Should've known better!

[Jackson's Dad]

It's 1:20AM here. Lately, I've been taking the first shift when putting Jackson to bed. He just turned eight weeks, and is still a rough sleeper. Well, last night he lulled me into some false optimism, and went to sleep pretty fast. So tonight, after 40 minutes of him sleeping, I figured I'd head downstairs, fix me a little drink, and play this new video game my brother just got me. Oh, foolish man, I should've known better. Not five minutes goes by, and who wakes up! I comfort him, quiet him, and go back downstairs to play a little more (it's at a tricky part of the game). Once again, he wakes up! Up the stairs I go, quiet him down, then back down. After a few times of this, I think I have just given up on having an easy shift (although he is letting me type this... luckily the computer is in the next room, and not down the stairs. My legs were getting tired!).

Oh, I can't WAIT until he will just go to sleep when we put him to bed. And by that I mean, I can't wait until its not 3 hours of fussiness! Half an hour, even an hour would be ok. But 3 hours every night of this sleep-a-little-then-wake-up... ARGH!

You know.. we should have a forum on here dedicated to just venting! Hmm.. there he is again. Pacifier time.

Dan

[SAHF]

Dan....

Sounds like you are having a little baby boy issue! Well, I too had that issue with my boy, who is now 7. The computer was my life saver in that time of need.

I tend to bounce my knee when I am sitting at the computer. When my son would get a little fussy, I would just lean back, lay him on my chest, and bounce my knee.

While time has passed and I am into the computer pretty good, I did not realize that I had put him to sleep. Just try that if you are coordinated enough (takes practice).

Good luck and hope SLEEP is in your near future!

Added note: This is a place to vent..you are catching on! You vent, all the other SAHDs come to the rescue!

[Jackson's Dad]

I'll have to try that, although I may not be that coordinated! I'd bring him downstairs so I could play some video games (I find it much easier with lap full of baby to handle a controller vs a computer), but I don't want to wake him up too much by having him in the light. Plus, he always wakes up when we walk back up the stairs. Sigh.

He's going through some sort of nervous-energy or gas issues now... squirming up a storm when he wakes up. Makes it tough to hold him sometimes. Lately we've taken to singing to him, and that seems to help. But after the hundredth chorus of Lion Sleeps Tonight, you start to go a little batty!

Well, after an hour of fussiness, he's been out for 20 minutes. Soon it will be the wife's turn... must hang on until then!

Dan

P.S. I know why I'm up this late, but what are you doing up? Same thing?

[SAHF]

Get one of those Over the Should Baby Holder things.... :wink: You know, like a sash that cradles them to you so it leaves your hands free.

Why am I up...I was playing a game! :lol:

[tt3]

I too got pretty good at bouncing and gaming with Tara when she was that little. I think the flavor was Dungeon Siege, got pretty far with the little squirt in my lap! ;)
Have you tried letting him go a little bit? Tara still wakes up in the night once in a while but after a few minutes she's back asleep.

[mjknapp]

I was going to suggest the same thing tony, but then I reread his post and seen 8 weeks old, I figured all 8 week olds are going to have bad nights every once in a while.

[tt3]

Yeah, its hard for me to remember that far back, even though it was only 17-18months ago :roll:
I think its called selective memory... :lol:

[Anonymous]

Jack D...have you tired wrapping your bub?...with summer, use a light-weight cheese-cloth type blanket...lay him on blanket on his back,..with bub's head off blanket, like a cape, fold part of blanket over left arm then place arm over chest, then the right arm...finally tuck the bottom of blanket back over his feet, (wrap firmly rather than tightly).. then place him on his side in cot...This technique will keep the little package safe from flaying around and/or waking himself up by a self inflicted smack in the face and more importantly provide Jackson with that SECURE feeling bub's want...rest assured that he will manage to struggle free by morn...this is only to help him feel safe and secure until he slumbers off ZZzzz...although we used it with much success from day one...keep in mind some babies will struggle to find a good night sleep...aside from the obvious full belly, dry bum and at a comfy temp, the wrap might help...G'Luck...Guest

[Anonymous]

Dan, do you have one of those womb/hearbeat bears for him. Wyatt was doing the same thing at that age until someone gave us that bear. Now we turn it on every time we put him down and it runs for 20 minutes. It keep him company until he falls asleep.

