Tag Archives: sleep

Toddler Sleep Regression – Why Your Toddler Wakes at Night

Posted on November 3 by Jillian416 • 16 Comments

Toddlers like babies can have spurts of time when they wake up several times a night. Not knowing what to do, can be frustrating

When you’re pregnant, everyone reminds you to sleep now, because once the baby arrives you won’t be able to do so. Then, once the baby is here, people check-in or offer to watch the little one so that you can catch some zzzz’s. If you’re like me, when your baby was an infant, you were able to exist on very few hours of sleep and not feel like a zombie. You were just used to it, though when it was offered, I took the help!

However, what you may not be prepared for, is that around 18 months your child can revert back to their non-sleeping ways, to what is called toddler sleep regression, leaving you feeling like you’ll never sleep a full night again. It can be frustrating, but there is an end in sight and remind yourself, this, like every other stage it is ONLY temporary.

Why Your Toddler is Waking Again

Around 18 months toddlers can begin going through another round of sleep regression. Some infants and older babies experience sleep regressions at other stages, but when you hit those toddler years, you’re not through yet. It really is too bad that more pediatricians don’t warn parents that this occurs. I had NO idea until it happened to us and I started googling.

There are so many things that could be causing the sleep regression, here’s what to look for so that you can love and support your little one

Out of the blue your sweet sleeping child, will no longer sleep through the night and it is a struggle to get them to nap. Sound familiar? If not, you’re a lucky one! Many parents report that their child was sleeping through the night at 11+ months and then BOOM all of a sudden you’re up multiple times a night with your little one.
Could your child be physically uncomfortable? Such as an ear infection or perhaps their 2 year molars growing in. If so, this could be the culprit for the lack of sleep.
Another sleep disruption could be night terrors.Your child’s brain is growing and developing at a rapid rate, which means their imagination can begin to run wild. If they see a scary image on TV, that could then live on in their dreams and wake them from a deep sleep.
What about at home, are there any major adjustments happening? Did you just move, or did you change day cares? Anything that disrupts a toddler’s normal day to day can really throw them off their schedule, which can lead to lots of unhappy nighttime wake ups.
Separation anxiety has resurfaced. Believe it or not, separation anxiety can hang around until a child is 5+ years old. The fear obviously changes, but it still exists. Around 18 months to 2 years, toddlers can start to worry about being left alone or with a stranger. Again, this can lead to those middle of the night call-outs.
Finally, there may just not be a simple explanation. There are just periods of time that a toddler wakes up and doesn’t want to sleep, you’ve gone through your list (and checked it twice) and nothing fits. This just means that you need be there to love and support your toddler, and hopefully catch some zzz’s on the side.

Losing sleep day in and day out can be really difficult on moods and outlooks on life. Just take a moment and remind yourself that this is temporary and it will pass. Be patient, surround yourself with loving and supportive people, and remember you are not alone.

Stay tuned for future posts in regards to toddle sleep regression regression – How You Can Sneak Quick Naps In and How to Survive Toddler Sleep Regression.

Looking for more information on this subject? Check out this post from What to Expect: Toddler Sleep Regression or Progression?

Your turn!

What other reasons do you have for toddler sleep regression? Please share in the comments below!

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Filed Under: Emmett, Family

My Finds Friday – Sleep

Posted on September 7 by Jillian416 • 2 Comments

Sorry this is a day late… The Doodah Household has been trying to fight the stomach virus.

This week’s My Finds Friday is brought to you by sleep.

I’m tired, really really tired this week. I don’t really have a reason for why I am so sleepy, but it has been a tough week working to keep myself awake. My sleep hasn’t changed, I’m still going to bed around 10 or 10:30 and getting up at 4:45, but getting myself up and keeping myself awake has been a constant struggle. Just one of those weeks, I suppose.

This week’s finds:

I’m always trying to find ways of fitting more into my day and always remark to myself that if I didn’t have to sleep I’d have 7 more hours each day. Unfortunately, that is not a possibility but it does seem like there are ways to get less sleep and still feel energized. This article on Daily Mail about sleeping better by sleeping less, is really interesting and has given me some food for thought. It is an older article, came out in January of this year, but I’m still thinking of trying some of what they’ve suggested.
Monica from Run Eat Repeat has a great giveaway going on for a Moving Comfort Sprint Tee and Sprint Tech Skort. New workout clothes are always so motivating, check out her giveaway and enter to win.
HelpGuide.org offers some really great tips on getting a better nights sleep.
I found a couple new blogs this week, one of them is called The Happy Type, and I’m seriously in love with it! So many positive and uplifting articles, which is just what I need right now. Crystal recently posted a receipt for an Orange Banana Smoothie, it sounds amazing! I cannot wait to give it a try.
Another new, AWESOME, positive find is The Nectar Collective. I was doing a Google search and Melyssa’s blog came up as a top result in that search, sadly I cannot remember what I was specifically looking for, I just know that her blog is fantastic. It is beautiful to look at, her posts are always upbeat and positive and she seems to have this amazing sense of community and helping others. I’m so thrilled that I found her and that I get to share her blog with you. Please stop on over and give her some love!

