Medication for child not sleeping well!?!

[everythingatonce]

My 8 month old twins-girl and boy- are not yet sleeping through the night!?! On an average night, the boy gets up 1-3 times and the girl gets up anywhere from 3-10 times. The girl usually wakes up about every hour and all both of them want is a small drink of a bottle and then they go back to sleep. However, maybe once a week, the girl will wake up at about 1 or 2 am and want to stay up for about 30-45 minutes. I have tried so many different things such as, tylenol right before they go to bed, night-time orajel, vaseline on diaper area to keep it feeling dry longer, diaper ointment-all sorts, feeding before bed, feeding and then baths before bed, bundeling them up for warmth thinking maybe they get cold, dressing them lightly thinking maybe they get too warm, keeping noise going such as a fan and a humidifier, keeping it quiet, keeping it well lit, keeping it dark, putting them two together in bed, seperating them, I also change sheets daily and am always trying to think of something else I could try. I've also tried giving them a bottle of whole milk instead of formula before they go to bed, I've even tried mixing it with water, cereal or adding their formula in with the milk. I've tried many other things as well, but can't think of everything I've tried right now, and if you suggest it, I probably have already tried it. However I  would still love to hear some suggestions because I know there are plenty of other things I could try! Another thing that I have heard of from several different people is a medication to help children and infants sleep better. These people said that it used to be over-the-counter, but now it is perscription only. I can't think of the name of it-it's something like procoric, progoric, pregoric...?!? I would like to look it up on the computer, however I don't know exactly what I am looking for, therefore I can't find any information on it and I would greatly appreciate any information anyone has on this and also the exact name of it! And please, don't forget those suggestions! Thank you!!!

[everythingatonce]

That sounds about like what my little girl does but only about once a week. Although she does wake up every hour to maybe every 1 1/2 hours at the very most but is just up for 5-20 minutes-she just wants a bottle. This is the same for my little boy, except he gets up about every 1 1/2 hours to 2 1/2 hours at the most and he is usually up a little longer than she is. And these times that they wake up are a different times. For example, she may wake up at 2am, back asleep at 2:15, then he's up at about 2:30 and back asleep at 3:00. Then, she's up again at maybe 3:10 and so on! This is all night, everynight. It's like, once I get comfortable and back to sleep, the other one wakes up. So, I may get anywhere from 10 minutes to 45 minutes-at the very most-of sleep at a time. Yes, it does sound like both of us our in the same boat of sleepy mom's!   :)    And I am more than likely going to try putting them in seperate rooms, but I would perfer waiting on the meds to kick me into gear of relaxation so I'm not loosing every second of sleep worried on my kids and checking on them every 5 minutes! I don't know why I am this way, but hopefully-like I said-I'll be relaxed soon!!! Good luck to you! Maybe you could set you're little girl's bed right outside of the bedroom with the door open just a little bit. Yet, I don't know how you're apartment is set up, it may be complete nonsense to you and then again it may work great. I guess it all depends on the living conditions on whether there is room for her right outside the bedroom door or not and a few other factors. Thank you and again good luck!!! I know it's tough!

[megochick101]

I think you should consider yourself lucky. My daughter is 9 months old and will sleep for 1-1 1/2 hours at a time ONLY. She wakes up after that and I get to sit with her for 30  mins and rock her until she is asleep. Only to repeat that the next hour. This is every night, not just occasionally, and also for her naps it's the same thing, only an 1 1/2 if I'm lucky. So both of us are basically living off of cat naps:) lol I also have my daughter in the room with me and the hubby, which is NOT what i wanted, but we live in a apartment now so we really don't have another room for her to sleep in. So I understand how hard it is when your child isn't sleeping through the night, my son(who's almost 3) was also in our room, and didn't sleep well for the first 3 months, and then we moved and he got his own room and presto, he was sleeping through the night from then on! It may not work for you, but as soon as my son was in his own room, he slept like an angel! I think me and the hubby were actually waking him up, with us moving in our sleep, and it may be the same for your children.
Since you do have OCD, though, I would take it a little at a time. Start with giving them naps in their own room, and then try one or two nights of them sleeping in their own room, and then just baby steps until they sleep in their own room every night. Trust me, you will sleep so much better once they are in their own room, and they should sleep better too.

