Monday, April 30, 2012

Sleep Relapse

In the last few weeks, my children have fallen off the wagon.
Out of NOWHERE, they are waking up in the night! Sometimes three or four times!
I CAN'T HANDLE IT!!

They have no problems during the day and nap like perfect angels.
At night time, they usually go to bed well, and then wake up once in the middle of the night.  If we go in and give them a big full bottle, they usually go back to sleep and sleep through the night.
If we don't, but we let them cry back to sleep, they wake up an hour later. And again two hours after that.
And then they think that they can wake up for the day at 5:45am.

It's like they're 7 months old again.
No, worse. It's like they're 5 months old.

It makes it really hard to decide what to do. I want to teach them to go back to sleep and that I WON'T come in and feed them in the night. But letting them cry is having the reverse effect.

This morning at 4am they woke up and started crying. After 15 minutes, we got up to make them bottles. We changed their diapers, we rocked them a bit and we left the room.
The second we left, they started SCREAMING. So we went back in and rocked them and gave them bigger bottles.  While we were standing in the room holding them, Travis pushed the door shut so it got darker and they started freaking out again.
I went and got a night-light for them, which they really liked and helped them calm down.
So now I'm hoping that they're just afraid of the dark or something and with a night-light, they'll be able to play, find their paci, reassure themselves, etc.
Instead of screaming like little maniacs.

Because that makes me want to scream like a big maniac.

Any advice? Did your baby (or babies) go through some sort of night-time relapse around this age, and what did you do to help them sleep again?
Maybe it's time for toddler beds?

Nope. That last one was a joke.

Click to vote for your favorite sleep deprived mama?
Vote For Us @ TopBaby Blogs! The Best Baby Blog Directory

9 comments:

Erica said...

My boy is 18 months old, and we have dealt with some sleepless periods since he turned one. I think a big part of it is developement -- their brains are on overdrive. Other periods my son wakes up in the night is when he's teething (those molars! those canines! Makes you not want to have another baby) or has an ear infection. If it's not ears or teeth, he'll usually pop up when I open his door and hand me his bottle (I'll give him about an ounce of water), and he puts himself back to sleep. I try not to talk to him or touch him if he's not in pain or scared.
I think it was good to give them a nightlight. Maybe that will help them deal better when they wake up in the middle of the night.
You're doing a good job! Keep it up. Those boys are deliciously sweet (hope that doesn't sound creepy).

Faithfully Jaded said...

I vote teething or growing. I feel like my kids always go in cycles of sleeping well and then waking up a lot. Just recently my two year old would wake up screaming every single night for weeks. I finally noticed that she had a big molar coming through...OH. So I am a big advocate of just soothing them and helping them because they can't talk so you don't know what's bothering them - something is. So even though it sucks and is super frustrating, just be there for them and it will get better. I hate my mother in law's advice but it's so true - "Every stage, good or bad, ends." You could try some homeopathic teething relief for them before bed or when they wake up crying and see if that helps. Good luck!!

tammy said...

This is hard. I have done two things: given a bottle of warm water- it soothes but they realize it is not worth waking up for and I have just snuggled them in my bed until they are calm and asleep and I put them back into their beds or just end up sleeping with them the rest of the night.

Anonymous said...

Have they got their 1 year old molars yet? That could be the problem, those suckers are the devil coming in.

Mo said...

My boys either have or are getting their top molars. This has caused a lot of problems with waking up in the night and biting during the day. I hate to do it, but because I am still breast feeding my boys I just feed them when they wake up, because it keeps them asleep longer. I cherish my sleep, so I don't care what anyone else says I will continue to breastfeed them when they wake up. Also, if they are growing and are not eating enough during the day they may be waking up at night to eat. My boys each have their own night light that sits in the corner of their bed and that is how they fall asleep.

Krystle said...

My 3 1/2 year old did around that age.
We are tough love people. We let him cry until he fell back asleep and we didn't go in the room until a set "awake" time. 6:00 for our house.

After 3-4 nights of this it was done.

Katie @mummydaddyme said...

I have no advice because I have a good sleeper (don't hate me) or at least I do at the moment but I swear those horrible back teeth are coming through so I may not for much longer.
But wanted to send you a hug- I need my sleep too!

Katie www.mummydaddyandmemakesthree.co.uk

Unknown said...

Aw, bummer. We are going through the same thing, I think it's the 9-month sleep regression.

We're just dealing with it and waiting for them to get back into their rhythm.

I don't like letting them cry for more than 15 minutes...so it's made for some long nights.

My only consolation for myself (and you, if it's any help at all) is that they grow up so fast, and this time will soon be over. I know I'll cherish the nighttime cuddles, even if I'm cussing in the hallway on the way to their room :)

Hang in there!

Unknown said...

I absolutely love the book Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Twins :) it helps troubleshoot some sleep issues and gives you reasons why they started. Great book! My twins sleep fom 6:30pm to 8am