Rant - Feeling so hopeless about sleep!

[seaweed eater]

Really glad to hear things are progressing, Radkat!

 

[stephie_corin]

Just checking in, we had an average night. 3 wakeups before 10pm and 5 between 10-545. He actually slept for one three hour stretch which is massive progress if I'm going to be honest, so actually it was a good night!

I have a question: I have honest to goodness thought he was teething on at least 5 occasions, but no tooth appeared (it was just really bad sleep). Is it obvious when they are cutting a tooth? What are the signs? Do you give pain relief at bedtime or when they wake in the night?

Hugs xxx

 

[mrssunshine78]

You guys certainty seem to know a lot about sleep, it's very encouraging to see that some of your babies are doing much better

This morning Jasmine woke at 445, I feel sick and have a massive headache. Just wondering if anyone has any advice re nap times, do they need to be about the same time every day? Should I limit her naps? I usually don't let her nap until 930, do you think that's too late?

It's making me feel so down, I'm on the verge of tears this morning

 

[mrssunshine78]

Just checking in, we had an average night. 3 wakeups before 10pm and 5 between 10-545. He actually slept for one three hour stretch which is massive progress if I'm going to be honest, so actually it was a good night!

I have a question: I have honest to goodness thought he was teething on at least 5 occasions, but no tooth appeared (it was just really bad sleep). Is it obvious when they are cutting a tooth? What are the signs? Do you give pain relief at bedtime or when they wake in the night?

Hugs xxx

My lo seemed to be teething for 3 months before she cut a tooth, I don't think it's always that obvious, apparently their teeth move about in their gums and can cause pain. We don't give pain relieve before bed unless she's been really grumpy, we give it through the night if she won't settle

 

[stephie_corin]

You guys certainty seem to know a lot about sleep, it's very encouraging to see that some of your babies are doing much better

This morning Jasmine woke at 445, I feel sick and have a massive headache. Just wondering if anyone has any advice re nap times, do they need to be about the same time every day? Should I limit her naps? I usually don't let her nap until 930, do you think that's too late?

It's making me feel so down, I'm on the verge of tears this morning

((((Hugs)))) I know that 'I'm going to cry I'm so tired' feeling. It's horrible. Sorry you are having such a bad time. Rather than go by set times, you might find going by waketimes a bit easier (so, first nap might be 2 hours after waking) etc., I find over time the naps tend to settle at roughly the same time anyway.

 

[NotNic]

Thanks Noelle. I'm mostly looking forward to it and I'm really happy with my choice. We had tons of forms to fill out with his preferences and we had two meetings to talk through things, so I know he's in good hands. Finlay was pretty good last night. He woke at 4am. I got him back to sleep quite easily and he went through to 6.10am. I was in the shower though, but he only squealed for a few mins and by the time I was out he was standing quietly. He was very keen to go to the nursery worker this morning which helps a lot. I'm hoping he stays happy with the handover. Much nicer if there's no tears on either side!

 

[NotNic]

Stephie F started teething at 10 weeks. His first teeth (because two arrived at once) finally broke through at 7.5mths. He gets very red cheeks (like Noddy!) when his hurt. He puts his hands in his mouth, tugs his ears and his cry becomes a painful wail. His reaction is a bit extreme though. He's inherited my tough gums. Apparently I was a teething nightmare! If you want to try w/o pain relief I recommend cold, wet flannels for baby to suck on, cold cucumber pieces, hard baby biscuits at snack times and teething rings. We have the type you can freeze, but Finlay doesn't like them. They are too rigid for him to chew on. Also the dose in baby painkillers is deliberately lower than the 'safe' levels. My dr advised me they are fine for regular use.

 

[stephie_corin]

Stephie F started teething at 10 weeks. His first teeth (because two arrived at once) finally broke through at 7.5mths. He gets very red cheeks (like Noddy!) when his hurt. He puts his hands in his mouth, tugs his ears and his cry becomes a painful wail. His reaction is a bit extreme though. He's inherited my tough gums. Apparently I was a teething nightmare! If you want to try w/o pain relief I recommend cold, wet flannels for baby to suck on, cold cucumber pieces, hard baby biscuits at snack times and teething rings. We have the type you can freeze, but Finlay doesn't like them. They are too rigid for him to chew on. Also the dose in baby painkillers is deliberately lower than the 'safe' levels. My dr advised me they are fine for regular use.

