Can someone please tell my boys that sleep and naptimes are awesome? 🙂 We have been having sleep issues lately and that has turned into attitude issues.
The child laying on the floor, I don’t remember what the problem was, but I do know Seth thought it worthy of a tantrum. I thought the tantrum was worthy of laughter. Thankfully he hasn’t thrown to many, but he has been really tired lately. He is fighting naps, which he still desperately needs, so we have started moving them later, but that means bedtime is now messed up. I’m not sure what to do with that. Any tips? He really needs his naps, he just fights them for hours. What have you done for your child regarding naptimes?
I have been listening to a interview with Dr. Rodney Ford, a Pediatrician, Allergist and Gastroenterologist from Christchurch, New Zealand. This interview was recorded for The Gluten Summit, a conference of doctors from all over the world who are bringing together information on how Gluten could be causing major health problems, even for those who have tested negative for an allergy or sensitivity. Anyways, Dr. Ford gives several symptoms of “hidden” gluten sensitivites/allergies and there are several Seth exhibits. Some of these are:
*Poor sleep habits- we haven’t really noticed this until a couple of months ago, Seth will tell us how tired he is and by his actions we know he is exhausted but it will take at least thirty minutes on a good night for him to go to sleep.
*Slow growth- Seth started out small but he still isn’t on the CDC charts.
*Inflammation- Seth has had swollen lymph nodes for several months, we have done a few different rounds of testing and nothing has ever show up, but they are’t normal.
*Thin, with a distended tummy. Seth is very thin and sometimes his belly is very distended,not always.
*Family History of Autoimmune Diseases- All of the women on my mom’s side have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis or some other thyroid issue.
*Other food allergies- we know for sure Seth is allergic to dairy and he is also sensitive to corn.
We have done BioMeridian testing which showed that Seth has a dairy allergy, but it came back negative for gluten. However, doing research I have found that the dairy proteins and gluten proteins are very similar in makeup and if you have issues with one you probably have issues with the other,even if you don’t notice symptoms.
Needless to say, I have many questions for the holistic chiropractor that we have a appointment for next week. There may be some diet changes for Seth-boy coming up.
Back to sleeping, Cameron has moved out of Momma and Daddy’s room. 🙁 He hasn’t been sleeping the best either. I think it is a sleep regression brought on by many things at the same time, he is crawling now, properly, two more teeth just came through, there are now six, and he might be having a growth spurt. Last night was a paartay. At least he thought so. 🙂 We just wanted sleep.
We are moving him into the piano room until he starts sleeping through the night, otherwise both boys will be awake all night, and that would be BAD!
This weekend we are getting our Christmas tree and other decorations out and we have a birthday dinner for my father-in-law on Saturday. On Sunday I’m teaching the preschool Sunday School class, first time at this church, and we have a small group lunch afterwards. Hope you have a great weekend!
Tips!! Don’t forget to leave me any naptimes tips you might have! 🙂
I’m afraid I have no good advice for you. I’ve had issues with my 6 year old lately wanting to get up over and over again too. It’s odd because he’s the little one that was the easiest to get to sleep.
We can attempt to figure it.out together. 🙂
This is very interesting and you have me wondering if my youngest has a gluten intolerance. He also has sleep issues (I have to drive him around to get him to sleep), he’s smaller than the growth charts, he’s thin but muscular and I have autoimmune arthritis. I have heard that going gluten free would help my RA but I haven’t made a good enough effort to notice any difference. I should probably try and see if it helps both my Daredevil and I. Thanks!
I have Hashi’s and a GF diet has helped me dramatically. My antibody levels were always through the roof, until I eliminated gluten, now my levels are on the higher end of normal. Seth eats gluten free a lot of the time but he still gets quite a bit with sandwiches and other snacks. I’m really looking forward to learning more from The Gluten Summit.
Also, I have heard that in order to get the truest results you should completely eliminate gluten for three months. It is hidden is so many things so at first it may seen overwhelming,but it gets easier as you go.
My kids have done naptime pretty well so I don’t have a lot of tips. I do know that once they hit 3 or 4 and still need a nap but don’t want one, I can say “You don’t have to fall asleep, you just have to rest.”
Usually they fall asleep anyway *wink* but knowing that they do not HAVE to, relaxes them. Good luck!!
I tried this yesterday afternoon and it worked great,maybe I should have bogged about it sooner.
I’m the same as the Bargain Babe–around 3 they don’t want one, but I still make them lie down, and usually they fall asleep. Around 2 1/2, it sometimes took them a little longer to fall asleep at nap time. My boy around 4 would only fall asleep if I lay down with him as that made him lie still. He turns 5 in January and I rarely make him lie down anymore.
I was almost ready to just let him stop with nap all together,but then he is a crying/whiney mess by 5:30. I’m hopeful we will get something figured out soon.
I’ve got nothing on the naptimes 🙁 I’m sorry 🙁 But it sure sounds like you have a fun weekend coming up! Focus on the positive?! (Lame, I know…)
🙂 It’s not lame. :)How did you get those triplets to nap? We do have a busy weekend, it will be fun!
