Rant - Feeling so hopeless about sleep!

[Aimee1003]

Last night friggin sucked. LO was up constantly until around 1am when I finally got her settled in our bed. She nursed constantly (literally nonstop)from 1am until around 6:30am when I tried to get her settled back in her crib and she refused. I maybe got like 5 hours of broken sleep again because of the constant nursing and moving around in bed.
And she fought her morning nap for a good 45 mins.
Guess she wanted to make sure I was an anxious exhausted mess for my PPD support group this afternoon?

Will come back and catch up with the rest of the thread later. Need to go have a shower while she's napping cuz God knows it won't happen once she's awake

You and I had a mirror image night!!!

 

[Noelle610]

UGH Libby that's awful!

 

[Boo44]

Jessica/Noelle/anyone with sttn success(!) do your LO's self settle at bedtime?

Jack is getting ry good at self settling! *touch wood* I had a paranoia about his dummy becoming an awful habit but i lay him down with it in kiss him then turn and leave the room. I hear him gurgling to himself and fussing in a very minor fashion, then all quiet. When I creep back in to check him 99.9% of the time his dummy isn't even in any more.

I had been going to him when he wakes around 5.30 or 6ish to pop his dummy in and he would sleep til 7. Last few days I have heard him at 6ish but he's fussed even after his dummy is in, so I've just left him (obv not upset) and he went back to sleep!! So now I'm wondering if I should even go in there at that point

He went through a phase over Christmas of waking every day around 5-5.30 and *touch wood* this has gone to half 6 or even 7.20 yesterday - record!!! The difference I have made this week is giving him bottle at 3.30pm and solids at 5pm (before I was doing both bottle and solids between 3.30-4pm). I really wonder if that has helped him sleep later?

Hope I've not jinxed it now!!

 

[mrsbeano]

Boo, I was talking to my Mum and she was saying that I need to do that because Quinn STILL has a bottle every night.

Hes at nursery so has meals at 8am, 11 & 3 but then only bottles until bed at 7.30. She said to give him something filling at 6ish and see if that gets him through. Going to give it a go tomorrow night. Soooo freakin over night feeds.

See how it goes. He is definitely genuinely hungry as this is the only time he wakes up usually (aside from some deveopmental issues like crawling round the cot ). I tried offering less oz but he wouldn't settle until he'd had his full bottle.

 

[Noelle610]

Jessica/Noelle/anyone with sttn success(!) do your LO's self settle at bedtime?

Jack is getting ry good at self settling! *touch wood* I had a paranoia about his dummy becoming an awful habit but i lay him down with it in kiss him then turn and leave the room. I hear him gurgling to himself and fussing in a very minor fashion, then all quiet. When I creep back in to check him 99.9% of the time his dummy isn't even in any more.

I had been going to him when he wakes around 5.30 or 6ish to pop his dummy in and he would sleep til 7. Last few days I have heard him at 6ish but he's fussed even after his dummy is in, so I've just left him (obv not upset) and he went back to sleep!! So now I'm wondering if I should even go in there at that point

He went through a phase over Christmas of waking every day around 5-5.30 and *touch wood* this has gone to half 6 or even 7.20 yesterday - record!!! The difference I have made this week is giving him bottle at 3.30pm and solids at 5pm (before I was doing both bottle and solids between 3.30-4pm). I really wonder if that has helped him sleep later?

Hope I've not jinxed it now!!

Boo, Charlotte does self-settle. I put her down drowsy, but awake.

She also uses a pacifier. I know that some babies become super addicted to them and start waking through the night for it, but that hasn't been an issue for us either. Charlotte can kind of take it or leave it, but if she does wake early in the morning around that 5am mark it does help settle her back to sleep. I've also found it's helped comfort her when she's teething at night. So personally, I think what you are doing is fine. If it becomes a problem, you can always ditch it then. It doesn't sound to me like Jack has a suck-to-sleep association.

I always give Charlotte 10 minutes or so after I hear her wake to re-settle. I think it's wise to do that, because often she will go back to sleep and my intervening just wakes her further. The only time I don't wait is if she's sick.

