Rant - Feeling so hopeless about sleep!

[Noelle610]

Wow Noelle! I actually had a smile reading your post. That is such a great day and night, I hope it continues for you

Bananaz, I also feel as though I'm doing something wrong. I don't think that's the case though, they just sleep when they want!

We had an ok night here. Bed at 8pm after 1.5 hrs rocking.. awake at 9:30 for a feed, awake at 12 for... a cuddle? She's never woken for no reason like that and happily went back to sleep when I cuddled her and then awake at 4am, it's 4:45am and she's almost asleep again and I'm up for the day!

Thank you so much! I'm just trying to enjoy it for now, although I'm a born worrier and keep thinking it will change soon

Charlotte has woken for cuddles a few nights this past week too, drifting straight off after being picked up and cuddled for a moment. She'd never done that either. I think it has to do with separation anxiety setting in.

 

[jessicatunnel]

Babybump: Sorry to see you here!
Bananaz: Eeek, sorry you had a tough night. Like Noelle said, I haven't changed much either, it just kind of happened for us.
Noelle: So glad you had a good day/night!
Minikiwi: Glad you had an ok night. Lilly used to wake for a cuddle too. I think they just need to feel the reassurance of their mommy.

Lilly slept through AGAIN!
She had a two hour morning nap and a one hour afternoon nap and went to bed at 7pm, and woke at 6:30 am. I gave her a bottle at 6:30 hoping it would send her back off to bed and it did, for about 30 minutes. She woke for the day at 7:10am.

Noelle: There's an eight month sleep regression!?!?! Please tell me this isn't true! I'm enjoying all this sleep me and Lilly are getting and would hate to see it all go down the drain. The four month sleep regression hit her hard, waking every 30minutes for a week straight! It was a nightmare.

 

[bananaz]

That's interesting! I think the solids help, but that's only if a baby is truly waking ONLY for hunger. And we all know they wake for many reasons other than that.

I love the Ferber book, so I'd certainly give it a read if I were you. That said, I have two issues with it.... One being his encouraging night weaning at 3/4 months old. I think for breast fed babies especially that's too early. I also think his "sleep needs averages" are super low.

Five YEARS? That scares me!

Once I got over being mildly offended that someone suggest I "Ferberize" my precious snowflake I actually did read the book I found it to be really helpful, though the bit about 3-month-olds being able to go without food all night rubbed me the wrong way too.

 

[jessicatunnel]

Also, the pedi didn't show for Lilly's 6 month injections/ wellness check last month so her appt. is today. She's always been great after her injections, cries for 2minutes and is fine, never had a fever or been in pain and hadn't affected her sleep, not that I could tell anyway. But I'm a bit paranoid the injections will mess with her sleep and she'll go back to waking every couple of hours. :/
Ever since she started sttn I'm paranoid about EVERYTHING messing it up, I'm making myself crazy, lol. This sleep is just so precious.

 

[Noelle610]

Totally understand Jessica, I've become completely paranoid too. If it helps, Charlotte always sleeps really well after her injections.

 

[bananaz]

Also, the pedi didn't show for Lilly's 6 month injections/ wellness check last month so her appt. is today. She's always been great after her injections, cries for 2minutes and is fine, never had a fever or been in pain and hadn't affected her sleep, not that I could tell anyway. But I'm a bit paranoid the injections will mess with her sleep and she'll go back to waking every couple of hours. :/
Ever since she started sttn I'm paranoid about EVERYTHING messing it up, I'm making myself crazy, lol. This sleep is just so precious.

Haha, I'm exactly the same way when Elsie is sleeping well! It's almost a relief when her sleep inevitably falls apart again because there's not so much pressure to keep doing things right. I hope Lilly's injections go well!

 

[KozmikKitten]

Hi Ladies! I need to join. I havent read the whole thread because its just sooo long! I am happy to see that recently some of you have had success around 7 months. My son is 5 months and he has been a horrible sleeper pretty much since we brought him home. He did have a week in there around 3.5 months where he only woke twice (awesome!) but he has since been back to waking every 1-3 hours every single night. We are exhausted at my house! I have cried to my hubby that we MUST be doing something wrong!

