It’s hard to believe but Jamisen is four months old already. We are experiencing what every other new parents on the planet have experienced: the time space continuum breaking and time speeding way way up.
New things Jamisen is doing that make us giggle: he has found his feet (and boy, are they intriguing!), he has learned how to shriek (and boy, is he loud!), he has started to roll over (and boy, we can’t put him down anywhere!), and he has given his Mama two giggles (and boy, is his Daddy jealous!).
He is still only sleeping 2 to 3 hours per stretch at night and his Dad and I are about at our wits end. I have many sleep books (“Health Sleep Habits, Healthy Child,” “The No Cry Sleep Solution,” and “Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems”) but we have not yet tried serious cry-it-out sleep training yet. We know that time will come if we continue down this multiple-wakings-per-night path for the next couple of months. But until then, we are just keepin’ on, keepin’ on.
If you have any favorite sleep solutions, books or ideas, bring ’em on. Everyone here was so helpful during the constant crying/spitting up stage that I’m hoping your sleep advice will be just as good. And by the way, he’s still spitting up after most feedings but since he’s gaining weight, we just put up with the 8-12 outfit changes per day and thank goodness for a washing machine!
You can tell I’m always the ones taking photos in our house. But Jamisen really really loves his Daddy and brightens when he comes through the door every day. And Chris can get Jamisen to “talk” more than anyone else can for sure. It’s quite adorable to hear them gooing and oohing at eachother.
I hope that you are all having an amazing weekend (long weekend!) thus far. Jamisen and I walked/ran to the Farmer’s Market this morning, his Grandma and Grandpa Renoud (Chris’s parents) visited this morning and (best best best!), I’m scheduled to go paddleboarding tomorrow. Just a reminder, Bramble Berry is closed Monday but we’ll be open on Tuesday. Enjoy the long weekend!
Thanks for posting this Anne-Marie.
One of my best friends is having the same problem with her little boy so I’ve sent her the link 😀
Hi!
Here are my 2 cents.
I tried the cry it out method with my first (I have 11, believe it or not) It didn’t work. I exclusively breast fed all of my children, making it to a year with many. Some of them slept through the night at a few weeks, and some never did until they were a year. I can still feel the guilt about leaving that first baby in her bed and I was crying along with her.
My pediatrician says that babies generally sleep through the night when they are about 12 lbs or 2 mos old. After that, they are probably waking for comfort or habit.
But then every baby is different and has different needs, but I would guess that there are some things you could do to increase your times between wakings.
1st, you could give him a pacifier the first time he wakes, and as often as you feel he will take it. I would delay feedings at night. Of course if you are giving the paci every 5 minutes, it obviously isn’t working and he is probably hungry. But if you keep this up, you should be able to stretch him longer and longer. But some babies never take pacifiers…. *sigh*
2nd, adjust your feeding schedule during the day, he should be able to wait up to 4 hours. This might help him be able to wait at night.
3rd, cluster feed just before bed. This worked for a couple of mine. I would nurse them as usual, and then wake them every half hour for about 3 more feedings, sort of a ‘top them off’ idea. This usually helped them sleep a little longer.
4th, Sounds like that reflux is really getting him. I would incline the head of his bed if you haven’t already. He might be waking because of the discomfort from it and the incline should reduce that.
5th make sure he is warm enough, and not waking from getting too cool. Does he still like to be swaddled for sleeping at night. That ended up being a big deal for one of mine. Swaddled her for night time and she slept longer.
6th Shorter naps in the day should also help. Maybe stretching him between naps as well.
My SIL uses white noise even now for her older children.
There have been recent studies reported in the news that strongly suggests solids given too early can be detrimental. Talk with your ped about that one.
My 3 mo has been sleeping through the night since 3 or 4 wks old. But that is just her. I am still getting up every night because of the 2 yo, the 4 yo, and occasionally one of the others with nightmares, bathroom trips, or growing pains.
Usually they will grow into a better sleeping pattern with encouragement … it takes time, but they are so worth it.
Wow. That got a lot longer than I realized. sorry for that.
Jaimsen is a darling, and good luck. It does get easier, it’s just going to take some time.
I was just reading one of the other comments that reminded me of something that was made a big difference for us. When the baby would nap, I would put them in their beds instead of holding them. They became accustomed to sleeping in their beds instead of sleeping in my arms. That can be really hard because those little ones are so darling, especially when sleeping. But I noticed a big difference, at least among my own babies, from doing that.
