omg what can we do - kyan is a night owl

J-rod wrote: no matter what we do he wont go to bed. he only napped for maybe 1 hour yesterday...we was dead tired at 9pm so we give him bath and his bedtime bottle....but he only went to sleep for 1/2 hour then he was back up. he never goes to bed until maybe 1am anymore.

i dont know what to do. we are both dog tired and fully exhausted. i am fighting the flu and i think steph is starting to as well...but i cant take any meds cause i need 8 hours of sleep and im only getting 4 if im lucky.


what are some things to try to get him to go to bed at a decent hour or are we SOL?

stella6979 replied: The only thing I can suggest is maybe giving him a morning bath instead. Avery loves baths and rather than calming her they wake her right up. Just a thought.

lisar replied: Raygen was like that. It took me a few days to stop that. I would make her stay awake during the day. Cause she would sleep during the day and stay awake at night. I would keep her really occupied during the day playing with her and all that. After about 3 days of this she was ready to sleep at night. This was also when she was about a month old. It drove me insane. I hope you find something that works for him.

J-rod replied:
we did that at 2-3 months and he got much better.

but now he is only sleeping maybe 1 hour during day but still not much at night

Kaitlin'smom replied: maybe try putting him to bed before he is dead tired, and try not bathing him before bed, that might actually wake him up. What does he do when he wakes up after 1/2 hour? cry? scream? fuss? need burped? or changed? what tiem doe she normally get up in the morning? sorry for all the questions but its hard to give helpful tips/advice with out all the info.

for us 9pm was way to late of a bed time, even at age 4 her bed time is 8pm she knows this and while she is not always asleep by 8pm she normally is with in 1/2 hour of that.

ediep replied: I think that he is way too overtired. He is just a tiny baby, right? He needs his daytime naps. Emma is a few months younger than Kyan, but she still sleeps a bit between each feeding and goes to bed at night between 7-8pm and will sleep straight through until 4-5am, take another bottle and sleep more until about 7-8am.

what he is doing when he wakes up after 1/2 hour? if he is just awake, or just fussing a bit or talking in his crib, I'd just leave him. But if he is full out crying, then try oing in maybe giving him his passy (if he takes one) rocking him a bit, keep the room dark and maybe try some soft music. You could try rocking him a few minutes and putting him back in his crib. Keep trying until evenutally he gets the idea

good luck!!!!!

J-rod replied: Kyan wakes up on his won bewteen 7-8 am. when he wakes up after 1/2 hour he is happy and just wants to play. ill suggest trying to bath him earlier.

last night i had him alseep 3-4 times but everytime i laid him down he would wake up. sometimes cry and sometimes not. i played his country roads musical and everything but once he went down he woke back up.

Kaitlin'smom replied: okay when he wakes up after 1/2 hour happy do you go get him ? turn on lights? what goes on? how do you know he is awake?

J-rod replied:
because i cant even put him in the crib before he wakes up. he is talking and playing with stuff....then gets irritated. we think he is getting really mad cause he cant crawl yet...he just hasnt quite figured it out yet

BabyOwen427 replied: I think Kyan is about the age I started DS on CIO. I don't mean to put him in his crib and abandon him. I mean I put him in his crib drousy-sleepy and played the music on the mobile and walked out of the room. When he cried, and he did, I waited a couple of minutes and went back in and layed him back down and comforted him then walked back out. I did this repeatedly every few minutes the first night it took about an hour and slowly in about a week he realized that when I came in it wasn't to play and that I meant business and he wouldn't cry much after that, usually just a few whimpers but when I didn't come in right away he was quiet. It helped that I played the mobile the first time I would lay him down for the night because by the time he learned I wasn't going to pick him up (unless he absoulutely needed it ex: diaper) he was usually asleep by the time the mobile stopped playing. Now he is a wonderful sleeper and I know that if he cries in the night he really has something wrong and I can go in and fix it and rock him back to drousy-sleepy and lay him down and go to bed myself.
HTH
Good luck.
This only works if you don't mind the crying for the first week. I just had to remember that he was crying because he was mad not because he was in need of something. And when I went in every few minutes it was a basic welfare check to make sure that he hadn't hurt himself or anything and to let him know that I still loved him but I never picked him up unless I needed to change him or something.

Also, I know there is a big controversy with CIO and I do not intend to start any debates I am simply relaying info that worked for me.

Kaitlin'smom replied:
sorry I am just trying to understand do you rock or hold him to sleep? they when you try to lay him down he wakes up? I am just not getting it I guess....

Calimama replied: Bella started that a couple weeks ago. We stopped the nighttime baths and spent that last hour until her bedtime in the dark, cuddling, and telling her stories. We also figured out that she's getting hungry come 1-2 am. So during that time before bed she also gets a bottle. It seemed to help because she's getting back to her normal nighttime routine. Good luck!

J-rod replied:
yea i rock him to sleep

C&K*s Mommie replied: Can Steph try to put him down more often for naps? That way he is not overly tired by 9pm.
My girls from a few months old, were on a 2 naps per day routine until about 12mos old. Now they are on a 1nap/day schedule still at 4 & 2 yrs old.

J-rod replied: she tries...but he only sleeps for 1/2 hour max and then he is up. he will not go to sleep on his own except in the car.

Boo&BugsMom replied: J-rod, it seems because he is being rocked, then put to sleep, that he gets upset that you or Steph are not there when he wakes up. It's common. JMO. Try rocking him, but not to the point where he is asleep before you put him to bed.

J-rod replied: gave bath last night at 7pm. he went to sleep around 9pm. put to bed...slept until 10pm then was wide awake and happy. played until 11:30 and we couldnt take it anymore so we went for a drive. 30 minutes later he was asleep and slept through until 7am when i left for work.

Kaitlin'smom replied: hummm interesting sounds like if he does put himslef to sleep at ngiht he does better.....now I am not a fan of CIO but it might work for you. I agree dont wait till he is dead tired or asleep before laying him down, do it when he is starting to fall asleep and make sure all the lights are out or really low, soft music playing and tell him night night daddy or mommy loves you lay him down and walk away, he mgiht cry or fuss but dont pick him up right away. Also when he did sleep that long strech was he in his crib or car seat?

Boo&BugsMom replied: J-rod, does he maybe need to be more comfortable? When Tanner was an infant we had to put a blanket underneath his crib sheet for extra comfort. He does not like hard surfaces or anything of the like. He needs things to be squishy. Just a thought. Also, if it helps, just let him sleep in his bouncy, swing, car seat for his naps if that is where he is more comfortable. Tanner did for a really long time because he was colicky and liked movement. If he gets the proper sleep during the day then he wont be so overly tired at night for you. Just trying to think of some suggestions. Not sure if you've tried all this or not.

J-rod replied: for first 2 months he slept in the car seat as that was only way to get him asleep. from 2-5 he slept in his swing. due to reflux and colick. now he is in his crib.

we can try putting something under his brib matress to be softer.

stella6979 replied:
They actually sell nice soft mattress pads for cribs and they don't cost much at all. Maybe $20.00 or so.

J-rod replied:
we have that.

stella6979 replied:
Oh ok, it was just a thought.

J-rod replied:
i appreciate it...im just at my wits end here...didnt mean to sound rude.

Boo&BugsMom replied: Do you think CIO may work for him J-rod? He is 7 months now, so do you think perhaps he's just giving you a hard time about sleeping on his own?

stella6979 replied:
Oh, no biggie, I know exactly what you're going through, so I'm just trying to think of anything that might help. I'm sure you've heard this many times already, but it will get better. It just sucks trying to get there.