 

[Noelle610]

Hi Ladies! I need to join. I havent read the whole thread because its just sooo long! I am happy to see that recently some of you have had success around 7 months. My son is 5 months and he has been a horrible sleeper pretty much since we brought him home. He did have a week in there around 3.5 months where he only woke twice (awesome!) but he has since been back to waking every 1-3 hours every single night. We are exhausted at my house! I have cried to my hubby that we MUST be doing something wrong!

You mean you didn't have time to read all 90 plus pages??

I'm sorry your baby is waking so much! We all know how awful sleep deprivation is. Any idea why he wakes so frequently?

You're probably not doing anything wrong. As most of the girls on here know, I've read almost every single sleep book written and I had a horrible sleeper until recently. I tried a lot!

 

[Shadowy Lady]

Bananaz - sorry your had another bad night. My mom things once Sofia is on solids she'll sleep better. But I think that's just her old school way of thinking. I have said it before, but give Ferber a try. His book was brilliant for us weaning Sofia off her soother. I don't want to night wean her completely coz she's so young but we were able to space the night feeds using his book. I think it will do great for your and Elsie

Noelle - so glad you're enjoying more restful nights. I do recall when you started this thread and look at the changes now Hoping good nights are near for everyone

Minikiwi - your ok nights sounds like our bad nights :/ Is there a way you can teach Mia to go to sleep without being rocked? We saw a huge difference in sleep/nap once Sofia was able to sleep w/o her soother.

Lysh - I was all over DH to get me a cat last year and now reading kitty stories makes me glad I don't have a baby AND a cat, hehe.

Last night was alright for us. She went to sleep at 7 pm, woke up at 11:30 pm for a feed. Down again till 3 am when I fed her. Then up for the day at 6:55 am. I still have her in the Woombie until her Magic Sleepsuite arrives. I'm gonna sleep train once I have that in my hands. I'm still at loss of why she wakes up so much earlier than she did when she was younger....I guess that's why they call it sleep regression.

 

[bananaz]

Aghh she will NOT go down for her nap this morning. Normally I nurse her, pop her in the crib and pat her back a few times and she goes to sleep but I've been trying for over an hour now and she just keeps screaming every time her head touches the mattress. Right now I've put her down in PJs with her frog to see if she'll settle herself but she's just cruising the sides of the crib yelling so I don't think it's going to happen.

We're supposed to go to a baby group in an hour that I've been looking forward to for a month and now there's no way we'll be able to make it. What is going on with this child! I feel like crying. Stupid hormones and sleep deprivation

 

[MiniKiwi]

Minikiwi - your ok nights sounds like our bad nights :/ Is there a way you can teach Mia to go to sleep without being rocked? We saw a huge difference in sleep/nap once Sofia was able to sleep w/o her soother.

lol! It's just that we've had much worse nights so it's ok in comparison! and those bad nights have taught me not to be bothered by the 'ok' nights and a good night she'll wake up two or three times but go straight back to sleep. Tbh, I don't mind and as long as she's getting the rest she needs I won't try to 'train' her. I do hate the rocking though but lately she hasn't needed nearly as much so I feel like I'm winning lol!

Your night sounds decent! I wouldn't expect her to sleep longer though, 12 hours is really standard and a pretty good effort from her

Bananaz, I'm really sorry That sounds like what happens at our house when Mia is overtired, perhaps you just missed the boat. It happens every couple of days but used to be every single nap time. It's so damn frustrating. Sleep Elsie, SLEEP! I used to frequently miss baby group for the same reason then one week decided to take her along despite the fact she was obviously tired and she did so well! But I understand you not wanting to go, our group is a 5 minute walk from my house so I can always run away when I need to. Can you take a sling with you and put her in if she gets too fussy/tired? That's what I do to Mia.

