Projectile Vomit, Ear Infection, Teething, & Not Sleeping – Longest Week of My Life

I know this was a while back, so hopefully the issues have resolved. If not, I have some advice about sleep issues below. But first, I agree with the previous comment to ignore that BabyCenter garbage. Best thing I ever did for my mommy confidence was hit the "unsubscribe" link in their unhelpful, guilt-and-anxiety-inducing inbox bombs. I do not think you can spoil a baby by holding them or responding to their needs. Listen to your instincts.

Finally, on the issue of "sleeping through the night" (which, by the way, is 5-8 hours at a stretch, not 12 hours), everyone including babies has multiple "wakings" between sleep cycles during the night. The key is being able to fall back asleep without a full wakeup. If you want your son to sleep alone for 12 hours without full waking, crying, or disturbing you, then you need to help him learn to fall asleep on his own, meaning drowsy but awake in his bed. By rocking him to sleep, you've created a sleep association. When he wakes up during the night and you're not holding/rocking him, he's startled and has trouble re-settling.

I would recommend you NOT leave your baby alone to cry/scream for more than 5-10 minutes. "Cry it out" is a euphemism for IGNORING your baby while they cry, alone and scared. If you feel terrible and cry when you hear your baby crying, isn't that a major signal that you shouldn't be doing it? It's not like getting them vaccinations or making them eat their vegetables. You can really risk damaging the close, trusting relationship that you have, and it's unnecessary since there are other ways to achieve a healthy night's sleep for everyone. Please pick up a copy of "No Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley and work on either daytime sleep (naps in the crib) or nighttime sleep first, not both at the same time (to avoid complete overtired insanity). Or, get a king size bed and enjoy co-sleeping. :-)

A cranky baby equals a cranky mommy. My 2 YO has been sleeping like crap lately and his dad wonders why I so irritable after a few nights of this... When your baby is sick the best ting to do is hold/cuddle/comfort. Your doing the right thing and your not spoiling him. When/if you need to sleep train make sure he isn't sick or teething. Teething is the devil I tell you. Thank God for Ib Profen and teething gel. I bet he'll be back to him old self in a few days.

and let me add that he sleeps through the night now in his crib and life is good!!!

It is NOT too late to sleep train!!!! My monkey is a few weeks younger than your monkey from what I can gather. I have loved rocking him to sleep every night since he was born. It was our time....I loved it. LOVED. I knew I was creating a little monster. He woke up every night around midnight crying. Being a working mom, I gave in and let him sleep with me. So, for 10 months I have had a baby kicking me, hitting me, annoying me as he slept and I tried to sleep. Two weeks ago, I had enough. My little one started to fight sleep. It would take me an hour to calm him and rock him to sleep all to have him wake a few hours later. So, on my doctors advice...and many more...I let him cry it out. The first night I put him to bed drowsy but awake. He cried like the boogie monster was after him for 30 minutes. I cried. My husband went in to let him know he was okay every 5 minutes or so. He didn't rock or pick him up. Only patted him and told him he loved him. The next night he cried for 15 minutes or so. Third night it was 2-3 minutes, and ever since its been no crying. He just puts himself to sleep. I tell you this because EVERY mother has delt with awful bed times. You have just been blessed with a great sleeper, and are just now having to deal with it!!! Let him cry. You will cry. It's okay!!! My doctor told me that I needed to go see a movie the first night and let my husband deal with it. Great advice. It was painful to hear him cry and so hard to not go in there. But, I knew it was best for the both of us!

I used to be a dietitian and my first thought was the Monkey probably needs the formula to catch up in his calorie deficit from the past week. Hope things get back to normal for you both soon.

Jane,
My son is nearly 11 months old (born July 26) and has never once slept through the night, but he does go through periods of good sleep (where he sleeps 7-6 with only one wakeup). Like everyone else here, I do notice that when he's sick and a few days/weeks afterward his sleep is messed up. I don't think you should sleep-train if he's not feeling well; wait a week or two and see how it goes.