Thanks NN! I really would prefer to only give him pain relief if he is in serious pain so your tips are great! I'm sure I can see tiny bits of white on the top of his gum but they've been there for about a month and nothing's pushed through yet! I swear we've been saying he has been teething since about three months! Ha! Thanks again xxx

 

[Boo44]

Aww Stephie big hugs xx teething is a nightmare. Jack is like Finlay (again!!) in that he started teething early but no tooth appeared until two came at once when he was 7.5 months. Then when he was 9 months he got 5 in the space of two weeks! Was nightmare

I think there's something about these early mornings at the mo! Last two days we've heard jack at 5.45 which is soooo early for him! I actually went to give him dummy and he went until 7.45. Really I'd rather skip the early but and just get up at 6.30! Hope it's not a new 'thing'...

Notnic - hun good luck at work. Well done for successfully getting up out and doing the nursery drop off for the first day! X

 

[polaris]

Notnic - good luck with the return to work, hope all goes smoothly.

We had another good night here, only two wakings for feeds and she slept until 7.15 a.m. However my 3 year old was awake 3 or 4 times which is highly unusual for him. He's in the middle of dropping his nap and it's a bit of a nightmare! I really shouldn't be posting about this here - make you all feel completely hopeless that you will be still stressing about sleep in three years time!!

 

[stephie_corin]

Sorry to be a thread hog today but I have an exciting new development. Yesterday and today I managed to rock C back to sleep for his middle nap, so assuming I continue to do this, he would have 2 x 30 mins cat naps around 8 and 3 and a 1-1.5 hour sleep at 11.30. Does this sound like a good, age appropriate nap schedule or should I work on trying to establish 2 naps.

Only downside is he is currently asleep on me and I need to do a wee and have a drink!

Polaris, glad one of yours is sleeping! I hope your boy sleeps better tonight xxx

 

[polaris]

Stephie, DS was taking three naps until about 8 months I think. According to Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child some babies need three naps up until 9 months. I think two short naps and one longer nap sounds perfect for the moment.

 

[Noelle610]

Stephanie, you're not a post hog! Polaris is right - 3 naps are fine up to 9 months and probably even longer for some kids. My friend's little girl had 3 naps until 11 months and is about to drop to 1 at just 14 months... So sometimes they grow/develop quickly!

 

[stephie_corin]

Thanks Noelle and Polaris! We'll aim for a cat nap then this afternoon and tonight he is, of course, going to have perfect sleep!! Ha! X

 

[Noelle610]

Polaris, I can't imagine having two mostly down to the sleep thing. Bless you!

Boo, Charlie has been waking early recently as well. It's odd because she's kind of moaning like she's not really awake, but not really settled either. I give her a dummy as well and sometimes it helps. Not sure what is going on, but I enjoy putting everything down to teething

 

[mrssunshine78]

My lo had 3 naps up until she was about 9.5 months and my friends little boy was about the same

 

[stephie_corin]

Thanks Sunshine. My main concern is too much daytime sleep making night sleep worse... But I think we will run with it and see how it goes!

 

[Noelle610]

Stephanie, how much daytime sleep is she getting overall? I think 3 hours or so is appropriate.

 

[stephie_corin]

Stephanie, how much daytime sleep is she getting overall? I think 3 hours or so is appropriate.

Hi Noelle, normally he has 3 x 30 minute naps so 1.5 in total. With this new long nap day sleep is around three hours. He has about 11.5 at night (not counting night wakings). Xxx

 

[mrsbeano]

Aww Stephie big hugs xx teething is a nightmare. Jack is like Finlay (again!!) in that he started teething early but no tooth appeared until two came at once when he was 7.5 months. Then when he was 9 months he got 5 in the space of two weeks! Was nightmare

I think there's something about these early mornings at the mo! Last two days we've heard jack at 5.45 which is soooo early for him! I actually went to give him dummy and he went until 7.45. Really I'd rather skip the early but and just get up at 6.30! Hope it's not a new 'thing'...

Notnic - hun good luck at work. Well done for successfully getting up out and doing the nursery drop off for the first day! X

We've had a bit of the early mornings too! But strangely, he doesn't want to be awake at all. This morning we just ignored him as we would for a night waking and after 15 minutes he went back to sleep. His room is pitch black.

I think that his natural body clock wants to be a 6 - 6 sleeper but we encourage more of a 7.30-7.30 sleeper because we don't function well from 6am! We all know that the kids usually win these battles though.