Rant - Feeling so hopeless about sleep!

[katrinalorien]

Noelle - OMG sweetie I'm so happy for you Remember when you opened this thread feeling desperate for some sleep? Does that feel like a long time ago now? Go Charlotte!

Thanks Shadowy Lady! It does feel strange to have this experience after starting this thread. Let's just hope it lasts... I don't feel like I can breathe a sigh of relief yet

Hah yeah - I agree totally with this sentiment. Its gotten better in the past and then gotten worse... so we will see..

 

[Noelle610]

Noelle - OMG sweetie I'm so happy for you Remember when you opened this thread feeling desperate for some sleep? Does that feel like a long time ago now? Go Charlotte!

Thanks Shadowy Lady! It does feel strange to have this experience after starting this thread. Let's just hope it lasts... I don't feel like I can breathe a sigh of relief yet

Hah yeah - I agree totally with this sentiment. Its gotten better in the past and then gotten worse... so we will see..

Same for us!

 

[bananaz]

Noelle - That's AMAZING! Of course I hope it continues forever or at least long enough for you to catch up on some sleep.

jessica - So glad you had a good night! I agree about the monitor, I doubt there's any need if she's so close by. You will hear her when she needs you, and you won't be bothered by all the normal little squawks during the night.

Shadowy Lady - Sorry you guys had a rough night last night. Hopefully it was just a blip on the radar, so to speak.

katrina - Don't you hate it when you set a minimum time limit rule and then they wake up right before the limit? Urgh. Sounds like you handled it well though!


Yesterday was pretty fantastic. She took an almost 2-hour nap while my dad was watching her in the morning and then an almost 2.5-hour nap with me in the afternoon! I don't think she's taken such a long nap since she was a newborn.

She ended up going to bed at 7:45, which was way later than planned, and she popped awake at 9:30 but only fussed for 10 minutes before resettling herself. Then she didn't wake again until 3am! I waited for a bit and it looked like she was going to go back to sleep on her own but then she woke again and actually started crying so I went in and nursed her for 4 minutes.

Then she got up at 5:15 and I decided to try bringing her into bed with me to get her to sleep longer. Well predictably that backfired and she ended up spending 45 minutes nursing, rolling around and making motorboat noises She was clearly tired though so at 6 I brought her back to her crib, which really pissed her off but after 5 minutes she fell asleep and slept until 8:15! So all in all it was a pretty good night.

 

[katrinalorien]

Shadowy - I missed your post sorry!! I bet the change in circumstances really made a difference to her. Babies really do well on routines (at least mine does!) so I think it will probably just be a blip!! Good luck with tonight...


My mom is coming home from Europe tonight, so Lily will be alone with DH when I pick her up. I've spent time preparing bottles (she is expecting to be back right around the 3 hr mark from when Lily seems to get to sleep).

On Thursday my mom wants to go travelling to a different small town that we used to live in. She's really excited and I really don't know what to do. How should I handle naps that day? Its going to be a day trip, and we will spend the evening looking at christmas lights. I'm thinking maybe we can stop the car when we get there and I can let her nap in the back? She does not nap well in her carseat or in the carrier anymore. What would y'all do? I don't have a pack n play but she has a suburban so I'm thinking we could sit in the back with her and lay like a little mattress down and have her sleep in the trunk... (of course with it being a suburban its open-air...)

 

[Noelle610]

Shadowy - I missed your post sorry!! I bet the change in circumstances really made a difference to her. Babies really do well on routines (at least mine does!) so I think it will probably just be a blip!! Good luck with tonight...


My mom is coming home from Europe tonight, so Lily will be alone with DH when I pick her up. I've spent time preparing bottles (she is expecting to be back right around the 3 hr mark from when Lily seems to get to sleep).

On Thursday my mom wants to go travelling to a different small town that we used to live in. She's really excited and I really don't know what to do. How should I handle naps that day? Its going to be a day trip, and we will spend the evening looking at christmas lights. I'm thinking maybe we can stop the car when we get there and I can let her nap in the back? She does not nap well in her carseat or in the carrier anymore. What would y'all do? I don't have a pack n play but she has a suburban so I'm thinking we could sit in the back with her and lay like a little mattress down and have her sleep in the trunk... (of course with it being a suburban its open-air...)

I think the idea of setting up the pack and play is a good idea. I would also drap blankets over the sides so she can't really see where she is (this helps me LO) and try to recreate the envirnoment you have at home, perhaps with white noise (if you use it) and a lovey (if she has one). Maybe even bring a crib sheet from home so it smells familiar. I get so anxious in these situations... I have to live my life, but I feel like it revolves around Charlotte's sleep. I'm so looking forward to the day she is down to one nap!

Will your LO sleep in the carseat if you time your travel to when she usually naps?

 

[tentoes92]

Officially joining this thread. I just spent an hour and a half with my lo attached to my boob in order for him to sleep. EVERYTIME he fell asleep I'd tell myself I'd move him in twenty minutes. Like clock work he woke up each time right before I was going to. Finally he is in his swing almost asleep. How can he wake up every two hours all night and not want to sleep during the day!!!


