Having difficulty decoding your little one's sleep habits? You're certainly not alone. Troubleshoot your family's current routine with the help of Tinyhood Sleep Consultant, Vanessa Vance.
Hi - my son is 10 months old and he has been a challenging sleeper since the beginning. The main issue has been that once he is awake, sometimes he gets so worked up and upset, that he cannot calm and go back to sleep without a lot of work. I got him to take the pacifier early on which helped him. He started sleeping through the night at 7 months and would find his pacifier in the crib. I took the pacifier away (regrettably) about a month ago and gave him a small blanky / lovey thinking he would find that comforting. Instead he wakes up and cannot soothe - he's not really into the lovey. This happens at various points in the day too - he gets so worked up he has a hard time calming down. The only thing that works is nursing at this point. I am still nursing him and he loves it, he begs for it when we sit together. Nursing is the only thing I have to soothe him now and I am starting to create bad habits again with nursing at night / having him in bed with me. Any tips on how to help a baby self-soothe?
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Vanessa V.
Hi Ellen, |
My son will be 7 weeks old tomorrow. We have struggled with sleeping the past week or so. We bath him at 7 pm, dress him for bed, feed him and put him down to sleep. He usually will sleep for 1 hour starting at 8 pm. By 9 pm, he’s wide awake and fussing. Last time for example, he was up almost all night. The only time he was asleep was when I finally put him on my chest for 1 hr and 40 minutes. Today he’s making it up by sleeping. How do I undo this new cycle and keep him up and alert during the day and sleep at night?
We live in NYC and the weather does not permit outdoor walks Or much light exposure. The living room is bright and I keep him here during the day. Bedtime is in the bedroom with dimmed lights and white noise.
If he stays up during he night, should I keep him up during the day?
Thoughts?
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Vanessa V.
Hi Tina!! you are on the cusp of a very big change in your son's life. Night time sleep will begin to organize around 8 weeks of life. It is typical to have a very early bedtime of 7pm (finished routine) and sleep 4-5 hours of sleep solidly. example 7pm - 12am. |