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#591928 - 08/08/06 12:56 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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Member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 84
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At 9 months...I really don't remember how much she weighed. She is a bit of a lightweight though, I guess. She is almost 22 months and weighs about 22 pounds. Of course, I am trying not to pick her up too much right now being almost 10 mo pg...Dh gets her in and out of the crib most of the time.
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#591929 - 08/08/06 01:39 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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Diamond Poster
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 1,873
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Good luck on the "wake-ups". You have received very good advice. Ear infections are very common and will cause them to be restless and lots of crying. Then again so will cutting teeth. But I think that you might notice lots of drooling during the day.....At any rate, it is a trying time for all parents.
I remember a doctor telling me,"just shut the door and let him cry". Well, we did that.....(we were probably older than most when he was born...and he was the first)....My husband and I stood outside of the door and this kid started gagging. Finally, hubby said "That doctor is not here listening to him." Needless to say, we picked him up and we rocked.....Come to think of it.....we rocked for a very long time.
Mom is crying....yep, I remember those days.. One New Year's Eve, he was probably 1-1/2 yrs., we were invited to a party. We did not go because we hated to leave him with anyone...(since he still didn't sleep all night). I rocked that little kid, until his head was rolling with each forward motion of the chair. I slowly, holding my breath, inched my way out of the chair, only to have him open his eyes and say "Oatmeal". Now, I know, by this time he was spoiled, and it was our fault, but I cried anyway.......
Hope things go better for you....
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Riding the waves of change.....2014
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#591930 - 08/08/06 04:20 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 68
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I'm a child development major. At about 9 months they are starting to teethe...Feel his gums to see if you can feel any teeth popping through. Due to teeth it bothers their ears. He is still depending on you and used to you coming in the room and giving him his binky. Ween him off the binky. I know its hard but let him cry himself back to sleep. If you dont get a sound machine and play some gentle music in the background. Usually that keeps them in a deep sleep throughout the night. Do not let your child sleep with a pacifier. Or if you do let them sleep with it then make them leave it in the bed and only have it at night. Children who continually have pacifiers in their mouth while teething and right when they get their teeth are liking to have an arch in their teeth which causes for speech therapy later on in their child years and also braces and a lisp. Try the sounds machine and music. It soothes babies at night while sleeping. Leave it on and make sure they have a toy in their bed that they love so when they wake up that can be a comfort for them instead of you being their only comfort.
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#591931 - 08/08/06 05:25 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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Diamond Poster
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 1,117
On the road...
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PQ - I have not had time to read all the replies so maybe this has been mentioned. Put extra binkas in the crib. This happened to my son when he was little. My husband developed a "binka holder" that mounted to the crib. It held extra binkas. We showed our son that he had extra binkas. We tested it one night. We stood over him and pulled the binka out of his mouth. He reached up and grabbed one out of the binka holder. Worked like a charm. I no longer was getting up multiple times in the middle of the night to find him a binka! We actually have a patent pending and are trying to market the binka holder! Before my husband made the binka holder I just laid a couple of extra binkas in the crib. One in his mouth and a couple extras. I hoped that not all of them would fall out of the crib. Good luck!
Last edited by Lady Joey's Mom; 08/08/06 05:29 PM.
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Michelle CRCM
"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" ~ unknown
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#591933 - 08/08/06 08:36 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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Platinum Poster
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 986
Massachusetts
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Each child is totally different. I had one child who nursed every 6 hours a lived with the binky and one child who nursed every 2 hours and didn't need the binky. We looked at it as a need of the child not as a "plug" to keep them quiet.
Good luck. Neither of my kids were sleepers so I was always tired too.
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#591934 - 08/09/06 01:02 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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Diamond Poster
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 1,117
On the road...
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The American Pediatrics Society recently said that research indicates that the binka helps reduce the possibility of SIDS.
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Michelle CRCM
"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" ~ unknown
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#591935 - 08/09/06 05:36 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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Power Poster
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,241
middle of the country
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Ok, time for the "old lady" with grown sons to chime in - raised two boys, both young men now. The oldest was a "binky baby" from birth on and never needed any speach therapy etc. He needed that binky and his blanket, even when he was in the hospital with a bad case of the flu, tube down his throat, oxygen "thing" in this nose. Funny to see him hold that blanket, binky in the side of the mouth so he could still breath but he needed that binky. Younger son never, never, never wanted a binky but we did the "sleepy dance" each and every night from about 6 months on, till I'm not sure when. You know the dance - rock, sing, pat the back, rock, sing, pat the back - finally put baby in bed, patting and singing all the time - slowing down the patting and singing until the hand was just hovering over the back and then slowly easing out of the room, holding ones breath for sure he would wake up if even a small squeek was heard. AND - half the time he heard some small sound - god only know what - and the sleeping dance would start again!!!! He was the one that breast fed until I had to paint myself green to get him to stop - oh yea, and by the way, that works As parents, you do what you need to do and try many, many different things until you find out what works for your child. Not to say that some of the suggestions of sound machines, etc might not work but as a parent it's up to you to determine what you will try. Good luck PQ, and remember - this too shall pass and some day you'll be as old as this "old lady" and long for those days where your child was young again and you could/had to do the "Sleepy Dance" again ( or maybe when that first grandchild comes - OMG when will he or she come )
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#591936 - 08/09/06 05:39 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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10K Club
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 40,766
Turnpike Exit 10
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Quote:
You know the dance - rock, sing, pat the back, rock, sing, pat the back - finally put baby in bed, patting and singing all the time - slowing down the patting and singing until the hand was just hovering over the back and then slowly easing out of the room, holding ones breath for sure he would wake up if even a small squeek was heard. AND - half the time he heard some small sound - god only know what - and the sleeping dance would start again!!!!
