Rant - Feeling so hopeless about sleep!

[Noelle610]

Bananaz, we did manage to do it again! Just went cold turkey again. Truthfully she was fine. I think maybe she fussed a bit for one night, but she's been sleeping really well the past few weeks.

 

[Sunnie1984]

Hello Ladies,

Bananaz - I don't think it really counts as CIO unless she is really crying. I always ignore Seren if she's fussing, and she'll often put herself to sleep.

Aimee - Yay for the good nights, but boo for the middle of the night party. Maybe he's in a growth spurt?

Shadowy Lady - Glad you managed to get pretty good sleep at your neighbours. I hope that is the end of the MOTN Parties too.

Socity - So glad you're going to see someone, hopefully they can recommend something that will have you feeling much better asap.

Libbylou - Sounds great that lots of self settling is going on. Hopefully that will eventually translate into sleeping through those wakings.

Daneuse - have you tried infacol before a feed as well as gripe water? I'm finding that combination is working better than just one of them alone? Our wind has been getting worse too - I'm just trying to deal with it at the moment.

Noelle - that's a great night if she's teething! Hopefully she won't be too bothered by it and it will pop up son enough.

Ok, we seem to be having a major regression here. She is absolutely knackered all the time, as though she hasn't slept, but she has!

She screamed for two hours straight the night before last, and turned out to be just overtired. She has never ever had that as a problem, she's always been great at going to sleep.

Then she slept every 1.5 hours yesterday, and struggled to go to sleep each time (usually does 2.5 hours awake). So I bathed her at 5pm rather than 5:45pm, figuring she was still tired, but still got overtired screaming!

It only took until 6pm to get her to sleep, but then had to kind of dream feed her 30 mins later as she kept waking, crying and going back to sleep. Feed did it's job and she then slept through until 6:20am. Then mooched about and slept until 7:25 which is unheard of.

She's just gotten really tired again, and again cried trying to get her to go down. She's definitely not undertired, she looks like she hasn't slept in weeks and is constantly rubbing her eyes and yawning.

I'm not sure whether we're hitting the stormy period of the wonder week 19 later than I though, even by her due date? She's gotten much worse recently, and has had to almost fall asleep on my shoulder before being put down, when before she just wanted to be left alone to go to sleep.

Did this happen to anyone else during WW19?

 

[MrsPear]

Sorry you have had a rough time Sunnie, it really does sound to me like she is having a major growth spurt or something. Because it seems like she is actually getting quite a bit of sleep, but she's still overstimulated and grumpy. That's what happens to Joni too, although maybe they slow down a bit or get better at coping because she probably hasn't been really like that since 5 months. I reckon around the same age as Seren she had a week or two like that.

x

 

[mrsbeano]

Quinns taking a nice nap so I've ignored the housework and got all caught up!

Noelle - not too bad for a teething night!

Bananaz - how do you deal with getting up at that time of the night and staying up! This is going to sound silly but when Quinn's having a bottle I literally have my eyes shut and only use the light from the monitor. I just try really hard to not wake up.

Sunnie - I would bet money that your LO is teething!! Have you tried a bit of baby nurofen to help? Quinn is super clingy when he's teething and I can't put him down at all.

Mrs Pear - you're back Hope Joni has a transformation soon enough.

Shadowy - yay to the end of the MOTN party. I pretty much used CIO as my answer to that but not for everyone.

Libby - are you sleeping in seperate rooms with the doors shut? It would be good if you just didn't hear the resettling. Maybe earplugs would help. You still hear when they cry but not the 30 minutes of shuffling either side of that.

Aimee - glad you've had some better nights.

We're in a bit of a cycle atm where Quinn is waking up twice. The first isn't really for any reason as he's not hungry or anything. Last night I offered water, he took 1/2 oz and I then checked he was okay before leaving him to it. He cried for 12 minutes off and on before going back to sleep.

The second one is for a bottle which I am in the process of night weaning. Last night he took 4 oz so tonight I'm only going to make up a 3oz bottle for the night and then gradually reduce it. Fingers crossed he doesn't go too mad.

I'm not enjoying the two night wakings at all but know its not that terrible. He is still suffering with a runny nose which isn't helping much and I am attributing his first night waking to that still. Looking forward to that passing.

That was long!!

 

[mrsbeano]

Always forget to add something... Socity, so glad that you're going to try and get a little help. It will allow you to enjoy your little one so so much more x

 

[Shadowy Lady]

Sunnie - for us at WW19 we went from one wakeup at night to like 4 :/ it lasted a week. She was still easy to go to sleep she just woke up a lot. She also slept till 10 am instead of her usual 7 am. I actually was more rested then now ironically. Hope this storm passes soon for you. How many hours of nap is she getting?

