I might die if I don't get some sleep...

[Ratty]

Have you tried giving him a comfort object? It helped my boy a lot to have a stuffed toy that he could fiddle with when he woke up.

Its sounds like you LO is waking up after a sleep cycle and not being able to get himself back to sleep.

I'd also suggest trying to have the room completely dark. We went from him waking up 6-7 times a night to sleeping through most nights just by turning off the outside light so his room was darker. The moment we let any light in he doesn't want to go back to sleep if he wakes up for any reason.

Also like someone suggested, takes turns. If you are tired, you are not as relaxed and it makes settling harder. I used to go to bed at 9, get 3 hours solid sleep before my OH came to be at 12. I would then settle him after that. At least I got a couple of hours good sleep mixed with a few hours broken sleep.

Good luck, I hope things get better.

 

[PeanutBean]

Have you tried giving him a comfort object? It helped my boy a lot to have a stuffed toy that he could fiddle with when he woke up.

Its sounds like you LO is waking up after a sleep cycle and not being able to get himself back to sleep.

I'd also suggest trying to have the room completely dark. We went from him waking up 6-7 times a night to sleeping through most nights just by turning off the outside light so his room was darker. The moment we let any light in he doesn't want to go back to sleep if he wakes up for any reason.

Also like someone suggested, takes turns. If you are tired, you are not as relaxed and it makes settling harder. I used to go to bed at 9, get 3 hours solid sleep before my OH came to be at 12. I would then settle him after that. At least I got a couple of hours good sleep mixed with a few hours broken sleep.

Good luck, I hope things get better.

I keep trying him with toys but as yet he's too little to grab things and though he enjoys looking at them he's not getting any comfort from them. We;ve a nice little mouse that's sort of half blanket but he's not interested in it. We've tried darkness but he gets upset when we put all the lights off, also the main thing is that he gets wide awake and wants to play so it helps if he can look at things without us having to hold/entertain him. The night light is not very bright but enough for him to see shapes.

Ah the wonderful taking turns! We did before but somehow got out of it, I think because it relied on my DH getting no more than 3 hours sleep. I try to do as much as I can because I can catch up in the day (in theory) but pass over when I can't manage it anymore. DH is better staying up later and I'm better being up in the early morning. I have fair insomnia issues that have been quite exacerbated by having a baby. I often can't nap in the day even if I'm shattered, and at night I can't get to sleep early and not if there are other sounds in the house. In fact, even if I'm half dead and DH takes Byron away downstairs (though we try to keep him in the dark in our room now) because he can't stop him crying I can't get sleep anyway as I just listen to him. I don't get as much sleep as Byron in the night either as I lie awake at least half an hour each time he goes off either waiting for him to wake or listening for his breathing!

If he's been properly asleep he does go back to sleep, it's more getting him to sleep in the first place. If he wakes for a feed I can usually feed and get him back to sleep within an hour, often more like half an hour. The struggle is persuading him to get to sleep in the first place.

He's slept loads today, I wonder how he'll sleep tonight?

 

[PeanutBean]

Well last night was another stinker. We got maybe 3 hours sleep tops in small bursts. He wanted to feed all the time even after feeding well so DH had to take him as he wouldn't settle on me. We had him in bed with us too but it didn't help much. After feeding at half 7 this morning he of course instantly fell into the deepest slumber ever seen! I managed another couple of hours sleep this morning but back to feeling like death. Sigh...

 

[Vickie]

 

[jacksmummy]

Hiya there, sending hugs to you, i know exactly how you feel, Jack is now 7 months old and has never slept for more than 10 minutes every 6-7 hours then he is full of energy bouncing around, I feel so exhausted i cant carry on, but i just think it cant get much worse than this..
Hope the h/v gets it sorted for you Good Luck

 

[Sarahkka]

PB -
I just did a crash course n baby massage and was pretty impressed with how well it works to get baby chilled out. Another possibility for you?

 

[angie0235]

I found baby massage tired Katie out a lot. Ask your HV about it. It was very relaxing for me too and I met a few other Mum's with similar aged children so we could compare notes and give each other a boost. Mine was for 3 sessions and i've tried it at home too. Katie slept for a few hours after each session.
Hope it gets better soon x

 

[Hoping]

I would also recommend baby massage. And I've started taking Thomas to swimming lessons and he sleeps very well after that (but I know you can't do that every day!).

Thomas has a phase of waking a lot last week but it was just a growth spurt. Maybe it will just be a phase. Fingers crossed. I know how low it can make you feel and how frustrated you can get with the lack of sleep. Can you get someone to come and watch him in the day, maybe on a weekend so you and hubby can both go and get some sleep?

