HELP HELP HELP She just won't go to sleep

[justbugged]

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I care for one of these kids, it was awful. She should have been in bed by 8pm or earlier every night.

 

[kareninthesun]

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My kids are all ADD/ADAHD. My oldest was just like this, except he was 9 punds 13 oz when born. He was misdiagnosed until he was 18 months old, then finally discovered that he was allergic to milk products and had was born with an extra long esphogas. By the time he injested enough to hit the bottom of his stomach and tell his brain he wasn't hungry he was either too full, or it was allergy related foods. He'd projectile vomit and could hit a moving target at 6 feet better than any horror movie pretend stuff. All this played havic on his sugar levels, etc, but it was hard to pin down. Then his body taught him how to stress out, it became habit, once it was close to food/eatting times. Even feeding him small amounts would offer temporary relief until it was close to bedtime. He rarely slept more than two hours at a stretch day or night until he was over 18 months old.

Changing the diet drastically or too quickly created another set of problems. His body needed time to adjust.

You might think about connecting with a child food specialist. Are any in the family/extended family alergic or hypersensitve to foods?

Another thing that worked was reading quietly in a nearly monotone voice. Dedicating a specific time while he was in bed. Stuck with a schedule closely starting with dinner, following through with bath time, and making sure the balance of his rough housing was done until he was pooped before bath time. Then excluding all liquids except water or warmed goats milk. absolutely no sweets ever except before noon, absolutely no sugar substatutes in anything, very light on the carbs like pasta. no artificial colored anything. He never napped. ever. but it was worth the exchange once he started sleeping through the night.

 

[HeatherLynn]

I gave her an extra protein meal right before bed, then her bottle and put her to bed a half hour early. She was out in like 30 seconds. I do lots of mini meals but not usually one that late. She still gets her bottle at bedtime. My pediatrician insisted she still gets at least 30 ounces of it a day because he wants her bigger. The bad luck of being small when your oldest brother is HUGE. He was born 2 ft long and 8 lbs. She was 17 inches long and 5 lbs and they compare her to him all the time. poor little thing. She is very active which I am ok with. As long as I can get her to sleep sufficiently. She also got the last of her fang teeth in. That probably was a huge part of the issue also. She had just gotten the other one. Wasn't expecting the other one so soon.

 

[kareninthesun]

enjoy your break!

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Hi,

My first son was like that, he just would not go to sleep when I put him in bed. I did everything like you did, made sure he had a full tummy, clean diaper,
had a bath, all his needs were meet. When we put him down he would just cry and cry and cry. I finally go to the point that I like you could not
take it anymore.


A friend told me to just put him down, make sure all his needs were meet and let him work it out. I thought it sounded a little
harsh but I would try anything at that point. So that is what I did, when it was bed time it was bed time. He would start his
crying routine I knew he had everything that he needed so I just let him work it out. He would get up and play with
some of his toys and some time fall asleep right there on the floor while playing.

It worked!!! after a few weeks he got the idea that the crying was not going to work to prolong bedtime.

I don't know it might be worth a try to just let her work it out.

 

[SarahBeth9394]

Heather years ago there was a product that you attached to the crib and it vibrated in simulation to a car ride. Did I have one? No. But if it worked on a very desperate night for rest then I'd try it.

I used to watch Dr. Brazelton's show when mine were little and he really explained the way a two year old lays down and goes to sleep and the rituals they go through to get themselves asleep. It was very fascinating. Maybe he's got some information on dealing with the throwing up. I don't know about that with a 2 year old but my nephew figured out at about 4 that he got alot of attention by forcing vomit up.

Good luck. I know it's hard. You need a night or two a week where dad can take charge and you can take a nap until this is solved.

Roy, my oldest fell asleep next to the closed door several times before she would stay in her bed.

 

[bluesub]

Hope you find that new pediatrician soon. 22 pounds doesn't sound that small for a two year old... My youngest was born 8 lbs. 14 oz (huge for me...) and then lost a bunch of weight (was in the 5th percentile for a while). He is very active and very thin. I know he wasn't 20 pounds at two, because I still had him in the backward facing carseat until he was two... He is about 36 pounds right now, and almost 4 years old.

I do think the hyperness might be from sleep deprivation. Good luck, I have been there and it is exhausting mentally and physically for you. If I were you, I don't think I would do any large dietary changes before seeing the new pediatrician.

 

[HeatherLynn]

Honestly I didn't expect the hyperness from her but I should have. My first born was severely hyper. We put him in therapy at 2 in order to deal with attention span and sensory issues that they felt could help. I am very anti medications. I myself am hyper. I have no issues with attention span though. I just have a bit more go that some people. I want my kids to be able to treat it the same way. Anywho therapy worked wonders for him. No meds, no school issues. No one would believe he ever had any problem at all but I really think that's due to early intervention. He had a speech therapist, social modeling in a class setting and occupational therapy. These were fantastic. My first daughter though was not hyper at all. Very focused, very calm. My 2nd son again hyper as can be. With him I just did everything they had taught us to do with my first. I just figured the boys were hyper and the girls were not. Until I had my 2nd girl. She apparently is out to prove that mommy is not always right.

It just means that I need a bit more patience and creativity to deal with all that energy. What is scary is she has super focus and is hyper. I cannot begin to imagine what trouble she can get into with that. Its not going to be pretty. By far this one has given us the most issues. Thankfully sleep seems to be going back to normal again. I think it was those fang teeth. She got them both in within days of each other. I just didn't notice that 2nd one. If I had she would have gotten some motrin and I would have cut myself a bit more slack. Sleep deprivation starts to mess with mommy's heads too after a bit. Be glad when those last couple teeth come in. She has been a slow one with teeth.

 

[Livinzoo]

I would not recommend to let a baby cry it out, especially with a child that gets so upset they puke. The closest I would try is this:

In a nutshell you follow the routine of baby wakes - eat - play - then nap at the first sign of tiredness. You have a little bedtime routine, then you place the child in the cot awake and leave. You listen for 1 minute, if the child is quiet, talking or just grizzling you stay out. If the child is crying, you enter and try to calm first by patting the bed and shhh-ing until the child settles. Then leave, repeat as many times as necessary. If the cry escalates, pick up the child soothe, then back in the cot, repeat. Apparently it can take a while to implement the new behavior, but apparently it works. You can do this method for short naps and for frequent awakenings too but not for babies under 6 months, they say that babies under 6 months need frequent night feeds.

 

[darkmatter]

Wikipedia has an article on a go to sleep book you might be interested in. I don't think it will link here, but if you type in the books title in the search on Wikipedia or Google you will find it. Title is "Go the #### to Sleep". You can guess the #### word.