Sleep
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Can anyone help us with this problem please?
Our 1yr old,who is a very needy baby,and who has to be held all the time!will only take a nap if she is held.If we put her into her cot for a nap she will scream unti she is sick.It then takes us an hour to settle her down again.
At night she goes to bed at 7.30pm,and has to be held until she goes to sleep.This can take anything from 30 mins to 2+ hours! She is then put into her cot,asleep. sometimes she will wake up and cry,and if not picked will scream until sick (again!)When she does go off,she can sleep right through.If she wakes up in the night,she seems unable to settle herself and must be picked up and settled or she gets hysterical.
We have two other children & never had this problem.We are a little worried as my wife is 4 months pregnant with #4!!,and we would like this sorted out before baby arrives!
Any suggestions please?? Thanks.
How many months old is the one year old? There's such a big difference between twelve months, eighteen months, twenty three months....
My first child was like this and somewhere around two we got fed up and simply plunked her in her crib. Her thing was that you had to rock and sing her to sleep. And she got Very Picky about which songs I sang...so she got dumped. She started to fuss about each song I tried so I jumped up, put her in the crib and I stood there to prevent her from climbing out. I didn't look at her or engage her in any way. I merely stood there staring at the wall and if she threw her foot over the railing I put it back. This went on for well over an hour until she fell asleep in exhaustion. She didn't ever make herself sick, though, so I realize that's a problem... Anyway, the next sleep time came and we did everything normally except we did not rock or sing, I put her in her crib and we repeated the whole thing again. This time it took about an hour. The next day was half an hour. By the fourth day she willingly went to bed in her crib with no fussing whatsoever and I gave her a kiss and left the room.
If your child is closer to two, I think you could try putting her in her crib and rubbing her back a bit and then sitting in a chair next to the crib. Try not to engage her, just sit there and let your presence be her only comfort. After she begins to tolerate that after a few days, move the chair a little further away from the crib. Do this scenario until you've moved the chair to the door, then sit outside the door with the door open. Then begin closing the door.
Your daughter needs to learn to fall asleep on her own. This is why she can't fall asleep on her own in the night, too. Everyone has times in the night when they come slightly awake, but most people know how to get themselves back to sleep. Your daughter can only fall asleep with the holding/rocking. If you break the holding/rocking pattern then the nighttime issues should go away, too, because breaking the pattern will teach her to fall asleep on her own, so in the night she will be able to do so as well.
The making herself throw up is the big thing, though...not sure how to handle that...
Timmy was closer to two when we went through the whole making himself sick when he didn't get his way. We got lots of advice but the one that worked was to just let him get sick and clean it up just as matter of factly as if it was nothing. We'd do much like Kate only add in alot of clean up.
He got the jist.
Wow,I have to agree with the above.Maybe some reflux.Why don't you try elevating her crib mattress with a pillow under the matress.Lying flat down might be making her feel sick.Would she fit in an infant car seat still? You could try putting her in that, in the crib.At least she's in her crib and you can transion her if it is medical.
See my post on Mommy Vent, if you would. After having two reflux babies that what this sounds like to me. My children were put on Zantac after a differential diagnosis of Reflux (just symptoms, no tests) and improved right away.
They have not outgrown it, so they are still on reflux meds. My husband and I both have it, although mine was silent reflux - no heartburn.
In the meantime, you could try some gaviscon which is OTC. The regular, not the extra-strength. 1/2 teaspoon after each meal. Check with your doctor first, though.
Good luck!
Ame
Try reading the Baby Whisperer -esp. the section on sleep - if you believe it may be behavioral - it was a huge help to me when my ds was 14mo.
Good luck
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