On the few rare occasions that Nora has slept through the night (say, 10pm to 5am or longer), Kevin and I are reluctant to mention a thing about it for fear that we’ll jinx it; no, “wow, I actually feel rested,” or “maybe she’s turned a corner,” or “that was a good night’s sleep!” However, lately it seems that we’ve been moving in the wrong direction. Last night, for example, we got Nora to sleep around 10pm and she was awake from 1-3am and then 4-5am. She’s been waking up every two to three hours and it takes an army to get her back to sleep. It takes a feeding, a diaper change, swaddling and re-swaddling, and a good bounce on the exercise ball. And then, of course, there’s the tricky transport-her-to-crib-without-waking-her-up move, which is always a gamble.
Last night at 3am (I suppose I should say morning), I was taking a turn bouncing her on the exercise ball. Kevin could not fall asleep. It was dark and quiet save for the distant bark of a dog. The rest of the world was snoring and drooling on their pillows, and there we were bouncing, bouncing, bouncing. Nora had the urge to vocalize her feelings. “Ahhhh. Aaahhh. Aaaaah.” And why not? We were all awake and singing is fun. Kevin and I were left wondering what we’ve been doing wrong.
This seems to be our main dilemma: We still swaddle her with her arms in, in one of those Swaddle Me Sleepsacks. Lately, she seems to want to break out of there. When we put her down in the crib, she starts arching her back and turning her head as if trying to roll over and she struggles to get her arms free. But, when we try to put her down with her arms out, she hits herself in the face, stretches her arms overhead, eats her hands, you name it. Arms in or arms out? What is better?
Have any of you had this problem? Nora is 4 months old. Isn’t it time for her to start sleeping through the night? Advice?????
shmooples 
Maybe she was mad at us because we didn’t buy her something for her four-month birthday?
That must be it, obviously.
Maybe she’s going through a growth spurt and all her habits are changing?
That could be. I’ve heard we shouldn’t get too used to any routine, good or bad.
Boy, that’s the truth! That’s been our experience too! I’ve almost gotten to believe that the instant C starts to display any pattern in her sleep or eating habits, that pattern will be no more within 48 hours.
I had this issue with our oldest- she simply didn’t want her arms in, and then flailed. She eventually learned to not punch herself in the face. It will happen! If she’s happily full, and relaxed, it could help. We used goodnight lotion, tunes, etc and the relaxation techniques seemed to make it easier for her to sleep. Good luck!
Thank you! We’ll keep trying!
sorry, no advice here. about three and a half months was when Felix’s sleeping took a nose-dive and has never really improved (and he’s now nearly 15 months…) well, it improved for a little while around 11 months (got it down to 2 wakings) but now it’s worse again. all the books i read say you shouldn’t try anything drastic till 6 months, but after that you can. (i didn’t have the heart…)
although felix normally goes back to sleep fairly quickly with just a feed, so maybe avoid the diaper change if you can…
Yeah, it’s tough. Good advice on avoiding the diaper change. Thanks for weighing in and I hope it gets better for you too!
Try putting her down to bed earlier? Ains was the same way until we tried putting her down at 6- now she goes 12hrs with 2 quick wakeups at night.
Also, how many naps is she taking during the day? Not enough day sleep = cranky baby at night. We learned all these tips from a baby sleep consultant, so hopefully they’ll be helpful to you.
Lastly, as it’s been said , it’s hard to get a routine the first year. They are just changing way too much. Good luck!
Xoxo
Thanks for the advice. We need to try to get her to bed earlier. Tonight we tried to get her down a little earlier but she wasn’t having it. Did you do any sleep training to let Ainsley cry it out? We just can’t seem to get her in the crib without her waking up and crying and we’re still soothing her with feeding and/or bouncing on the ball. She just turned four months, so I think now is the time to stop doing some of those things. She does nap during the day, but in her carseat, not in her crib.
About 3 weeks ago I finally figured out the whole nursing lying down thing…it made SUCH a difference. Of course, now Alon is kicking us while he shares our bed at night (sometimes…say, starting at 4:30 am or so when I just can’t deal with going back to his crib to nurse him back to sleep), but at least I can doze while he goes back to dreamland.
And, I am pleased to say he’s only waking up 3-4 times a night now, instead of 6-8. So we’re improving. Anyway, try anything and everything, because who knows what might work…
Oh, I’m glad nights have been getting a little better for you. We’ll look back at this time and laugh, right? Right???? 😉