Hi all

Yes, he is driving me to the brink of total and complete frustration and exhaustion. What next can I do to get him to sleep? Please, someone, anyone!

He sleeps quite well at night, except tonight he had to be rocked to sleep. We do think he is teething at themoment.

BUT, all day today, and all day yesterday he would not sleep. He must have slept for a total of an hour for both days, during the daytime! And I know that is not good for his growth and development. He is almost 4 months old.

When we go to put him down in his crib, he screams, and keeps screaming. I left him to cry for like 5 mins (hoping he would stop, he doesnt!), but his cries just became insanely high pitched. He doesn't ahve reflux as he is not gulping when he is crying, and I tested it to make sure by carrying him flat on his back, and he was fine not crying.

Do any of you have any ideas what to do before I go completely nuts!!!!

Thanks for any help you can give.

AT wits end!

Babies signal to us when they need a certain need met, hungry, tired, poopy, etc. They have different pitched cries for whatever their need is at the time. Also,some babies are cuddlers, and require alot of physical closeness, which seems tobe the case in your situation.

You may want to rock him to sleep and give back rubs during this time. He also may not be ready to sleep yet (some are always more alert at all times) so give it some time and take his cues that he is actually tired and not just "over tired." I hope I helped!

I agree with BabyLuv on the rocking and back patting. Some babies just need a bit more encourgement to help them to fall asleep. If he is on his back you may also want to try him on his side or on his tummy. Most babies do not sleep well or for very long flat on their backs and when you flip them to their tummies the difference is usually astounding.

Nancy

The fact that he hasn't slept much for the last 2 days will only make it that much more difficult for him to sleep b/c he is so overtired. Have you tried baths, try keeping him in very quite environment b/c he's already overstimulated. If he is in pain you can try liquid tylanol. Hang in there, I just bought the "no-cry sleep solutions" book to see what I can do to develop good napping and sleeping habits for my child. You may want to try that too.

I was having the same problem with my little girl, she always slept on her back and wasn't getting more than 2 1/2 hour naps during the day, TOPS!
My mom stayed with us for a while, and one day she put the baby to bed... Silence ensued, and 2 hours later still sleeping peacefully!
I was amazed, she just put the baby on her tummy instead of on her side/back, and she was happy as anything! :angel:

have you tried the car trick? Anytime I out on eof my colicy babies in a car, sometimes just a car seat, it was snoozville. Also, Try the tummy trick, I kno wit is not "recommended because of SIDS, But both my kids, refused to sleep on the backs, bu tthe seconds they were on their tummies, thay slept great. Also if yiou think he is teething, you cna try teething tablets, they have an ingredient that helps sooth their fussiness and help them sleep

I had THREE like that--all were horrid sleepers. One trick that worked for us was the shower! Not IN it just next to it. For some reason the sound of the shower put my son to sleep almost instantly. 23 years later he STILL turns on the shower when he's had a bad day and can't sleep! Fortuanely we weren't paying the water bill at the time but we did make a recording for car trips. White noise has been show to be helpful--try it, it sure can't hurt.

Certainly try putting your baby to sleep on the tummy. I know it isn't recommended but if it is for a nap during the day then you are awake yourself and can keep an eye on him. Also white noise works really well. You can buy CD's of white noise or just run the hoover or hairdryer. I can't remember if it was someone on this site or a local mum but someone told me that they had tape recorded the hoover so that they could play the tape to baby to get them to sleep. The car also works well but my daughter tends to wake up as soon as you try to bring her back into the house. Finally if my daughter won't lie down to sleep she will almost always drop right off if I carry her in the papoose. Admittedly it's a bit limiting for you but if he is really fractious and desperately needs to sleep then it's a good last resort!

Spanish

DS is also a TERRIBLE sleeper. He also sleeps on his belly. At least he sleeps at night for you, that's good. I would have him checked for an ear infection also. I also got DS to sleep better when I put him down way before he showed sighns of tiredness. He may just be overstimulated. Or, on second thought, could he be going through a growth spurt. I am in your shoes every day, I know how frustrating it is. DS doesn't sleep at night either. I spoke to the doctor, and she said that some kids are just not day sleepers, and if they are sleeping at night, then that's okay (not necessarily for us, but for them!)

I just rocked my son to sleep for his naps. He would even fight it on my lap. I was persistant and it worked. Took awhile for him to stay sleeping for a long time but eventually he got used to it. It gets better.

I bounce, all the time. That is how I put mine to sleep. I sit him on my knee, facing me where I can lay his head against my heart, and then I just bounce. We discovred that if we lay him in his crib and leave the tv on in the next room he will sleep in there. Otherwise he wakes up.