Sleep Recommendations
Printed From: OHbaby!
Category: Have A Baby?
Forum Name: First baby? Second or more?
Forum Description: Want help? Need support? Want tips? Men and women share advice and tips in this supportive community
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=24306
Printed Date: 10 September 2025 at 9:48pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.10 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Sleep Recommendations
Posted By: KiwiL
Subject: Sleep Recommendations
Date Posted: 04 February 2009 at 8:44pm
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Hi all,
Jackson goes down well for his 9am sleep and his midday sleep (supposed to be a big one but he sometimes wakes early). He should have a sleep around 4 - 4:30pm and then go down to bed about 7pm. Both of these sleeps are MAJOR battles now. They didn't used to be like this, but now Jackson thrashes and cries and gets really worked up. Sometimes recently I have not been able to get him to have that afternoon sleep, and you can imagine the meltdowns that occur after that. Can anyone make any recommendations on some good books that have worked for you, so that I can try some different things. If you had a baby that didn't like to settle, what worked for you in the end? We have good routines but he still gets really worked up. And tell me they grow out of this unhappiness?!?!? 
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Replies:
Posted By: myfullhouse
Date Posted: 04 February 2009 at 8:59pm
I am sure that they do grow out of it, but unfortunately they do like to test us just when we think we have the routine down-pat! 
I really liked Pinky McKay's "Sleeping like a baby", I ended up buying a copy. And I have read the "No cry sleep solution". Both I got from the library initially which was good as I wasn't sure how useful they would be. Bear in mind that neither of these books cover CC or CIO so they may or may not be for you. Whatever you decide to read I suggest seeing if your library has it first, then if you really like it you can buy a copy later. ------------- Lindsey 
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Posted By: kakapo
Date Posted: 04 February 2009 at 9:37pm
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They definitely do grow out of this unhappiness, and become fantastic little people who are so much fun to spend time with Some of the things I found helped in our situation included letting him have more naps during the day (he's always needed a lot of sleep, and was most likely overtired much of the time only we didn't realise) and making his cot a "fun" place to be - not somewhere he associated with meltdowns and tantrums. |
. My memories of Jimmy aged 3-4 month are of a very unhappy wee chappy who had trouble self-settling at night and found it virtually impossible to go to sleep for naps during the day. In desperation I bought and read the two 'Secrets of the Baby Whisperer' books and tried various things Tracy suggests. By 6 months he was sleeping 12 hours every night and settling well for naps every day. A few months later he started to show he was excited and happy to be having a nap, and now at 14 months he says "nigh nighs" if we ask "Are you tired?" and crawls into his room and waits to be lifted into his cot!Posted By: lisa85
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 8:49am
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Hiya!
I read 'on becoming babywise, the gift of nighttime sleep' and would highly recommend it  Myself and my 3 sisters used the techniques and we all have fantastic sleepers. Its a very short and to the point book. My twins started sleeping through the night at 9 weeks and haven't had an problem since. I hired it from the library. You don't even need the whole book just skip to the chapters that apply to you. I think I just used chapter 6 and the multiples chapter.
Hope things get better soon chic -------------  
TTC #3 since Jan 2010 - PCOS MC April 2010 |
Posted By: jaycee
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 9:04am
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He may be showing signs of wanting to drop the third sleep. To keep Sophie going on this one a little longer I would put her in the buggy and take them to the park so Sophie would have a 30 min nap and Amy could have a run around at the playground.
Both of my girls are "Contented Little Baby" graduates!  . It is VERYstructured but I have tweeked it to suit us and they have both thrived on that routine and stability of knowing what comes next. Both are great sleepers and we  Gina Ford!! Wellington Library has her books if you wanted to have a look at them. -------------   
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Posted By: FionaO
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 9:10am
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I have read numerous books.
I think I liked Tracy Hogg the best, a few weeks ago we were having this settling him at night meant lots of screaming and fussing and could take an hour or more. For us the sssh pat thing works, he loves being patted, it takes less and less time now and really we just have a cuddle for 5 minutes pat for a bit as soon as he looks dopey down he goes stay with him for a bit and then go. Some days he can take longer if he suddenly wakes up a bit but we don't have the tantrums, well at least for now we don't. Dh and I used to argue over who was doing settling, its not such a big deal now oh and randomly for daytime naps whilst we are having a cuddle we watch glowworm which really chills him out then i put him down next to glowworm, press it a few more times and he falls asleep. ------------- 
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Posted By: catisla
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 9:15am
Hello Lauire 
As you know, i (almost literally) threw all my baby books out of the window in a fit of anger. I then decided to let C fall into her own routine which she did fairly quickly. Gina Ford et al would probably have a fit if they knew, but C usually sleeps most of the morning after a feed (i.e. from about 8.30 am to 11.00). She will then be up till about 4-5 when she will have a nap of about an hour, then up and feed / bath / play etc till she goes down for the night at about 8.30. So she only really has 2 naps - if i go out in the afternoon she may nap briefly in the car but not always. She has recently started sleeping straight through with no dream feed from about 8.30 - 6.30 or sometimes later. Have you tried letting Jackson lead and seeing what happens for a week? My main problems with the books is they tell you when to put baby to bed, but not what to do if he doesn't want to go to sleep! Good luck hon - let me know if you want a supportive meet up! ------------- |
Posted By: KiwiL
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 9:19am
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I have tried dropping his later sleep, but that means he just falls asleep on his next bottle and doesn't drink.
We've also tried Gina, but unless he will start eating properly, we can't make it work. That late afternoon sleep I am just trying to make a 15 - 30 min sleep (like Gina recommends), but it doesn't help if he just won't settle. Keen to look at other options. Thanks for the tips guys! Crazy thing is, once I have swaddled Jackson, he knows and starts fussing. So he won't even let me cuddle him to calm him down at that time. |
Posted By: KiwiL
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 1:21pm
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Thanks Sue - just saw your post.