That sounds so familiar except I did it with my 2.5 year old about a month ago. He threw up every 30 minutes for an entire Saturday. I think I changed my clothes 10 times and his about 12 but didn't get any puke on the carpet or couch. The kitchen floor wasn't so lucky. Our day ended with a trip to the Emergency Room to rehydrate him. We got home at 1:30am with instructions to wake up at 6am and start the hydration process again. Talk about a miserable weekend. The nasty ear infection happened the next week and since his stomach wasn't back to normal after the puke and diarrhea fest the week before we suffered through it without antibiotics (ped didn't want to make diarrhea worse). He screamed every hour all night and I eventually gave up to let him sleep in bed with me which he's never done before.

We think it was the Rotavirus and it was NO FUN! I don't remember my daughter getting sick like that but thank God the first bout of Rotavirus is the worse and any subsequent bouts are less intense. I can attest to that since my darling baby boy gave me the Rotavirus a day or two after his symptoms started.

Seems like you and I go through the same things at the same time!
Ok, so we had just gotten done with sleep training and my son was finally sleeping in his crib for the first time and only waking 1-2 times/night (amazing for him)...then he got rotavirus. BAM. All of that came to a screeching halt. I wondered too if I was going to create more problems? We had just got him OUT of our bed and yet I was having to bring him into bed with us at least once a night to calm him down and get some rest. He had PROLIFIC diarrhea for several days, so I had to feed him on demand...and had a fever for 3 days on top of that. I did what I had to do, knowing he was sick.

So...then I got sick, and my husband got sick and all of our sleep habits got insanely out of whack. I literally cried thinking all our hard work with the sleep training was gone forever, but I have hope for you! We are a week and a half healthy here, and things are slowly getting back to being good. Not as good as before the illness, but he's back to putting himself to sleep. Back to sleeping in the crib. Still waking 3-4 times in the night, but nowhere near as restless as while he was sick. He just didn't feel good. I got the same thing he had and you know what? I was figgin MISERABLE. OMG. I thought was dying. The good news is that once they are feeling more like themselves, they start acting like themselves again. It may take some patience and even a little work to get him back to where he was, but I promise you that he will not persist the way he is right now (or at his sickest). Things will get better. Keep giving him snuggles and whatever he needs to get him through this phase, and when he's back to 100% start encouraging those good sleep habits he had before. Hang in there!

Let me tell you this! Every time my little girl starts teething again (currently working on her two top teeth as well), she doesn't sleep through the night. Just to make matters worse... I've been spoiled with a baby that slept through the night at 4 weeks old. SO - that being said, I can't stand when she does get up during the night, makes me crazy, so I'm there with ya. Just hang in there, I'm pretty sure it's his mouth, it makes everything go all haywire.
Also, I know this is NOT recommended, but it helps my daughter. I give her cold fluids. I mean refrigerated or a piece of ice or two in it, sometime both. She's still nursing, so I use gerber juice (diluted to half juice and half water), but you may be able to use formula. It really seems to help her mouth feel better for a while.

Good Luck Jane! You have an awesome, baby. He just needs extra lovin right now, you can't deprive him of his mommy when he's sick. Hang in there!

I think as long as he's not feeling 100% due to...whatever, sleep training isn't the best idea. Baby Evan is a pretty good sleeper unless he's teething. Or sick. Or too hot. Or too cold. Or doesn't eat enough during the day. So when he screams and fusses and throws a fit at bedtime we know something is up and try to fix it/wait it out for a few days. The last time was totally at the end of my rope (hey, I bet you know what THAT'S like) I took him to the doctor and she said "Uh, yeah, he's getting FOUR molars at once. Give it two weeks." I know I would have felt terrible for letting him cry-it-out knowing he was crying from pain & discomfort.

And no offense to Baby Center but all that "oh noes you're going to ruin your child by HOLDING THEM" stuff is bullshit. We have ALWAYS rocked or nursed the baby to sleep and now that he is developmentally ready (at 14 months) he resettles himself, goes down easily for naps and sleeps through the night consistently. I'm not saying we've never let him be unhappy - tonight we let him cry for a few minutes before trying bedtime again and it was just what he needed - but I think there is absolutely no way being gentle and loving is going to hurt a child. Just my 2 cents.

