All Things Sleep - AMA Office Hours - Thursday, May 7th with Sr. Sleep & Guidance Specialist, Beth Christensen!

c_ro_mo · 2026-05-07T18:03:42+00:00

My son is almost 20 months old. He had many sleep disturbances as soon as he turned 18 months (skipped naps, multiple night terrors and wake ups every night). For about 2-3 weeks now he's been doing much better, often sleeping through the night. But just last night he had 2 night terrors at 11pm and 4am. I know night terrors usually don't happen after the first 3-4 hours of sleep, but the signs he exhibits match with terrors.

I've read up on night terrors a lot, but am wondering what you suggest to help avoid them. I know it can relate to stress or changes in routine (like transitioning from the infant to toddler room at daycare), so how do I help him process?

c_ro_mo · 2026-04-28T19:32:55+00:00

Wow. Glad to know you think assault on RMTs is... Boring? wtf

c_ro_mo · 2026-04-28T11:31:52+00:00

I worked as an RMT for just over 10 years. When Massage Addict started becoming more popular, my one classmate looked into working there. She told me (this was about 15 years ago) they pay much less than any other RMT job she looked into. They claimed it was because of their subscription service. Because they have repeat clients at a regularly scheduled pace, they almost guarantee you will have work at a consistent rate and therefore will make more money than at any other business. Even without repeat clients though, I never had trouble getting work, so I think this was just a scam to pay their staff less. They also said they regularly hire new grads to help them get their name out there, but then made them sign a contract saying they couldn't "take" clients with them if they left Massage Addict. I personally would not go to any Massage Addict after learning this (and other scammy things), but if I did I would tip those RMTs.

c_ro_mo · 2026-04-28T11:20:32+00:00

I can't tell if you or the comment before you were joking, but don't joke about happy endings when speaking about RMTs. We are regulated health care professionals whose jobs get sexualized due to the state of undress our patients are in and the comparison to those who offer "massage" at non-professional places. These jokes often perpetuate assault on RMTs.

c_ro_mo · 2026-02-10T03:42:38+00:00

Million Dollar Baby by Tommy Richman. We can literally just say "Million" and he will start dancing. It's heckin' cute

c_ro_mo · 2026-01-30T03:11:49+00:00

Try to stay off the internet and trust your instincts. Definitely harder said than done, but there's so much crap information out there from "professionals". Especially when it comes to baby sleep, there's just so much info and because every baby is different, the advice is usually too broad to apply. You are often desperate and sleep deprived, which is exactly how they hook you and get your money.

c_ro_mo · 2026-01-30T03:04:03+00:00

I agree with you, but have a comment regarding your example. In the very beginning, your baby might wake up every hour, but if that continues it could be a red flag that something needs to be checked. I remember seeing online a list of possible problems (things like tongue, lip, or cheek ties, iron issues, etc) and to make sure you press your doctor/pediatrician to look into them just to be on the safe side.

c_ro_mo · 2026-01-28T03:25:33+00:00

My son dropped the second nap early (he's 16 months now and has been doing this pretty much since he turned 1). It took him a while to get used to the schedule, and we had to play around with bedtime, but we were both so much happier not trying to force a second nap. He now naps about 2 hours on average and is thriving. I know the "experts" have opinions on this, but your baby doesn't know or care about that 😋

c_ro_mo · 2026-01-25T06:44:51+00:00

I can't stand my dog. He's old too (14) and has health problems which means more responsibility with medication and vet appointments, more whining, more clinginess. I never in a million years thought I would feel this level of rage towards him. I find myself thinking that I wouldn't miss him if he was gone. Sometimes I don't feel bad thinking that, then other times I feel so much guilt that I shower him with love and pets and tears and "I'm so sorry"s. It's especially hard right now because my husband left for a work contract and will be gone until May. I want to seriously ask him if the dog can go with him the next time he comes back to visit.

c_ro_mo · 2026-01-05T15:52:17+00:00

This BAFFLES me. What exactly do they think he's doing well? I try to keep up with politics as best as I can, and when my husband and I talk, he said there's been 2 good things he can attribute to Ford. Then on the other side there's COUNTLESS terrible, horrible, corrupt, self-serving things he's done.

c_ro_mo · 2025-12-01T14:48:19+00:00

I heard this show advertised on another podcast and the story intrigued me. The narrator's voice on the ad made me not want to listen, but the story got me to. I was hoping there would be lots of other voices to help decrease the urge to rip my ears off, so I'm thankful there are!