[everythingatonce]

Thank you and yes I have heard of the alarms, I actually have 2 of them. An older one and we recently bought an updated, expensive and very helpful one. The problem is, I start to think "well, what if someone who broke in our home at night out smarted everything-somehow" or "what if the electric went out and I didn't notice this until I woke up, and by this time the children are gone", and many many more! I constantly think "what if" and I am working on helping myself about that-being on medication for anxiety, panic disorder and OCD. So hopefully when the medication starts to "work wonders" and hopefully it will, I will give all of this advice a try! I understand that-to everyone-I am being very difficult and it may seem as if I am just blowing everything, everyone says off. I do apoligize, however these thoughts are uncontrolled and I can't calm myself down or anything else like this! As far as an alarm system, we have a standard alarm, but getting a motion censored one would be a little crazy at this time as I am getting up constantly in the middle of the night. But again, when I try the seperate bedroom thing with the monitors, and get them to where they have learned to fall asleep themselves, then the motion detecting alarm system would be a huge 'must-have' of mine! I know there are several different options to eliminating my own issues which in return will probably eliminate many other issues-LIKE SLEEPING! :)    I think that I just need to hold off for a little while and give the medication time to work and hopefully everything, or atleast most of everything, will just fall into place after that! You wouldn't think a child therapist would be so crazy and worried herself as I am, but I guess I've always took it as knowing I am able to help others with mental issues such as mine, therefore there should never be too much to worry about in our home. HA! How wrong was I!?! And then on top of that, I can't even help myself on my own! Just seems funny to me! Thank you again!!!

[Sandman2]

Just a quick thought (which you probably already know), but there are wireless baby monitors which let you hear everything that is going on in other rooms of the house.  There are also motion detecting burglar alarms that can be set up in individual rooms.  Your house can be made safe enough that nobody can get in with out waking you and the neighborhood.  I think my first really good night of sleep without waking up to every treebranch movement was the night after we got our house wired.  You can also buy timers that will keep lamps or music on in different parts of the house, so that it looks and sounds like people are there.  Any way, there are a couple of ways  to possibly eliminate one of the things bothering you.  Hope this helps :)

[everythingatonce]

Of course! I will definately look into this, as with anything, I will probably look into it excessivly! But that's what ya gotta do when it comes to your kids!  :)    Thank you very much!!!

[dale000]

We use Chamomile tea mixed with a little juice. After searching the net we found that it is safe for children (not sure at what age). As always, ask your doctor and do your own research. I agree with the drug issue. Many natural herbs remedies can be just as dangerious so always inquire first.

[everythingatonce]