Hey Jane,

I'm no expert, but I think his change in sleep pattern is due to the stomach bug he caught and the ear infection. I wouldn't start any sleep training while he is still ill or getting over an illness...He just needs your attention and love. I don't think he has lost his ability to self sooth himself to sleep seeing as how he was doing a great job sleeping all by himself since he was 8 weeks old.

Hope the meds help Monkey feel better and hugs for you and Tarzan.

Oh and SO sorry to hear thast monkey has been sick... Like you guys Paige had not been sick until 2 weeks ago she had a really high temp and got the flu we had all had it was horrible we only just getting back to the swing of things now.

Hope he has a fast recovery

Hi Jane I have no answers for you on this one,

Paige has never sleept through the night, she does not nap in her crib it is either on me or in her pram.. Getting her to sleep was a nightmare, So now I have resorted to putting her down with her bottle at 8pm I go in 5 mins later and take it off her and she is now always alseep and sleeps through till about 3 am then she ends up in our bed from 3 am till about 6am When she wakes I move her into her crib to play for 30 mins or so so hubby and I can get a last cuddle in before he has to go to work... because we live in a flat and the walls are paper thin I worry That if I let her cry she will wake not just hubby but everyone else in the block as well. Hence why she ends up in our bed at 3am getting her back to sleep in her bed is a nightmare... H plus I still breast feed her during the night and first thing in the morning so it is alot easier to put her in bed next to me then it is to go down stairs make a bottle fedd her and put her back to sleep. Oh and hubby does not function and turns into a moody angry old sod unless he has a decent sleep so I will do anything to ensure that he is not woken up during the night.

I've always heard that when a baby is sick (or you go on vacation) sleep training goes out the window until they feel better. Sometimes when they feel crummy they just need some extra love and attention, plus possibly food since he is not eating well. Once he is better then you can work on reteaching good sleep habits. That's what we did when our daughter was sick. While she was sick I let her co-sleep with us and held her for naps. Once she was better we moved her back to her crib and it only took a day or two for her to get back to normal. Good luck and hope he is feeling better soon!!

I'm really sorry to hear that little monkey is sick and I really hope that he starts feeling back to normal soon. I'm with Aubrey on advice and think that it's the other way around-it's normal for babies to be "clingy" and not normal for them to be independent as an infant. But you are a great mom and you have already established a routine that works for you and your family, so hopefully he will go back to that soon after he starts to feel better. Hang in there.

Hi Jane,
Once again, EXACTLY what we have been going through with our 11 mo old daughter. She had a bad cold, turned into an ear infection, and getting top 2 teeth at same time. She spent 4 miserable nights with us in the bed - she had a fever and was SO uncomfortable. She was up at all hours of the night, sometimes wanting to play for a bit if she was feeling better from the ibuprofen, but just lethargic and clingy for days. Finally it started to clear and as soon as the fever went away she went back to her normal sleep habits. Sleeping in the crib again and through the night. Each time she gets sick it's the same thing (she is in daycare so has been sick several times) and she always goes back to her normal ways when she is feeling better. Luckily I have come to realize this. But the first few times I was also really worried it would "stay like that". We never had to sleep-train her either, and sometimes I still consider it, but overall I think she knows she sleeps in her crib at night and we are around if she needs us, and I think that is most important. I'm sure Monkey knows the same. Good luck, it WILL Pass although I know it is agonizing while it lasts. He'll feel better soon. I was so sad and I just wanted my little girl back, she just wasn't herself for days. He will come back.

Wow! Sounds like a rough week!
About the sleep training: I think it all depends on what you believe is right. I co sleep and love it, so of course I would not do the sleep training. I have read, and discussed in my psychology class, about the need for infants to feel secure. If they wake up and you refuse to help them it can lead to mistrust. HOWEVER, it works for many people.
I feel that, since I am at home with my baby and work at home, I don't mind giving up the little bit of extra sleep. I function great on 4-6 hours of sleep so this is also a huge factor. I might not feel the same if I was a zombie on slightly less sleep.
Anyways (sorry for the long post) I would say do what feels right to you. Read through a few books on the subject and do what feels right for you and your family. I have heard really great things about The Happiest Baby On The Block.