Hey Anne-Marie,
If you’re nursing Jamisen he probably won’t sleep through the night, as breast milk digests faster than formula. Even when I had to switch to formula my son would still wake up, though not as much. But what I used to do when he cried at night was do everything in the dark, change him, pick him up and feed him, and put him back in his crib when he fell asleep after his feeding. Some kids just don’t sleep through the night, mine did not until he was over a year old. I have never liked the “cry it out” method, I believe babies cry because they need something, food, reassurance, etc. I would pick him up when he cried, I never considered him to be spoiled by this. I was a single parent so it was just me dealing with this. Since you have both you and your husband to take care of the baby, you’re way luckier than you know…take turns! It gets better, I promise.
Hi Ann Marie,
Love to read all your posts, and thanks for sharing them. I am a stay home mom of 2, and love this full time job, although its also a 24/7 job. Re : 2-3 hour night time sleep, for both my kids, they are 11 and 7 now, when they were slightly more than a month old, I started this “sleep through the night” thingy with both. In the daytime, keep the naptime shorter as you progress, start with 10min shorter, lotsa playing and exercising…. the last feed of the night will be formula, not breast milk. You will notice that he will tend to sleep longer, and for my case, within 2 weeks, I got them to sleep through the whole night. Hope this helps.
Anne-Marie, my oldest (17 now) would ONLY go to sleep on me, my lying on my back belly to belly with her, until she was about 6 months. And my other (14 now) would go to sleep if you gently patted her diapered bottom. They both responded well to “white noise” and lavender baby wash, or lavender water. Plus I was nursing at the time and drank chamomile tea regularly. It will get easier, he will start sleeping longer through the nights. Even though you will be pretty much dead on your feet, this is a great “bonding” time for you and your hubby to have with your precious little man 🙂 And if all else fails, there is the car and the washing machine (I used to put my youngest in her car seat and strap her in and turn the washer on “spin” and keep a good hand on the car seat until it got her to sleep… helped with colic too)
My Pastor always tells me “This too shall pass” 🙂
Blessings for a wonderful FULL night of sleep soon 🙂
I won’t restate the TON of great advice that everyone has shared above- I just wanted to add one tip that has been passed down for generations in my family: put a bit of your perfume on the corner of his crib sheet. When he wakes in the night he will be comforted by the familiar smell. Good luck! Sleep will come…
Huge congratulations, Anne-Marie!!! He is an absolute cutie patootie. What a great little smile he’s got. 🙂
The best book we read when our son was small was “Raising your Spirited Child” and his personality type doesn’t respond to the “cry it out” he would wind up and up and eventually make himself sick. This book helped us (as about 9 months) to determine the type of personality our son had with his nuances that we didn’t quite understand and helped how we approached everything from sleeping to new situations.
Even if you don’t have a “spirited” child, it can help.
My daughter, the exact opposite of my son, slept mostly through the night at 4 months, but then a bout of croup set us back and we are back to her being up twice at night. She is also eating like a fiend, which is part of the problem, she eats a bunch in the middle of the night (up to 9 ounces of formula) even after eating a lot before bed. She just turned 8 months, and I’m hoping will settle down again soon.
The one thing that we have done for both kids is create a PORTABLE bed time routine. We can do it anywhere (even in a restaurant) and that helps. We read 1-2 books (or tell stories) and then sing a simple song (my son picked it out) and then it’s time for bed. We can do this on the go, in the car, at a friends house, etc. While doing a bath is a good routine(babies also don’t need nightly baths – it can dry out their skin) it’s hard to take that with you! It also helps when they wake up that we sing the song again and they reset to go back to sleep.
Good luck!
Merryn we loved that book! My oldest son is definitely a spirited child. That book has been so helpful. We have learned what does and does not work with him. A friend of mine just had her first child and one of my gifts to her was a copy of the book.
I like that your bedtime routine is portable. We are generally at home when its bedtime but my sister’s children are away from home several nights a week and this is definitely something that would be useful for her. Great idea!