I hope that you’ll visit one or all of the sites above. I take great care in choosing who I feature each week and find each article, blog or post very valuable and motivational.

Your turn!

What great websites or finds have you found this week?

What advice do you have to make the most out of sleep?

Filed Under: My Finds Friday

Transition – Part 2

Posted on December 22 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

If you missed the first post, read it here.

Last time I posted about Emmett’s sleep habits, Seamus and I were really struggling but I think we’ve finally gotten his sleep pattern figured out (for now) and I also think E’s gotten used to his sleep sack.

We’ve had a pretty solid bedtime routine since he was about 3 months old, bath, lotion/oil, bottle, book and then bed. I think having this routine has helped with his transition going so quickly because even if he was feeling weird with his arms out, he knew it was bed time by the what we were doing.

So after that last post, what happened was that we had decided to swaddle him with one arm out but much to our dismay we went in after one of his naps where we’d swaddled him this way and he was on his belly. He probably would have been able to lift his head but we just weren’t comfortable with this and we wanted him to have both his arms so we decided we’d just suck it up and deal with losing sleep and put him in the sleep sack.

It was so very rough the first few nights but I kept telling myself that it couldn’t last forever and it didn’t. The first night he was waking up pretty frequently but each subsequent night got better and better, I also think him exclusively using the sleep sack at day care helped him adjust too. Yes, I realize that he will likely have other sleep disturbances down the road but we’ve conquered this one so I will celebrate the success.

We’ve also been trying to sleep train Emmett, which is a whole post on it’s own but I wanted to share that no matter what method you use to get your baby to sleep, as long as it works for you and your family that is all that matters. You will find loads of research for each of the different methods and I do recommend reading them all but I think it’s most important to work with your baby and his/her needs.

Anyone have any horror stories or success stories about transitioning their baby from swaddler to sleep sack?

Filed Under: Family

The Week From Hell

Posted on December 19 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

Last week was literally a week from hell!!

Sunday night into Monday was one of the worst sleeping nights that Emmett has had. Typically even if he gives us a hard time going back down after waking in the middle of the night, it doesn’t take longer than an hour but that night I was up with him for almost an hour and a half and then Seamus was up with him for probably about 45 minutes. The thing is, even if Seamus is the one up with him and caring for him, I’m up too because I usually can’t fall back to sleep until I know Emmett’s going to be asleep for good. In total, I ended up with 3 hours of sleep.

Heading into work was hard, I made through half a day and decided to come home and sleep. I woke up feeling refreshed and rejuvenated for about 2 hours and then my stomach started feeling “off” and then the nausea came. I decided to go to bed when Emmett went to bed around 8:30, I slept until about 10:30 when I had to rush out of bed to the bathroom to puke. I immediately felt better so I thought it was just something I ate but as the night wore on, I got sick again and then again. Ugh! I hadn’t had the stomach flu in probably 4 or 5 years and wasn’t thrilled to have it again, especially knowing how contagious it is and having a little baby that I wanted to keep healthy.

I did everything in my power to try and keep my germs to myself. I sprayed everything with Lysol after I touched everything and I washed my hands any time I went near a sink but it wasn’t enough. Sadly, Emmett came down with the stomach flu on Thursday morning. I went into his room to feed him and get him ready for day care and he just seemed so lethargic, poor guy. I didn’t think too much of it because it was so early and I had woken him, rather than him waking on his own. I got him dressed and took him back into our bedroom so I could get dressed, when I picked him back up he was whimpering and crying just a little bit and as we were walking back to his room he puked like the scene from the exorcist.

It went everywhere! All over me, himself, the kitchen floor and then eventually his changing table. It wasn’t just a tiny amount either, it was PUDDLES worth. It is kind of amazing that his belly could hold that much milk. Towards dinner time I could tell he was feeling back to normal because his smiles were back and he was having fun playing.

Seamus hadn’t gotten it yet so I was really hoping that he’d be lucky enough to avoid it but no such luck. He came down with it on Saturday morning and spent pretty much the entire day in bed. Emmett’s day care was hosting bonus Christmas babysitting, so I took him in while I went out to shop and get some last minute gifts. It ended up being a really good day for Emmett and I because we got lots of time to play and cuddle but poor Seamus was asleep in bed. He was feeling a little better on Sunday but wasn’t 100% until Tuesday.

Now that we’re all back to good health, I’m hoping everything else stays away. I can handle being sick and Seamus himself being sick but a sick baby is just so sad because they do not understand why they feel so awful. I’m hoping to avoid any more illnesses!

Things are finally feeling back to normal, well as normal as they can be with Christmas next week. 🙂

Anyone else dealt with any Winter illnesses yet this year?

