Rant - Feeling so hopeless about sleep!

[Sunnie1984]

Mrspear - Exactly! I forget that things we see everyday are completely normal to me but a whole new experience for her!

I think you are definitely going about it the right way in trying to get her to sleep next to you at first, then you can gradually move her across the bed, and hopefully eventually into her own cot.

Although, and I hate to say this, but I think you are right, I think you have to be completely consistent for her to learn that she doesn't sleep in your arms anymore

I think a few tough nights should get you a long way, and honestly, you can't possibly be getting any rest now when you are sleeping upright! Have you tried foam earplugs? They don't block out the sound, so you'll still be able to hear her crying, but it deadens the noise a little - I find them really useful when Seren gets really overtired and screams for hours, it means I'm more patient.

Good luck, I hope it works for you. Also, be ready for a regression just when you feel you are making progress - I read somewhere that it always happens once they learn new habits, and if you stick at it, it'll go back to the new habits.

Lozza - Thanks, it does help to know there is light at the end of the tunnel!

Noelle - I hope you are nearly out of WW37, also i hope that is all it is and Charlotte starts sleeping really well again. Although it looks like it may have been her tummy after all, I'm glad you got a good night from her last night. Sorry you didn't get the same sleep!

Shadowy Lady - Well that's a great night for you if nothing else! Happy Birthday!

Kosh - Yay great progress! Long may it continue!


Great night here. She slept 7pm-6am with only one crying waking at 8pm but resettled quickly. She seems a little bit more settled today, so I'm hoping the worst of the WW is over for now at least. Although possibly that means its WW19 rather than WW26 as she's only 23 weeks tomorrow.

famous last words though, I'm sure she'll have a melt down shortly!

xxx

 

[AngelUK]

I'll ask here too as there are more ppl reading this it seems.
Does anyone have any tips on how to get babies to sleep longer in the morning? Dominic started moaning at 3:30 but dropped again till 4:40. I switched the sound off on the monitor so that OH wouldn't wake but stared at the screen willing him to go back to sleep. And I think he might have dozed for 15 minutes cause he went quiet, I turned the sounds back on and I drifted off too. But at 5:20 he started crying and not the kind that means I'll drop off again in a mo. I went in to give the dummy and left but that made him sob! So I went back in and picked him up. So I gave up the hope of them sleeping longer and got them changed and they are playing in their beds now but ugh! They woke yesterday morning at 5:10 or 5:20 too. For me that is still night time! WAHH! Any ideas?

 

[Sunnie1984]

I'll ask here too as there are more ppl reading this it seems.
Does anyone have any tips on how to get babies to sleep longer in the morning? Dominic started moaning at 3:30 but dropped again till 4:40. I switched the sound off on the monitor so that OH wouldn't wake but stared at the screen willing him to go back to sleep. And I think he might have dozed for 15 minutes cause he went quiet, I turned the sounds back on and I drifted off too. But at 5:20 he started crying and not the kind that means I'll drop off again in a mo. I went in to give the dummy and left but that made him sob! So I went back in and picked him up. So I gave up the hope of them sleeping longer and got them changed and they are playing in their beds now but ugh! They woke yesterday morning at 5:10 or 5:20 too. For me that is still night time! WAHH! Any ideas?

Honestly?

I think the only thing that has worked for us is ignoring her as long as possible. Eventually she began lengthening the time she slept, and eventually got past the really early wake time. It's not a quick reaction, but it does work eventually!

So essentially doing what you are already doing and hope it begins to lengthen.

Sorry, not much help for you!

 

[AngelUK]

Yeah I would totally leave him to it for a little longer if it weren't for Sebastian also waking and then also crying and then me pitying the neighbours. We must be hell to live next to lol. But thank you for the advice.

 

[Noelle610]

Unfortunately I agree with Sunnie! I treat anything prior to 6am as a night waking. Charlotte used to wake around the 5am mark too, but now it's more like 6:45. Which feels like sleeping in!

 

[Lady_Bee]

Alexander is having a bit of teething trouble this week. I can see the offending teeth poking through so hopefully this won't take too much longer! It is affecting his sleep for sure. He's still doing really well at bedtime and nap times, but back to waking 4 times a night. Ahhhh well you win some and you lose some...

