Mum question:My daughter began to sleep through at four weeks. We never made a big deal about it, and never told other parents, that were struggling with sleepless nights, but were just thankful that, even though she was a catnapper during the day (3x30 mins) that we all got enough sleep at night. When she turned 6 months, a lot of changes happened for us. We moved house, my husband started a new job, I went back to work three days, and our daughter went into childcare. Little by little our sleep has deteriorated and now she is nearly 9 months and not only wont she sleep through the night now, but when she wakes she refuses to go back to her own bed, and will only sleep in my arms, or in our bed with us. We have never co-slept (apart from a few times accidentally when she was sick, and I fell asleep), and I dont think it would suit us to start, yet at three in the morning, when we have to be up at six, I feel I have had no other choice. Any routines we had in place have now fallen apart, and she is now at the stage where she is refusing sleep AND ebm at childcare. She also wont be settled to sleep with patting etc, and never has. Not only are we sleep deprived but have no idea what to do. We know its common at this age, but are frequently warned about forming good sleep habits for her. Can anyone please help? Falling apart at the seams! Pinky says: there have been lots of changes as you mentioned, she will also eb going through huge developmental leaps - physically, emotionally (separation anxiety peaks now) and neurologically (see the Wonder Weeks) as well as adapting to yummy sensations from new foods and possibly teething. Please dont worry about habits - at this age she is expressing needs. If she needs your comfort at night she may be doing a catchup after a day of separation so it is perfectly Ok to sleep with her if that would work for you. Or you could try playing some gentle music on a low volume to help her relax and keep this on overnight - remember no tricks are a substitute for cuddles and reassurance from you to ensure her security. If you can help her feel secure, she will have an easier time at childcare, if this means helping her get to sleep, thats fine too. Think of the environment you need to fall asleep - do you have a drink? Read a book? Snuggle with your partner? Yet we expect babies to sleep independently without help -some do, some dont and some need more help at stages that are stressful or confusing to them, just like us. Let go of the noise about forming good habits and listen to your baby and your heart. As she grows, she will wean off this help (patting/ rocking/ feeding etc) onto bedtime stories. Development and parenting are so dynamic, there will always be changes and ups and downs. If you all need to snuggle together, make sure your bed is safe and enjoy the cuddles.Sleep is sleep and it sounds as though this will be the easy way for you.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 05:00:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015