Mrsbeano - sorry to hear you're back to waking up. At least it's good that you still get some rest. I hear you on the CIO thing. I'm also not opposed to it and will resort to it if needed in the next month or so.


So turned out the night I was away was a fluke....booooo! Last night I was back at home and Sofia was back at MOTN parties it was ever slightly better though as she only stayed up for an hour instead of an hour and a half. She went to sleep at 7 pm sharp (put down awake but drowsy)....She woke up at 12, had a bottle of ebm and then proceeded to talk to herself till 1 am when DH went it to her. He said she immediately smiled and wanted to play. So her came back to bed and she went to sleep 5 mins later. She then slept till 6:30 am when she wanted to be up for the day....

These MOTN are really getting annoying. It's soooo hard for me to go back to sleep after being up for an hour in the middle of the night. DH thinks I need better ear plugs and I think we need to do some sleep training. We're thinking that when we're back from our trip in early March we may hire a sleep doula...that seems forever away now though

Question for you guys...do you think her babbling away has to do with teething and not developmental? I mean it's been going on for 8 nights exactly, her cheeks are always red and she's more drooly than usual. If so, would it do harm to give her an Advil at night time even if we're not sure if it's teething? Would they necessarily scream when in teething pain or do some babies like mine just babble away at night coz their gums hurt?

I really need some rest here

 

[mrsbeano]

I'd give it a go. Worth a shot.

I talked about how stupid the nurse was when she suggested that Quinn was fussy because he was teething. He had no traditional symptoms but lo and behold two teeth came a few days later. I don't think that theres a set reaction to teething from our LOs.

MOTN parties do suck. Not sure whats worse - being up multiple times or being awake for one LONG time. What a choice! She will get past it. Quinn only does it on Dad's night because I don't have any of it (mean Mummy!)

 

[Sunnie1984]

Sorry you have had a rough time Sunnie, it really does sound to me like she is having a major growth spurt or something. Because it seems like she is actually getting quite a bit of sleep, but she's still overstimulated and grumpy. That's what happens to Joni too, although maybe they slow down a bit or get better at coping because she probably hasn't been really like that since 5 months. I reckon around the same age as Seren she had a week or two like that.

x

Thank you, hopefully it is a growth spurt, as it's so unlike her to be so sleepy! The last few growth spurts she's been really hungry, and that's overridden sleep, so I was looking for that in a growth spurt, but you are probably right

Sunnie - I would bet money that your LO is teething!! Have you tried a bit of baby nurofen to help? Quinn is super clingy when he's teething and I can't put him down at all.

I wish it was teething. She's been fussy for the last three weeks, with this week being the worst (although they have got progressively worse). I thought it was teething at first, but the neurofen did nothing, and she doesn't have any of her usual teething symptoms. She gets illuminous red cheeks and drools like crazy usually.

Sunnie - for us at WW19 we went from one wakeup at night to like 4 :/ it lasted a week. She was still easy to go to sleep she just woke up a lot. She also slept till 10 am instead of her usual 7 am. I actually was more rested then now ironically. Hope this storm passes soon for you. How many hours of nap is she getting?

Hmmmm, I think perhaps Mrs Pear is right, and that we've now left WW19 (which was a few wakes ups in the night, with at least one if not two MOTN parties) and have hit a growth spurt.

By her due date, she should have finished WW19 last Wednesday, but the fussiness continued a little bit, and then suddenly took a dip on Saturday. This is when the sleepiness picked up, so it does fit.

She only really takes 30 minute naps, she's never really needed anymore. So she was doing 2.5 hours awake, 0.5 hours asleep, and repeat during the day.

She was about to drop a nap, as she started doing 3.5 hours awake before bed - although I bathed her early to let her sleep a little earlier if necessary, and she usually went down about 15 mins early.

At the moment she still takes 30 minutes, but within 1.5 hours needs to sleep again. She also slept 13.5 hours straight last night (other than a sneeze at 1:30am).

So we've been out in the car a lot today, so she has had lots and lots of sleep. She was much better at bedtime. I bathed her at 5pm but she didn't go to sleep until 6:30 because she couldn't get rid of her wind, and then was overtired, but she's now out for the count.

Mrs Beano - I hate wakings for no visible reason, at least when they are hungry you can help! Hopefully he'll just settle himself quicker and then it will stop (unless it is for the stuffy nose, and then hopefully it will pass when the cold goes away). Good luck with reducing the feeds, and hopefully he'll not be too mad!

Shadowy Lady - I think the babbling could be developmental or teething (helpful I know). I thought Seren was teething at the beginning of the fussiness I attribute to WW19 - it could easily have been teething followed by WW!9, now followed by growth spurt for me.

I don't see any harm in giving a dose of advil to see if it helps. If you are worried, alternate ibuprofen and paracetamol each night to space out the different medications - but it won't be doing any harm.

