Daughter won't let me sleep - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

BunInTheOven · 08-01-2008, 06:40 AM

Every time I lay down, my daughter starts screaming. Really, what it is, in order for me to lay down, I have to put her in either her bassinett or her play pen and the moment, I lay her down in there, she starts screaming. I don't know what to do. She always falls asleep when I'm breastfeeding her, if I leave her on the boppy pillow there with me, she'll sleep for a couple of hours, but if I lay her down in her playpen, she's up within a couple of minutes. So even when I know that she's not hungry, she's not dirty, she's not cold or too hot . . . she still cries. Her father is always saying that I need to just put her in her bassinett and let her cry herself to sleep, but I feel so guilty doing that. Does anyone else do this? Am I a horrible person if I just allow her to cry? She finally just fell asleep after an hour and a half of crying and now, I'm too frustrated to sleep. Her father just got home though, so he can help me now. Thank God!! Any advice ladies?

LauraLu · 08-01-2008, 03:02 PM

How old is your daughter? Age is a big factor as far as crying it out. I would say that if she's under three months, then go to her and soothe her. We used to heat our daughter's crib sheets with a heating pad before laying her down. That way she still felt nice and "snuggled up." It worked like a charm. Also, swaddling is great.
I think if your daughter is over the three month mark then teething is always an option...it could just be from pain. You can try a little Tylenol after checking with your pediatrician. It could also be gas. Gripe water worked with our daughter.
Like I said earlier, it's really tough to give advice because I don't know how old your little girl is...

BunInTheOven · 08-01-2008, 04:37 PM

She's only 3 weeks old. If I go and soothe her every time, I'll NEVER get any sleep. Right now, I'm working on 2 hours of sleep and I'm ready to go jump out the window. Her dad left to run some errands without waking me, so of course, she wakes up screaming 2 hours later and now, she screams if I put her down to even go to the bathroom. I know she's not gassy or anything, because she's perfectly content if I'm holding her.

G8r4evr · 08-01-2008, 05:21 PM

My daughter did the same thing for the first 2 months. It was exhausting, but she finally grew out of it. Hang in there!

timetoreclaim · 08-01-2008, 06:03 PM

I would not let her sleep where you would rather she not and make a point of putting her to "bed" when she is sleepy. It might take osme time but her you aren't sleeping anyway and it sure is better to get it straightened out sooner than later.

Another piece of advice I want to give you is to NOT be careful to be extra quiet. Heck use some soothing music and let noise happen.

My kids slept through the night early, slept in bed, and didn't wake up at the drop of a hat. Now they are 19 and 15. They both sleep well and sound.

They just sort of get used to whatever you are doing so if you want her to get used to something else mix it up.

I breast fed the first month, had the crib in my room. Fed them and changed them when they woke and held them during that time and then put them back to bed in the crib to sleep. If they were upset or wouldn't sleep I'd keep them up and out till they were sleepy again and then back to bed.

LOL it wasn't always easy but in the long run it worked out bit by bit.