeps up contact his dr cause it's not healthy for any of you!

Good luck and God bless!

If you can get him to sleep more during the day he may sleep better at night. My little guy will always fall asleep in my sleepy wrap no matter where we are. The fabric can be stretched over the back of his head to "force" him to keep his head on my chest. It is super comfy, and I can easily carry my 21 pound six month old for hours. It is also very easy to nurse in hands-free (took me a bit to figure this out) which is a lifesaver when you have a baby who likes to breastfeed frequently. Another thing I do is put my baby on his tummy to sleep. I know this is a no no, but it was the only way he would sleep at night.