Swaddled and Stressed

[Paige]

I'm stressed and dd is swaddled.

She has started not sleeping really well after midnight. She goes to sleep well at 7PM and sleeps until about 12:30 and then it is every hour or just about non-stop waking. If I nurse her she goes right back to sleep but she won't take comforting from DH. He's the SAHD and I have to get up at 4:30AM to go to work.

So, I just don't know what to do.

She is swaddled at 6.5 months. It really seems to help her sleep longer but now I wonder if she is fighting it.

I always nurse on demand but she seems to *want* to nurse not need to.

Teething? It doesn't seem to be a pain cry.

IDK, I need some sleep.

[14yrslater]

According to Elizabeth Pantley's 'No Cry Sleep Solutions' - babies tend to sleep without waking up for their first stretch of the night and then wake up often after that first stretch. She also writes that when babies sleep for 5 consecutive hours (like your little one from 7:30pm - midnight) it is considered sleeping through the night.

What if you 'tricked' your lo to think that you are not at home - would she then take comfort from dh? I know my son will only take comfort from my dh only when he thinks I am not at home.

:hug2 I hope other mammas on this board will be able to give you some better advice!

[NovelMama]

Do you co-sleep? My kids stopped sleeping well around that age and that's when I started co-sleeping. It helped them settle down. Maybe if she slept next to your DH so that she wasn't wantin gto nurse all night long, that would work?

That's hard, mama, I'm sorry. :hugheart

[Paige]

We do cosleep. She's between Dh and I.

Last night we tried to not swaddle and spent 45 minutes trying to get her to sleep while she flapped her arms like she was about to fly. lol. Needless to say, we swaddled. Last night was much better because I took some melatonin and went to bed at 9:30. I think my staying up too late might be the biggest problem. She did get up every 2 hours after midnight but I don't feel so dead today.

I think I'll get the NCSS.

I am interested in any ways to help her be comforted by DH. Sometimes it seems easier to just nurse her than to have DH try. Should we give in?

[NovelMama]

I think that's something only you can decide. I think that, given time and consistency, she could eventually learn to be comforted by your dh. If it were me, I think I'd try NCSS first, only because I know I would have a hard time trying to sleep if I heard (or even just knew) that DH was up with my dc and she was crying for me. If I'm going to be awake I might as well be the one trying to solve the problem with something like NCSS.

[Paige]

Thanks Alison. You are right it is hard to sleep when I know she needs me. Plus, one day she won't need me as much any more and I'll probably pine for the days when she needed a mama snuggle during the night.

Who said "snuggle tank" on another thread? That was great.