Jan's idea that he's over-tired could be right. DH & I were talking about this at lunch, and we're going to try putting the PJs on earlier and going to the crib earlier, but not doing PJs and crib at the same time, in case the PJs trigger things. But, have I mentioned our lack of routine? As in, non-existent, really. That makes things harder, because I'm typically heading for bed at 1 am, wishing I'd headed that way an hour earlier. But the next night I do the same thing. Gah.
I made sure to time things for the lunchtime nap today, as an experiment. So:
- 12:40 - El Burrito in his crib, dry diaper, and his little See N Say to play with
- 12:47 - the "I'm tired" fussing was tapering off
- 1:00 - total quiet on the baby monitor
- 1:02 - I peeked through the door to check on him and screwed up - the floor creaked and he wasn't quite asleep. Crap crap crap crap. Sobbing.
- 1:28 - he's laying in his playpen next to me right now, looking sleepy, and I'm kicking myself for checking on him so soon.
- 1:35 - conked out in the playpen
- 1:42 - tried to move him to the crib. Nothing doing. Crap crap crap crap.
The nighttime crying is full-on sobbing with a little anger or frustration or something in it, to the point where he's almost gagging on the drool (he usually chews on the crib rails while he cries). Makes me a little sick to my stomach, in addition to the "horrible mommy" vibe. At least his bedroom is on the outer wall, so the neighbors don't get a full dose. But, even with the monitors off, we can't escape the sound unless we go outside. The curse of a small condo.
Other theories: something environmental in the room (although he sleeps there fine during the day), fear of missing out on the "excitement" (non-existent, we're boring!), seeking attention, who knows. The fact that he's fine napping during the day is what throws me. Plus the fact that while I was in there today, there was no fussing.
I wish I could remember when this started, but all my days (and weeks, and months) run together lately. DH thinks it started about the time of our last trip to see my folks, which would also be about the time I started the riding program and our schedule changed up a bit. So, the getting-up-earlier could be throwing things off - DH noticed that he's skipping his late-afternoon nap lately. Or it could be a holdover from Grandma's house, where he absolutely refuses, no way no how, to sleep in the half-size crib that she bought (from a relative who grossly overcharged her, but that's another story).
Our other idea is to shoehorn (literally) the playpen into our room and see if he'll sleep there. Not ideal, but it gets around the rolling off the bed problem. He's done that twice, and I don't think this is a situation where the 3rd time's the charm. Or I can sit in his room with him and see if that works. Which I doubt, but I can try. Cripes.
Boy, that got rambly. And at 3:10, he's down for the count. Face down, knees tucked under, and rump in the air.
2 comments:
Getting up earlier for a few weeks could definitely contribute to the problem. Getting overtired usually happens gradually. Unfortunately, in my experience, it's also repaired kind of gradually.
My whole sleep shtick is predicated on the routine, so my advice may not help you at all.
According to my handy-dandy sleep information book, 14 hours a day of sleep is average for a one year old. 90% of one year olds get 12 hours or more per day and 90% get 15 1/2 or less. Two hours of daytime sleep is the average, with 90% getting 1 1/2 hours or more and 90% getting 3 1/4 hours or less.
So if you've got anything outside those norms going on, you might rethink your schedule.
Is he still taking 2 naps a day? Again, according to my book, at 12 months, 82% of children are still napping twice a day, compared to only 43% at 15 months. That's a big change. Change is hard on sleep -- both my kids went through a period where one nap was not quite enough, but they couldn't quite get two. With the Munchkin, we kept the second nap and it just got later and later and with the Little Dude, we just started keeping him up through the morning one and lived with really cranky at noontime for awhile (no way was I letting him have a noon nap since the Munchkin goes down about 1:30 and I was dead set on keeping them napping together).
Sleep is so tricky. Do you read Ask Moxie? (www.askmoxie.com) A ton of sleep-related stuff there from BTDT moms. A pretty 'never let him cry' bent, but amazingly non-judgmental. I've gotten some great ideas over there.
Ack ... wrong URL. Ask Moxie is at http://moxie.blogs.com/askmoxie/
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