Also, check if Sofia is warm enough - Our night wakings were drastically reduced when we bought a heater for Seren's room, it clicks on and off to keep the room at a set temperature.

Seren doesn't really scream when teething (during the night) she prefers to sleep, so she'll turn over and fuss and go back to sleep. So not all babies cry during teething, particularly at night.

x

 

[Aimee1003]

Sunny- WW19 and WW 26 all ran together for us. One big mess of sleep. Ergh.

Shadowy -I still say developmental. WW26 started for us at week 21. C has always had long wake ups. Shortest is 30 min but 45-50 min is average. I snooze in the recliner while I nurse him. This has helped me be able to go back to sleep but sometimes it doesn't work. Kudos to ur husband. He sounds like he helps out a lot.

Mrs Beano- C is now down to 2 wakeups. After the month of sleep hell, it is heaven. However, a few months ago 2 wake ups would have been horrible. Guess it is all relative.

SO C is sick. Running a fever of 102 plus and feels poorly. His sleep is obviously rubbish again. Sat night he was ok and went down easily at7. He slept til 2:30 (yay) but when I got up to feed him, he was warm to the touch. He was very restless and difficult to get back to sleep. Went back down at 3:30 but was up at 5. Same story. All day Sunday, he ran fever and threw up a few times. Nose is runny too. He only napped 45 min even though I tried all day to get him down. BUT last night was hideous. Hard to get to sleep but got down at 7:30. Up 10-12, very restless, could not fall back asleep so I laid him down in crib and he went right to sleep. Didn't even cry. Up at 3:30.. same story. Down 4:45. Up 6-7. Then awake at 8.
I took off work today since he is still poorly. He is having a hard time napping. I usually nurse him down but that is not working. Tried rocking, seeing if he would self-settle, swing, etc. No luck. Poor Mr. Coleton!!!

 

[bananaz]

So turned out the night I was away was a fluke....booooo! Last night I was back at home and Sofia was back at MOTN parties it was ever slightly better though as she only stayed up for an hour instead of an hour and a half. She went to sleep at 7 pm sharp (put down awake but drowsy)....She woke up at 12, had a bottle of ebm and then proceeded to talk to herself till 1 am when DH went it to her. He said she immediately smiled and wanted to play. So her came back to bed and she went to sleep 5 mins later. She then slept till 6:30 am when she wanted to be up for the day....

These MOTN are really getting annoying. It's soooo hard for me to go back to sleep after being up for an hour in the middle of the night. DH thinks I need better ear plugs and I think we need to do some sleep training. We're thinking that when we're back from our trip in early March we may hire a sleep doula...that seems forever away now though

Question for you guys...do you think her babbling away has to do with teething and not developmental? I mean it's been going on for 8 nights exactly, her cheeks are always red and she's more drooly than usual. If so, would it do harm to give her an Advil at night time even if we're not sure if it's teething? Would they necessarily scream when in teething pain or do some babies like mine just babble away at night coz their gums hurt?

I really need some rest here

Giving her some Advil before bed wouldn't do any harm and it might help. I would talk to her pediatrician about dosage first though

 

[bananaz]

SO C is sick. Running a fever of 102 plus and feels poorly. His sleep is obviously rubbish again. Sat night he was ok and went down easily at7. He slept til 2:30 (yay) but when I got up to feed him, he was warm to the touch. He was very restless and difficult to get back to sleep. Went back down at 3:30 but was up at 5. Same story. All day Sunday, he ran fever and threw up a few times. Nose is runny too. He only napped 45 min even though I tried all day to get him down. BUT last night was hideous. Hard to get to sleep but got down at 7:30. Up 10-12, very restless, could not fall back asleep so I laid him down in crib and he went right to sleep. Didn't even cry. Up at 3:30.. same story. Down 4:45. Up 6-7. Then awake at 8.
I took off work today since he is still poorly. He is having a hard time napping. I usually nurse him down but that is not working. Tried rocking, seeing if he would self-settle, swing, etc. No luck. Poor Mr. Coleton!!!

Oh gosh, poor guy I hope he feels better soon (and that you don't catch whatever it is!)

 

[bananaz]

Sleep has gone wacky here again. Thankfully LO still has an initial long stretch most of the time but after that there's no telling what will happen. Last night she woke up to eat at 3 and went back to sleep quickly but popped back up 40 minutes later for no reason I could tell. I finally got her back down after an hour of trying various methods, and then she woke up again 25 minutes later! It took a while for her to resettle herself but that time she stayed asleep until almost 8am, which is amazing since she's been getting up between 5 and 5:30am most of the week

Naps are really the bigger issue right now though. She's been seriously fighting her afternoon nap and now she's started fighting her morning nap as well. She won't nurse down and she seems to settle if I stand there patting her back for ages but the moment I stop she is wide awake and screaming.

