I swear I'm going crazy with my 8 month old

I think I just have to be that mom that goes with the flow, no schedule no nothing apparently. He's screaming for naps and bedtime. We're on day #6 of CIO I think Im just done now. Nothings working I'm trying so hard to be consistent but neither one of us are happy. I dont know what to do. Let him climb all over and play until he crashes then transfer to the crib? He'll just never fall asleep. I feel soooo frustrated. I swear I tried EVERYTHING. I thought I would be stronger than this. I'm so upset with myself. Everyday is so different from the next. I'm gonna lose it soon.

Are there any moms who just do what their babies want all day? I feel like such a failure. This past month has been such a struggle I cant even explain how emotionally drained I am.

Re: I swear I'm going crazy with my 8 month old

what happens when you cio?

Re: I swear I'm going crazy with my 8 month old

Carissa, lots of hugs.
We are having a rough time too.
Maybe its an 8 month thing?
Kiera has been very inconsistent with naps lately. Yesterday was up at 4:45, wouldnt nap until 11:45. Crabby like crazy-Im exhausted!

Re: I swear I'm going crazy with my 8 month old

Not sure how to help, but I can sympathize. I have one angel and one devil when it comes to sleeping. At bedtime Nicholas will actually fuss and try to get out of our arms so he can get in his crib. He crawls towards it and waits for us to put him in. Asleep w/in 1 minute without a peep, for naps and bed.

Christian - not so much. For naps I get him as tired as possible. I will rock him to sleep, transfer him - although he usually wakes when I transfer, I can just pat his butt until he falls back asleep. I can't do CIO for naps because he will literally spend the whole "nap time" screaming and then the whole schedule is thrown off.

At bedtime, unfortunately he cries 6 out of 7 nights. It is always under 10-15 minutes but I have tried literally everything and he just will not go down without crying. He STTN fine, I don't know what it is about bedtime but this has been the way he is forever.

In the morning he is totally fine, happy as can be. I can't figure it out.

Re: I swear I'm going crazy with my 8 month old

I have never followed a schedule for either boys. I feed Xavier when i think he's hungry and put him to sleep with a bottle when he lets me know he's tired. Rylan is old enough to ask when he wants a drink or food. Rylan has a set bedtime...that's the only thing that is consistant as far as schedules. They were both very difficult babies and it was what worked for us.

Don't be so hard on yourself. Sometimes these little ones have a different plan for themselves than what we would like. I say go with the flow and see how it goes.

Re: I swear I'm going crazy with my 8 month old

Carissa dont feel bad ...Lara has absolutely no schedule She takes naps when she feels like it. We do feed her on a schedule but when it comes to going to sleep at night forget about it. Lara takes an 8pm Nap yes you heard me right she falls asleep at 8pm everynight but will not sleep thru the night she still gets up like clock work around 11:30-12 for another bottle. Then she doesnt go back to sleep she is wide awake and wants to play. She finally settles down at around 12:30 and still wont sleep in her crib..Its pretty bad I think weve created a monster.

she will be 9 mos this Sunday

Re: I swear I'm going crazy with my 8 month old

I will never forget DD's 8 month. She was teething, had an ear infection that wouldn't go away, wasn't crawling yet and was all around miserable. I couldn't put her down the entire month without her screaming. I seriously didn't think it would ever get better, but it did. I don't know what exactly the cause may be in your dc's case, but if its any consolation by the time DD was 9 months she was back to her happy self. I call her 8 month "the black hole" because we never took any pictures or did anything fun bc she was so unhappy all the time lol. Good luck!

Re: I swear I'm going crazy with my 8 month old

Linda - We've been doing CIO since friday night, he cries for 40 mins every single time. Its not getting shorter. His naps were an improvement of 10 mins, but not today!

Bethany - Idk what is going on! Some kind switch flipped at 7.5 months and the seperation anxiety is just ridiculas at this point!

Carolyn - Thank you so much for explaining how it is for you. C used to just fall asleep within 5 mins of just talking/fussing. Now, he will do everything EXCEPT sleep. I tried keeping him up longer to get him tired, he hates when I rock him now, its so depressing. He just wants to climb on me. He hates when I read, he wacks the books and tries to get out of my lap. He wont even really fall asleep in my bed anymore. Before we started CIO I had to bring him to the swing outside get him to fall asleep in there and transfer. Today he woke up at 7 and its almost 11 now. He slept for 15mins in the car when I went to the bank this morning

Dawn - Thank you so much for identifying with me too. I guess I'll see how it goes today doing what the baby wants

Re: I swear I'm going crazy with my 8 month old

Sounds like you need some hugs Carissa!