... Just kidding he woke up
Before I could ever finish this post. FFS sleeeeeep kid!!!!

 

[Noelle610]

Officially joining this thread. I just spent an hour and a half with my lo attached to my boob in order for him to sleep. EVERYTIME he fell asleep I'd tell myself I'd move him in twenty minutes. Like clock work he woke up each time right before I was going to. Finally he is in his swing almost asleep. How can he wake up every two hours all night and not want to sleep during the day!!!


... Just kidding he woke up
Before I could ever finish this post. FFS sleeeeeep kid!!!!

The first few months are SO HARD. Sleep deprviation sucks regardless of how old your baby is, but when you're recovering from birth, getting used to be a mom and aren't used to not sleep, it's almost unbearable. We understand!

 

[katrinalorien]

Thanks Noelle - I hadn't thought of the blankets idea at all, will definitely bring that. She's honestly never slept in a pack n play before, so I hope things go alright...

One thing I'm worried about as well is that I won't be able to bring her angelcare monitor with us, and Lily sleeps on her tummy. Guess I will just sit there watching her like I did before the angelcare monitor. (sometimes I even kept my hand on her the ENTIRE nap... hahah)

Tentoes - Hi, sorry that you're here as well. If I understand your ticker correctly is your LO less than a month old? Those first few months are so hard. Are you swaddling, shh'ing, laying her on her side and whatnot? (basically the 5 s's that Dr. Karp recommends?) I tell you that was her ticket when she was a newborn - those five s's gave me some sleep and some space during the day. You're in the very thick of it now, it does get better, and if it doesn't, then you do get used to it at least.

 

[tentoes92]

Thanks Noelle - I hadn't thought of the blankets idea at all, will definitely bring that. She's honestly never slept in a pack n play before, so I hope things go alright...

One thing I'm worried about as well is that I won't be able to bring her angelcare monitor with us, and Lily sleeps on her tummy. Guess I will just sit there watching her like I did before the angelcare monitor. (sometimes I even kept my hand on her the ENTIRE nap... hahah)

Tentoes - Hi, sorry that you're here as well. If I understand your ticker correctly is your LO less than a month old? Those first few months are so hard. Are you swaddling, shh'ing, laying her on her side and whatnot? (basically the 5 s's that Dr. Karp recommends?) I tell you that was her ticket when she was a newborn - those five s's gave me some sleep and some space during the day. You're in the very thick of it now, it does get better, and if it doesn't, then you do get used to it at least.

Yes we swaddle white noise rock and pat his bum. He jut fights sleep sooo hard. It's so frustrating. He woke up at 845 this morning, I tried to get him to nap a little after ten. He didnt fall asleep til 11 30 and slept an hour and I've been trying to him asleep since 2 and a half hours now! He's tired but just refuses to sleep. Nights wouldn't be so bad if he would just nap like a 5 week old should

 

[katrinalorien]

Hmm you may be waiting too long to put him down. Lily is over 4 months old and often can only stand 1 1/2 hours awake. Perhaps he is already overtired?

Life with a newborn is tough!

 

[polaris]

Hmm you may be waiting too long to put him down. Lily is over 4 months old and often can only stand 1 1/2 hours awake. Perhaps he is already overtired?

Life with a newborn is tough!

I agree that he could be already over-tired. At that age, Clara could only manage 45 minutes of awake time and occasionally less! I would literally get her up, feed her, change her nappy, and then start putting her back to sleep again.

 

[tentoes92]

I usual try sooner but he will usually start screaming as soon as I rock him so I was hoping maybe he's get more tired, nurse and pass out. But no.

 

[bananaz]

As always, just as things seem to be improving a new issue arises! This afternoon LO was being really difficult to put down for her nap so after trying to nurse/rock her for 20 minutes I finally just lay her down in her crib to see if she would settle herself. 10 minutes later she was still griping intermittently so I went into her room and I noticed she was looking at me over the top of the crib, which was very disconcerting until I realized that she was sitting up in the middle of her crib! So I picked her up and nursed her until she was drowsy, but as soon as I set her in the crib she immediately sat herself up again and started crying

I'm scared what tonight is going to be like...

 

[jessicatunnel]

As always, just as things seem to be improving a new issue arises! This afternoon LO was being really difficult to put down for her nap so after trying to nurse/rock her for 20 minutes I finally just lay her down in her crib to see if she would settle herself. 10 minutes later she was still griping intermittently so I went into her room and I noticed she was looking at me over the top of the crib, which was very disconcerting until I realized that she was sitting up in the middle of her crib! So I picked her up and nursed her until she was drowsy, but as soon as I set her in the crib she immediately sat herself up again and started crying

I'm scared what tonight is going to be like...