I do think Charlotte sleeps best with a fully belly. I give her dinner at 5:15pm (usually try to get some fat in there, like yogurt, avocado or chicken) and her last bottle is around 6:30pm before bed

 

[Noelle610]

Who would have thought I'd be dealing out sleep advice when I started this thread?

 

[Boo44]

Lol Noelle I think of you as the sleep guru now! And bananaz Whenever I see a sleep thread I think 'ooh I hope Noelle or bananaz comments and gives them some advice' haha!

Yes I don't think he has a suck to sleep habit either. But he does love his dummy in the day it stops him crying if he's upset or tired. So I was confused whether it was a bad thing or not. But for us I think it's definitely helpful

My only worry when I see 6ish on the clock and I hear jack fussing is that if I leave him to fuss too long he'll get wide awake and that will be him up for the day. Which isn't too bad but because I know he'll go longer I always think ill try his dummy once. I may try giving him a bit longer and see....

Mrsbeano - I hope it works for you! Jack wasn't having a night bottle but he had developed some crazy early wakenings and I am beginning to wonder if the later tea is helping him in that way.

Noelle - does Charlotte take a full bottle before bed? I think jack having his tea later means he's taking around 6-7 oz instead of 8-9 before bed. But I figure at this age solids are good so to drop a bit of milk there shouldn't hurt.

 

[brunette&bubs]

I know I am thread crashing but just wanted to give some hope to you ladies...

Sleeping gets remarkable better after they turn 1. At least that was my experience and friends experiences.

One thing I can recommend (even though its tough) is to not give anything to them in their crib that is a 'pacifier'... bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers, etc. That was revolutionary for us.

I know my advice was unwarranted but i HTH

 

[jessicatunnel]

Boo, Lilly doesn't self settle and is nowhere near close to it. LOL. I feed her to sleep and set her down. If I try putting her down drowsy but awake she loses it and screams the house down. :/

Sounds like you had an awesome night, it doesn't seem the paci is a problem right now so I'd continue doing what you're doing.
Lilly doesn't take a pacifier but sometimes I wish she would!

 

[bananaz]

Lol Noelle I think of you as the sleep guru now! And bananaz Whenever I see a sleep thread I think 'ooh I hope Noelle or bananaz comments and gives them some advice' haha!

Haha I guess that's what happens when you're obsessive and spend all your free time reading baby sleep books and looking up sleep research online!

 

[Noelle610]

Lol Noelle I think of you as the sleep guru now! And bananaz Whenever I see a sleep thread I think 'ooh I hope Noelle or bananaz comments and gives them some advice' haha!

Haha I guess that's what happens when you're obsessive and spend all your free time reading baby sleep books and looking up sleep research online!

Haha totally agree! Thanks for the kind words. Glad I can help someone

I've noticed Charlotte taking less and less of her bedtime bottle after a large dinner - sometimes only 4 or 5 ounces and she usually takes 6 or 7. I think that's normal and it doesn't seem to have affected sleep.

 

[MiniKiwi]

Noelle and Jessica, so glad things are continuing to go well for you two

Bananaz, what a great night! I hope it's not just cause she's sick. Makes me laugh that she keeps trying to go to bed for the night earlier and earlier...

Libby, so sorry you had such a bad night again. I really wish you lived nearby and I'd come and help you out some. Hope your support group manages to help a bit

Aimee, really sorry you're having such a tough time. I have ended up co sleeping a lot lately out of necessity but I HATE it. I don't get any sleep when she's in bed with me and then I wake up to her trying to eat my hair!

Mia did her old rocking for 2 hours trick between 6:30 and 8:30pm and she was clearly an overtired mess. She woke at 11:30 and then I went to bed. Then she woke at 12:30 and I just felt awful. I can't really remember the rest of the night.. I think it was 3 when she woke and 4:30 when she went back to sleep and then up for the day at 7. I'm having a hard time being positive about it all today!

 

[bananaz]

Bananaz, what a great night! I hope it's not just cause she's sick. Makes me laugh that she keeps trying to go to bed for the night earlier and earlier...

