"But I don't WANNA go to bed!" - Lily

As I was lying in bed last night, still awake at 1am, I thought to myself "I should really write a blog post about Lily's sleep adventures..." When I woke up this morning I got on Blogger and saw that one of my friends had the exact same idea last night, and wrote a post about her little boy's "sleep woes." So apparently Lily isn't alone in this don't-want-to-sleep business.

We went from Lily going to bed easily and sleeping for two 4-hour blocks, to her not being able to fall asleep until 2 or 3am and then sleeping for 5 or 6 hours.  Although it's nice to have her sleep at longer increments, it's been very difficult to get to bed so late every night. Over the last 2 weeks we've tried quite a few things to help her sleep, with little to no success.

Here's the problem- well, two problems-
1- It takes her hours to fall asleep EVERY night, and is difficult to get her down for most of her naps.
2- She continually wakes her self up once asleep.

Todd and I knew we had a fun, spunky little baby...but we had no idea that could translate into fighting sleep. Here's what we've tried so far to help her:

- the 5 S's: Swaddle, lay on Side or tummy, Sway, Shhhing sounds, and Sucking (taught in "Happiest Baby on the Block"). I highly recommend this book, as doing these things together definitely helps her calm down. They just don't help her stay asleep.
- Tummy sleeping. We learned how to swaddle her so she could sleep on her stomach, and it does seem to help. She can keep her pacifier in better, and we think it helps with her tummy bubbles too.
- White noise. She has a little white noise teddy bear that we've been using, and it helps soothe her to a degree, but isn't quite enough. We've tried the other white noise extreme - the blow dryer. I experimented with it last week and put it by her swing while she fought a nap, and it worked! Well, it hasn't worked since then. It calms her down, but doesn't help her fall asleep.
- Hyland's brand Colic tablets. These homeopathic tablets help calm her stomach and mellow her out, but the effect only lasts a few minutes.
- Gas drops. We've been giving her continual doses throughout the day, which definitely has been helping her gas problems. However, they aren't making much of a difference in allowing her to sleep better at night.
- Walking, rocking, and bouncing. Todd and I will spend an hour or two just walking around with her. This will always get her to fall asleep, but a few minutes later her eyes pop back open.
- Swings. We have two electronic swings, one with a vibrate setting and one without. These worked miracles the first few weeks and would put her to sleep instantly. Not any more! Plus, we don't want her sleeping in a swing every night.

Our little girl just thinks there are much more interesting things to do than fall asleep! Her mind has a hard time shutting off enough to allow a good, deep sleep.

Any suggestions on what to do when:
1. She fights falling asleep, and
2. She can't stay asleep?

We want her to have healthy sleep habits, not only for our sakes, but for hers! If all else fails, we will just keep working with her and being patient. She is only 6 weeks old, and may grow out of it soon.

Thanks for listening to a whiney new mother :)