Oh no! I'm so glad Lilly can't sit herself up yet. This reminds me of when Lilly started rolling, and every time she went into the crib, she would roll over and wake herself up and cry. :/
Thank goodness she doesn't do that anymore. (Oh, and we stopped the swaddle COMPLETELY, and she is doing AWESOME without it. I even threw away our swaddle blankets... Hah)

Lilly's naps have been super weird for the last week or so, and her last one has been around 1, and she will wake up at 2, and I feel that just interferes with her bedtime. (If I put her down at 4, she will wake up at 5 and her bedtime is 6.)

So the last two days she's been waking up at 2 from her last nap and staying awake until six, four hours! The last 1.5 hours I have to constantly keep her occupied or she gets fussy, but I think it helps her sleep better!

Bananaz, hope tonight isn't as bad as you think it will be, she might just surprise you.

 

[Noelle610]

Jessica, Charlotte is sometimes up for a long time between her last nap and bedtime. I try to put her down at 4pm for a nap sometimes and she just won't sleep or she'll sleep for 20 minutes. I think 6 months is a weird age for naps because they're trying to transition from 3 to 2, but aren't quite ready yet. Ideally, I'd like Charlotte's afternoon nap to just be longer. If she could nap from 12:30pm or 1pm to 3pm, we'd be good to go! To be honest, it doesn't seem to affect her night sleep, although I know the "experts" woudl say differently.

 

[bananaz]

We've had the same issue with either too big or too little a gap before bedtime. Today everything would've been timed perfectly except she wouldn't go down for her second nap and now she's crashed in the car an hour and a half before bedtime! I agree with Noelle, I think 6mos is a weird transitional age. At this point I'm just trying to go with the flow since my attempts to control everything never work anyway.

 

[Aimee1003]

I am going to join in. My little man sttn from week 7 to week 21. Damn regression and wonder weeks. Then he started waking up at 4 am. Then it went to waking up 4-5 times a night. Worse than when he was a newborn. Finally week 27 he went back down to 1 wake up. Usually at 4:30 or 5:30 am. Better. But then he started fighting naps. Ergh! He will wake up after 20 min...but when his dad keeps him while I work (2-3 days a week he is off) he naps 3 hours for him!!!

Anyway, last night was horrible again. Bed at 7. Woke up at 9:45. Back down at 10:30. Up at 2:45. Down at 3:30. Up at 5:45. Down at 6:45. Up at 7!!! And I had to work today!!!

I just put him down for bedtime and he is fighting it!!!

I feel like a string of yarn that is coming unraveled. I am beyond stressed...

 

[katrinalorien]

I am going to join in. My little man sttn from week 7 to week 21. Damn regression and wonder weeks. Then he started waking up at 4 am. Then it went to waking up 4-5 times a night. Worse than when he was a newborn. Finally week 27 he went back down to 1 wake up. Usually at 4:30 or 5:30 am. Better. But then he started fighting naps. Ergh! He will wake up after 20 min...but when his dad keeps him while I work (2-3 days a week he is off) he naps 3 hours for him!!!

Anyway, last night was horrible again. Bed at 7. Woke up at 9:45. Back down at 10:30. Up at 2:45. Down at 3:30. Up at 5:45. Down at 6:45. Up at 7!!! And I had to work today!!!

I just put him down for bedtime and he is fighting it!!!

I feel like a string of yarn that is coming unraveled. I am beyond stressed...

Aimee - I'm so sorry that you have to join this thread. Could your LO be going through a growth spurt, or has he already hit is 6 month one? I hope this phase passes quickly, but it always feels like eternity while you're in it...

I see that you're from Texas, I love Texas! I used to live there.

 

[Shadowy Lady]

Katrina - Good luck with the pack n play and different location. I wish I had known Noelle's advice last week when I slept over at my parents with Sofia. It was terrible. I thought babies wouldn't know where they are but I guess they do, lol!

Bananaz - Best of luck tonight! I'm not looking forward to rolling and sitting down milestones for that exact reason. I even tried transitioning Sofia from Woombie to Sleep sac and she hated it so much I had to go back to Woombie :/

Aimee - oh man! See this is what I keep hearing! Just when you think they're sleeping fine they start waking up again. Our neighbour's son is 15 months old and teething and now is waking up every 2 hours like a new born again. Like this cycle never end!

So Sofia took a 2 hour nap between 9 to 11 am. Then two one hour naps in the afternoon. I just did her night routine and put her down to sleep and so far so good. DH is coming back to town at midnight and I really don't wanna hear from Sofia before then, haha! Still hoping that last night's episode was a fluke :/

 

[Strike]

And another crappy night. Chantal's been crying for 3 hrs. It's like every second night is a bust. I am seriously considering leaving her in a church pew and am really starting to resent her. If she's not crying she's cluster feeding so trying to go to bed early doesn't help either. And of course she only does this at night.

On the plus side, I'm on day 2 of the non-dairy diet and already noticed a difference in her poops. It should be interesting to see what the doctor says on Thursday.