 

[Noelle610]

Lady Bee, don't despair! There will always be bumps in the road. Sounds like you have made a lot of progress.

 

[Lady_Bee]

Oh yes definitely making progress! Settling him in the cot was magic really. He is now quite easy to get back to sleep in the night. I am soooo not missing walking for 45 minutes with him in the MOTN only to have him wake right back up a minute after I put him down. All it takes now is a gentle rub on the back and telling him it's time for night night.

 

[Noelle610]

Oh yes definitely making progress! Settling him in the cot was magic really. He is now quite easy to get back to sleep in the night. I am soooo not missing walking for 45 minutes with him in the MOTN only to have him wake right back up a minute after I put him down. All it takes now is a gentle rub on the back and telling him it's time for night night.

That is great!

I sometimes get frustrated when we have a lot of night wakings when Charlotte is teething, sick, hitting a developmental milestone, etc.... But I always remind myself that it's a phase. It always passes.

 

[Shadowy Lady]

Sunnie - super jealous of your great night! Hope there are no more WW's for you guys

Noelle - hope you have a better night today. Are you out of your meds or is it just Charlotte's recent wakings that's keeping u up?

Sofia's night was same old same old. Down at 7 pm, up for a feed at 1 am, down again till 6:30 am (when she was up for the day). I had a terrible night though for some reason. Couldn't go to sleep after 1 am until closer to 4 :/ I guess there's a rule against me sleeping well for more than one night. If I have a good night the next one should be s*&%^$*#!! :'(

 

[Noelle610]

Shadowy Lady, thanks for checking in - Charlotte STTN the past two nights She did, however, throw up at some point last night (found vomit in her bed this morning, poor kid). She was also off her formula last night and this morning, so I think her tummy is bothering her and that probably contributed to the recent night wakings.

I totally hear you on not being able to sleep. I really wish we weren't dealing with that! I think the recent night wakings through me off, and truthfully I have been feeling a little anxious this past week. I'm still on my medication, but I may need to increase my dosage. My doctor did mention that it takes about 6 weeks for the meds to level out and at that time they can correctly evaluate whether you're taking the right amount.

 

[bananaz]

Those who've travelled with your LOs, how did they sleep while away? I have an out-of-town interview on Friday and we're leaving today so she's going to be sleeping someplace new for 3 nights. For my last interview she was still swaddled in her rocker so it wasn't that big of a change, but this time she's going to be in her pack'n'play which she's never slept in overnight before. This is probably one of the most important interviews of my life so I really need her to let me get some sleep.

Anyway, last night was not great. She slept from 6:30pm to 1am and then she was up and down every 20-60 minutes until 5am, when she finally went back to sleep until 6:30am. I'm not sure what her deal was - she just kept fussing and then standing up and crying for a moment and then lying back down and fussing some more. Patting her back did absolutely nothing to soothe her so I ended up going in and feeding her twice and that seemed to help her settle longer but she was still whining intermittently.

 

[Noelle610]

Those who've travelled with your LOs, how did they sleep while away? I have an out-of-town interview on Friday and we're leaving today so she's going to be sleeping someplace new for 3 nights. For my last interview she was still swaddled in her rocker so it wasn't that big of a change, but this time she's going to be in her pack'n'play which she's never slept in overnight before. This is probably one of the most important interviews of my life so I really need her to let me get some sleep.

Anyway, last night was not great. She slept from 6:30pm to 1am and then she was up and down every 20-60 minutes until 5am, when she finally went back to sleep until 6:30am. I'm not sure what her deal was - she just kept fussing and then standing up and crying for a moment and then lying back down and fussing some more. Twice I ended up going in and feeding her and that seemed to help her settle longer but she was still whining.

We took Charlotte to San Antonio for Thanksgiving and upstate New York for Christmas. In San Antonio, she didn't sleep that well. She woke maybe 3 times at night, but that was typical for her at that time, so no worse that usual. In usptate New York, she slept great. She had been having these long night wakings prior and traveling seemed to snap her out of it. She slept through or woke once. It was great.