Might be worth a try. He could just need a little bit to get him past the inital lonelyness.

Good luck!

Jon

[daddygunz]

Above post was from me..... Forgot to log in.

[Jackson's Dad]

Such an outpouring of suggestions! Thanks everyone!

Yes, he just turned 8 weeks. Still too young for letting him cry it out. You parents of older kids all seem to forget what it was like back at the beginning! Even all those books out there on sleep -- seemingly full of good advice, until you realize that they are all talking about babies 3 months old or more! ARGH!

But thanks for the ideas. Yep, we've been swaddling him from Day One. It helps, but it doesn't prevent him from being fussy or crying. And Jon, we haven't tried the bear, but we are using a fan. Seems to help a little.

Jack's in general a sweet kid, he just has a real hard time falling asleep. We do all the usuals (he's fed, dry, swaddled, rocked, etc.). But some nights it takes him hours of fitful sleep before he really zonks out. And even then, he's only out for 2-3 hours. Once and a while he suprises us, and sleeps 5 or 6 hours. I think he does that just to mock us. :wink:

From what we've learned, this is just part of his age. So people are lucky, and have babies that fall asleep at the drop of a hat. Others, are worse off -- friends of ours have a 5 week old who just won't sleep unless held. So we are trying to just muddle through until his body matures enough to let him sleep soundly.

So, I am back on duty tonight. It is now 12:22am, and he's been asleep for 30 minutes, after a couple brief crying bits. We'll see what happens.

Dan

P.S. Dungeon Siege was a fun game. I played Return to Castle Wolfenstein all while house-breaking our puppy. Now with Jackson, it is a combination of Metroid Prime and Madden NFL. I wonder if Jackson's absorbing any of the rules of football?

[Jackson's Dad]

It's now an hour and 20 minutes later, and he's still asleep (knock on wood). Yee ha! I can get to bed! (I usually just stay up during my shift, until he's asleep for a good hour or so. If I drift off, then have to wake up to deal with him, I am a mess. Easier to just stay awake.)

And while waiting, I got past another boss level in my game. Cool.

[Jackson's Dad]

The memory dulling is already happening. We have to struggle to remember the "old days" of a month ago. :)

The exhaustion is tough, though. We are all fighting off a cold or allergies right now, and the physical exhaustion just makes it that much worse. It's like being drunk all the time, but without the pleasant side. It's feel like what Douglas Adams said about being drunk -- what's wrong with being drunk? Ask a glass of water.

Hmm, I don't think i am making sense. Ah, too bad. I have a 9 week old son, I am allowed to not make sense. Luckily, the grandparents (my parents) are showing up wednesday for a long weekend, so the cavalry is on its way.

Dan

[Remington]

I can relate to the memory thing, or lack thereof. It is like your brain becomes numb and mushy and can't piece things that happened into the proper order. I am slowly getting that back. I think it happens more from shock than anything. It is a way of coping with the situation at hand.

I think it happens more for women. Because if they remembered everything exactly the way it happened then they would never have another child... lol

But because we as a species needs to survive, our memories are no longer very good for an extended time so that we can focus on the NOW and get done what needs to get done.

Right now, I am slowly slipping back into a new state of conscienceness... :?

The awareness state... :wink:

[floridamcmarion1]

Our best comfort item for our 13 day old is a noise activated device that clips to the side of the bassinet. When she starts to fuss it turns on. It has a night light and makes the noise she heard in the womb of her mom's heartbeat. It almost always helps. I had taken it off one night for some reason and we had a much harder night.