I was recently switched from paxil (which messed my mind up severly) to zoloft, which is seratonin, and am now working my way up to 300mg and sometime between now and getting at 300mg I am going to be put on welbutrin, which is dopamine, as well. I do understand how you were putting it, that there are a few of my own issues here, and I do NOT take that to mean something horrible or anything, I know you are trying to help. And actually you are, just from the comments alone help! I do NOT go out, therefore I have lost all friends. I am 100% mom-24/7-I love it yet then again I NEED a brake, so yes, I do understand what you are saying-I have problems of my own to work through. I guess it's just hard when there is always so much going on just in 1 house that you never get out of and it seems everything just circles around. I guess I just didn't expect what my oldest son did-sleep 6 hours at a time from the time he was 4 months. I also understand about that they have gotten to the age where they expect me now. I probably should have just tried it and not be going through this now. I will slowly try it now though. Yes, they are in seperate beds. They slept together until they were 5 months and I thought seperating them would help, it didn't! And about the putting them in other rooms, I just don't know if I can get brave enough! It's my biggest fear for someone to brake in while we all are asleep and take the kids and by the time I find them missing, it's way too late! You had mentioned something briefly about babysitters for me to nap or get away-that's why I said that I'm too wooried about that also. It would be nice to have another-older child (around 12 or so) to play with my children-I never thought of that-Thank you!!! About the blowing smoke in my children's face or smoking around them, first of all, I don't do drugs. Second of all, I don't want you to think I would ever do this type of thing to my children! It sounds like you seem to think I took the advice or something, I hope not!!! I'm not that desperate and I would never be! The medication for children and infants that I was wondering about, the things I listed were just things I heard. I don't want you to think I AM going to try this. I would never try something when it came to my kids without finding out ALL of the facts! But by the sounds of it, it seems to be a regular medication and nothing normal or special or from what I heard totally safe. I thought possibly there was a medication that was different, it helped children and infants sleep-like tylenol pm for adults, this was sleep aid for children-harmless! But I'm starting to feel as if everything I was told to be positive is just those people's opinions because they choose to like it. Also, at the end when you mentioned going to sleep on the couch and let my husband tend to the children, he doesn't hear them crying in the middle of the night. He has narcolepsy and the kids just do not wake him up. However, next weekend, I AM going to try waking him up everytime one of the kids wake up so I won't have to get out of bed and also, he can get a small taste of what it's like!!! :)   Thank you soo much for everything!!!

[specialmom]

Okay, deep breath.  First, this is a phase.  A tired one,  yes, but a phase.  They do grow up.  I promise.  I sleep 8 plus hours a night and up after and before my kids.  

I'm going to say it though.  There are a few things going on her that don't have anything to do with your kids.  Don't hate me for saying that . . .and you are sleep deprived which makes it all worse . . . but I think you need to address your own anxiety issues and ocd and whatever else is going on.  Unfortunately, I think you are contributing to the problem.  Please forgive me for saying this, I am not trying to be cruel or put down your methods.  And whatever works for a family is okay-----  but you are saying this isn't working.  So maybe a few changes are in order.  This is only possible if your issues are under control.  Now I realize this is probably extremely difficult because what are you gonna do here----  you've got a toddler and two babies to deal with.  But don't skip psych appts and make sure you are vigilent with meds.  If they aren't working-----  talk to your doc.  I am not a name dropper of meds but one that hits dopamine and seratonin may be a good one for you . . . but that is a discussion for you and your doctor.  Be serious about it because matters will be worse if your issues are spiraling out of control.  

With that said, your babies are only 8 months old.  It is unrealistic to expect them to sleep through the night yet.  Yes, some babies do it, but most do not.  If you aren't willing to let them start to fall asleep on their own a little, it will take them a very long time to learn how.  What happens now, they wake up . . .what?  Where's mom.  She always puts me to sleep.  Wa wa wa, mommie comes and puts me back to sleep.  I'm not suggesting letting  them cry it out especially at night.  But naturally, they are old enough to start to drift off.  Are they in their own beds at least?  They need to be soon, if they are not.  When they turn one and you only want to go to them once a night or not at all-----  if you have the room.  MOVE them to their own rooms.  My friend always complains of being tired-----  she sleeps with her three kids too.  I finally said that you can't complain about a situation that you've created.  If it worked out and everyone was happy and well rested, then great.  But it isn't working it out.  So my suggestion is whether you are not willing to make changes now, you should consider future plans (around the twins first birthday) to make some changes.  Don't let your anxiety/ocd get in the way.  A good way to start is (again, if you have other rooms for them) is to put them down for naps in the other room.  
Babysitters.  Hm.  Okay, what I suggested was a mother's helper.  That is when you are home too.  Unless you have a mansion and they are in a completely different part of the house, you are there where you can hear everything.  Kids after school are great for this.  I would have my 12 year old neighbor come over after school at 4 and she would stay until 5:00 or 5:30 and play with the kids.  I would make dinner, fold laundry or take a quick shower.  It was cheap and everyone was supervised.  I did it like twice a week.  
As far as drugs, I'm not saying there isn't a market for people that want to medicate their kids to sleep.  But it is not healthy.  Sleep aids in general disturb sleep most often especially when not supervised properly.  You probably know that from the job you do.  Sleep is important and people may have a psychiatric or medical issue that keeps them awake.  That is different from an infant.  People may use them but as you said, people blow smoke in babies faces (I never heard that . . .yikes) too.  I've not known one friend who has ever done this with drugs.  Not one.  I'm 43 and have LOTS of friends with kids.  It is a phase that every child goes through.  It will be over before you know it.  Good luck.  It is very hard to parent when you are exhausted-----   one last thought.  On a weekend when your husband isn't working.  Go out to the couch and sleep there while he tends to the kids for one night. then you will get one night of several hours of uninterrupted sleep.  Good luck.

