help me get my baby to sleep!!?

scrap the routine hun, try and be more in tune to his needs rather than your needs of a routine.

try tommorrow and chill and give him his breakfast when he`s hungry,

relax and be assured he will relax too, try to put him to bed later do your house work then. i have 5 and never had a solid routine just go with the flow hun

Its hard to hear your little one cry but sometimes and with some babies that is the only way. My son ever since he was 5 months old. It was bath, bottle and Bed. He did cry. Most of time for less then 15 mins. Now at 11 months he goes to bed every night without any issues. You need to set a sleep schedule and stick to it. its going to be hard for you and your son. I wouldnt let him cry for more then 15 mins but even then...go in and tend to him..lay him back down and walk back out. He also needs to sleep in his own room...I think that would help alot..or at least in his own bed/crib. He knows you are laying right next to him and I doubt that helps any. Good luck! You can do it! :)

Also with the naps...I cant be much help :( my son takes 3 naps a day all which only last about 20-30 mins..I am still trying to figure out what works best with him to get his nap time on track.

I had massive problems with getting my 3 month old son to sleep. He would just lie awake and cry for hours, then when he finally went to sleep he would wake every hour or two hours through the night and cry again! Talk about pulling our hair out .... we were absolutely desperate for sleep!

It was a baby sleep audio program recommended by a friend that finally saved us. We followed the advice and began by creating a baby sleep routine which included bathtime, dimming of the lights, putting Paul into his crib, final nappy change and then lullabies. We also made recommended changes to his naps during the day and used some of the other recommended techniques. Within two weeks he was sleeping through the night most nights with just the odd night where he would just wake once!

Definitely start by creating a good baby sleep routine though and you could find that solves most of your baby sleep problems.

Good luck!

If you want to take a look, the audio program is at http://www.babysleepsolution.com/

May be that you are trying to get him to sleep to much. Up at 7& back down for nap at 10--only three hours? AT 8 months he may need only 1 good nap after lunch ( about a 2 hour nap). Then feed him good before bed time and maybe move bedtime to 8 or 8:30.

Honestly? At your baby's age and him being on solids there is no way he should need fed during the night. This has two consequences - he will not be as hungry during the day and might eat less and you do not get much needed sleep. I would also recommend Controlled Crying but read up on it first to let yourself know what you are in for as it can be a bit distressing if not implemented correctly. I would recommend the 'Sleep Sense Programme' which is reassuring and helpful. If you do decide on Controlled Crying don't try it for a night and give up - you must persevere. For goodness sake do not leave your baby to cry for over 5-10 mins before going in to reassure him. Best wishes.

I have to say your routine sounds absolutely fine - so it prob isn't that. He could be a light sleeper or may need more food to keep him satisfied for longer.

Alternatively - you may want to try your GP to see if there is another reason for this.

Swaddling helped my sister in her first few months. As did not running to the baby straight away when they stir...

Lavender oil (the smallest drop) in the bath water could also help the baby drift off. Or Johnson's now do a Lavender Baby Oil Bath which sounds like the same idea.

And as a final thought - have you got a room thermometer? The temp could be too warm/cold for the baby to sleep. Bathing and sleeping in the same room was a tip my mother gave me - so there are no temp changes from bath to bed.

Works a treat.

I found that once my babies got to about 4 months, although I seemed to have plenty of breast milk, it did not satisfy them. I gave them breast milk first thing in the morning (more for my sake than theirs!) and then solids. At night I gave them some breast milk but then gave them a bottle to 'top up'. This was very effective for most of them ..one daughter never slept a night through until she was two plus.

I would scrap the idea of a nap after dinner, keep him up until bedtime.

I think you must get him into his own cot at night too.. a bed with adults is very hot and this may be stopping him sleeping.

Whatever he does, this is how babies are, they don't oblige unfortunately in fitting into a routine unless it just happens to be exactly what they want to do.

Don't stress yourself, that will stress him.

Let him cry a bit, it doesn't do any harm and your baby won't think you don't love him!

Take care and good luck with this.

Hi

you need to do the tried and tested controlled crying technique. You get them into the routine of having a bath around 5ish feed him with a bottle of breast milk that has been pumped then in bed by 6. When he cries leave him to cry if you keep going to him he will carry on. Leave his bedroom door open a little so you can just have a quick look without him noticing you to make sure he is ok after 1/2 hour or so.

After about a week you will notice a difference I know this sounds cruel but it is the best way. But whatever you do STOP him sleeping in your bed don't get him into habits that will get too late to change. I kopw you dont want to leave him to cry but your going to have to otherwise you are going to make it harder and harder for yourself and your partner.

A couple of sites you might like to read through

http://gettingbabytosleep.net/

http://children.webmd.com/baby-sleep-problems-gett...

http://www.askbaby.com/getting-baby-to-sleep.htm

http://www.askbaby.com/baby-sleep-training.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1963899.stm

My son (who is now 2 on September 3rd!!! EQQQ! Growing sooo fast!) used to do the same thing, except he slept during his naps and he actually fell asleep after about 5 minutes of us leaving him to cry. I know that it's hard, but it's what worked. After that night, he didn't cry at all. That's really all the advice that I can give you, sorry...

Perhaps try reducing naps in the day time and find ways of tiring him out using different activities. This may help him sleep better. Personally I am all for routine - we used Gina Ford as the basis for bringing up our baby with brilliant results.

I breastfeed as well. And my son is 16 months old now. Breast fed babies tend to be alot more clingy. But if you put on some jazz or elevator music on low and rock him for like 15 minutes (whatever he needs) Have him cuddled in a blanket. He should fall right out (of course with breast-feeding as well) Then lay him down in the crib and keep your hand on his tummy continuing to rock him until he looks like he's in a deep enough sleep to slowly move your hand and leave.