[tt3]

I remember seeing an add for a device that attaches to the springs under the crib and it simulates the noise and vibration of riding in a car! :shock:
Wild stuff

[Jackson's Dad]

Yeah, we have vibrating stuff and white noise stuff, and all that. Not much help. As they say, each baby is different.

But Louis - we started to use the pacifer at night, even though some people warned us that he might get addicted. But you know, I'd rather wean a well-rested baby off a pacifier, than have a non-hooked one who still fusses and cries! Pick your battles, I suppose. (Ask me my opinion again in a few months. :wink: )

[Jackson's Dad]

All right! Jackson fell asleep tonight without a pacifier! It's been 45 minutes so far, and not a peep from him (knock on wood) -- he usually wakes up a lot the first hour when it fall out of his mouth. Here's hoping this is the start of a trend!

Dan

[mjknapp]

None of our kids ever took to a pacifier, they both stuck their thumbs in their mouth. I would rather wean a kid off a pacifier than a thumb. I got my 3 yr old to quit sucking her thumb, but the baby I will let go for a couple more years.....

[mjknapp]

What I did was to start telling her that sucking her thumb will hurt her teeth and make them grow crooked, after I pounded that thought in, and she understood that sucking her thumb was bad for her teeth, then I used "Mavala Stop" Just like finger nail polish, I used it for about two weeks, and she never sucks her thumb anymore, every once in a while after she has gotten into trouble and is sent to her room I will catch her eith it in her mouth, but then we just talk about how it is not good for her teeth and that she shouldnt do it.

I think the key to it all was letting her understand that it wasnt good for her teeth, before putting the junk on her finger.

[tt3]

I've been incredibly lucky with Tara, no nuk and no thumb sucking either. That of course means the second one will be irrevocably attached to both. :roll:
Dan, congrats to your sleepin' kid!
Is 1:30pm too early for a snort-o-bourbon?
:lol:

[Indy]

We found that a bottle of formula (in lieu of the regular mom milk) helped Rachel to sleep as long as six hours in a stretch (at a week old). The fact that it was iron enriched also helped to reduce the loaded diapers to one every couple of days rather than every few hours.

[Jackson's Dad]

I don't really mind him wanting the pacifier -- I figure that it is more important for him to learn how to fall asleep fast. At first we never used it -- we just didn't think of it. Then after a couple weeks of rough nights we tried it (that's the problem with lack of sleep - hard to think logically!) and he went to sleep much easier. It's nice to see him now not need it all the time, though.

Tobasco on the fingers, eh? Probably just turns them on to spicy food. A cousin's child loves Lamb Vindaloo and other spicy foods, so I doubt that it would discourage her much! (Yum Daddy, can I have some more?)

Dan

[zoes-Dad]

It takes me and my wife anywhere from 1-2 hrs to get our little Zoe to sleep. She fights going to sleep big time. I'm sure it does not help things that shes cutting teeth.....OUCH !!!

[mjknapp]

Tyler's teeth seem to be at a standstill now, he popped both front bottom teeth at the same time, and was pretty fussy, but hasnt seemed to get any more started for about a month now.

[Jackson's Dad]

Hey! Good news! Last night Jackson fell asleep around 11:45, and slept all the way to 6am! He woke up once around 3, but before my wife could get to him (her turn), he fell back asleep. YAY!

We'll see how tonight goes. He went right to bed, no fussing. And I've just put in my hour-long vigil, and he's stayed asleep. Knock on wood. (And Saturday morning he'll be 12 weeks.)

I know it won't last (growth spurts, teething, colds, etc), but it's just nice to know that he has it in him, my little champ.

Dan

[tt3]

Yeah, congrats! I remember the feeling of the first full nights sleep, almost as glorius as the second!

[mjknapp]

I can't relate to this, my wife always got up with him, I had to be to work at 5 in the morning, and she would let me sleep, there were a couple weekend nights that I was trying to let her sleep, so I would sleep downstairs with him, and I had to stay up, but most of the time she got him, then when she went back to work, he was sleeping through the night.