Re: I swear I'm going crazy with my 8 month old

I just wanted to say I completely know what you are going through. My DS is 15 mo and I have begun to just let him lead. I really struggled with this but I have learned that if I don't, we are all miserable.

The biggest thing to me was to try and realize that not everything will be the way I want and think it should be.

CIO never worked for us. He would cry, sob, get sick. No sleeping through the night until a year. I brought him in my room which started a new habit, but now he sleeps so what can I do. You do what you can to get by. Good Luck.

Re: I swear I'm going crazy with my 8 month old

Posted by carissa1643

Linda - We've been doing CIO since friday night, he cries for 40 mins every single time. Its not getting shorter. His naps were an improvement of 10 mins, but not today!

Bethany - Idk what is going on! Some kind switch flipped at 7.5 months and the seperation anxiety is just ridiculas at this point!

Carolyn - Thank you so much for explaining how it is for you. C used to just fall asleep within 5 mins of just talking/fussing. Now, he will do everything EXCEPT sleep. I tried keeping him up longer to get him tired, he hates when I rock him now, its so depressing. He just wants to climb on me. He hates when I read, he wacks the books and tries to get out of my lap. He wont even really fall asleep in my bed anymore. Before we started CIO I had to bring him to the swing outside get him to fall asleep in there and transfer. Today he woke up at 7 and its almost 11 now. He slept for 15mins in the car when I went to the bank this morning

Dawn - Thank you so much for identifying with me too. I guess I'll see how it goes today doing what the baby wants

Re: I swear I'm going crazy with my 8 month old

I usually follow his lead but, he has a set bedtime.

Naptime varies based on how well he slept the night before (sometimes he needs an early am nap ad well as a late am nap because he wakes up earlier than he really should).

I'm not a good example though because DS hasn't STTN since he was 3 mos old (although he did do 8 hrs straight last night!)

Re: I swear I'm going crazy with my 8 month old

It's probably just a phase. I remember that at about 8-9 months DS didn't want to be rocked to sleep anymore, he'd push me away and I got sad. Then at 10 months, rocking was the only way he'd get to sleep and he stopped sttn! Then at 11 months, it has all settled down and he rock a little at bedtime, transfer awake but sleepy and he sttn like a champ. They are constantly evolving.

It sounds like you are doing a great job. CIO is so hard but you have been consistent and that says a lot about how committed you are to doing what's best for him. I personally don't think you should just go with the flow per say and sleep is really important and kids do need some structure in their day. But maybe put him down for a nap and if he's there for say an hour but doesn;t fall asleep, then take him out and keep him up until the next naptime. See what happens. Maybe try changing things slightly. Is he too hot? Is he uncomfortable in his clothes for naptime?

Crazy as it sounds, we accidentally discovered that my DS was uncomfortable/unhappy with a sleepsack. We put him down without a sleepsack bc we were going to CIO and didn't want him to trip and get hurt and from that night on bedtime was once again easy and he sttn again after waking 3 times a night for over 3 weeks!

Don't be so hard on yourself

Re: I swear I'm going crazy with my 8 month old

Posted by BethanyLynn

Posted by carissa1643

Linda - We've been doing CIO since friday night, he cries for 40 mins every single time. Its not getting shorter. His naps were an improvement of 10 mins, but not today!

Bethany - Idk what is going on! Some kind switch flipped at 7.5 months and the seperation anxiety is just ridiculas at this point!

Carolyn - Thank you so much for explaining how it is for you. C used to just fall asleep within 5 mins of just talking/fussing. Now, he will do everything EXCEPT sleep. I tried keeping him up longer to get him tired, he hates when I rock him now, its so depressing. He just wants to climb on me. He hates when I read, he wacks the books and tries to get out of my lap. He wont even really fall asleep in my bed anymore. Before we started CIO I had to bring him to the swing outside get him to fall asleep in there and transfer. Today he woke up at 7 and its almost 11 now. He slept for 15mins in the car when I went to the bank this morning

Dawn - Thank you so much for identifying with me too. I guess I'll see how it goes today doing what the baby wants

Kiera also swats away books ..or tries to eat them. Has ZERO interest. She too will not sit still. Forget rocking..all she does is climb and jump on me. I find its best to wait until she is exhausted and rubbing her eyes...then she will go down for a nap- but alot of times that is not until lunch time! I'd agree with Dawn and forget the schedule for now. Follow his lead and see what happens.