My boys both started sleeping through the night very early. My youngest son came home from NICU at 2 weeks old and slept 5 hours that first night home. I had to wake him up to feed him or else he probably would have slept the entire night. And they both ate like pigs during the day. At one point I was feeding them almost every hour. With both of them, when they were around 10 weeks old, we started adding cereal to their bottle. In both cases their pediatrician told us to do it. That helped so much with them eating as often during the day. My daughter is now almost 6 months. She has been a pain when it comes to sleeping at night. Last night she fell asleep at a reasonable hour and slept almost 12 hours. The night before I was up several times with her. She goes through these phases where she will fall asleep around 8 and sleep for 3 hours then be up until 2 or 3 in the morning. It is so frustrating. My only advice is to hang in there. Talk to Jamisen’s pediatrician. Discuss giving him a little cereal before bedtime. Try changing his sleeping environment. If its quiet now add music. My boys loved Celtic music. If he has music now try keeping it quiet or just having white noise. Try making the room cooler or warmer. The smallest changes can make a huge difference.
He is soooo adorable AM! He’s filling out… plump and all. I love when babies chub up 🙂 They probably hate it because that is when all of us ladies love to squeeze thier cheeks. LOL!
I wish I had some words of wisdom on the sleep issue but I don’t. All three of my children were different. #1 never slept through the night but slept all day. She took naps til she was 3. #2 would sleep a four to five hour stretch at night and then stayed awake allllllll day. #3 used me as a pacifier to keep her comfy at night (I nursed her til she was 1.5 yrs.) When I finally stopped nursing she would sleep from 11 pm until 9 am. Now at 4 yrs old she is a 10 pm to 9 am girl and has never napped. A lot of people put their children on a schedule for feedings and sleeping and that is something we never did. After the first two, trying to get the sleeper to wake and the wakeful to sleep without success we just let the kids tell us when they wanted to sleep and eat (as babies and toddlers). Of course, now that they are school aged they are on a 9 pm – 6 am schedule (the two older girls). All I can say that helped a bit when they were tiny was swaddling them and carrying them next to my body most of the time. I’m sure you’ll find what works or Jamisen will guide you. It is all such trial and error with babies as I’m sure you already know 🙂
I can’t get over how absolutely adorable and focused Jamisen is at only 4 months of age! Granted, he has great genes… 😉 I’m afraid my kids are too old for me to remember good parenting books on sleep. I remember that, hard as it was to sleep when the baby does, that was the one thing that helped them sleep well the most: my (or hubby’s) warm body next to them. Maybe a towel-wrapped hot/warm water bottle might comfort him? I wonder if ticking clocks help babies the way they help puppies?
Big hugs for the little guy!
So darn cute, that boy is!!
Oh, enjoy every minute. It really DOES go by fast. I was walking with my daughter yesterday and I caught our reflection in a storefront window and my heart skipped a beat. We are the same height and we were giggling together, so we just didn’t really look like mother and daughter.
Where did the last 10 years go? She was JUST 4!
🙁
I have only one suggestion regarding sleep, but it’s for later….: Don’t get in the habit of lying with them until they fall asleep when they are out of the crib. Trust me.
Anne- Marie,
Yes, he is completely ADORABLE!
I agree with much of what Jill said…and my babies slept on their tummies too…but YOU need to be comfortable with whatever you decide to do…VERY IMPORTANT!
About letting babies cry it out…The Solve your Child’s Sleep Problems book was very helpful to me…we used that method for a few of my children. I appreciate that the increments start low and you can go in and check on them, then it is just a little longer. The first night is TERRIBLE, but I found with my children, that three nights was all it took. Jamisen is pretty young though, so I would probably not use that method in his instance…It could be he is really hungry and needs to eat more often…he may start sleeping longer when he gets solids, but again, that is a decision parents need to make as to when to introduce that…all kinds of theories on it. Other things to consider…does it look like he is teething? Is he sleeping too long during the day…maybe waking him up a little earlier from naps could result in longer sleeping at night…or maybe a later bedtime…not sure what to suggest…but I know you will find an answer.
Blessings,
C~
A-M,
I, too, had the spitting up with both girls (breast fed exclusively) and I went on elimination diets- which helped to a degree. Their dr. wasn’t worried and said sometimes babies just take in more than they can handle at a time and what seems like copius amounts to us really isn’t much spit up. Both girls still have food sensitivities, though, but my family has some issues (must be a genetic link).
I co-slept with both &/or had a pack-in-play bedside for 10ish months. My oldest also hung out in a Moby Wrap for hours (I taught school) and she is the most independent little thing now. I kind of think all the Mom contact time as well as being greeted by lots of people and children daily helped this. She still is most comfortable with 6-9 year olds (the ages I taught and she’s just 4). Our youngest is a light sleeper and she just doesn’t need much sleep, our oldest needs lots more sleep than her sister (1-2 hours per day).