I think you're doing everything right, but completely understand the "Am I doing something wrong" thought. JSL is 3 years old and refuses to fall asleep unless he is in our bed. Once asleep, we move him into his bed but if he wakes up, back to our bed he goes.

Now, we would push the "stay in your own bed" thing, except that our 6 year old sleeps in the same room. We're afraid that protests from the little one will wake up the big one and then we'll have 2 awake kids on our hands. It's much easier to just take JSL into our bed and go back to sleep. (Or as close to sleep as we can get with a 3 year old bed hog!)

Hope Monkey feels better soon and that you get some much needed rest.

I'm with AGHDesigns. My 5 month old has been sick for what seems like forever (ok, since April, but still, come on now...) and just recently got over that stomach bug that appears to have hit your house. She's also had RSV, a headcold, and then something else that required antibiotics. Thank you, daycare.

Normally she's a 12-hour sleeper (woo hoo!) but when she's sick, it's hard for her to settle. So I let her sleep in the swing or nap on our bed, whatever is comfortable for her. When she's feeling better though, she goes back in the crib, and the good sleep habits seem to return.

Good luck. Hopefully you're in the homestretch!

We are in the same non-sleep mode-. Little guy will be one on the 3rd. Last night was the first time in months that he has slept through the night without waking up once. I hated to do it but I let him cry it out. He cried for about 15 minutes then he fell asleep. I thought it might be too late to sleep train but I am going to give it another try, letting him cry is hard but I just can't have him up till 10-11 at night-I work full time and its killing me..

Monkey is not sleeping well because he's so sick and after so much vomiting, he's going to be hungry at unusual hours. I've had three babies and my hubby is a nurse so we've been though a lot of yuckiness in the last 11 years (projectile vomit while checking out at the grocery store...how do you clean up that one?)
After the stomach bug, it can take a while for anyone to get a normal appetite back. Eating at intervals like you mentioned is good for him. It is better on his healing tummy. I would give him a full week after his last vomiting session for recovery. Once he starts acting more like himself, start back on his normal bedtime routine. Until then, give him as much TLC as you think he needs.

Also, I had to Google Florastor Kids because I didn't know what that was. I'm mad that our pediatrician didn't tell us to get some for Darling Girl! I'm totally getting some the next time she needs antibiotics!!

We've been having some sleep troubles with Darling Girl too (she's nearly 22 months). She had a terrible ear infection then terrible diarrhea due to the antibiotics. We know how to have fun. I've been giving in and letting her sleep with us pretty often too. I truly believe that she's been acting this way because she's sick, not because I'm giving in to her.

Now that she's finished up her antibiotics and her ear is feeling better, she is gradually starting to get back into her sleep routine that she had before. I've been gently transitioning her back into it. She still ends up in bed with us for a small portion of the night, but that's getting less and less.

It sounds to me like you had the trifecta of teething, ear infection, and being sick. I figure that as an adult, we like a little extra TLC when we don't feel good, so I'm sure they need it too. I think it will probably settle down soon and you'll be able to transition him back to his routine.

On a side note, I've noticed that when DG is really teething, she tugs at her ears sometimes. The pediatrician told us that their ears sometimes hurt when they teethe. So maybe that's part of Monkey's problem too?

Also in regards to hitting and biting, we have good luck with 2 things. We calmly and quietly say, "No, we don't bite/hit, it hurts (whoever)." We don't yell or make a big deal out of it because then it becomes a game and is SO hilarious! If that doesn't work, we say that first then say, "If you do that, I can't play/be with you because that hurts me." Then I walk away and ignore her for a second. Not far, just a little ways. That pretty much always does the trick.

Good luck! It's always something new, isn't it??? :)