Fighting sleep every night.

[Hazel]

Every night Connie fights sleep. As soon as she starts rubbing her eyes I take her up to the cot which is normally about 6.30pm and then she'll lay there with her eyes shut shouting (not proper crying) rubbing her face and thrashing her arms around for about 15 minutes until she eventually passes out then she'll sleep all night. I've tried having her downstairs until she falls asleep but she does the same thrashing thing and the telly distracts her so she's best put down in her cot. She's like this with her daytime naps also. She's tired but she just won't give in without a fight. I can see stressful bedtimes for years to come . Any tips on how to get her to "drift off" nice and peacefully or shall I just accept this is the way she'll be? She's been like this every night since birth so I'm used to it now and let her get on with it while I keep an eye on her from a distance but just wondered if I could make bedtimes any easier on all of us.

 

[x Naomi x]

Macey is exactly the same for her daytime naps she will cry almost hysterically and then just drop off, she isnt so bad at night time but she loves her mobile at the minute so just drops off

 

[Steelgoddess]

Hey hon, The last time Hayden did this was christmas day, BOY did that child fight his sleep!
He used to be extremly difficult in drifting off HOWEVER he's not now!!!

What worked for us is consistancy is his bedtime routine I even have a wee journal and can see the days we were consistant in drifting off quickly were the days he:

a) Had a nap during the day
b) Had a bedtime routine.

I also kinda formed associations with bedtime in the night and naps in the day. Ie during the day he would would go in his cot I would play the glitterbug and he would eventually drift off...

During the night it would look something like this:

60pm bottle
6:30: Bathtime
6:45 Massage and dress
70 Bedtime with light on and lullaby sheep playing, when asleep lights out.

To start with he wasn;t having a bar of it the trick is DON;T bring them back down, also stay close so if she starts to cry just go in and reassure her...

Naping was another problem, he would either sleep too much or not have a nap AT ALL I found when he DIDNT nap he was very grisly to go to bed and it was very hard to get him off, or if I let him sleep too long close to bed time again he's hard to get off

I don;t know if this helps but maybe write down each day the time she starts to rub her eyes, if you notice a pattern then try settling her an hour before this time to when she eventually comes to her sleepy moment she'll be too pooped to fight it!

This is only what works for us but anythings worth a go!

 

[Becs]

You'll get there soon, I promise! Austin was like this but now goes to sleep really happily, and sometimes just won't settle until I turn the light off and get out of his space. He coos and goos or goes straight to sleep. Be consistent and do the same thing every single night. I started to light a candLe in his nursery at bedtime so he would have a strong association and it gives him something peaceful to focus on before I Put him down. Something happens between four and six months, it's like they fit their bodies better and become more reassurred by your consistency. Hang in there hon! Keep it simple and don't over fuss, sometimes they just need to be let alone to get the confidence they can do it alone. Your heart will tell you if it's wrong.

Let us know how you get on x x

 

[Hazel]

She sleeps very well once she is asleep but would be nicer for everyone if she didn't shout about it . She does this in her car seat and pram also so it's just seems to be the way she is . She goes to sleep the same time every night and has her daytime naps approx the same time everyday but I just wondered why she lays there shouting with her eyes shut . She is very active and not what you'd call a calm baby when she's awake, very energetic, could this be a reason?

 

[Becs]

It sounds like she just finds it hard to let go of the day, but is happy and content in every possibe way. Maybe extend the bedtime wind down, so the whole process is alot longer. In any case you should just be patting yourself on the back for having such a content little girl!

 

[mommybing]

..yes I guess it because your LO is superactive and likes it that way. fighting sleep is her best shot.LOL.
My andy used to fight his sleep also,sometimes cries a lot before finally going to sleep. I guess that's pretty normal. How about cuddling her and say sweet little words..things like that.

 

[Hazel]

We've brought bedtime forward by half an hour for the past 2 nights and it's been soooo much better. She's now going having bottle at 6pm and bed at 6.30pm (ish). I think she's been getting over tired and then too tired to finish her bottle at that time and then getting grumpy. She still did some wailing but nowhere near as bad as it was. She sleeps for 12-13 hours at night (with an 11pm small top up bottle we wake her for). I'm keeping my fingers crossed this will continue to work .

 

[Steelgoddess]

Glad things are better hon