 

[bananaz]

Bananaz, I'm really sorry That sounds like what happens at our house when Mia is overtired, perhaps you just missed the boat. It happens every couple of days but used to be every single nap time. It's so damn frustrating. Sleep Elsie, SLEEP! I used to frequently miss baby group for the same reason then one week decided to take her along despite the fact she was obviously tired and she did so well! But I understand you not wanting to go, our group is a 5 minute walk from my house so I can always run away when I need to. Can you take a sling with you and put her in if she gets too fussy/tired? That's what I do to Mia.

Yeah, I do wonder if maybe she got up earlier than I realized this morning so I missed her normal "sleepy window." Most times when I miss the window I can still get her down though, she just takes a short, crappy nap.

Unfortunately she hates the sling, otherwise that would be a good idea. If I manage to get her down in the next half hour and she takes one of her 20 minute naps then we may be able to make it to the group.

For now I've given up and got her out of the crib and am letting her crawl around and play for a bit. It's funny - she's always in the most cheerful mood right after she gets up from a failed attempt at putting her to bed! It's like she has a new appreciation for being awake and doing things.

 

[MiniKiwi]

It's funny - she's always in the most cheerful mood right after she gets up from a failed attempt at putting her to bed! It's like she has a new appreciation for being awake and doing things.

Hahaha! That's so familiar! Mia is the same. I'll just let her roll around in my bed when I give up and she rolls from one end to the other and laughs to herself! If it wasn't so adorable, I'd probably get mad

 

[bananaz]

It's funny - she's always in the most cheerful mood right after she gets up from a failed attempt at putting her to bed! It's like she has a new appreciation for being awake and doing things.

Hahaha! That's so familiar! Mia is the same. I'll just let her roll around in my bed when I give up and she rolls from one end to the other and laughs to herself! If it wasn't so adorable, I'd probably get mad

Lol that sounds so stinking cute! Thanks for the smile

 

[Boo44]

Just read the last few posts and am pleased that you're all the same as me! When jack sleeps well I am much more worried constantly about it possibly going wrong. And then when he has a bad night I almost feel relief! Because the next night can't be much worse and the only way is up. Am so pleased I'm not the only one, I thought I was a bit odd lol!

Bananaz I'd go to the group anyway. She might surprise you. And one thing I've learned in this whole crazy madness called parenting so far, is that no matter how 'perfect' you get things one day the babies will never actually conform anyway! And that a bad day or night doesn't mean it will be bad forever. It has taken me so long and many tears and worrying to get to this point but now I'm trying my hardest to just go with the flow a bit more (totally against my personality by the way!!)

 

[libbylou]

Bananaz - Ever has naps like that sometimes too...or rather refusing to nap. She's normally pretty good for naps, I nurse her and put her down...she will either play for a couple mins and sleep or protest for a min or two and then sleep. But sometimes it'll be like a good hour of me constantly settling her trying to get her to take the damn nap!

Last night was ok.
I drugged myself with Advil Nighttime which has a mild sedative in it (ok for BF luckily) and I actually fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow and had no troubles getting back to sleep whenever I got woken up(instead of my usual anxiety induced insomnia).
LO was waking up and crying for a min or two pretty much every single hour, then resettling herself. Happy that she was resettling herself, except I was still getting woken up every single hour all night. I did have to go in and settle her every 2-3 hours. But she slept in until 9:30 and only spent 2 hours in our bed last night because she was too restless and settled better in her crib
Gah I wish I could get her back into the 3-5 hour stretches!

 

[MiniKiwi]

Ohh Libby It's bad when you're wishing for three hours sleep in a row! I'm glad you managed a little rest with the advil though. By the sounds of things, it's no wonder you're suffering with anxiety induced insomnia Does your OH help you out a lot? Do you have much family around for support? Out of curiosity, does she take a pacifier?

