I've read some of the sleep related threads on here and it seems like the most important thing is a good routine. I've also read that he needs about 15 hours of sleep per day with a couple naps and 11 hours at night. My wife and I have been as consistent as possible with a bath, eat, book sleep kinda scenario but our 5 1/2 month old son didn't get the memo. He cries, screams and kicks his feet the second he is in his crib. We try and soothe him, sing and turn on his sound machine that also projects pictures of animals on the wall. He ends up more often than not sleeping either in bed with my wife or in his swing or bouncy seat. Even then he is restless and wakes up several times throughout the night.

To make our situation more difficult I work four nights a week so she deals with most of it on her own. The three nights a week that I am home I really need a good nights sleep to catch up. I try to take at least one night a week to give my wife a break but man when is this kid gonna sleep through the night? I'm worried that he will have some sort of developmental issue if he doesn't get enough sleep.(not really but it can't be good)

My wife has suggested buying a co sleeper because he seems to fall asleep quickly when nursing. I'm not really a fan of this idea but we all need sleep. Has anyone used these? Are there any specific models that are better than others?

Does any of this make sense? I worked last night so I'm still going off of my 2 hour power nap this afternoon.

I feel your pain. But I think what you are going through is totally normal, even at this age. Our daughter did not start sleeping through the night until she was about 1 y.o.

This phase WILL end - just try to remind yourself of that. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, honest. Just keep trudging towards it.

Thanks for the encouragement.

This made me laugh about it.

www.dadlabs.com/Hot-Dad-Action/cry-baby.html

I suffered the same pain during my 2 boys infant stage. It is a trying time and will leave bags under your eyes for another 6 months or so.

My wife was in the similar situation with being left having to deal with most of it, the only advice I can offer is not to get in the habit of bringing the child into bed with her, My wife did that while telling me how OK is was, but they seemed to really develop a dependency of it. It was a very hard weening process after that (plus she liked to cuddle them). She would tell me that they are only this young once(true) but they continued to run into our bed for 3-4 years.

I wish you the best in trying to get some decent sleep,

How's it going now, Bob?

It's been better. We've been able to rock him to sleep and lay him in his crib with no screaming, no immediate screaming anyway. We've been consistent with nap and bed times so I think that has helped more than anything. Also I think there's a maturity factor. He just might not be ready to sleep long stretches yet. On a good night he will sleep the entire time in his crib only waking a few times and maybe nursing once or twice. On a bad night he wakes up every 30 min or if we're lucky every hour. Unfortunately the good nights only happen once or twice a week. That's usually after 3 to 5 bad nights in a row. Better than nothin' I guess. He'll get there eventually.

Also, I decided against the co sleeper. I just think we will be better off in the long run.

I'm a firm believer in a rigid nap and sleep schedule once they're old enough for it. When people ask us how our kids are able to sleep so well so early, they usually say that what we do is impossible for them. One of the things that we've applied that runs counter to what common sense says is that the earlier they go to sleep at night, the longer it will be until they wake up, be it for feeding or waking up in the morning. I think that at two months, Tristan was sleeping from 7pm to midnight and then 1 until 6 or 7. Now, at 5 months, he sleeps from 7 to 6 or 6:30. Like a champ. But right now the keys are his nap 2 hours after he wakes up and an afternoon nap roughly three hours after he gets up from the morning nap.

The thing is that information is all out there and not from the whacko extremes. It's what the kids really want to be doing. They just can't tell you and by the time they fuss about it, it's too late.

And now, it's time to get my baby to bed for his afternoon nap.

Good luck, Bob. It's about this stage when I started answering the question "You can't help but love them, can you?" with "Some call it Stockholm Syndrome." It's a phase. It'll work itself out.

Hang in there.

Your title made me laugh, I'd have gladly paid twice that to get my kids to sleep!

My 20 month old twins STILL do not sleep through the night. I agree that avoiding the co-sleeping is good if you can manage it, but with a breastfed baby this is quite difficult.

In my experience, all 3 of my children had different sleep needs at different times. This was why we didn't put so much stress on a strict schedule. There were weeks where my infant daughter would only sleep 10 or 11 hours/day TOTAL. Then the following month she'd sleep 15 hours. My son was much more consistent with the total sleep time.

My oldest daughter slept fitfully until about 3 years of age. Then quite suddenly, she started sleeping soundly. We changed NOTHING, her body just fell into more of an adult sleep pattern.

Some nights my youngest sleeps 8 hours straight, others she wakes up every hour crying. Babies have nightmares, get hot and cold, wake up when they pee, have gas pains, etc.

Sometimes it has nothing to do with schedule. Sometimes they get scared and just want to know that you're there. It's important that we remember that they are BABIES and treat them accordingly.

Driving my youngest home from the hospital at 2am this morning (broken arm, otherwise fine) I was reminded just how tough sleep deprivation is. Hang in there, guys.

Oh wow, broken arm?! Luckily we haven't had any major accidents yet, but I know they'll come!

It's about this stage when I started answering the question "You can't help but love them, can you?" with "Some call it Stockholm Syndrome."

Ha! Totally

It's important that we remember that they are BABIES and treat them accordingly.

Yep, This is why it can be so hard sometimes. There are times when you just don't know what's wrong. I usually have a pretty good idea but when I'm out of ideas.....What do ya do? Just be there for him, I guess.

Clay, Sorry about the bad luck at your house lately. I bet there is a good story though?