I am so frustrated!!

I always had that problem as well, and my husband works a similar late night shift. Some kids just don't sleep much, however my son is almost 9 months now and ever since he started eating more he sleeps more regularly and is less cranky. If he's five months, it may be time to introduce some rice cereal. That may be why he's not sleeping very well. Most say 6 months but my son started to eat at 5 months and I noticed a huge change in his behaviour after he started to eat! You might want to try it? I am sorry he's an early riser maybe try putting him to bed later? Good luck to you!

Oh, and a vibrating bassinett or swing may help as well! He probably likes the feel of your heartbeat, as well as the warmth and safety. If you swaddle and put him in something that vibrates, it may help. It did the trick for getting my son out of co sleeping and transitioning him to a crib.

My children are now old enough to have their own. However; I was a mom who rocked her children to sleep and they slept in my bedroom for longer than most. I had a sling, which I carried them in constantly, kinda like still being pregnant. My work outs then are much like the ones Im doing now, Dancing. They loved it. Maybe you can incorperate that with what ever you can get in during the half hour you have late evenings? Or maybe he would be in a carrier sleeping in the same you where you are doing your work out, if its a "wheres mom" thing.

My kids cried very little, but they were in eye shot of me most of the time during their first year. That began because my first would just stop breathing for no apparent reason. I didnt want to lose her, sooo.

I hope this offers some help? Good luck. And congrats on the new babe.

:explode: I am so frustrated, but mostly because I don't have anyone to be directly frustrated at.


I have a 5 mo. old son who I love very much. God bless him but he is the worst napper ever. He can nap for a whole hour and a half in my arms but as soon as I set him down he's awake within five minutes. He wakes up at the butt crack of dawn, so the only time I get to myself is never before 11pm. That time is what I use to exercise. My boyfriend get's home at 12:00am from work so I try to get in about an hour workout before he gets home. It seems like every night after I put my son to bed I'll get into working out, good pace, heart racing, and my son wakes up. Never fails, always in the middle of a workout. By the time he's back into bed an hour has already gone by and I no longer want to finish.


I know I can't be mad at him, it's not his fault he needs me, but I still feel frustrated and upset. I honestly feel silly that I'm feeling so discouraged but it's hard. Does anyone else have this problem? How do you parents with small children find time to get in a nice workout while still juggling your family?

have you tried a jogging stroller? taking a brisk walk in the afternoon with him in the stroller?

I feel ya... mine are 15.5, 13.5, and 12... and when they were younger... we went with the stroller a LOT!

I am not an expert on babies, but I know that if you are having trouble with him gettin to sleep, you need to teach him the hard way. The way my dad told me he taught me, if he knew I was fed, changed, and otherwise okay, he would just let me cry. it taught me that I dont always get what I want by crying. Babies are going to be clingy every waking moment, unless you train them not to.

Babies will exert a lot of energy by crying. He will tire himself out, and quicker than you think. He will then proceed to fall asleep faster, and sleep longer. Check the books....a lot of pediatricians say to do this.

It will be hard....your baby is crying, and mother's instinct tells you to go tend to your young. But you have to detach yourself to this little extent for him, and you, to get into a routine. Be consistent with bedtime. put him in the crib at the same time every night, definitely earlier than 11pm....try 8, or 9. Check in on him to make sure he is not in any harm, but let him learn than he needs to fall asleep at his bedtime. This will give you a little more time to exercise. Maybe not at first, but give it a few weeks to be consistent.

Humans like routine, no matter how old you are. babies are no different. Talk to your husband, or otherwise your pediatrician. I think they might have the same opinion. Good luck!

I had a baby who wouldn't self settle well.
I found Tracey Hogg The Baby whisperer amazing. Sadly Tracey Hogg has died but her information was so gentle. There is a forum around still.
The vibrating chair sounds great. Alternatively get yourself a good sling and walk walk walk! I lost so much weight without even having to think about it by carrying my son in a kari me and then a baby hawk. I loved the baby hawk, used it until my youngest was 4!