OMG, I remember that! You forgot to add how exhausted you were while doing it... squeeeeak...
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Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. - Mark Twain
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#591937 - 08/14/06 06:11 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Ok if I'm an expert on anything anymore, NOT sleeping is my field First, your darling should be able to (as we say to Jesse) give the baby the binky, on their own I surround Jesse's head and feet with binkies (we have dozens) and while it does not entirely stop him from waking and crying, it does give me an extra hour on occasion when he wakes and finds one easily (Jesse sleeps no more than 40 mins at a time without sedation). He does not go to bed before midnight so I know your pain. I just can't figure out how you function at work I can barely manage being a mom lately and that's my only focus! Big words are VERY confusing after a couple of hours sleep or less. Tryaminic works better than benedryl. Kids can build up an ammunity to benedryl quickly. You might try tryaminic (flu version works for us) for a couple of nights, then go to a routine of tyraminic one night and benedryl the other (it works if you go off of it for a bit). Our neurologist recommended meletonin. Do not buy the cheap drug store stuff though, ask the health store what the best brand is and use that. It is NOT dangerous and it does work sometimes for us after the sedation meds wear off. I hear it works well for "normal" babies The dose for an infant below 15lbs is 3mg, but we can go up to 5mg. 1mg worked for a while, so start at that lower end (3mg given your babies size probably) and if you need to go up you can. Again, per my neurologist, this is NOT harmful. You can't hurt the little darling with this stuff, nor overdose unless you go nuts so dont' worry about it. I suggest a pill crusher, and we then mix that into rootbear (just a tiny bit) and shoot it in his mouth with a dropper. Because Jesse is ill we can't give him solid food, but since your darling eats cereal, you could try crushing it and adding it to some cereal just before bedtime. In our case (and we're definately not the norm) it does not work to get him to sleep, but after sedation, it does help him sleep longer into the morning. We alternate between Chloral Hydrate, Hydroxzine, Benedryl and Tryaminic every night so that Jesse won't build a tollerance to anything. The Chloral Hydrate works best, but it's a dangerous drug so we limit it. I was recently sat down and lectured about the need for babies to sleep to be healthy (like I didn't know that). I'd been asking our docs to pay attention to his sleep patterns for SO LONG but got nothing from them until this neurologist got involved. Now everyone cares One other thing we are going to do is try a sleep clinic (if it's not "behavioral problems this is a good idea) and they will assess how to deal with pain issues and can prescribe other meds to help Jesse sleep. For many babies without cronic problems, they will prescribe these meds for just a couple of weeks to kick start the behavior (sleeping through the night) and it works for most kids. As to the professional comments....I prefer my doctor's professional comments. "You have an ill baby. Something is wrong and at this point, do what it takes to survive, don't worry about the baby books with advice that rarely works even for healthy kids". If this keeps up darling, take your sweetie to a sleep clinic. There could be something systemic that is keeping the baby awake (as in our case) if you've only had sleep through the night for a small period of time. If the poor darling has a tummy ache, or bone aches, etc., you aren't going to get them to sleep doing anything on your own, and you are going to get bigger bags under your eyes than mine I'll think of you tonight whenever Jesse is awake (that will be alot...it's a "no drugs night" for rotation purposes).
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#591938 - 08/21/06 02:18 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Hope this is resolved by now. Bet one of these good suggestions worked.
Please don't take his "binky" away. I have never seen an adult with a binky, althought there are time's that I wish I had one...
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#591940 - 08/22/06 04:43 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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10K Club
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 13,965
TN
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PQ - it sounds as though it's more habit than anything else from your post.
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#591941 - 08/22/06 05:19 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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Platinum Poster
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 986
Massachusetts
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Why don't you try him in the pack n play in your room for one night and see what happens.
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#591942 - 08/22/06 06:02 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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They all sound like some really good advice. Make sure he is getting out and about during the day. Playing, laughing, having a good time. don't let him sleep too much during the day or shave a few minutes off nap time. Give him a bath, the cocktail, and a warm bottel. Good luck
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#591944 - 08/23/06 11:38 AM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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10K Club
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 40,766
Turnpike Exit 10
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The pack and play idea sounds good. Or, maybe you could re-arrange his bedroom; maybe there is something bothering him or scaring him on the walls or lights shining in or something. PS, welcome back, glad you had a relaxing vacation... I am leaving on Friday...yayyyyy!