 

[libbylou]

I've been struggling with PPD since LO was born and the anxiety insomnia is definitely a part of it. Meeting with my dr in two weeks to discuss the possibility of putting me on some sort of med to help me through this
DH helps but not as much as I'd like (he's getting better slowly, he was totally useless when she was first born). LO is very very attached to me which makes it hard for other people to help because she tends to only want me...and my anxiety makes it hard for me to leave her or accept help from other people which is a vicious cycle!
My inlaws are totally useless...my mum helps but lives 3 hours away so we see her for a few days probably once a month and she has a lot of physical disabilities so she can't even help much...it's mostly all on me!
And no, she won't take a pacifier...which sometimes I'm happy about because I don't have to worry about weaning her off it but sometimes I wish I could just pop one in her mouth!

 

[lysh]

libby- My girl will not take a paci either. Right now, I am her paci! lol That will be hard enough to wean when the time comes. My LO goes through phases like that too....we will have decent nights where I get 3-4 hour stretches, then she goes back to every hour to hour and a half. I have no idea what causes it either- once I could blame it on teething, but sometimes I just do not see the pattern.

bananaz- My LO does not show typical sleepy signs, so I feel like I am always missing the window. By the time she shows signs of being sleepy she is overtired. I use to put her to sleep every hour and a half, but now that she is older she goes 2-3 hours. I just have not found though the magic number that works all day like the hour and a half schedule use too. It is even harder working because I am not with her all day. Did you make it to the class?

Boo- When my LO has a good night I do freak out more the next night. I get so excited but fearful at the same time.....usually I am disappointed! lol I keep waiting for the time I get a nice string of good nights.

MiniKiwi- If my LO wakes up 2 times a night and goes right back to sleep after a nursing session I call it a decent night myself. Even though I still am not getting great stretches of sleep, I can handle this. Every hour I could not handle, so for now I have stepped away from sleep training.

I would love to respond more, but it is almost 9 and I have a long day tomorrow! LO was SO tired tonight she fell asleep at 5 in my arms. ugh So we had to kind of wake her to give her a bath (have to keep to the routine) and she fell back asleep and was in her crib at 6:30. She could be up any minute depending. Yesterday she did not nap well. She is in the stage of fighting naps. She ended up sleeping from 7-1, which when I went to nurse her at 1 I thought it was going to be a good night. Well, lo and behold she decided to have a MOTN party until 3. ugh

 

[bananaz]

bananaz- My LO does not show typical sleepy signs, so I feel like I am always missing the window. By the time she shows signs of being sleepy she is overtired. I use to put her to sleep every hour and a half, but now that she is older she goes 2-3 hours. I just have not found though the magic number that works all day like the hour and a half schedule use too. It is even harder working because I am not with her all day. Did you make it to the class?

My girl doesn't always have sleepy signs either so I usually just go by the clock, but her wake times can change from day to day. Lately her "optimal" awake periods have been 2-2.5 hours in the morning, 3-3.5 hours in the afternoon and then 3.5-4 hours before bed but then she has random days where she can only be awake for 2 hours at a time. It's so confusing!

She ended up sleeping through the group unfortunately but I remembered there was another one in the afternoon in a nearby city and we made it to that one. Of course she fell asleep in the car on the way home (which she NEVER does anymore!) and her typical 1-2 hour afternoon nap became a 10 minute afternoon nap because I was dumb enough to try and bring her in the house and put her to bed. Oh well.

I would love to respond more, but it is almost 9 and I have a long day tomorrow! LO was SO tired tonight she fell asleep at 5 in my arms. ugh So we had to kind of wake her to give her a bath (have to keep to the routine) and she fell back asleep and was in her crib at 6:30. She could be up any minute depending. Yesterday she did not nap well. She is in the stage of fighting naps. She ended up sleeping from 7-1, which when I went to nurse her at 1 I thought it was going to be a good night. Well, lo and behold she decided to have a MOTN party until 3. ugh

Yay for a 6 hour stretch, but that doesn't sound like a very fun party I hope she gives you a break tonight.