My 9 month old just started crawling and can now get to a sitting position (after laying down) on her own. She used to be a GREAT sleeper, but for the past couple days she has been not wanting to sleep because she keeps sitting up in her crib when I lay her down for a nap or for bedtime. I have been constantly going in to her room to lay her back down to try to get her to sleep (and she will immediately get herself back up to the sitting position and I need to do it again). I am trying to figure out how much I should be doing this (laying her back down when she sits up) versus just letting her sit in her crib and hope she will eventually lay back down and go to sleep. I tried to let her lay down on her own and an hour later she was still sitting up in her crib! I also do not think she is an expert yet on laying back down after being in the sitting position (at least not very gracefully :) I know she was tired when I was putting her down for her nap (yawning, putting her arm over her eyes) but as soon as I leave she is up and sitting! Anyone else experience this? Any advice would be welcome :)
Thanks for all the responses! I am glad to hear that others experienced this too. I am starting to only go in there when she starts crying to lay her back down (which is only two or three times). I think she does like to play a little bit before going to sleep and is excited about her new skill...so after she is done playing she is tired enough to sleep :) I appreciate your help!
She has a new found talent and will keeping doing it over and over and over as long as you are willing to keep going into her room and laying her back down. It's a game to her and she is winning every time you enter the room and lay her down. Best bet is to lay her down for nap or bed time and walk away. If she sits up, leave her be. She'll fall asleep on her own just like she did when she couldn't sit up on her own.
S.
lol, oh yes. one of my twin boys did this. he'd constantly keep sitting back up until it was pointless for us to continually lay him down. we'd go in there & he'd be asleep, swaying, head hung down, sitting up-lol it scared me to death when i saw it the 1st time b'c he also had his blankie over his head. but eventually i just learned to leave him alone & after a while he'd learn to lay down & he did. it took about a week, so just let her do it and once she is so so worn out maybe try to lay her down but until she is really tired she will sit back up. she will learn soon how to lay down. good luck!
It's totally normal behavior for her new milestone (crawling) whenever they hit a new milestone they almost never sleep or eat normally- also if she isn't fussing- why are you going into her room? I'd just leave her there- when she is ready to lay down and sleep - she will. Give it a week- things will return to a routine again.
good luck
Leave her alone. She'll lay down on her own and fall asleep when she's ready. She's now able to sit and explore a bit in her crib. Let her entertain herself and put herself to sleep, don't interfere unless there's a real problem.
C.,
I know how frustrating it is when they won't sleep!!!!! Every time they learn something new (remember, sitting up puts the whole world into a new perspective for her--this is MAJOR!!), they practice it incessantly for a few days, even a week, before they get bored with it and move on to something else. She'll do it when she crawls, walks, talks etc. You just have to wait it out and let her get it out of her system. I read a book once that said that they WANT to sleep during these times, but their little bodies are in "movement mode" and physically won't let them rest. She'll be back to normal in a couple of days--I promise!!!!
Hi C.,
This is so normal. Both of my kids did this. They want to practice their 'new tricks'!! My first one, I would rock him and rock him and rock him and go in and lay him back down a thousand times it seemed like. My second one, well, life is too busy to have time to do that now so I remember the day I said "Im worn out just putting her down" and I put her in the bed (frustrated) and shut the door and told myself, she will just have to sort herself out this time because I had to get my son ready for a friends house. To our surprise, after about 20 minutes of playing in her bed she put herself to sleep.
I would leave her. The more you go in there it disrupts her. She may just want to play for a few minutes.
My daughter still to this day (at 14 months) I go in her room to put her down and she practically jumps out of my arms to get in her bed for her own play time. She plays in her bed for up 30 minutes some days no matter how tired she is and puts herself to sleep. I asked her Dr. about this because it was so different than my first child and I felt bad about her being in there awake so long and he said "Let her be and if she wants to play on her own then let her, especially if she is not crying" He also to us that it teaches them independence. So now that is what we do.
STay strong. There are soooo many more stages and you just have to roll with it.
Hang in there.