[everythingatonce]

Thank you! About the medication thing, hearing from the first few people had me like "oh my gosh, you really did this, and it's legal, they sell this at the store,..." but after you hear it from so many people and then on the show The Doctors and you hear of it been totally safe only if used correctly, and it's basically the night-time part of any medication which is supposed to be good for the babies to get a good nights rest and then good for the moms. I have extreme mixed feelings about this, which is why I wanted to know the exact name of it so I could look it up. I know exactly what you are saying about it's unbelievable that people really give their kids medication to go to sleep-that's like when I heard of people blowing marijuana smoke in a babies face to go to sleep. I have lost a severe amount of sleep all because of my children but I would NEVER blow any kind of smoke-let alone smoke from an illegal, drug that "gets you high"-in my childs face!!! This is almost the same reaction I first got after hearing about this medicine. But when you hear of it from so many people and doctors and also, you used to be able to get it over-the-counter but now is by perscription only because parents were giving too much to their children, and this is what it is actually made for-to help children and infants sleep, and being told it is totally safe, although when it comes to my children-any children really-nothing is totally safe, I don't like the thought of druging my children just so we all can sleep well through the night,... I just don't know about this. And yes, I USED to give them tylenol before they went to bed but I don't do that anymore unless they act like something is bothering them real bad because it just doesn't seem to help with the sleep problem. By the way, this is Infant's Tylenol that I am giving them-and I write down on the refridgerator when I gave it to whom and everytime they have a check-up, the doctor gives me a paper on infant's tyleonl-how much to give, how often and many other things about it, I am aware of the liver problems but thank you anyways!   Yes, all of our children sleep in the same room as my husband and me-I have OCD and am terrified of someone breaking in while we are asleep and taking my kids!!! However, our master bedroom is fairly large which allows them to sleep a good distance from eachother. They don't wake eachother when one get's up. Everytime one of them get up, the other is asleep. I've thought about the letting them cry to sleep thing as I have been told to try it several times by several different people and my children's doctor. There are just a few complication about this, 1.)it's hard!!!    2.)we all sleep in the same room so if they both cried themselves to sleep, I'm thinking they may keep eachother up then, and then in the middle of the night when one of them gets up, if I let them cry, THEN they may start to wake the other one, it's imposible for me to just fall back asleep while they are crying, my husband is also in there and not to mention, my 3 year old boy.    3.)I'm scarred that something may be wrong and I'm just letting them cry and suffer!  Napping is another thing that I have tried to resceduel. Usually-lately-, they take 2 naps a day-at about 11:30and at about 4:30. I put them to bed at 9:00-late because of my 3 year old being used to going to bed at that time from when my husband/children's father worked from 7-7 Mon-Fri. So we decided to make our 3 year old son's bedtime at 9 so he can spend some time with daddy which isn't extremly late anyhow. Which also explains the break time for me-I have no break time. It's extremly hard to even find time to take a shower daily or weekly at that (lol, just kidding about weekly). Now about what I do for work-I am a child therapist, ever since the twins were born I have been PT though. However, when I do go to work, which is 2 1/2 days per week, I take all of my children with me. They have a daycare which is free for me, although they are right next to me the entire time I'm working and then, as soon as I get done, I get them. I probably could find a few "mommies helper's"-that would be nice! And no, I don't really have anyone that I trust enough to watch my children. It's not that I don't trust anyone, it's just that you hear so many bad stories and I am NOT willing to let something like that even be possible to us! I would allow my mom, my mother-in-law, my grandmother and maybe a few other people in my family babysit for a little while, however, they all work themselves and by the time they get home, my husband is home so he can help. But he has narcolepsy therefore, I am nervous about leaving him alone with the children. I have talked to my phyciatrist about this and she is aware of it and informed me that it is a huge setback of my OCD. At naptime and bed time, I put them in their beds and give them their bottles which they are finally holding themselves. This is the apsolute only way I have found to put them to sleep without letting them cry, which I'm just not strong enough to do. I wish I could do that-as you said it worked for you. Maybe I will get up the nerve AND PATIENCE (lol) to try it sometime soon!!! Thank you for everything!!!