 

[PeanutBean]

We had another astonishingly bad night last night. I snatched only about 15mins before 5.30am. He fed and fell soundly asleep on my knee. I waited a little to be sure then went to put him in the cot. As I lowered him in he opened a sly eye. I tried to stroke his head hoping he'd just settle back down when we got sudden tantrums that did not stop for hours. You now, the ear splitting,whole-lung shrieks with screwed up red prune face. He was in such a state he wouldn't even feed for ages, crying too much to close his mouth round me. But it elucidated the problem - he is clearly overtired before he even gets his bath and his enjoyment of it has been masking that. So today we have to say sod it for DH getting to see him on work days. We're going to try feeding at 5.30 (he normally wakes at that time), bath at 6pm, feed at half 6 then into bed at 7pm with the hope we can eat and things after he is asleep.

Thanks for the baby massage suggestion. We were talking about it last night as it happens. There are classes here but they are hard to get a place on. We've some instructions in a book so we could give that a go.

 

[PeanutBean]

Well yesterday Byron woke by himself around half 5. I fed him, he had his bath, a massage and another feed and was in the cot about half 7. I found he was watching me so I left him alone. He chuntered for a while before beginning to cry and once it was clear he was only going to get worked up I went up and took him out. He fell asleep on my knee and I was able to pop him into the cot soundly asleep. We were able to eat our tea and sit about half an hour before he woke up and then we were back to the usual. I figured perhaps we were still asking too much and we needed to train him into sleeping at night however that might be before we could get him into a good routine and to sleep in his cot. So I decided to let him sleep on my chest if he would - and he did - so we could swap at feeds during the night and one of us would always be sleeping. So he was on me until about 1am when I was so uncomfortable I had to move. Thinking he'd been soundly asleep for 2 hours I'd venture to pop him on the bed next to me and he awoke instantly and would not go back to sleep properly until 6am. I fed him at then, about half 1, and again about 3am, then again at 6am. He awoke maybe half 8, another feed, and we all got up then - totally shattered of course. He played a little and was quite jolly, another feed about noon and then more eternal whinging and rooting. I'll feed him until he's sick he's so full so I'm certain he's not just hungry.

What do you do when holding and rocking etc will not comfort him? When he's too upset to even feed? I'm definitely going to speak to the HV or doctor tomorrow about going to a sleep clinic and there is a serious problem here.

We will stick with the earlier routine in the hope that once we find out what's going on and how to fix it that will already be in his system to place a good sleep regime against.

 

[princess_bump]

hope the earlier routine helps honey x

 

[Rachiebaby24]

awww hunni i dont know what to do...though i must add that Maley sleeps through the night...well 11 - 7 reagrdless of how much sleep she has had in the day.....have you tried a really long bath...we bath Maley every night at 10pm...if she is really tired or over excited, we keep her in there for about 45 minutes (keep topping it up so it stays warm...) the straight after her bath she has her bottle and by then she is ready for a good nights sleep....maybe do this every night because it sounds to me like his body clock is the wrong way round...!! ah hunni i do hope you have some good sleep soon....maybe on the weekend you could take him out for a few hours so your OH can catch up on uninterrupted sleep and vice versa on sunday....

 

[PeanutBean]

Rachie, ours baths are always quite long. We play quite a while on the mat before and in the bath as Byron enjoys it a lot. The only limit before has been him getting tired of it and starting to cry.

I've just worked out that I don't think he's been getting more than 10 hours sleep in each 24hr period. My book says at this age he should be having 14-18 hours and we can reasonably expect 8 or 9 of those to fall at night. Something is just not right with him.

 

[Rachiebaby24]

aw hope you get answers with the sleep counsellor person

 

[PeanutBean]

Thanks everyone. My Mum is trying to rearrange her day tomorrow to come help out if Byron is even more unsettled after him immunisations and my sister's offered to take him for a couple of hours on Tuesday. Definitely ringing the doctor tomorrow, want to check with him before jabs anyway on the off chance Byron is unwell and we just can't see it. Will keep you posted on what happens. Dunno why I didn't see before that this is something more than just a normal baby thing.

 

[bambino]

Thanks everyone. My Mum is trying to rearrange her day tomorrow to come help out if Byron is even more unsettled after him immunisations and my sister's offered to take him for a couple of hours on Tuesday. Definitely ringing the doctor tomorrow, want to check with him before jabs anyway on the off chance Byron is unwell and we just can't see it. Will keep you posted on what happens. Dunno why I didn't see before that this is something more than just a normal baby thing.