I would be happy to let Jackson lead, if it weren't for the difficulty feeding him. I honestly have to have structure for that very reason. Although we tried Gina, we've been totally flexible with trying different things. For instance last week we tried having his long nap in the morning instead of the afternoon. If he would just eat well, I wouldn't care. But when he doesn't sleep, he doesn't eat, which means he doesn't sleep..... GAH! Trying to introduce a dummy. I had been told not to (can affect eating), but maybe it will help. Problem is, I think it may be too late to do so.... |
Posted By: kiwisj
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 1:56pm
 We've been having the same problem here lately and I'm sure it's to do with my milk supply at that time of day (ie feeding). Morning naps are fine, lunch time is mostly great too and then it's the afternoon when things start going pear shaped.
We're also doing Gina Ford. I'm a big believer having looked after lots of CLB kiddies as a nanny. I do think it's harder when their feeding doesn't fit into the routine so well though. In our case it's coz Callum takes forever on the breast. If I give him EBM then it goes much more smoothly, so I think it's the long time to feed that's throwing us out = he gets overtired, won't go down for the next nap and then it's time to eat again but he's too tired and falls asleep on me ------------- SJ Callum - Dec 2008 Daniel - Oct 2010 |
Posted By: Febgirl
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 2:30pm
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Hi there,
I had this exact same problem at between 4 - 5 months and it was just a phase. I ended up feeding DD to sleep during the day as it was the only way to get her to sleep. Feeding to sleep is one of those big no nos according to baby books, but when you're faced with an overtired hysterical baby you do what you have to do! I'm pleased to say that the hysterical day sleep phase only lasted for a few weeks, and I've never needed to feed to sleep since. |
Posted By: KiwiL
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 2:54pm
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Oh, SO good to hear Febgirl!!
Sorry you're having the same probs kiwisj. It's hard, eh? Interestingly I rewrote Jackson's 'routine' last night to try something different. Then I looked at Gina's, and coincidentally it is almost the same. Hopefully a bit longer between naps and a dummy will solve things. |
Posted By: FionaO
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 2:54pm
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Is he still in his hammock?
Only asking cos a lady at my ante natal group was struggling with her wee girl and yesterday she said she randomly put her on their bed and she just fell asleep for 3 hours, so now she thinks she needs to move to her cot - she wouldn't go down before 11pm and never napped for more than 45 mins, so its worked for her. We spent most our coffee group talking about the delights of settling so its a hot topic. -------------
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Posted By: KiwiL
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 4:27pm
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Yep, he's still in his hammock. I really think he is too big for it, and I wonder if he is finding it uncomfy.
However.... we have white curtains in his bedroom. He will NEVER settle unless it is dark (I sewed a cover for his hammock, so it is dark in there). We don't want to pay for black out blinds until we know what is happening with the offer we have on a house (won't know till 11th, then who knows when settlement *if* (big if) we get the house). Until then, I think he has to stay in the hammock. I think the transition is going to be hideous, at least a dark room would help. It's waaay too scary a task to attempt right now! |
Posted By: McPloppy
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 4:40pm
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I have the same routine as you Laurie...eat at 7, 11, 3, 7 approx and the two two hour sleeps and I have a short 30 min nap around 5ish.
I know thw nap helps her and she will not last the distance without it...Like someone said before, a wilk will help. Even if he doesn't sleep he will have a good rest. BUT I guess it doesn't help if DH takes the buggy to work!!! BTW Sophia faught going to sleep today but i put her fish on to watch and she is now happy and asleep :o) Tracy Hogg is good but i think she is pretty much the same as Gina. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Febgirl
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 5:56pm
Could you just hang a couple of blankets over the curtains? We do this during the day even with blackouts! Doesn't look pretty but does the job. |
kiwilaurie wrote:Posted By: KiwiL
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 6:16pm
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Yeah, I think I might do that. Only I am a shorty and can't reach the top of the window, and there are no chairs upstairs! Will have to make soemthing work.
Still, if we get the house, that will make it a lot easier. Had a break through with the 5pm nap. He calmed down with the dummy and went to sleep. And the dummy stayed in the whole time. **prays we've found a solution.... waits with baited breath for the next attempt*** |
Posted By: FionaO
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 7:34pm
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i'm definately of the if it works I don't care what it is anymore i'm going with it. If a dummy works fab.
I also have a black sheet over the window with brown masking tape, he needs it to be dark, he's far too nosey otherwise, it looks rubbish but again...it works. -------------
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Posted By: Shezamumof3
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 8:01pm
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Ahhh dummies, life savers I call them!!! Caden goes to sleep with his and it just falls out his mouth once he falls into a deep sleep.
He can put it in him self now aswell and he takes it out when he doesnt want it and then will find it again when he wants it lol ------------- |
Posted By: kmarie
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 8:07pm
I second Linzy's ideas - they're exactly what I was thinking. And yay for dummies - although they can turn into the bane of our existence at times, for the most part they are a lifesaver. Glad it worked for Jackson! Good luck with sleeping. And big hugs hon ------------- 
twins in heaven Oct07 Is 40:11 "He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart." |
Posted By: JoJames
Date Posted: 05 February 2009 at 8:48pm
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On the hammock front, We found that J started screaming and would not settle while in his hammock but when we then put him in bassinet he settled very quickly, we were wondering if it was just too hot cause the mattress is wool and wraps around them so closely.
Also dummies saved us. ------------- http://www.alterna-tickers.com"> 
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