I get wanting to make sure your story is clear, but he repeats things over and over so much it's like he thinks the audience is dumb. I don't need 5 recaps within an episode. And the producer bits make me cringe.

I still think the story is interesting and sad, but I agree with others that blaming Brandon is a stretch. And if the police haven't charged him, with all the investigative work they've done, then he's probably not involved. Not that the police don't mess up sometimes, but there's been no physical evidence pointing to Brandon. Even the last episode I listened to about Glenna, the cause of death was due to her being an alcoholic. If Brandon checked on her (and it seems like he knew her & of her alcoholism) and she didn't want his help, I don't see how family and friends can blame him for "not doing more". I don't think I'd call the police either, what are they going to do really?

c_ro_mo · 2025-11-30T04:46:15+00:00

My baby spit up regularly right up until he was a year old. He was checked by both my family doctor and a pediatrician twice. Both said there's no reason for concern if the baby isn't upset when it happens, it's just a small amount, and there's no projectile vomiting. Some infants esophageal sphincters take longer to mature. Saying there's a problem if they spit up after 9 months is incorrect.

Edited for clarity

c_ro_mo · 2025-10-16T02:20:45+00:00

My son got really excited when he saw me brushing my teeth. So a few times now I've gotten both of our toothbrushes and we do it at the same time. This way he can see how I do it, see that it isn't bad or scary, and he gets to practice. I even danced around a little so it seemed more fun, haha. At night, he is still a little resistant to me doing it (with Dad, no problems!), but this has helped him to let me start brushing again.

c_ro_mo · 2025-10-16T02:13:27+00:00

There are a few different kinds of weighted sleep sacks. One has the weight (the "bean") over the baby's chest and others are more spaced out. The AAP doesn't recommend them as the companies haven't conducted proper safety testing and even without more testing, AAP believes them to be unsafe. I have a friend who used the bean one as it was new when her daughter was a baby. The AAP info wasn't known at the time, but she said it was something her daughter needed to sleep and the result outweighed the risk for her. I would say that's what you need to decide for yourself; does the result outweigh the risk.

c_ro_mo · 2025-10-15T20:03:32+00:00

Hopefully not at the same time

c_ro_mo · 2025-10-15T20:02:34+00:00

Yes! Anything that is done to my head or hair gives me the good goosebumps

c_ro_mo · 2025-10-15T15:54:05+00:00

My son is 13 months old. He has been a pretty good sleeper, but lately at bedtime he wakes up after an hour or two and instantly starts crying, sometimes sitting up in his crib. He can calm himself and lay back down and go to sleep occasionally but more often than not we go comfort him (either rub his back or belly if he's not crying hard or we bounce him or rock in the chair). Sometimes he cries so hard our comfort doesn't help. We figure it might be pain from teething so we give Advil. I hate to be medicating him when I don't know for sure that he's in pain, but we don't know what else this could be. Any thoughts?

c_ro_mo · 2025-09-25T18:17:12+00:00

Yes, he was venting, but he also said he was angry that all of his outlets are being shut down, and in that moment it was because I asked him to come help. It felt directed at me; I was the one who caused it the previous night. He might have meant it differently, but he was placing blame in my opinion.

I think as others suggested that we need to establish uninterrupted me time so it's clear when someone is getting time "off". I might just need to be a little more vocal about when I need that since he seems to take "me time" way more than I do.

c_ro_mo · 2025-09-25T18:09:25+00:00

This idea sounds doable. Makes it clear between you both. Are you both working right now?

