What? You don't go to bed at 5am??
Ok, you veteran moms, nannies, and anyone with any helpful info!! I need some tips on how to get Noah on a better sleeping schedule.He'll be 2 months old this Thursday, and I read that before 3 months, don't bother trying to make a schedule. However, there's got to be a way to get him to start falling asleep before everyone else in the world is waking up. I'm ok with not getting 8 hours of straight sleep, but this whole day and night mixup isn't very convenient. You know it's bad when you're just getting to bed and can hear people leaving for work. This has really only started within the last couple of weeks. About 2 weeks ago, we had a rough weekend, where he was colicky and didn't stop crying till around 3 or 4am. He's been on this schedule ever since... the crying has stopped, but he's still up and ready to play, eat, whatever. I try to keep things bright and active during the day and dark and quiet at night, so that he can tell a difference. Sometimes we can get him to nod off a little at night, so we know he's tired, but he fights it all night. He'll realize he's falling asleep, then those eyes perk right up! :) We've tried walking around with him, vibrating chairs, the baby swing, going "Shhh" till we're about blue in the face... we're just not sure how to adjust his sleeping time. The problem is that one of his long sleeps starts around 6:30pm to 7pm and he'll sleep till around 11pm or 12am, waking up once to eat. After he wakes up at this time, he won't go back to sleep for a few hours (which naturally puts us anywhere from 3am to 5:30am). So my question: Is there a way to fix this? 
3 comments:
I have heard nothing but amazing things about the book Baby Wise. It teaches you how to put your baby on a schedule. I haven't read it yet but I'm definitely excited to read it when I get it!
I wish I had some useful information for you, but I don't. I have always been a laid-back parent and let the kids go with their own internal schedule. In the early months that meant staying up with them; later on, it meant letting them sit in bed awake while I went to sleep because I had to go to work the next day. It wasn't fun, but it worked itself out in the end.
I did a little research after reading your post, and it sounds like what your son is doing is normal. You are putting him down at the suggested time (between 6:30p and 8:30p) and he is waking up in the middle of the night for a feeding. The hours may seem weird, but it won't last forever.
I think trying to get babies in a "schedule" is nuts. They change so often that a schedule doesn't keep up with them. (We only had a schedule for a few months, then Isaac would change it up and we would have to get a new one.) If you really don't want to go to bed so late, then I would wake him up from his evening nap. Let him take a short one, then get him up so he's tired again in a few hours. (Beware, you might have a VERY cranky baby in the beginning doing this, but he would adapt to it.) Of course he's not going to be ready for bed if he's sleeping for hours so late. You just have to play around with it and see what works. Good luck!
Sarah
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