Man, C., I fell like I am the most clueless expert on sleep issues. My 16 month old daughter, who has a will of steel, just returned to a "normal" sleep routine a couple months ago after eight months of struggle. I can't say I have a tried and true method, but I can say I have tried it all. What I found with my daughter is that she would do something (cry, mostly) because she knew if she persisted, I would eventually return. Being the strong-willed one that she is, she would go for 2-3 hours before finally passing out. For a long time, I gave in, but...truthfully...nothing else was effective in getting her into a healthy pattern. It wasn't until a number of nights of my NOT picking her up, that she finally began to go to sleep more easily. Maybe your daughter is just excited about practicing this new "skill" and her bed is a soft place to try it out. And, by refusing to lie down, she gets to see you a whole lot more as you come in and out. Like I said, I am no expert...it's just my thought.
C.,
Guess what...SHE DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO GET HERSELF BACK DOWN INTO A LAYING POSITION! She has developed the skill to sit up but has not yet developed the skill to know how to get herself back down. I remember when my children learned how to pull themsleves up on the crib rail and then could not figure out the way to get themselves to drop back down. There little legs would be shaking but they did not have the skills to get them selves to plop back down.
Either spend a day teaching her how to lean forward and over or continue to you yourself lay her back down until she can do it herself. She may also do the same thing when she learns how to pull herself up as well.
It is funny but the truth,
Have fun teaching her and in the mean time SLEEP WHEN YOUR BABY SLEEPS!
C.,
My daughter did the same thing. I remember the first night she sat up and played instead of going to sleep. I wash shocked and worried. After several checks, I just let her be and she eventually went to sleep. She still plays a little bit before falling asleep. At first, she slumped over so once she was asleep, I just helped her lay flat. Now she is good at positioning her body.
My 7 month old is doing the same thing right now. She learned to crawl last week and then she figured out how to pull up on the rail of her crib. I'll put her down for a nap and she acts like she'll go to sleep. But then I'll hear her on the monitor playing and laughing and shaking the rail of her crib. I'll go back in and put her down again and tell her night-night. Sometimes she's tired enough to go to sleep but sometimes she pops right back up. I agree with the other responses to just leave her in there till she falls asleep. She does eventually fall asleep. She is very happy to go into her crib. I think with two brothers and a dog and mom and dad, she wants her own space sometimes. My boys never did this so this was surprising to me. Also, about your other post, my daughter stops eating as much sometimes too. She was tiny for her age but has finally made it to 50% in weight. They do go through phases like that. She'll do it for a few days and then start eating more again. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes it correlates with a new skill she's learned and sometimes it doesn't make sense. I think she's just trying to keep me on my toes. It's working! Good luck!
She is completely normal. She just wants to "show off" her new skill. If you leave her alone, she will fall asleep on her own and be just fine. Every time that you go into her room to lay her back down, you are probably making her excited again, thus making it harder for her to fall asleep.
I would just leave her there and let her play. she is just excited about learning something new. I would leave my daughter there for an hour sometimes and then she would fall asleep.
Now she is in her "big girl bed" and does the same thing. I do have to go in there sometimes and reprimand her because she is getting out of bed, or because it is WAY past her bedtime.
LOL - I went through this not too long ago. She has a new skill, and she is compelled to practice it. It's awful at first - my son was falling and hitting his head on the crib several times a night, and we just couldn't make him stay down. It will pass, though. Good luck! And Congratulations on your baby girl.
I jsut started having this same problem yesterday! This past week my baby girl learned how to crawl and is starting to try to pull up into a standing position. So for each nap time, she pulls up to sitting in her crib and starts bawling. If I leave her, she cries so hard like she's in pain (pain of being overtired??). If I go in to try to lay her down, she momentarily cries harder and wants to be held. If I try to lay her down, she cries harder.
Before this, getting her to nap would take 5 minutes, with few tears if any. Now it takes almost two hours of going back in to reassure her or lay her down before she finally sleeps.
So my problem is a little different than the other posts. My baby doesn't play in her crib, she just screams! help!