I am not an expert on babies, but I know that if you are having trouble with him gettin to sleep, you need to teach him the hard way. The way my dad told me he taught me, if he knew I was fed, changed, and otherwise okay, he would just let me cry. it taught me that I dont always get what I want by crying. Babies are going to be clingy every waking moment, unless you train them not to.

Babies will exert a lot of energy by crying. He will tire himself out, and quicker than you think. He will then proceed to fall asleep faster, and sleep longer. Check the books....a lot of pediatricians say to do this.

It will be hard....your baby is crying, and mother's instinct tells you to go tend to your young. But you have to detach yourself to this little extent for him, and you, to get into a routine. Be consistent with bedtime. put him in the crib at the same time every night, definitely earlier than 11pm....try 8, or 9. Check in on him to make sure he is not in any harm, but let him learn than he needs to fall asleep at his bedtime. This will give you a little more time to exercise. Maybe not at first, but give it a few weeks to be consistent.

Humans like routine, no matter how old you are. babies are no different. Talk to your husband, or otherwise your pediatrician. I think they might have the same opinion. Good luck!

I don't know if the ferber method of crying it out is necessarily the best way to go about it.. at such a young tender age, children are learning to trust the people around them and rely on mommy and daddy for care. I think its kind of sad to teach an infant that if there is something wrong and they're crying, no one will come and help them. What a cruel world I realize this post isn't about parenting techniques but I wanted to point out that "cry it out" is not the only way.

Slings are an excellent idea! You can actually log "walking, carrying infant or 15 pounds" on here as exercise! We have a snugli, very affordable and secure. You'll have defined calves in no time, and can get housework done as well! Lol

I've tried cry it out a few times but yes, like you said it is very difficult! He is such a little stickler that usually I initiate the "time for bed" routine at around 830 but he's kind of gotten to the stage of fighting falling asleep, so we're still working on it. I really like the idea of carrying him in a sling, especially walking. I'm sure it would make for a more satisfactory "workout" with his extra weight. I've never heard of Tracey Hogg but I will definitely check her out, sounds very interesting!

With my son, I started using a timer. For a few days, I would come into his room immediately. Then I would wait 2 minutes after a full cry to go into his room. I slowly let the time get longer. If he was still crying after 10 minutes I would go into his room. This gave him a chance to get used to self settling without having him feel like I was abandoning him. He's a great sleeper now, sleeps right through the night for the right amount of hours. The key is to find the method that works for you.

I am not an expert on babies, but I know that if you are having trouble with him gettin to sleep, you need to teach him the hard way. The way my dad told me he taught me, if he knew I was fed, changed, and otherwise okay, he would just let me cry. it taught me that I dont always get what I want by crying. Babies are going to be clingy every waking moment, unless you train them not to.

Babies will exert a lot of energy by crying. He will tire himself out, and quicker than you think. He will then proceed to fall asleep faster, and sleep longer. Check the books....a lot of pediatricians say to do this.

It will be hard....your baby is crying, and mother's instinct tells you to go tend to your young. But you have to detach yourself to this little extent for him, and you, to get into a routine. Be consistent with bedtime. put him in the crib at the same time every night, definitely earlier than 11pm....try 8, or 9. Check in on him to make sure he is not in any harm, but let him learn than he needs to fall asleep at his bedtime. This will give you a little more time to exercise. Maybe not at first, but give it a few weeks to be consistent.

Humans like routine, no matter how old you are. babies are no different. Talk to your husband, or otherwise your pediatrician. I think they might have the same opinion. Good luck!

^^THIS

I did wait until 6 months old, but then I let my kiddos (all four of them) cry. It was the best thing I did for them. They did well with the structure and routine. It gave me sanity too and I didn't feel like I was walking on pins and needles around a sleeping baby. Congratulations on the new little one and nice job getting "back on the horse" yourself.