Sleep transition: losing lots of sleep

[kris10s]

Kate started sleeping in her infant car seat when she started crawling (at 5 months) because she wouldn't stop moving and lay down whether she was in her crib or cosleeping. The car seat worked well. But she's 1 now, and we're expecting another and her teeth aren't bothering her too much... so we decided it was time to move back to the crib. We've tried cosleeping at least once a week for the whole time, she is just way overstimulated 95% of the time and ends up nosediving off the bed, etc. The crib is working out fine... I guess. She used to sleep 12-13 hours at night and then nap for 2 hours or so during the day. Now she is sleeping less than 10 hours at night and hardly napping (usually one or two naps of less than 1 hour) and she's a bear! I can't get her to go back to sleep like I could in the carseat. And she's so exhausted and some days (like today) she just won't nap. She's been up since 6:30a and she hasn't napped. She's miserable, I'm miserable, I've tried EVERYTHING and she's still awake. In the carseat, I laid her down tired but fully awake. In the crib she needs to be tired and nearly asleep if not fully asleep. She has a tendency to jump off my lap and run around while we are nursing, which doesn't always lead for her to be nearly asleep enough...

Suggestions?

[MarynMunchkins]

Personally, I'd put her in bed with me and take a nap together. :D

Colin's in a twin bed now, and it really makes things a lot easier as far as getting him to sleep. :)

[greenemama]

i think you should both get in bed and try to nap. jude has these restless moments and he totally fights me but i know that he's tired and i decide that we are going to lay down until we sleep. sometimes this happens with henry, too. i really don't think crying is a bad thing when you're both laying there trying to go to sleep. it's not CIO at all as you're right there, kwim? jude tries to sit up and i just repeatedlly lay him back down and tell him it's time to sleep. he fights for a few minutes and then realizes that we're not going anywhere. :)

:hug sleep issues are the worst, especially when you're pregnant. hang in there.

[malakoa]

what about the car seat, in the crib, so she's contained?

sounds like she feels insecure with all the space around her in the bed/crib... i just read something like that in what to expect the first year (a few minutes before i threw it out, but maybe there was something to some of it) maybe she needs less room?

[kris10s]

She's starting to get used to the crib. If she's not tired, it's pretty much impossible to get her to sleep there, but she doesn't have to be quite as passed out now than she needed to be when we first started with the crib. I admit to letting her sleep in her high chair sometimes when she falls asleep there, because naptime is definitely the hardest!

[Gailmegan]

:hug Sleep deprivation is the worst!! Especially when pregnant!!

This is probably not very helpful, but I'll share anyway :shrug.

I think each child is sooo different, so it's hard to know what will work. Justin started getting himself to sleep at 10 mos, and never had a problem - bed, crib, pack and play, on the floor - slept anywhere and slept well. Nathan is another story. He's 23 months and still needs to be parented to sleep. Usually I bf him to sleep, but when he's restless, UGH!!! Rocking, singing, nursery rhymes, and quite often (when it's gotten to this stage) he's screaming because he does not want to sleep! If he is really tired, he will fall asleep next to me on the bed, but I have to have my hand on his back or belly, and sometimes he needs to hold a handful of my hair.

Will she fall asleep next to you on the bed, or in the rocking chair with you? Sometimes I find that taking the extra time to make sure Nathan is really good and asleep is worth it, because he sleeps for longer then.

:pray :hug

[kris10s]

She's a weird kid and sleeps much much better on her own than co-sleeping. She actually makes the transition to the crib best if she is really sleepy but not asleep. :shrug It's defintely improving. Keeping her in the car seat for so long made it hard, but that was my fault.

[Radosny Matka]

:hug No advice, but sleep starvation is the pits!

[greenemama]

:hugheart

[Miss Priss]

She's starting to get used to the crib. If she's not tired, it's pretty much impossible to get her to sleep there, but she doesn't have to be quite as passed out now than she needed to be when we first started with the crib. I admit to letting her sleep in her high chair sometimes when she falls asleep there, because naptime is definitely the hardest!

Dono't feel bad, honey. Somewhere I've got a picture of dd#3 asleep in her *exersaucer*, standing up. And that child was SO hard to get to sleep as a baby/toddler you better believe I left her there!!

[This Busy Mom]

I nurse mine down, but she started getting really active when we'd go to bed for awhile. She's a light sleeper, and putting her to sleep before I'd put her to bed is impossible. When she started getting worked up and overstimulated when we were going to bed, I started turning out the lights... totally dark... and humming to her while touching her slowly & lightly. She goes down much faster that way now. I'm still nursing her down, but as soon as she gets to the not quite asleep but not awake stage, I quit nursing her.

I don't know... I think finding a night time routine that works for you and her and cues her in that it's time to settle is the trick... but what will work?

I know quite a few nights I had to lay down with mine in the dark for longer than I wanted because as soon as she'd go to sleep, she'd startle herself awake again. She's done that a couple more times on and off when she's had a long nap or been really revved up right before I've laid her down.

It seems like I'm always back up there within the hour of her falling asleep, then it's back again about 2 hrs later (I give up and go to bed then).