My thoughts after reading lots and personal experience: you can breast feed on your side which helps a ton when you are sleep deprived, babies cry because they need us/something. We(women) are genetically programmed to feel the need to pick up and soothe a crying baby- this is not spoiling- it builds security. However, it is OK to get to the point to let him cry sometimes or maybe not. You have to be comfortable with the decisions you make- no regrets and no worries on what others think. If your choices come from love (which they undoubtedly do), you’ll & he’ll be fine. Oh, baby #2 often slept on my chest as this was the only way I could get her to sleep sometimes(I tried the cry it out out of desperation and it was screaming for way too long- she’s not a self-soother). She is a snuggler to this day- way more than baby #1. Also, (yes, I hear the scorn now) both girls slept on their tummies. The instant they were on their backs, they woke up. I tried lots of different sleeping arrangements to no avail. I chose sleep (after being a zombie for months- I tried the back sleeping with both). When the girls almost slept through the night on their tummies, everyone was happier because I was a better mom and wife with a smidge more rest.
I love the smiles and the crinkley forehead- so adorable. He looks none-the-worse for your wear!
Best =D,
Jill
A-M, can’t believe how much Jamisen looks like my son at that age, and seems to have all the same issues:) Read every book, followed everyone’s advice, but still had the same issues. I wonder if the stomach issues and sleeping issues are correlated. Hate to say it, but just this year, at 13 years old, is he now sleeping 8 hours! Hence the fact that we have only one child and named our street “Witts End”:) Would have been so nice to have family, friends, or even hire a nanny to cover some nights:)
One day I just let our first son cry. I was worn out and decided to wait just 5 minutes. I watched the clock like a hawk wondering the whole time if I was damaging him for life. Literally 5 seconds before my 5 minutes were up, he calmed himself and soon after fell asleep. I tried it a few more times and it usually went the same way, but each time he calmed himself a little sooner. It’s super hard as a mom to let your little ones hurt for even a second, but I do feel it’s one of those steps they take towards independence… which is probably the furthest from your mind at this stage, but it is our ultimate goal as parents 🙂
I haven’t made it to five minutes yet but I’m slowly working up to it! =))
Already there is so much great advice. Like everyone has been saying they are all different.
Our first sleep through the night under 4 wks old (now 26 yrs and still loves to sleep). Our son on the other hand is another story, he (now 17 yrs) doesn’t sleep well.
Breast fed in the hospital just fine. After a few days at home he wanted nothing to do with it. So after a week of try everything under the sun he went on the bottle. (I was heartbroken) He still wouldn’t sleep through the night until 5 months old.
1) We had to change to formula that was predigested because he kept spitting up.
2)After many sleepless weeks, I started to introduce very thinned out cereal (rice). He was around 10 wks old. That gave us an extra 2 hrs a night. So we could get around 4-5 hrs a night.
3) I also would wake him up at night about 30 mins before we went to bed and feed him. Around 11:30-12:30 at night. That was the cereal feeding. (This was in 1994 and then the trend was (in CA) not to introduce solid food until 12 months.) Already having a 9 yr old, I knew waiting that long was crazy for us.
4) We kept a box fan going all the time for white noise. That work well for the first child and we use it with our son. I can’t say how well it helped him. But I figured it was my good luck charm, at least for our daughter.
We tried the crying it out. Now this worked for our daughter, she went through this stage around 18 months. Our son, it just made him madder. I can so relate to crawling out of the room after he feel asleep.
One thing I can say for sure, schedule. We started in less than 2 months old for our son. It was something we learn with the first child.
(We already had crazy nights, my husband was Chief of Police for military base. We had to figure out how to muffle the phone.)
There isn’t anything here that hasn’t already been said. It will give you a pretty good pattern of what has worked for others.
Good luck AM, you will find what works best for you both. Just trust your intuition.
So the waking the baby up is an interesting idea. How did that work? Was he fussy about that or did he just take more food and then go back to sleep?
Jamisen went on a breast strike about 2 months old and I could have just died. I was heartbroken, just bereft. But my Dad said “This is just one of many power struggles. Make him breastfeed at least a bit before you give him a bottle” and it was an AWFUL four weeks. He would cry at my breast. He only wanted the bottle. It doesn’t help that he is bottle fed in the day while I’m at work. I think he now prefers breast to bottle but it was definitely a battle.
Thank you for your long comment. I really appreciate the experience-based advice.
