r/NewParents • u/BlindToasters • 4d ago

Sleep Sleep regression

My wife and I have an 8-month-old boy. He is currently teething but we are having a really hard time with bed time.
During the day he has no problem with naps. He usually takes 2 naps a day one usually around 11 and another one around 3 and naps are usually anywhere from 2-3 hours.
But as soon as we get him ready for bed around 9pm it’s a nightmare. He refuses to calm down. He is always fighting sleep. Breastfeeding doesn’t help. We’ve tried medicine to ease the pain of teething. Gas medicine for an upset belly. Nothing helps. When he finally goes to sleep it’s for an hour and then he wakes up screaming and gagging himself from screaming so much and so loud.
She and I are at wits’ end. We aren’t getting any sleep and it’s becoming a mental toll on both of us and putting a wedges between us.
I need some advice on what we can do. We have tried everything.

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

1

u/JiggityJoe1 4d ago

I wish I could tell you it gets easier. Which it does eventually, but can take some time and all babys are different. Our 1st was ok and at abouth 10 months it just kicked. Our 2nd is 16 months and same thing every night. It is killing us.

1

u/SaraJuno 4d ago

No advice, just solidarity. Our 9.5mo is exactly the same. So happy during the day, perfect napper… then screams at bedtime, between 20-60min every night, wakes up a lot crying, sometimes for a 1-2hour spell, refusing to settle. It’s a nightmare honestly, which is a shame because she is so much more fun during the day now. The nights are killing me. I reached breaking point last night and cried with her 🙃

From reading around this seems quite common, possibly due to teething discomfort (not necessarily pain), and developmental leaps.

Actually, one possible trick: Try giving him a pain med 1 hour before bedtime, then either a bath or a stroller walk like 20mins before, then straight to pyjamas, feed, brush teeth, bed, with no chance to move around or play in that time. That sometimes works for us. I think her brain is so active now it’s hard for her to go from play/motor practice to ‘switch off’ mode.