Things that helped, I think (she also slept in a Pack n Play):
*Bring a crib sheet that has already been used and smells like "home"
*Bring a lovey if she has one
*Bring white noise machine if you use it
*Do bedtime routine almost exactly as you do it at home
*Ensure that naps happen during the day if at all possible to keep her from getting overtired/overstimulated

Sorry to hear about you tough night. Charlotte will do someting similar from time to time and I usually think it's because something is bothering her that I can't put my finger on - tummy, dry throat, etc.

 

[bananaz]

We took Charlotte to San Antonio for Thanksgiving and upstate New York for Christmas. In San Antonio, she didn't sleep that well. She woke maybe 3 times at night, but that was typical for her at that time, so no worse that usual. In usptate New York, she slept great. She had been having these long night wakings prior and traveling seemed to snap her out of it. She slept through or woke once. It was great.

Things that helped, I think (she also slept in a Pack n Play):
*Bring a crib sheet that has already been used and smells like "home"
*Bring a lovey if she has one
*Bring white noise machine if you use it
*Do bedtime routine almost exactly as you do it at home
*Ensure that naps happen during the day if at all possible to keep her from getting overtired/overstimulated

Sorry to hear about you tough night. Charlotte will do someting similar from time to time and I usually think it's because something is bothering her that I can't put my finger on - tummy, dry throat, etc.

Thanks for the tips! It's encouraging to hear that travelling actually helped Charlotte's sleep. In my fantasyland, Elsie is going to be so tired from the drive today that tonight she won't even wake for her normal feeding and then she'll get used to having those calories during the day instead so she'll start sleeping through from here on out. A girl can dream right?

 

[Noelle610]

We took Charlotte to San Antonio for Thanksgiving and upstate New York for Christmas. In San Antonio, she didn't sleep that well. She woke maybe 3 times at night, but that was typical for her at that time, so no worse that usual. In usptate New York, she slept great. She had been having these long night wakings prior and traveling seemed to snap her out of it. She slept through or woke once. It was great.

Things that helped, I think (she also slept in a Pack n Play):
*Bring a crib sheet that has already been used and smells like "home"
*Bring a lovey if she has one
*Bring white noise machine if you use it
*Do bedtime routine almost exactly as you do it at home
*Ensure that naps happen during the day if at all possible to keep her from getting overtired/overstimulated

Sorry to hear about you tough night. Charlotte will do someting similar from time to time and I usually think it's because something is bothering her that I can't put my finger on - tummy, dry throat, etc.

Thanks for the tips! It's encouraging to hear that travelling actually helped Charlotte's sleep. In my fantasyland, Elsie is going to be so tired from the drive today that tonight she won't even wake for her normal feeding and then she'll get used to having those calories during the day instead so she'll start sleeping through from here on out. A girl can dream right?

Haha, you really never know! We dropped our dream feed over the holidays because we were lazy. I just figured I'd feed if Charlotte woke for it. She didn't most nights and woke around 5am or so a few other nights. During that time she started taking more solids during the day. Coincidence? Maybe, but it worked for us!

 

[mrsbeano]

Quinn slept great when we went to Turkey at 4 months. He sttn for the whole week which he didn't do ever before or consistently since. I wouldn't fret too much x

 

[socitycourty]

Anyone heard from Libby? hope she'sdoing ok.

my lo has had a cold and also teething troubles this week....so not very good sleep

 

[Noelle610]

Anyone heard from Libby? hope she'sdoing ok.

my lo has had a cold and also teething troubles this week....so not very good sleep

You know, I was just thinking of Libby this morning. I haven't heard from her and hope this means that her LO is STTN!

I hate teething. First, I find it so hard to determine when they're teething - It's impossible to know until after the tooth pops through. Second, it causes some of the most random symptoms. I hate to over medicate and assume everything is teething, but it's hard not to.

 

[Shadowy Lady]

I know I hope we haven't heard from Libby coz she's sleeping. She totally deserves it

 

[socitycourty]

I have given motrin a few times over the past couple days because my LO had a cold and I'm pretty sure is teething....it sucks! I feel so bad for her but at the same time the clingy-ness and lack of sleep is making me nuts