I read the book “Baby wise” when my twin boys were 6 weeks old. By 5 months old they slept through the night. The book explains on how to get your baby on a VERY flexible schedule. Trust me my husband and I are not schedule kinda people but this book let us work on our terms.
Maybe just check it out at your local library! Trust me it will get better! Good luck Anne Marie!
I have it. I tried to institute it when he was a wee one and man, did that NOT work. But I should read it again now that he’s older. Maybe a schedule is just what he needs …. I’ll re-read. Thanks for the suggestion.
Some babies are crabby when tired. Too much attention makes them even crabbier. Our eldest daughter was one of these, and she would drop off to a deep, long sleep within five or so minutes if we simply left her to it.
She’s now 22, and has never changed – we know she’s tired and in need of her bed when she gets in a strop over nothing…:D
This is very true, but some lemongrass tea will help out as it is good for calming down, eliminating gas and cholics and warms the belly so nicely and… what a smellllll. Hmm I think I’ll make some lemongrass tea for me now!!!
Lemongrass tea? Awesome. I heard Chamomile but will check that out.
He definitely hates stimulation when he’s tired. I’ve taken to holding him in the rocking chair while I read (no interaction) and before long, his little lids are closing. And THEN, I pop him into bed while he’s still sort of awake but drowsy. So far, bedtimes are easy – no crying. It’s just those night wakings. We’ll get there though. Millions of parents have been here before us. I’m confident we can survive… =)
Does he wake up often because he’s hungry? When my son was a baby, I worked at a day care (yes, with the infants!). He would wake up every 2 hours for bottles. My mom and I started feeding him about 3 oz of cereal, then the rest of the milk bottle right before bedtime. That extended his first sleep period to 4 or 5 hours, and eventually, he slept all night. We started with rice cereal, and fed it to him through a small plastic bottle that looked like a syringe (don’t even know if they still have those), so it wasn’t really thick like when you feed with a spoon.
Good luck, I hope he starts sleeping a little longer, sleep deprevation is horrible.
My daughter also starting giving her baby cereal & it made a world of difference for her to sleep thru the night. I know that it isn’t encouraged by professionals but I did it with my children & they are healthy children in their late 20’s. My daughter spit up after every feeding also & we changed to soy with great success.
Interesting. I tried rice cereal as a first “solid food” with my first (he was breast fed also) and it bunged him up so bad the poor kid could hardly poop! LOL. Barley cereal seemed easier on him 🙂
Karri, We just had a major problem with constipation too so we had to really cut down on the rice cereal for sure. It’s never going to be more than 50% of any meal he gets now because he was in SUCH pain. It was horrible to watch …. so yes, same experience.
He’s definitely hungry when he wakes up. We’re working down to 4 ounces of food (my milk supply is starting to dry up a bit so I don’t produce as well at night right now) and have added a special rice milk formula at night to see if that helps. He’s such a sweet boy that it really is the only only only thing that is a little difficult. I love being a Mom =) I’m so so so glad that Chris and I waited a few years to have kids and I’m so glad that we did.
I have a seventeen month old child. She is now doing that one or two times a night wake up when she usually sleeps all night. Here is how we have dealt with this:
1. At about one years old we started the bedtime routine. She gets a lot of hugs and kisses then bed time. If she cries, she gets five minutes and then we check on her. Then we decide from there what to do.
2. We do not go running at every cry in the night. We discovered that she has night terrors. (She also wakes in the early morning hours and talks into the air at times.) We get up, go to the bathroom, and then see if she is still awake. Normally she is back to sleep by then.
3. We have found our rocking chair is a blessing! She is also big enough that she sometimes ends up in our bed.
I agree that you know your child best. Hang in there. You are a strong woman and have a great team to help! Have you asked a grandparent to come over and spend the night? I am sure they would love to be of service. Hugs!
I wish Grandma and Grandpa were close enough to spend nights here. What I wouldn’t give to give him to other people at 6 a.m. (ha ha!)
I’m up to 3 minutes of crying at his 2 a.m. wake up. We feed him. We change his diaper. But he still cries when we put him back to bed. I do two 2 minute cries and then start doing 3 minutes. I haven’t worked up to 5 yet but he’s still in our room so it’s absolute torture to listen to him cry.