[Ashelen]

Your babies sound right on target for 8-month-old sleeping habits. Drugging them is a very bad alternative, and can lead to serious problems later in their lives (i.e. an inability to fall asleep on their own, insomnia, etc.) unless they have a true medical condition that the doctor recommends using medications for. Also; you say you've tried everything with their formula, switching to milk and watering it down, etc. You may be upsetting their digestion by introducing so many changes. Stick with their normal formula at night, you CAN warm it up a little but I wouldn't worry about that. It sounds to me like your babies are sleeping just right and yes you are exhausted and frustrated, but the best thing to do is to wait a couple months and let nature run it's course and see how they develop as far as sleeping habits around their first birthday. My 13-month-old is still waking up and driving me insane, but I'm coming to accept it and realize she'll grow out of it. specialmom had some really good advice so I would try some of her suggestions.

[specialmom]

Sleeping through the night for a one  year old is 5 to six hours, ask your pediatrician.  Some parents luck out and talk about more time of sleeping straight through----  but many have stories like yours and mine . . .  my youngest child woke up every hour and a half to 2 hours EVERY night until he was 16 months old.  I tried many things but not to the extreme as  you.  No no no no no no no no you can't give a baby medication to sleep (including tylenol-----  which is a medication that has an effect on the liver if used incorrectly).  I wouldn't take the advice of people who medicated their child to get sleep-----  can you believe someone would drug their child for sleep?  Sad.  Anyway, do these babies sleep in the same room?  That makes it tougher because they may wake one another. Check out from the library the Ferber (who is the author) book on sleeping solutions.  My doc recommends it whole heartedly and it did work for my firstborn. It involves the crying out method but in a controled and loving way.  I've had friends that it worked well for too.  But usually at a year is when you get tough on this stuff.  It sounds like you are very very overwhelmed and desperate.  I understand that, I had two boys 15 months apart and a husband who traveled extensively and as I said, the younger one was a terrible sleeper.  Watch day time napping and even though it gives you a break-----  make sure it isn't excessive.  Are you a stay at home mom?  Two thoughts-----  if you are, are there any kids that are in your area that you know that could be "mommie's helpers"?  These are kids of 12 to 13 that come over whle you are home and play with babies while you take a little break.  You are there, but they help out.  You pay them about 2 to 3 dollars an hour.  This will be great especially when they are toddlers and moving (believe it or not, things are about to amp up when they get mobile . . .).  If you have anyone that can babysit for  you while you nap, get away or whatever---- good.  If you do work, then they may just be trying to spend time with you.  My little guy didn't attach to any blankies or pacifier or anything------  I was his comfort.  I am convinced that is why he got up so much.  At nap time or bed time, do you put them in bed awake to fall asleep themselves?   If not, do so.  If they start to look groggy, lay them down.  That makes it easier.  Then they learn to put themselves to sleep.  
Note, at 16 months after I'd given up and thought I would be sleep deprived and crazy (as sleep deprivation can make you feel)----  my son slept through the night with no help at all and has not woken up at night since except one time when he was really sick (he's 4 now!).  He sleeps 11 to 13 hours straight!  There is hope, they do grow up.  But please, don't drug them to sleep.  Good luck.