I know! One of these days I'm going to put her down for her 8am nap and she's going to decide it's bedtime! I'm scared to put her down now, haha

Mia did her old rocking for 2 hours trick between 6:30 and 8:30pm and she was clearly an overtired mess. She woke at 11:30 and then I went to bed. Then she woke at 12:30 and I just felt awful. I can't really remember the rest of the night.. I think it was 3 when she woke and 4:30 when she went back to sleep and then up for the day at 7. I'm having a hard time being positive about it all today!

Oh no, how awful, especially the 12:30 waking right after the 11:30 one! I hate when they wake right after you've gotten to sleep and you just know the rest of the night's going to be shit. Ugh. Hang in there

 

[lysh]

mrsbeano- Night feeds are rough- I get the same way where I just feel over it, but my LO still takes 1-2 full feeds a night. She does actually eat, so I will continue to do it for now. It is hard though, some nights I am practically in tears when I hear LO crying!

Noelle- So Glad your girl is still sleeping well!!! What a relief, huh? You have given me hope!!!!

Boo- I understand your concerns about LO waking up. My dd will NOT take a paci for anything (we have tried just about every kind we could find!) but she has gotten into this habit lately that if it is early morning or nap time and we try to see if she will resettle in a few, she ends up waking up. This does not happen during the night, just morning and naps.

Bananaz- Crossing fingers you get more good nights!

MiniKiwi- Nights like those are so rough!!! I can tell by the first half of the night how the rest will go. It is such an awful feeling when you just know it is going to be a tough one!!!

My girl had an awesome night last night. She only woke up once (even though it was a little hard getting her to settle back down- took 30 minutes) but the fact that she only woke up once is great! Then she slept until 5:15. I know that still is early, but considering she likes to wake up around 4-4:30, we are thrilled with anytime past 5!!!! I get up at 5:30 for work anyways. The only problem last night is that after I got her back to sleep (it was 1am) I was WIDE awake. I have no idea why considering I was SO FREAKING TIRED. This week I have been like a mindless zombie at work. So I had a very fitful sleep (if you even call it sleep) until wake-up time. Hoping for another good night and better sleep for myself!!!!!

Hang in there ladies!

 

[libbylou]

I'm fairly certain LO decided to have that awesome night two nights ago just to stick her thumb at me and go "look, I CAN do it...but I choose not to."

She went down easily tonight at 7 and has been asleep two hours without a peep. I was convinced she was going to fight bedtime because she was really playful and hyper and trying SO hard to keep herself awake when I was trying to get her down. She yelled for about a min after I put her down and then went to sleep.

Stella - we sleep trained my LO at 6 months. Clearly it wasn't a magical cure since I'm still whinging about sleepless nights, but it did help a lot. Pre-sleep training LO would not self settle which meant we'd spent 1-3 hours trying to rock and nurse her to sleep while we both cried every night...and then she woke up every 45-60 mins all night long. I opted for sort of a modified CC. I did our bedtime routine and put LO down awake and then sat next to her crib at every nap and bedtime for a week and would ocassionally offer comfort based on her level of upset (either quietly assuring her, pat/shush, or pick up and rock until she was calm). She did cry, but at least I was there with her offering comfort and now she generally goes to sleep easily and sleeps way better than she did

Jessica/Noelle - glad to hear your LOs are still STTN!

shadowy - glad to hear you girls had a good night! I found a good nap schedule did help my LO for sure

bananaz - awesome night!!! So excited for you!

Aimee - UGH. Sorry to hear you had the same bad night that we did. I don't generally mind bedsharing with LO but I HATE the nights when she's on my nipple all frickin night, I hardly sleep at all, especially cuz when she does let go of the nipple, I have to wake up enough to get her back on and I end up so sore from having her attached to me all night.

minikiwi - so sorry you guys had a crappy night too Self settle Mia, self settle!! I know what you mean about having a hard time being positive...nights like last night do NOT help my PPD. I think I cried like 6 times today.

lysh - glad your LO had a good night but it sucks when they sleep and you can't!! Stupid insomnia!!