I'm wondering if this is a new exciting stage of separation anxiety? And if so does that mean I should be extra responsive, or just keep doing what I'm doing? Does anyone feel like handling this phase for me while I go into hibernation for a little while?

 

[Noelle610]

So sorry about the sick baby, Aimee. That's awful.

Bananaz, we haven't had the weird wakings, but are experiencing the same nap refusal here and C is usually a great napper. I do think it's developmental for us, since she just learned to crawl a week ago.

I just read a post about a 9 month old who STTN for 6 months and started waking HOURLY! I'm so terrified now that sleep is relatively normal for us that we will have a horrible regression. Yuck.

 

[April76]

my boy is 10 months and up till he was 6 months old he slept brilliant. Now he can wake me up every hour sometimes, i am just shattered, i thought by 10 months he would be sleeping through but no

 

[Shadowy Lady]

Aimee - sorry to hear about C being sick Winter truly sucks this year. Hope he feels better soon mama so you can get some rest too

Bananaz - eeeek I'm sorry to hear about both night/nap issues. At least she is giving u that long first initial night time sleep. Do you manage to sleep then yourself? Also, do shorter afternoon naps mean they're about to drop a nap or something?

Noelle - you're a lot like me, always worried of what hasn't come yet and fearing the worst. I guess that's anxiety :/ I'd say stop worrying and just enjoy C's brilliant sleep pattern now. Fingers crossed she'll continue to sttn for years to come.

April 76 - eeeee I'm so sorry to hear this (and frankly kinda scared of what's to come). Have you thought of some form of sleep training?

So tonight I'm gonna sleep downstairs. It's impossible for me to sleep in between Sofia's babbling at night as our room is so close to hers. I hate sleeping in the basement coz I prefer our own bed next to DH but I don't have a choice for now. DH is working till midnight or so anyway so he'll be in charge of the midnight feed.

Let's see if we're set for another MOTN episode tonight :/

 

[lysh]

Hey ladies!
Aimee- Awww...poor baby! Hope he feels better soon! How are you feeling?

Bananaz- Do you think she is dropping a nap soon? I have read so many freaking sleep books that all details are a blur lately! lol I cannot remember when naps tend to drop. My LO still takes 3-4 depending on what time she wakes up- but typically it is 3.

Noelle- I sympathize with the worrying and anxiety. I am trying so hard to take each night as it comes and appreciate the progress forward, but once we have a bad night I panic that there will be this huge regression! Fingers crossed for you- I find with each step forward I have a much harder time with regressions. I remember when I use to wake up 4-5 times a night! Now typically LO wakes up once. Last night she woke up twice and I felt like it was the end of the world! lol

April76- Yikes, that scares me! I hope things settle for you- what have you tried to help LO get back on track?

Shadowy Lady- I hope you do not have a MOTN party.....last night LO almost had one.

Well great start to the night..just put her down 30 minutes ago and guess who is screaming! ugh Alrighty...off I go....:/

 

[Aimee1003]

Ugh...it's the flu!!!! Yuck.

 

[lysh]

Okay, after a little snuggling/nursing she went back to sleep. I hope this lasts! Last night she was up twice and then woke up for good at 4. DH got up with her at 4, but I still had to nurse her in bed until about 4:30 and then I had to get up for work at 5:30.

I still pretty much nurse her to sleep. I keep thinking I should really work on the whole putting her down drowsy thing, but it is so much easier this way! lol

 

[lysh]

Ugh...it's the flu!!!! Yuck.

Oh no!!! This flu is going around like wildfire!!!!! Sending healing/healthy thoughts your LOs way!!!!

 

[MrsPear]

Ugh...it's the flu!!!! Yuck.

Oh no Get well soon to your LO. That's really tough on you both. Poor guy, I really feel for him.

Lysh- I put Joni down asleep too, I try putting her down drowsy but it doesn't work. I just keep telling myself not to stress, and it won't be like that forever. If she stays asleep when I put her down, I'm happy.

Sorry Shadowy Lady- it sounds really hard despite a good night the other night, you sound really stressed. I'm sorry I don't have any good advice- I do understand though. It really is tough.

Bananaz, I think Joni has separation anxiety too, because when she wakes up she doesn't have a fussy stage, she just screams straight away, but stops when I arrive. Horrid, isn't it!! I am just being extra responsive, OH thinks we shouldn't pander to it, but in my mind I want her to learn, "I feel scared on my own but my mummy will always be there so it's okay and I don't need to cry", not "I feel scared on my own and no one is there so I don't need to cry", however, I have done NO research on that so I can't stress enough that it's just what I've decided in my head and might me completely wrong!

April- It's so tiring waking up that much. I'm sorry you had a bad regression like that. I'd almost rather not get to the good sleep point because I don't think I could take such a big backwards leap You must be so tired.