# Baby freaks out if I try to get her to sleep.



## skybluepink02 (Nov 9, 2005)

My beautiful,vexing Emaline has always been an awful sleeper. She's high-needs and I have to confess....a wee bit dramatic.







She won't sleep with me, kicks and is awake all night and has an awful next day because she's so tired. I usually rock her to sleep and transfer her to her crib, where she sleeps til she's hungry again.

Lately she's been freaking out if she gets the slightest hint I might be trying to get her to sleep. I've tried sleeping with her again, hoping that maybe she just needs Mommy time, but she screams like she's in horrible pain if I lay down with her, rock her, pat her back, or anything that even seems like I might be trying to get her to sleep. She's obviously tired. She cries because she needs to sleep too, but it's not hysterical like when I'm trying to get her to sleep. She's down to getting maybe 8 hours of sleep a day and is MISERABLE all.day.long. I've got to do something!

She's 7 months old, 5 months adjusted for prematurity. Is it the age? I've got the "No-Cry Sleep Solution" but it's not doing much at the moment. What about the Baby Whisperer? I don't want to waste any money on a book that tells me to leave my baby to cry, so any recommendations would be great.


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## Louisep (May 1, 2009)

My son just started doing this. Yesterday I had success by catching him before he was tired. He didn't fight me. He's also high needs. No sleep books work for us.

Good luck


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## elmh23 (Jul 1, 2004)

Maybe you're waiting to long to put her down? I know my kids will both pitch fits if they're overtired. But if I get them before then, they go down very peacefully.


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## Jackies Ladybug (Jun 19, 2008)

i will agree that it sounds like she is overtired, when my dd was 6 months she went through a similar stage and i had to be very dilligent to try to get her down for a nap every time she was up for more than 2 hours.
if i waited to try until she showed sleep signs it was a nightmare battle.
good luck, this is a hard stage.


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## BeeBliss (Jun 18, 2009)

I have one like that too. She is 3 years old now but has been like this since she was 3 months old.

Unlike some children who grow tired as the days grows, mine becomes more energetic making it next to impossible to put her down for a nap or a long sleep. Like the other moms posted, your daughter is overtired and you have to be quick to spot the signs that she is ready to sleep. Otherwise, she catches her second (third, forth...) wind and you are stuck with a cranky baby.

I suggest checking out two books in the library by Mary S. Kurcinka. One is about sleep and the other is about having a spirited child (which I suspect you may have). Most of the material written is about toddlers and older children but I felt helpful information still applied to even my baby.


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## skybluepink02 (Nov 9, 2005)

Thanks everyone! I actually had a pretty good night tonight. I put her to bed about 30 minutes earlier than usual, and she went right to sleep! I never thought of her being too tired to sleep, but apparently she was.

Thanks BeeBliss for the recommendations. I do think Emaline will be a spirited child. It's going to be fun in a year or so!


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## Blueone (Sep 12, 2009)

My son has done that for a while here. If I hold him to put him to sleep he starts fussing and grabbing at my face and hair and just being a pain. So I catch him at the first yawn and just lay him down and sometimes pat his back. He does so much better and will just fall asleep on his own without the drama fussing and pulling of my hair.


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## Super~Single~Mama (Sep 23, 2008)

My son hates to be put to sleep. So, when he was about 5-6months old I had to put him in the Ergo and do some kind of chore and just ignore him. He didn't fuss - he LOVES his Ergo - and he would go down very peacefully when I wasn't trying to put him to sleep. Really. But, the second I would try to put him to sleep it became a disaster. Another thing that worked really well was turning on the tv and watching it, while holding him facing away from it (so I would be standing up watching tv, holding him so that he was facing me), and he would go to sleep.

It seemed that anytime I focused on something else, he went to sleep. But if I was focused on getting him to sleep he got mad. Now he goes down much easier, but we have to wait until he's worn himself out so much that he just can't stay awake any longer.


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