I think we were probably too Type A in the early months when he wasn’t gaining enough weight (since he was spitting up too much) and that’s probably trained him a bit to fully wake up. And now? We’re paying for it! =)))
I think I’ll just tell you what worked for me. I’ve tried the cry it out on my #2 son with the result that he isn’t as confidant as his brothers. I couldn’t say if this is because of the method or his makeup. It’s just an observation. I have 4 sons btw with one on the way. What I found that works for me is that I keep all the babies in my room for the first six months. They have their own little bed next to mine. My last one is where I found the most sleep even though I nursed him every 3 hours or so. I gave into the fact, mentally, that I wasn’t going to get consecutive hours of sleep. I determined that I when I was to have sleep, I was going to give into and try to have as deep as sleep as I needed. One thing that helped is my nursing nest. I cannot nurse laying down, on my side or anything other than the standard cradle hold. So at night, when I needed to feed the baby; my routine was change diaper in as little light as possible. Don’t make a sound or talk or hum. Feed the baby at the nursing nest. My nest was a loveseat pushed against a wall, pillows, my nursing pillow and an ottoman. One pillow was against the wall on top of the loveseat, the others surrounding me to help prop up my arms. Often I would fall asleep upright, still holding the baby. He would be snoozing in the circle of my arms are fussing for some more, which he was given the other side. When he was finished, he was burped and put into bed. I think this works for me because I am very aware of my baby. If he makes any sound, I’d wake up and check on him. It wasn’t until after he started on baby food that he started to give me more hours to sleep between nursing’s. My last two boys slept with me in the beginning, I had to sleep upright as well. Eventually, I noticed they didn’t sleep well or comfortably with me holding them, and put them down just was they were falling asleep. I think the key is to know that for awhile you aren’t going to get consecutive sleep, get it while you can and to be aware of your baby’s needs.
Totally – I agree – definitely not going to get consecutive sleep. I tend to be in bed by 8 p.m. so I can get a decent amount of sleep by morning (tonight is the exception – I have so many friends to comment back to that I’ve been neglecting!). Jamisen sleeps in our room still, in his own little crib. He barely makes a peep and we’re up. We’ll move him into his own room probably around 5 to 5 1/2 months (ish). But for now, he’s with us and we get up at the slightest peep. =)
So cute!! He just looks like such a happy baby and it melts my heart every time I see pictures. Truly.
Re the night waking …
It is SO hard to be that sleep deprived! Hang in there! Some little guys just don’t like to sleep at a stretch…mine NEVER did. (And if they’re nursing, then they almost can’t help but wake.)
Co-sleeping saved my sanity but I realize it’s not for everyone and needs to be approached with great care and safety.
We tried cry-it-out with both kids and it wasn’t good/didn’t work … and while some kids cry to *release* tension, others become MORE tense the MORE they cry (mine were definitely the latter). Every kid is different and you probably know best which “kind” of child you have 🙂
I hope you’re taking naps during the day? Must must must! (I’m wagging my virtual finger at you! LOL)
One thing that DID help was routine, routine, routine. Regular bed time. Bath. Snuggles. Stories. Etc. Not a cure-all but does help everyone rest a little better somehow.
Alas, someday you’ll wonder how you ever made it through, yet you’ll miss this baby stage so much too.
Thanks for continuing to share your squeezable little bundle of baby joy!
Karri
I suspect my kid is definitely more of a ‘gets more tense as he cries’ kind of kid. He apparently is a lot like me. I didn’t nap at all as a baby, didn’t like to sleep (STILL don’t like to sleep under normal circumstances).
Jamisen and I read for almost an hour tonight. It was the highlight of day! =)
PS – Napping during the day? Ha! =) I’m at BB all day while my sweet, amazing, perfect little baby boy is with a family friend who has known Jamisen since well before he was born. So no napping for me! =)
Anne-Marie,
Do you pick Jamisen up when he cries, or just try to soothe him while he is in his bed? I did a lot of back patting and repetitive soothing sounds but tried not to pick up. Eventually they would settle down, and I am not ashamed to admit that I would literally crawl out of the room at times. That is what worked best for me. That and waiting until they were truly upset before going in. That is the tough one, figuring out what is a true cry and what is just complaining (or calling you in). That way he can start to learn how to self-soothe. Each child is completely different, and you will eventually figure out what works best with him. I hope he starts sleeping for you soon. I know that it is rough. 🙁 Hang in there!!
~Ann
Right now, we’re picking him up and feeding him/changing him etc… We’ve tried to comfort him in his bed and he keeps crying BUT we haven’t been “tough” and done the cry it out thing when he cries. Thanks for sharing your experience though. I appreciate it sooooo much!