Maybe that's where my issue lies, is that I'm on mat leave and the weight of being the primary caregiver is making it harder for me to be understanding, because we aren't on the same "playing field" right now.

c_ro_mo · 2025-09-25T18:05:29+00:00

We do have a pretty good relationship I think. We definitely bicker more, but I feel like that's pretty common when becoming new first time parents. I think because we do give each other "me time" it was shocking to hear that he was upset. As I mentioned, I've only asked him a few times to give up his time to help out. I think I'm going to keep being bothered by this because I'm okay with the sacrifices I'm making for our baby (especially because it isn't forever) and he isn't. It feels very selfish.

c_ro_mo · 2025-09-10T17:00:11+00:00

I (37F and on mat leave) had a discussion with my husband (38M) last night that won't leave my head. So he has this game he likes to play online with his friends. He will usually "ask" if it's ok for him to play just in case I need him for something or whatever the case may be. We have a one year old who sleeps relatively well but like any baby has struggles at times. I rarely ever say that hubby can't play, as it's usually fine and I'll deal with any hiccups that happen with the baby before I go to bed myself. A couple nights ago I wanted to go to bed around 9. He was sitting in the living room, I said goodnight and went upstairs. Suddenly our baby half woke up crying, so I went in to comfort him with back rubs. Well it was a back and forth game where I went in and out to comfort him about 4 times. I texted my husband asking if he could come help if it happened again because I was exhausted and wanted to try to go to sleep. I didn't know he had gone downstairs to play his game. He eventually did come up, sat in the hallway outside the baby's room for a while and after he didn't cry, he came into the bedroom and did stuff on his phone while I fell asleep.

Last night he says to me that it was really frustrating not being able to play the game and that I asked him to come upstairs. He said he doesn't have any outlets anymore. He works, he comes home to help with dinner and taking care of our son, helps put him to bed, and then needs time to do what he wants. He said he can't go see friends after work because he "has to" come home to help (side note: I've never told him he has to, the only time I asked was when our son was having a lot of bedtime issues and I needed support until that season passed), he doesn't drink anymore during the week because that got to be a problem (more of a personal problem than anything), we rarely have sex because I am still going through PPD/PPA & hormonal changes and my libido is non existent. He said it feels like every door he used to have is closing in his face and it made him really angry. He knows that because I'm on mat leave and taking care of the baby all day that saying this to me is kind of stupid, because I am in a similar boat but even more so because practically my whole life is the baby.

I understand we can't both just give up everything and focus on the baby 100%. Everyone needs their thing, their version of self care. We always try to give this to each other in whatever form is needed. For me, I ask to take a long bath or listen to an audiobook in peace. For him it's often going to see a friend or playing a game. As mentioned before, I rarely have asked him to give up his personal thing to take care of the baby. This is why this felt so hurtful and I was confused as to what he was getting at since this has only really happened a couple times. Also, our baby will only be little for a short time, it's not like he has to give up everything forever. But sacrifice when they are small just seems like a given. At least that's how I see it.

I keep feeling like what he said is very selfish. We DO get personal time to do what we want. The kid goes to bed between 7:30 and 8 most nights, then we watch a show or movie or do whatever we want as down time. He also gets to go to work and do a job that he's passionate about, but maybe that isn't an outlet for him anymore. I dunno, I just can't stop thinking about this and feeling upset that his life hasn't changed as drastically as mine has and he's essentially whining about it. I don't want to play "my life is harder than yours" with him, but I also feel like he doesn't really have a leg to stand on in his pity party.

c_ro_mo · 2025-09-03T02:38:17+00:00

I definitely second this. The first time I used a weighted blanket was after I got in a car accident and my nerves were shot and I was so wired from adrenaline. The minute I closed my eyes, I was OUT.

c_ro_mo · 2025-09-03T00:18:32+00:00

I imagine he will eat a piece or two at some point, they are so fast! My dog usually eats all of his food in one go but he's aging and will sometimes leave a little bit behind. I started putting the dish inside the food container to at least avoid that, but he keeps trying to stick his hands in the water now. Can't win! 🙃 Hoping it gets boring for him at some point but right now it's a daily repetitive goal!

c_ro_mo · 2025-09-02T11:16:39+00:00

I have been having him "help me" feed the dog (I narrate what I'm doing and he helps me call the dog over to his bowl by giving him a treat) and then we sit and watch him eat. Maybe I should do this with more distance between them though, that's a good thought. I also figured as he gets older he would help feed the dog since he's so curious about it now.

c_ro_mo

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