My nephew is exactly the same. He used to be a good sleeper but now he falls asleep at 8 wakes up at 10pm and then won't sleep again til 4am My sister has been beside herself with exhaustion. She ends up taking him in the car at 4am to get him to sleep most nights. The sleep counsellor suggested that she didn't rock him to sleep and see how that goes. Also she suggested a warm bath with johnsons bedtime lotion and a massage to soothe him. It's trial and error. My lo is a good sleeper and sleeps a good 10 hours in the night and a few long naps in the afternoon. ( much to my sister jealousy).I think each baby is different but i would definitely make sure you get some professional guidance with the sleep thing. They may be able to spot a pattern to it or give a few suggestions that you may not have tried.

 

[Always&4ever]

Aww hun, I know how you feel, I'm currently surviving on 3-4hours a night

 

[LeannieB]

Hi Ya. One of my friends had almost the exact same problems that your having until their LO reached 3 months and they decided something had to be done as their LO was not sleeping night or day and was so un settled due to lack of rest. They couldnt take her anywhere cause she would just scream. Their health visitor gave them a number of a sleep counsellor which they had to pay a one off fee for but they sorted out a routine for her, feeding times, nap times etc. It was hard work but now she is 7 months she is in bed by 7 and gets up around 5-6 but i think they still give her a formula dream feed at 10.They still have the odd bad night with her but I think everyone has those. We were lucky we never had problems with Toby but when we have the odd bad night and I feel rubbish next day so cant imagine how u must feel. Good Luck xxxxxx

 

[PeanutBean]

My nephew is exactly the same. He used to be a good sleeper but now he falls asleep at 8 wakes up at 10pm and then won't sleep again til 4am My sister has been beside herself with exhaustion. She ends up taking him in the car at 4am to get him to sleep most nights. The sleep counsellor suggested that she didn't rock him to sleep and see how that goes. Also she suggested a warm bath with johnsons bedtime lotion and a massage to soothe him. It's trial and error. My lo is a good sleeper and sleeps a good 10 hours in the night and a few long naps in the afternoon. ( much to my sister jealousy).I think each baby is different but i would definitely make sure you get some professional guidance with the sleep thing. They may be able to spot a pattern to it or give a few suggestions that you may not have tried.

There are two problems with going out in the car, pram or carrier at the moment - the freezing weather and also that he will wake up as soon as he is taken out. Can't leave him in the car seat to sleep at this age. Plus only I drive and I think I'd be likely to crash with the bleary eyes I have each night! lol We did massage last night and the night before and enjoys it. We also tried the bedtime bath stuff last night too. We actually don't rock him to sleep. Once he's like that nothing consoles him for a long time. Once he's more exhausted from crying he can be consoled if I lie him next to me with his head on my arm and so I can pat his back with the other hand. He still wakes very easily though and isn't getting deep sleep until the morning.

Sorry you're having a bad time too Jazzy, I hope it gets better!

Well, last night was better. We stuck with the earlier routine and he was in the cot by 8pm. Soon started crying enough to warrant being taken out. Then cried uncontrollably until 11pm when I gave him another feed. I've made a new rule to not feed at intervals less than 3 hours. I think the frequent feeding during his last growth spurt has really messed him up; he used to go much longer and have deeper feeds. At that point DH took over until 5am when he woke me for another feed. During those hours Byron slept some and was awake some, during which time he was quite content so that's a good start I think.

I have some insomnia problems, trouble getting to sleep especially if I'm tired and then waking easily. I wonder if it's possible for babies to have insomnia this early?

Anyway, the immunisations aren't on this week so we've a week off and I'm waiting for the doctor to call me so I can discuss sleep clinic.

Thanks again! When I've got the answer I'll post it for others to use.

 

[PeanutBean]

Well since reaching the absolute end of course Byron has been much better! The night before last we had him in and out of sleep all night and last night he slept 2am til half 7 when I woke up from his rooting in his sleep. I've given up with trying to get him to do things he doesn't want to do. We're all happier when we co-sleep, we all sleep better and he seems to be moving aware from his inconsolable states at night now. Still doing the early bathtime routine so we can build around it as he grows and changes, but if he will not sleep then I'd rather be holding him so he can look at things or have him sleeping with me. He slept by my side last night with just a hand on his hand, a big progression from a couple of nights ago when he would only sleep in my arm with his back being patted until he was deeply asleep! He seems happier in the day (though still sleeping quite a lot).

We've got the HV coming round today so I will talk to her about it all but I think a combination of him regaining his trust in us and us relaxing about our expectations or hopes has improved things.