# HELP....8 month old fighting sleep, no longer napping even in slings



## viviennechan (May 21, 2005)

I am getting desperate and would appreciate any thoughts anyone might have.

ds is 8 months this saturday and getting him to sleep, both naps and nighttimes is getting more and more difficult.

he has 6 teeth (teething is hell, the first tooth only erupted after an entire month of crying himself into exhaustion for an hour every night), is crawling and pulling up.
what used to work but no longer does: nursing, rocking, walking, bouncing in amby, going out for a walk in sling, warm baths, patting, singing, chamomile....
we co-sleep and I go to bed at the same time he does. Once he finally falls asleep at night, we do okay (we potty/nurse from 3-6 times a night, it varies). Getting him to sleep so hard though.

We watch for tired signs (yawning, glazed look, goes quieter etc) and generally try to start getting him to sleep within about 1.5 to 2 hours from his last sleep, but he fights sleep so hard!!! He will be just about to drop off, then will whinge himself awake, arms and legs everywhere. arrgh.
We have been using a Kozy to bounce him to sleep on a bouncy ball for the past 2 months (it was the only thing that was working at that stage)...at first, he would pass out within 10 minutes, and I could put him down. Then he started taking alot longer to fall asleep (30 minutes?). then he started waking up when I put him down, so I would bounce him for hours everyday all through his nap (he would wake up if I stopped bouncing).
Now, over the last few days, he wakes up within 30 minutes even while I am bouncing!!!!!








DISASTER!
He eventually passes out anywhere from 9 to 10.30 most nights, and is up about 7-7.30 in the morning. Total nap time is from 2-3 hours a day, but sometimes is spilt into up to 5 naps.

I am pulling my hair out and really at wits end as I don't know how else to get him to get enough sleep. he is tired, cranky and has so much better things to do in life besides sleep!
Plus my back, shoulders, knee joints are really sore from all that bouncing (ds is 24lbs) for hours on end.
And I can't go anywhere anymore since he has stopped being able to nap in the sling in public.....just gets all wired,edgy and freaks out when he is tired.

So. Any suggestions at all would be welcome! (except CIO!!). Sigh.

sigh.

tiredandfrustrated
vivienne
ds rowan 8 months on saturday (my lovely beautiful bouncy sleep-resistant baby is growing too fast...)


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## natesmamma (Jul 8, 2005)

Sounds just like my 7 1/2 month old son. I don't have any advice yet. Now not only is my son fighting sleep, but he is starting to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to crawl all over the bed (and us) and getting him back to sleep is nearly impossible.

It's got to be the age. My friend's son went through the same thing at 8 months. I think it gets a little better as they approach a year. I hope.

Right now the only thing that works is taking him for a ride in the car.


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## mom2owen1 (May 12, 2005)

this was a phase for my ds. he has never been a great sleeper in the first place, but things got even worse around 6 months and 8.5 months. i didn't really do anything different *that worked* to get him to sleep better. just riding it out.

it does get better! i hope you get some rest soon. keep trying different things. even things that didn't work in the past may now.

kris


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