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Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. - Mark Twain
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#591945 - 08/24/06 04:42 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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Power Poster
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 4,594
Easy Street
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Hi All!
Have any of you ever used a sound machine in your childs room? My 3 year old keeps getting out of bed scared and I finally figued what is causing her concern. A loud car comes home around 1am and it sets all the dogs in around us barking.
I thought maybe a sound machine would help muffle the noice. Any other ideas?
Thanks for the help!
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#591946 - 08/24/06 04:50 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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Power Poster
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 5,564
Clintonville, WI, USA
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I beleive it is called White Noise. Like a steady hum of an air conditioner or a fan, which masks the occasional and sporatic noises.
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#591947 - 08/24/06 05:45 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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10K Club
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 40,766
Turnpike Exit 10
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My son still uses the fan, even in the winter, forthe white noise. That may do the trick.
_________________________
Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. - Mark Twain
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#591948 - 09/01/06 06:09 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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Power Poster
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 6,726
the sandy shore
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Quote:
I'm a child development major. At about 9 months they are starting to teethe...Feel his gums to see if you can feel any teeth popping through. Due to teeth it bothers their ears. He is still depending on you and used to you coming in the room and giving him his binky. Ween him off the binky. I know its hard but let him cry himself back to sleep. If you dont get a sound machine and play some gentle music in the background. Usually that keeps them in a deep sleep throughout the night. Do not let your child sleep with a pacifier. Or if you do let them sleep with it then make them leave it in the bed and only have it at night. Children who continually have pacifiers in their mouth while teething and right when they get their teeth are liking to have an arch in their teeth which causes for speech therapy later on in their child years and also braces and a lisp. Try the sounds machine and music. It soothes babies at night while sleeping. Leave it on and make sure they have a toy in their bed that they love so when they wake up that can be a comfort for them instead of you being their only comfort.
1. Actually by 9 mos most children are well past the 'starting to teeth' phase and are into the 'cutting tooth number 5, 6, or 7' stage.
2. The AMA now recommends that babies under 1 year be permitted to sleep with a binky if they desire so as to reduce the risk of SIDS. Pacifiers do not affect teeth or speech unless they are constantly used after the age of 18 months, and even then, until about age 3, it's not ordinarily a big deal.
Pam - is this an ongoing issue or a new thing? Remember that when they are about to have a new milestone (ie, learning to walk or pull up) they have trouble sleeping because their brains are focused on their new 'trick'.
I truly think sleeping through is a 'try everything, what works for me won't work for you' deal. The Junebug never would sleep on her own in the crib, but the Grasshopper goes happily down by himself for naps and the night.
Having said that, some of the things that seem to help for us are:
* white noise - for the Grasshopper I run a vaporizer all night, and I know if it's off, he wakes up. * I am a strict believer in bedtime routine - we ALWAYS do bath, rock with bottle, read book, go down in the crib, turn on the crib aquarium toy, lights out. I think the routine helps to prep him for going to sleep. He also needs his blanket, his binky, and his favorite stuffed animal. And like yours, if mine wakes up in the night, he needs the binky back in.
And I know a couple of the moms who had babies around the time I had the Junebug had luck with the following - sleep begets sleep. What they did that worked was actually to put the baby to bed EARLIER. One girl found that her baby needed to go to bed for the night at 6pm (I can't imagine, with my little night owl Junebug.) If she put her down any later than that, the baby was up and down all night.
Good luck.
And what position do you want your baby to play on the team? I'm thinking the Grasshopper should be a linebacker, at 9 months and 26 pounds.
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I disbelieved what he was saying so hard, I probably created an alternate universe where it wasn't true.
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#591949 - 09/01/06 06:11 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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Power Poster
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 6,726
the sandy shore
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Quote:
Quote:
You know the dance - rock, sing, pat the back, rock, sing, pat the back - finally put baby in bed, patting and singing all the time - slowing down the patting and singing until the hand was just hovering over the back and then slowly easing out of the room, holding ones breath for sure he would wake up if even a small squeek was heard. AND - half the time he heard some small sound - god only know what - and the sleeping dance would start again!!!!
OMG, I remember that! You forgot to add how exhausted you were while doing it... squeeeeak...
Ooooh, I'm a vet of this one too. Our resolution was to co-sleep. Yeah, ok, she still sleeps with us but hey - EVERYBODY sleeps now.
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I disbelieved what he was saying so hard, I probably created an alternate universe where it wasn't true.
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#591950 - 09/01/06 07:24 PM
Re: 9 month old doesn't sleep...desparate for advice!
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Diamond Poster
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,407
Midwest
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Disclaimer: I have no children. However, my sister-in-law and brother (heavily sleep deprived until the past month) HIGHLY recommend the suggestions and routines in the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". They are recommending it to everyone (even me, and I have no kids!) LOL Thought I'd pass that on, FWIW. Good luck, and I hope that everyone gets more sleep soon.
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