tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014474678124821723.post6955016119840112187..comments2023-10-28T08:52:14.787-04:00Comments on Our Daily Treasures: Oh sleep, where art thou?Terri-Annhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05017902280518435023noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8014474678124821723.post-36398003897098209852008-08-07T11:20:00.000-04:002008-08-07T11:20:00.000-04:00I'm beginning to think Shea and Caleb are the oppo...I'm beginning to think Shea and Caleb are the opposites of each other in many ways. Shea GOES to sleep very easily, I either nurse him or rock him (or sometimes just hold him and give him a pacifier) and he goes to sleep. Even if he's fighting sleep and crying, it still almost always takes 10 minutes or less. It's getting him to STAY asleep for more than an hour, and stay in his crib that is the issue.<BR/>I'm trying to think of things we tried for kids at the daycare who had trouble getting to sleep. I most worked with toddlers, some of whom refused to get on their beds at all, but what I used with them wouldn't work on an infant.....Rocking does nothing? If Shea is fighting sleep, I retrain his arms with one arm while cradling him with the other, turn him into my body (basically immobilize him as much as possible. With the toddlers, I used to put one arm over them such that all my weight was on my arm, not them, but they couldn't get up. Once they realized they couldn't get up 9 times out of 10 they gave up and went to sleep. It saved me wrestling them to get back to bed, which always made me nervous. I should qualify that this makes some children clausterphobic, and I would not use this method with those children, I was not out to panic them :)). Anyway, with Shea, and several babies I've worked with, I found that holding them closely, tightly, and into my body while they squirmed and I rocked them helped. By the sounds of it, this does not work with Caleb, but in case you haven't tried it.<BR/>I have heard some controversial things about giving melatonin to children with sleep difficulties. I have in no uncertain terms never researched it, just heard it's been done, so you might want to look into it as a last resort.<BR/>How long does it take to get him to sleep with your help (rocking, rubbing his back, etc.)? There are some kids at the daycare that it was a fight EVERY DAY at naptime. We just had to accept that there would be screaming for the first 20 minutes of naptime (and he was 9 other kids to get to sleep at the same time. Thankfully, many of them learned to just ignore it). With them, it may have been a power struggle as they were not much younger than Colin (18-24 months), but it was a fight every day with some kids. I never learned a better way to deal with it than just accept the fight (we weren't allowed to rock them, etc., we were limited to rubbing backs).<BR/>Seeing as I struggled with sleep issues before having Shea, and am now getting sleep in 30-120 minute intervals, I'm of little help on the subject, but hopefully you find something that works!!<BR/>-Heather.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com