Sleep!

[nathansmom]

Thanks for all of your advice. I know we still have lots of work to do. I can totally relate to the moby wrap. Nathan used to only sleep in the baby bjorn. Just recently he started taking naps in his swing. Now I can actually sleep too. Even if it is only 20 minutes at a time.

[karime]

The things we will do to get our babies to nap! I remember when Levi was about two months old, I'd put him in his swing and run the vacuum for about 10 minutes next to his swing. That stopped working after a little while, though. Then my husband and I would take turns taking him into the kitchen (right next to the exhaust fan on the stove) and jiggle him to sleep, so that his head bounced slightly. That probably worked the longest, but it slowly lost it's effectiveness too. It was quite a workout for the arms though. I guess one benefit of this is that our arms get really strong!

[mommyof2gurlies]

The first about....6 weeks with BOTH my girls...the only thing that worked was bouncing them next to running water. Either the shower, faucet (both faucets running only, one by itself wasn't loud enough) or whatever...
That lost its effectiveness after awhile...Then it was the swing, swaddled, with the white noise machine going full blast next to her. (Brooklyn)
Mya never was swaddled. She got over her colic much faster though at 3 months...as opposed to Brookies 5 months.

[aliki]

Don't you just love how JUST when you've finally found the magic combination, is STOPS WORKING!!! Ho hum...just part of the madness involved with caring for a colicky babe.

[pamcrt]

They like to switch it up on you to keep you on your toes... don't want you to get used to one thing you know!!

[mel5mel]

Tamara, do you still keep the white noise machine going for Brooklyn now? My mom keeps telling me that he is going to go deaf, that i need to turn it down and eventually off... but really why do i want to make my life difficult its not like its plugged into his head

[mommyof2gurlies]

I still have a giant box fan running next to her crib. Like...literally touching her crib. (I've found that the vibration from the fan running touching her crib is relaxing to her too)
I learned my lesson with Mya...so while i was pregnant we went and bought a box fan. It works wonders, and is fairly cheap. The only problem we have is we burn thru them like...every 8 months. lol Because it runs constantly I cant sleep without one either. Its great to block out all noises...so you dont have to tip toe after the baby is asleep. (Thats not possible in our house!!!)
My ped that i originally had for Brooklyn before we moved (he was a saint...super smart guy) told me that the louder the better. Obviously you cant scream in a baby's ear...but the louder the noise the better.
I put the white noise machine in Myas room now...to block out noises. Its a cheap one, so its not very loud. The fan works better for Brooklyn. You can't hear any noises outside our window or outside the bedroom. (which is great in an apt. complex...where EVERY one is loud!)
The only downfall is where we live the power goes out ALL the time...because we dont get lots of snow or anything...just TONS of rain. And wind....So when the power goes out, none of us are used to sleeping in dead quiet. It will actually WAKE Brooklyn up...when the power goes off, because the "humming" is gone. The quiet will actually wake her up out of a dead sleep. Mya too. Me too for that matter!!! lol So thats a bummer...but whatever

[karime]

We still have white noise in Levi's room, too. At this point it's just to block out noise.

[mel5mel]

P's white noise is pretty loud but we have a loud household and with my husband working nights he wakes him up every day if he doesnt have it loud enough to block out his loud thumping

[Sim]

I use the 'joint' off the swing Connor (DS) used to sleep in. He would only ever sleep in his swing, swinging full force, or his bouncer with someone doing some hefty foot bouncing. The swing had a white noise/music maker at the joint so when the motor broke we dismantled and kept the noise maker. We take it with us on car trips too, works wonders when he starts getting annoyed at being in his seat. We used to have to turn the car's A/C up full blast so it was really loud, but that was slowly losing its charm on him.

Since the white noise on the swing was always on, I think that made the switch to bed easier. And I used to feed him in it so he'd find being in the crib a source of comfort. Not just a place I put him to cry when he was tired and cranky. Some nights he's a great sleeper and will only wake for a 3am feeding and change and a 5am feeding and sleep till 8:30 or 9. Once he only woke up at 3 (after going to bed at 9pm) for a feeding then slept to 9. I woke up and couldn't believe it. 'Course he hasn't done that again... Oh well, you take what you can get. Most nights it's 4 times, and some every other hour.

Also could only get him to sleep swaddled, now he hates that. Cute thing now that he's sleeping in his crib, he pulls his blanket up over his eyes. I'll go in and gently tug it down, check in 15 minutes, it's back over his face again.

I think like mommyof2gurlies pointed out, you just have to adjust stuff to suit you and your baby. A lot of those sleep methods sound so wonderful in theory but just aren't meant for your little one. Just gotta keep trying!

My mom told me I wouldn't sleep anywhere but the crib, most kids would fall asleep in the car seat or somewhere else. Not me, and I'd do the same thing as Connor too, tug my blankets up over my face to keep the light out.

[mommyof2gurlies]

Yah you really have to mold your plan around your baby....not around a method. Its not possible to have a method that will work with 100% of babies. Every baby is different. Every family is different. I think those books are awesome to use....as a base IDEA. But its not the answer to all your sleep problems.
Its a great place to start to get an idea of how to start working on certain issues though!

[pamcrt]

Tamara, I agree, it's a good base plan, then mold your plan around your baby. They're weird little creatures.