Sunday, November 21, 2010

Sleep thru the night?

Okay blogger friends...need your advice. When we were in Russia, Polina would sleep 8 straight hours, sometimes 10. Since we are home, she is getting up at 2am every morning. We have tried one nap during the day, two naps during the day, trying to get her back to sleep when she wakes up, etc. We try to get her to bed between 7 and 8pm for consistency. Any advice? Thanks!

Other than that, she has been wonderful! She loves baths, drinks from a sippy cup, smiles a lot, etc. Now...if we can just get sleep a later later, Mommy and Daddy would be happy!

:-)

6 comments:

Wendi and Terry said...

Everything is new for her - new home, new bed, new time zone! And the time change is tough to get through. Sounds like you are doing all the right things, just going to take some time. I know that's not what you want to hear when you are up at 2 a.m. every night. I'm sure she is just waking up scared, unsure of her surroundings. It won't last long, I promise.

Jen said...

Natalia was the same way - slept like a champ in Russia, not so much once we got home. I have to echo what Wendi said.

And on top of all that, Natalia was teething, so there were many, many nights when she'd get up at one or two, then stay up until four. (Knock on wood) It's getting better now - lots more sleeping through the night, but still the occasional wake up.

It will get better - hang in there. And take naps when she naps.

amy said...

I've got the same response... Clara Jane slept 12+ hrs a night in Russia, then once we came home she never slept longer than 3 hours at a time!!! That lasted about 3-4 weeks, and then back to 12+ hours a night. Thank goodness :)

Like Natalia, CJ has been teething so she gets up now about once a night - but I know it's a phase.

I promise it will get better! And congrats on your 2nd baby - so exciting!!!

Anonymous said...

I think when they wake up, they are scared because they have forgotten where they are. You might want to leave a little night light on, and lots of familiar things in her crib, so she isn't so terrified when she just stirs a little. Of course, her clock is all messed up and she is going to be on Russian time for a least a month. Get used to no sleep - an infant is up ALL THE TIME. :) You'll think this is a cake-walk compared to a new baby.

Victoria

Craig & Kelly said...

Ditto everyone. I would start with the timezone change. It took me a week to get back to normal from Moscow, Let alone how far you guys were.

And that of course does not take into account the radical changes in our children's lives at the time we bring them home.

I would focus on the things that are going well. Clearly Polina is doing amazingly well with you guys so, I think the sleeping through will come. On a positive, at least it gives you a chance to be there for her when she is scared or confused, a bonding moment. To let her know the two of you will always be there for her.

Anonymous said...

Yes...happened to my dd too. Some was jet lag. Some seemed to be the realization that when she called, someone came. What an amazing luxury to have a response finally! I responded because i wanted her to know it was true. So many exciting things, but how does she know when she wakes up won't be gone. She doesn't yet know. Also, sad to say, many of our kids were drugged to sleep in Russia. I believe that was the case for my daughter (from Ussurisk).

This is my favorite article on sleep and adopted kids. Toward the end it has tables for how long kids should sleep etc.
http://www.adoptmed.org/topics/sleep-and-adoption.html