[Don-Dad]

My youngest seems to wake up like clockwork at 1:00 for a ba ba. He just turned one so we are trying to stop the bottle and move to a sippy cup and no more formula, whole milk. Well these changes have not made him too happy.

THen after my youngest finally goes back to sleep, son #1 wakes up and needs an escort to the bathroom, this also is a nightly occurance. Then I'm just about to fall asleep and the dang dog will do something to wake me. I have some really fun nights, NOT!

[mjknapp]

The line up waiting for your next move.....lol

[Jackson's Dad]

Last night: 11:30 until 5:30. And tonight he dropped off real quick at 11:20! Fingers crossed. Of course, if he starts going to bed so fast, I'll need to find another time of the day to check out this forum!

Dan

[jeffus]

Have you tried Mylicon?

We had the fussy baby thing going on until we were just a hair this side of crazy. Brought it up with the pediatrician. She said give her some Mylicon after every feeding.

Mylicon is simethicone (spelling?). It breaks up the gas. Same thing that's in Gas-X for adults. Great thing is that it passes right thru. No side effects or dosage concerns.

Our problem was that although feedings went well during the day, the solids were building up and producing gas towards the end of the day, ie.: the colicky-baby thing.

We were told to give mylicon with every feeding. We did. No more crying baby. No more gas. Happily sleeping parents.

There's a cheaper version - Little Tummies that's half the price and just as good.

And for the teething - use Infants Tylenol. My kid sucked it down. Just make sure you don't use anything else with acetominophen in it while dosing. Too much is a bad thing.

[Jackson's Dad]

Yep, tried the Mylicon. No effect on our end. Seems like it was just something he had to grow out of (and we had to grow into).

He's waking up at 3 or 4am again, but nothing too bad. And he's dropping off to sleep faster now. He actually goes to bed in a good mood most nights, which is fun. The last two nights, he's started giving me this HUGE grin as I swaddle him up for the night. Whereas he used to fuss, he now holds his arms straight for me and just laughs. It is too cute!

Dan

[mjknapp]

It will get better soon Dan, some babies make their own schedule, and we as parents have to follow them until they are a little older, then you can set a schedule for him.... :lol:

[Jackson's Dad]

Oy. Sigh.

[tt3]

To be honest I'm kind of cringe when I think about our second one coming in the fall. Everyone says how all kids are different... we'll probably not get ANY sleep forever with the second one. I think I mentioned before that Tara started sleeping through the night at 6weeks, until she started teething.
Soooo, if you follow that traditional wisdom, the second one won't sleep more then an hour at a time right? :roll:
But, then if tradtional wisdom held true throughout, there wouldn't be stay at home dads, right? Maybe it won't be so bad after all!
:lol:

[Jackson's Dad]

A second one? Hoo boy, I can't even THINK of a second one right now.

(Although, it is in our plans... we even bought a house specifically with enough bedrooms for a second kid, so I guess there's no going back now.)

[matellicblue]

Wow. everyone has little ones. It seems so long ago my youngest is 4 and he has been in the terrible twos since he was 1 1/2. He's not that bad just takes after me. :snakeman:

We got the kids cd clock radios before they where born and some Disney cd's and others like Dr. Suess, silly kids tunes ect... I always like listening to music as I go to sleep, my wife doesn't has to be silent for her. But we talked about it and she likes how I can fall asleep with no problems and we wanted the same for the kids. It worked my older 2, who live with their mom, have no problems and my wife and mines 3 have no problems either.

Just remember it's only for a short time. =D>

My games were Resident Evil 2 and Metal Gear solid. Passed that gene down to all but my 13 year old daughter. :lol:

[mjknapp]

My games were Resident Evil 2 and Metal Gear solid. Passed that gene down to all but my 13 year old daughter. :lol:

Metal gear solid is such an awesome game. I just played and beat metal gear solid 2, it was ok, but alot easier to beat than the original. The original took me a while to figure out all the tricks and puzzles, but the second one didnt have quite as many of them to figure out.

