Talk to me at melatonin and late bedtimes

[Tandem mama]

Cuppycake wakes up hourly. I've been keeping track. We get ONE 3 hour stretch every night. The rest are 30 minutes-1.5 hours. It takes me half an hour minimum to fall asleep after she wakes up and nurses. I get very little sleep at a time. She screams when she wakes. I could sleep through her latching on and nursing but she can't stop her body from moving and she wakes up screaming. It's been like this for a very long time regardless of teething, illness, etc.

She gets tired around 7 and is asleep by 8.

If I keep her up til 11-12, she will sleep for six hours the. Be up every hour after that stretch. She gets inconsolably crabby at seven if I do this. She is also up by 8 am. I don't think a total of eight (ish with the 15-20 min she is up every time she wakes) hours plus a 1-3 hour nap is enough for a 16 month old per day. Everything I read says they need more.

I mostly do bedtime for both girls alone while dh does homework (he's up til 2 am as is and I don't want to ask him to delay his homework to help because he'd be in bed even later)

Sunshine really NEEDS to be in bed between 9 and 10 at the latest 8:30 is ideal for her needs.

We are gluten and dairy free

Night weaning isn't an option because when I've tried she screams either until she throws up and I give in or all night. She will fall asleep for five minutes then wake up screaming again. She's not ready.

ETA: forgot my actual question. Lol

The later bedtime seems like a solution but I don't know how to make it work for our family since sunshine still needs me to lay with her to get her to sleep. Plus I don't know if cuppycake is getting enough sleep that way. With bed at 8, she gets about ten hours then takes her 1-3 hour nap.

Is melatonin a good option for us?

[MarynMunchkins]

Melatonin isn't going to keep her asleep. Since falling asleep doesn't seem to be the issue, I'm not sure it's the best option.

Is your littlest teething? What if you use cal/mag at night and some Motrin?

[Tandem mama]

Melatonin isn't going to keep her asleep. Since falling asleep doesn't seem to be the issue, I'm not sure it's the best option.

Is your littlest teething? What if you use cal/mag at night and some Motrin?

This is why I love gcm. I didn't know melatonin was for falling asleep not staying that way.
I've tried Motrin with no difference and she doesn't appear to be teething right now.

Where can I get cal/mag for a 16 month old and why might that help?

[MarynMunchkins]

Magnesium helps relax muscles. :) You could try Hyland's sleep rememdy too.

vitacost.com has a couple liquid options for cal/mag.

[Tandem mama]

Does the calcium help absorb the magnesium? I know I used it while pregnant. :doh for insomnia. Never considered giving it to the baby.

I'll check out vitacost. I don't know when I'll be able to get anything. Things are tight financially right now.

Are there any foods that have magnesium?

[MercyInDisguise]

Some high magnesium foods are fish (tuna in particular), artichokes, bananas, brown rice, black beans, spinach, sweet potatoes, etc. Melatonin won't help her stay asleep, but if she's totally fighting sleep, it's a good option. Have you finished her weighted blanket yet? I am wondering if with her "twitching" in her sleep and waking herself up, that would help in combination with some cal/mag?

[trish101]

Grace slept like that for a while. 8 hours was her max, plus the nap. A high fat/protein snack helped a lot (A bowl of peanut butter was her favorite), but sleep was still a struggle until she stopped napping at 3 1/2.

[Soliloquy]

Justice was waking up over 20 times a night and I was literally losing my grip on reality from sleep deprivation. :hugheart our homeopath was able to give him a remedy that now has him waking 2-4 times a night.

I would also suspect another food sensitivity, leaky gut, compacted feces on the colon wall (makes passing gas very difficult and can cause night waking), and/or magnesium deficiency.

I hope you get it figured out soon, it's so hard on everyone.

[Tandem mama]

Justice was waking up over 20 times a night and I was literally losing my grip on reality from sleep deprivation. :hugheart our homeopath was able to give him a remedy that now has him waking 2-4 times a night.

I would also suspect another food sensitivity, leaky gut, compacted feces on the colon wall (makes passing gas very difficult and can cause night waking), and/or magnesium deficiency.

I hope you get it figured out soon, it's so hard on everyone.


I don't know where to start with figuring out another food intolerance.

We've been wanting to do de, I wonder if that might help with some of the possibilities :think I haven't read the whole de thread. I need to. I saw it helps with compacted feces.

We, well I, do suspect a sensory issue as well. In part because of this.

We have some sleepy time tea for kids. Would that be safe at this age?

Is leaky gut different than open gut of infants?

She's been sleeping more and more terribly (and we have all been getting frequent colds and sinus infections etc. at least monthly) since she was four months old. So, since last November.

I'm beginning to wonder if de is the best route because it seems as if something in us is making us ill.

I wonder though, because we primarily respiratory and cold issues, what does that mean for de? When I posted in the sticky I didn't get any replies. I'd seen somewhere in there not to take it with respiratory symptoms. We are rarely symptom free from sinus stuff anymore and coughs every couple months. :think

---------- Post added at 09:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:20 PM ----------

Some high magnesium foods are fish (tuna in particular), artichokes, bananas, brown rice, black beans, spinach, sweet potatoes, etc. Melatonin won't help her stay asleep, but if she's totally fighting sleep, it's a good option. Have you finished her weighted blanket yet? I am wondering if with her "twitching" in her sleep and waking herself up, that would help in combination with some cal/mag?

I have not started it because I need a postal or food scale to weigh the poly pellets. As well as time that she's not making messes :lol

She goes to sleep easily as long as Sunshine doesnt make too much noise.

I'm going to get some high mag foods for now until I can get some supplements. Start with food. Is there a reason she needs the cal with the mag?

It seems like its between sleep cycles that she has issues. Her wake times are aproximately the right length between sleep cycles.

[Soliloquy]

I've never heard of not taking de when have respiratory problems. We all take it daily.

For food intolerances, I'd give her only meat broth, meat, and boiled veggies (but not potatoes, corn, or peas) for a week and see if she feels better.

I've never heard of it referred to a open gut but I bet it's the same as leaky gut.

[Tandem mama]

I've never heard of not taking de when have respiratory problems. We all take it daily.

For food intolerances, I'd give her only meat broth, meat, and boiled veggies (but not potatoes, corn, or peas) for a week and see if she feels better.

I've never heard of it referred to a open gut but I bet it's the same as leaky gut.

Newborns have an open gut and the cells of the digestive tract are spaced slightly. That's why no solids til it closes. Is leaky gut when it doesn't close? Or is it different. I'm unfamiliar with leaky gut.

Ugh so that means I have to eat just that stuff too because she's bf. I can do a week.

I'm still confused on de. I asked in the sticky a couple months ago and never got a reply. :impouting maybe I'll try again or make a thread. I'm thinking this may be something that would improve our overall health and nutrient absorption. I know dd1 and I suffer from irregularity and constipation. We take probiotics. That's about it. And vit d3. :sigh I just want us to feel better

[Soliloquy]

Ah, I know what you mean now. No, it's not the same, bbl