 

[Irish Eyes]

Noelle & Jessica it's so nice to see some progress! Really hope it continues! Noelle I hope the meds work, insomnia is horrible.

Libby I'm so sorry you're having crap nights, if it makes you feel any better then ours are awful at the moment

LO used to self settle perfectly in his crib, not anymore! I had to rock him to sleep in his chair rocker last night as nothing else would work and then tranfer him to the crib half hour later. From around 10pm he would not sleep anywhere except on me! He wouldn't even bedshare, I had to be sitting upright holding him. He's started doing this weird thing when I lay him on his back where he twists himself as if he's trying to roll over. Occassionally if I put him on his belly then he'll sleep but mostly he just screams, it's like he can't get comfy.

So I had a little cry this morning realising that's another night with no sleep. My hubby feels so guilty that he can't help but he drives 4 hours everyday so it's not safe for him to be up.

Anyone got any ideas?! I really can't go on like this for much longer, I have no idea what I'm running on!!

 

[MiniKiwi]

Irish, I'm so sorry you're having such an awful time. I recently learned that 'sleepless nights' truly meant NO sleep and it's the toughest thing ever. I was up a few nights in a row when LO was sick and she didn't sleep at all, the poor thing. Because of that, I'm crazy worried about LO and then other people's LOs being ill! So I have to ask if you've taken him to the doctor to rule out any ear infections or similar. He hasn't got a temperature? Or is he having trouble with teething?

Have you got any family or friends nearby who could come over and entertain him for a couple of hours today so you can have a shower and a nap? It will make tonight much easier if it's another bad one. Or can hubby take him after work for a couple of hours? I really hope things are easier tonight

 

[Irish Eyes]

He had an ear infection but it's cleared up now. He doesn't have a temp or seem like he's teething. My husband works 9 days on where he leaves at 6.30am and gets home at 9pm so he can't really help. He helps a lot during his days off though.

It's weird but I thought we'd be fighting off offers to help with LO. It's why we stayed where we're living now instead of moving near hubbys work as we're surrounded by his & my family, now I wish we hadn't bothered. It seems like the novelty of LO has worn off. I don't like being away from LO at all but I when my sister had her baby I used to watch him downstairs while she slept upstairs.

Does your baby roll over? Did she have trouble sleeping when she first learnt to roll? My LO is only just learning to do it & I don't know if he's learning so much at once that it's sending him a bit nuts?!

 

[MiniKiwi]

That's a real shame your families aren't around much. Is there any chance you can just be blunt and ask for help? I'm sure if they're free they wouldn't say no if you told them you're desperate for a nap, there's no shame in asking for some help. Everyone who has had a baby knows how overwhelming it can be.

My LO does roll and I actually vaguely remember writing in this thread when she was learning to roll. So I guess she did have some problems around the same time. It's pretty standard for some babies to be more sensitive to things like that and it affects their sleep. If he won't sleep all night though, I'd probably go back to the doctor. Is he eating solids? And having any troubles? Allergies? Not constipated? Do his nappies smell? I don't know, maybe it's normal but for us when she wouldn't sleep at all, she was ill and she's a different baby now. Her sleep is still sort of crap but nothing like how bad those sick nights were. The only wanting to be upright sounds as though his ears may be bothering him still. Have you tried giving him some painkillers at all?

Also, how you describe him twisting is how my LO sleeps all the time. She started sleeping that way when she learned to roll. I'll pop her down on her back and she'll re position herself to the side with both her arms up and over to one side, it's pretty cute!

 

[Irish Eyes]

His solids have increased a lot over the last couple of weeks, we're doing BLW and it took him a while to get the hang of it. Normal nappies, no constipation etc. I've got an appointment for him on Monday to double check his ears now his antibiotics have finished.

I'm glad your little girl does the same twisting thing, was worried I had a contortionist on my hands, that position can't be comfortable!

My current moto is "this too shall pass!" Glad you're getting a bit more sleep. I'm looking forward to that!