Oh how I loved naptime when I was a young mom, I wish I had a magic answer for you. For us it was ‘white noise’ or back in those days it was a fishtank or anything with running water. Now you can buy or download recordings, but the white noise is great for grown ups too. Do you limit ‘outside’ stimulation an hour before nap, sort of a wind down period.. meaning no hard play, only fine motor skills play and no tv or ‘dance’ music, maybe reading coloring, soft music? or weather permitting fresh air is the best for sleep. Play rough and tumble or good brisk walk outside in the morning ??? Hope you find your answers soon and really.. they grow so fast by the time you figure this out there will be something new.. don’t sweat the small things <3
Good tips,thank you!! We do have a fan in each room,so we have the white noise covered we have a anytime routine of reading, singing and cuddles, but our bedtime routine has slipped lately. Maybe getting back into that would help.
Sleep IS a beautiful thing! Maybe get a CD with the sounds of ocean waves and soft flutes. This is what I personally do to get to sleep. It works!
Oh, I used to love listening to music as I went to sleep, I’ll have to look into finding them something.
Naps are a hard thing to get kids to do. Not sure what to give as tips. lol. good luck though.
Thanks Tess!! I’m hoping we get things figured out in the next couple of weeks.
Please check out the gluten issue. My daughter is very intolerant. She has never been tested but we took her off gluten 18 months ago and her life is completely different…I wish we knew this years ago. She is now 18 and didn’t really ever sleep through the night until she was 4! She was always sickly and then a couple yrs ago started developing rashes on her legs….now if she gets glutened those rashes show up with 30 mins! So happy those boys have a momma to look out for them like you are!
Wow! It is a great thing you discovered her allergy,it definitely sounds like it could be a serious one. I always like it when I hear of people who take charge of their own health and don’t wait for a doctor. I have great respect for doctor’s bit honestly there is so much information out there and doctors are generally over worked and don’t have time to read up on all the newest studies. I am planning on taking Seth off gluten completely once we get.it.cleaned out if our house again.
My two eldest always rebelled in naptime, but when I give them freedom this two months lately, they just go napping by themself. I still get the 6years old to nap. It is compulsory for him, even that I have to wait for him napping while blogging;)
How old are your oldest? I would like to keep nap/rest time mandatory until at least 10. Even if the boys are just playing quietly in there room, it makes our days go so much smoother. 🙂
What about trying lavender oil on a cotton ball taped to a fan. That used to help your little brother.
I am supposed to be getting some of that soon. You’ll have to remind me when I do get it. 🙂
I wish I could give you advice. I am the wrong one. I am more of the free spirit–you’ll fall asleep sooner than later–when you wear yourself out–type of Momma. I used to fight with naptime and with bed time. My method is all wrong. I will let her play outside to kinda make herself tired. We will play and have a great time. She will come in and pass out on her own. When she gets up we will have a great lunch and she LOVES OUTSIDE! I mean LOVES OUTSIDE. I can’t pull her in. We will go back out and she will play again. This in turns wears her out again. She sleeps ALLLL night long and it works for me! I have been having a hard time getting her to stay in her crib at night. She wants to sleep with us. When I wear her out, she doesn’t even think about getting up and sleeps in her crib all night!
I hope you are able to figure out what works for you and your family!
I do need to get him outside more, he still isn’t sure what to think about the snow though. I’ll try shoving him outside a couple mornings this week and see what happens. 🙂
I had black-out shades, NO lights on in the room and low classical music during naptime…Neither of my boys slept through the night until they were six months old, though. I tried (and evidently failed at) everything!
Haha! Seth didn’t STTN until eighteen months and Cameron isn’t at almost nine months, so I consider six months a success. 🙂
I remember taking my child outside for fresh air for at least 30 minutes. We would walk to the park, around the block, or play in the snow (all depending on the weather). Even if it was rainy, I would let her set in the garage with me and we watch the rain fall together. I found that some sort of time outside makes them tired. So I would get her outside at least an hour before her nap time (which was around 2pm). And she would nap in our room because our room was the darkest in the house.
Hopefully all works out for you and enjoy the rest of your week!
I must try getting Seth outside more! During the summer it is easy, he lives outside, but now that it is winter and cold and snowy it is a little harder. Mostly it is me, I don’t want to get him all ready to go out and then have him come back in ten minutes later.
My best friend has a lot of these same issues with her little girl. Hopefully you get them all worked out and he will be able to sleep better! We have sleep issues in our household as well. My children just don’t like to go to bed!
My best suggestion for naps is to put him down sooner than he looks tired. That always helps us. And we just stick with it even during the sometimes weeks that he would fight it. My 4 year old still naps 🙂
My only advice is to fast forward his life about 20 years… I do remember hating naps, and now I wonder what for. I absolutely LOVE my naps these days 😛 I guess I should enjoy them while they last… I have a little guy on the way and I doubt he’ll be all in favor.
🙂 That would make me sad. 🙂 He is already to big, so I probably won’t persue that option, but thanks for the suggestion! 😉 I know everyone says this, but sleeping when your little man sleeps is one of the best tips ever! 🙂