Filed Under: Family

Transition

Posted on December 4 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

It’s been a rough couple of days in our household. We’ve been trying to slowly transition Emmett from his SwaddleMe to his Halo Sleep Sack and it hasn’t gone very well.

Last weekend we started by using the sleep sack during the day for naps but still intended to use the SwaddleMe at night. We knew that since Emmett has trouble with most changes, this would be no different. However, in the beginning he didn’t do so terribly. It would take a couple tries but eventually he’d go down for his normal 20 to 45 minute nap. We were thrilled because we knew how much we struggled moving him from his cradle to his crib. Unfortunately the effectiveness of the sleep sack wore off and Emmett refused to stay asleep with it. 🙁

Since he’d done so well with naps, we decided to try putting him in it on Saturday night. What a mistake! He went down between 7 and 8 PM like he normally does and was up at 12:45 AM. I went in, fed him and laid him back down, he was sound asleep so I figured everything was peachy. I headed back to bed and was nearly asleep when Emmett starts wailing. I go back in try to just give him his pacifier and soothe him without picking him up but no cigar. We sat and rocked for awhile and he eventually fell back to sleep, I put him in his crib sound asleep, headed back to bed and he was up within 10 minutes. We did this about 4 more times over the next 2 hours, eventually I had to call Seamus in to take over. We decided at that point we would just swaddle him so we could all get some decent sleep. That stinker slept from around 3 AM until 7:30 AM without a peep!

We had decided earlier in the weekend that even if Emmett wasn’t sleeping successfully in the sack at home, we’d still try it at day care for his naps because he needs to make the switch before he starts rolling over from back to belly. Another mistake! Apparently he didn’t like it with them either and took only 2 naps that were only 30 minutes each, with his last one being at 1:30 PM. I get there to pick him up at around 5 PM, he did sleep in the car on the way home but as soon as we took him out of his car seat, he had a total meltdown. Seamus made the (smart) executive decision that E was going to bed. We swaddled him, we couldn’t take the risk of him being up as much as he was on Saturday night, we both had to work in the morning.

This is really really rough and I don’t know what to do to get him used to the change. He is almost nearly rolling over from back to belly and when babies start to do that, it is recommended that you stop swaddling them because they can roll over, and without arms, can get stuck on their stomach with their heads smooshed in the sheets. Basically it’s a suffocation hazard.

I think for naps and possibly over this coming weekend, we’re going to swaddle him with one arm out and then 2, etc, in hopes that this will make his transition a million times smoother. We need sleep!

Seamus and I are running on fumes, due to the lack of sleep, so any advice you have or ideas you’d like to share, are welcome!!

Filed Under: Family

Emmett’s Birth (Part 1)

Posted on September 19 by Jillian416 • 1 Comment

Emmett’s original due date was July 30, 2012 but because I struggled with high blood pressure throughout my pregnancy, I was scheduled to begin induction on July 22, 2012 at 7 pm.

Overall my pregnancy was really easy! The first trimester I was just incredibly tired, sleeping pretty much any time I wasn’t at work and wanting to sleep even when I was at work. When all the books tell you that you’ll be tired during that first trimester, they aren’t lying OR exaggerating.

I remember there was one evening that I got home from work at 5, laid down on the bed and fell immediately asleep. Seamus woke me up around 7 to eat dinner and once I’d eaten, I went directly back to bed until morning. But if I’m being honest, I didn’t hate the first trimester, I LOVE sleep and doing pretty much nothing but sleeping was A-OK in my book.

13 Weeks

The second trimester went by without anything, other than Emmett growing as he was supposed to be, happening. My blood pressure was high but they were just treating it with meds. There would have been more concern over my BP if Emmett was showing a small size during sonograms but he wasn’t, he was right on track. They did not diagnosis me with preeclampsia because they were not finding any protein in my urine but continued to keep a close eye on my BP and Emmett’s growth.

25 Weeks

Once the third trimester rolled around, I was beginning to feel sluggish again. My knees were starting to kill me because of all the added weight of baby but there weren’t any complications. Most individuals only have 3 sonograms throughout their pregnancy but because of my BP I had almost 1 a month from 18 weeks, like I said previously they wanted to ensure Emmett’s growth was on track.

When you have high BP and are pregnant what can happen is that your baby may not get enough blood and oxygen from the placenta. “Preeclampsia seems to start because the placenta doesn’t grow the usual network of blood vessels deep in the wall of the uterus. This leads to poor blood flow in the placenta.”

Emmett and I were fortunate enough that this is not what was occurring for me. I have always had high blood pressure, way before getting pregnant (it runs in my family) so it was probably more the added weight of carrying the baby rather than the placenta not being developed in the usual way that caused my BP to skyrocket.

Every time we’d go in for a sonogram, the sonographer would tell us that he was a BIG baby and at our last one they said he very well may be a 10 lb baby if we go to term, well we went 1 week early…

38 Weeks

(This picture was taken the week before we went into the hospital.)

To Be Continued…

Filed Under: Emmett