[matellicblue]

I agree about MGS2, I've beat it a couple of times. ansd MGS 1 is still great I still get it out and play once in awhile. Lately though I have no time. Still working on BTVS: Chaos Bleeds and RE: Code Veronica X. I've also got Deer Hunter 2004 and Cabela's big Game hunter, Great for the off seasons.
Dinner calls, later.

[Jackson's Dad]

Ugh. Well, the little boy is having a sleep relapse. He's been so good for about a month now: going to sleep at night almost immediately, waking up once for a snack, then sleeping until 6 or 7. Then, last weekend, he started to regress. Taking longer to fall asleep. Waking up several times in the night. Last night he woke up almost every hour or two. Usually, you can get him to fall asleep again by just giving him the pacifier, but that's not working so predictably.

Argh. I am losing my patience and zen-like cool. (Ha, like I ever had that!). It's hard to have him get worse with sleeping, even a little bit. It's amazing how such a disruption can really mess you up - not just the lack of sleep, but the lack of predictable sleep. I'm just a grumpy mess these past few days.

We've been trying to make his bed time earlier. Right now, he still goes to bed around 11pm, right after his night-time meal. He used to be so alert in the evening, we could never get him to bed earlier. But he just went through a growth spurt, and now he's starting to get grumpy and tired ealier, so we think it is time to change his bedtime. (He's just under 4 months old.)

Any advice? I'm guessing these regressions are normal, and will continue his whole life. But right now I am having a hard time dealing with it. It is so frustrating! You think you are getting the hang of things, and then, he reminds you - nope! How do you attain a zen-like peace about the insanity that is this little tyke and his sleep "schedule". :) How do you know what is a normal developmental hiccup (which you just have to live through) vs something you can influence (like by changing his bedtime)?

[2nd time around]

My son, Evan, also had problems sleeping when he was your little guys age. Then someone recommended we read the book "The happiest baby on the block" by Harvey Karp, it saved us! Won't go into what it entails, you have to read it to fully understand his methods. Evan is now six months and starting sleeping thru the nite just as Mommy returned to work from materninty leave, just as Dad took over as caregiver! Good luck, I don't miss those days.

[Weston]

Hey J's dad-

Just read through your thread

I think we are going through similar problems. My Alex is almost 4 months old as well. He was born on June 16th. He's great during the day with his sleep and feeding habits. My wife pumps milk at her work so I don't have to feed him formula while she's away.

I've got him on a feeding schedule of about every 3 to 4 hours and he usually naps for about an hour between every feeding. This works out well if I want to go anywhere during the day. I know about when he'll get hungry and I just take the milk with me.

I've found it much more efficient feeding him by the bottle. He'll gulp that stuff down ( He's now up to 6 to 8 ounces per feeding) in just ten minutes. But when my wife nurses him it usually takes about a half an hour for him to be satisfied. I think the problem there is that he falls asleep too often while nursing - using the nursing as comfort time in addition to feeding time.

So.... At night when we don't have the extra pumped milk to feed him from the bottle ( we have just enough for during the day) when he fusses we assume that he is hungry. My wife takes him out of his Pack-n-Play, puts him in bed with us and "nurses" him while ( evidently) we all go back to sleep. So you can guess the problem we're having. He never seems satisfied because he only gets a little bit of milk at each feeding.

My wife is taking the brunt of this because she has to go to work after these sleepless nights. I get to nap :?

So last night I decided to try something different.

Alex and I slept in the living room, me on the couch, him in the swing.

He woke up about every two hours, but when he did I just pushed the swing with my foot for a couple of minutes, and he eventually found his fingers to suck on and went back to sleep.

I did change his diaper this morning around 3:30 and then brought him to momma for a feeding. I don't want to cut out his night time snacks completely yet.

Anyway, just know you are definitely not alone in your problem. I'm just going to look at this as a challenge and try to let my wife get some good rest. After all I can nap during the day. But if she becomes so sleep deprived that she F's something up at work, it could affect our one and only income!

Goodluck!
Mike J