Sleep hell :'(

[lauraemily17]

Please someone tell me I am not alone. My 5 month old baby does not sleep for longer than a few hours throughout the night. I'm am so stupidly sleep deprived I can barely think straight and with a boisterous toddler to look after during the day too, I'm a mess.

Reuben is sleeping worse now than he did as a newborn. He used to sleep easily straight through until 2am sometimes longer. It's currently 3am and he's been up at 9.30 & 12 and I've been unsuccessful at getting him back to sleep & in his cot since. He's fallen asleep a couple of times but woken the second he's been put down in his cot. He's now just wanting to play when I rock him to sleep. It's like he's totally lost the concept of nighttime and sleep. He just wants to be on a 24 hour cycle of nap eat and play.

Has anyone gone through this and come out the other side and have any tips? I've tried shush pat but he just yells & stamps his feet, pick up put down has a similar effect. I know if I co-slept it would solve all our problems buts it's not something DH and I want to do. I've ruled out teething and illness (it's been going on far too long) he's not waking up hungry and shouldn't be as he has 2 solid meals a day & a bedtime bottle of formula. That said I'll still try & feed him and he'll no longer feed to sleep, he has his fill then wants to play.

I am utterly exhausted and not sure how much more I can take.

 

[superfrizbee]

I'm sorry I don't have any advice but I'm with you! DS goes 2-3 hours, sometimes less and often unsettled from about 5am hugs! I know how hard it is!

 

[Zeri]

I don't have any tips...but I'm going through this as well. My 5 month old used to sleep fairly well before - he would fall asleep at 8 pm - then sleep until 1 am, then would be up at 3 am - then 5/6 am for about an hour. NOw he's up more than before - he goes down at 8 pm still, but would wake up at 11 pm, then again at 1 am, 3 am, 5 am etc. It's tiring! I don't know why he's waking up more. I did hear about a sleep regression at this stage, though - maybe that's why they wake up more now? My LO is also teething - he also seems hungry a lot. I'm trying to be patient and am starting him on solids to see if that helps. If it continues, I'll try some serious sleep training when he's 6 months. You're not alone!

 

[Linnypops]

When you get him back to sleep you could try putting him down on his side? I had to do this recently when dd was ill and needing more comfort - shed wake up any time I put her down on her back but not on her side. I put a rolled up towel behind her back us see he mattress to keep her there.

 

[vickyandchick]

I'm right there with you, it is utterly exhausting
DS goes to bed at 8pm and wakes (usually) at 11/1/3/5 and then can be awake for the day
He seems to be getting worse and worse and lately I feel like an awful mum cause I have no energy to do anything and it's making my ppd worse

 

[Lemonade]

I don't have any advice, but I feel your pain! Sleep regression is SO hard.

My LO used to sleep through until 3/4am, feed and then go back to sleep until 8. Now she wakes 3 times between 7.30pm and 3.30am and then wants to play! So tired.

 

[RosieRosieP]

No real advice but wanted to let you know I feel your pain! DD went from sleeping through to waking 4-5 times a night at 5 months. Last night she was awake from 2am until 5am and then awake for the day at 6.30 am.

There is no reason for just think it's a phase! Could have throttled DH when he woke me at 6.00am to say he had a dead arm as he had slept on it!

 

[Hoping4peanut]

So sorry lady! I don't have advice because my 9 month old sleeps terribly at night even though she slept through the night at 2 months. It is frustrating and I am exhausted too. Hang in there momma! I am sure at some point it will get better for us!

 

[fortunecookie]

DD was only doing 2 to 3 hours, sometimes only 1 hour at a time. Since we have been weaning she has become a little better and will often go 4 hours and once did 6! She has extended on her own without intervention. She still wakes twice a night for a feed but it isn't the same time each night so I guess she still needs it. She sometimes wakes briefly and self settles whereas before she would scream or want to play for hours, regardless of whether I co slept or not. I think it's just a phase and they will grow out of it, until the next regression that is....

 

[cjwn]

Sorry! No advice, but lots of sympathy. My 4.5 month old has never really slept for more than 2 hours at a time since he was about 7 weeks old, and now I've just discovered the little devil is also a bottle refuser. My two year old was equally terrible until six months when he started sleeping through, but at least he would take a bottle so my husband could help out at night. I've no idea how to improve the situation this time round.

 

[LeannieB]

Hi my youngest is 6 months and he does not sleep through. He also slept better as a newborn!! He was sleeping ok and then his teeth started coming through and this has resulted in his sleep being all over the place. When he wakes up in the night the only thing that will get him back to sleep is if BF him. I have two older boys as well (almost 5 and 7) and sometimes they still get into bed with us. They tag team me. Lol x

 

[lauraemily17]

I'm sorry you're all going through the same things. I'm really not good on little sleep and only getting a few hours sleep at a time has got to be bad for your health and quite frankly is like torture!

Fingers, toes & everything crossed, after a month of hell we're starting to see an improvement. Reuben is now going down in his cot no problem and only up for about half hour at a time at night. he's waking less frequently too. Still at random times but only twice before about 5.30 when I will then bring him into bed.

I decided to work harder on establishing a better & structured routine. My eldest slep through from 12 weeks and he had a really good routine by then, mostly because he was FF so naps and feeds where naturally more consistent. I'm still BF on demand but he has scheduled naps, solid meals & a bedtime bottle. My eldest also used to have a massage and bedtime stories so we're doing that now too.

I've also found Reuben sleeps better on a wool blanket rather than the bedsheet and on his side instead of his back. I tried it on a whim in an attempt to recreate how he sleeps in my arms & in bed with me. The result was immediate, even for naps.

I also now have a much happier baby. He was really clingy & whinge.

Hoping we'll have a decent stretch of better sleep before a growth spurt, teething or wonder week causes chaos!

 

[Eleanor ace]

Great news that you've found something which seems to be working . Sleep deprivation really does feel like torture sometimes! My DD is nearly 2 and still waking allll the time, I love her but I don't need to see her 7 times a night .

 

[AK89]

Oh wow so it's really quite common! Good to know I'm not alone.. hopefully this phase passes soon!

 

[Princesskell]

I could have written your first post. My ds is just over 5 months and sleeping very poorly. He is down for 8 but then usually wakes 3 times for milk and then up for the day at 6. I also have an energetic 3 year old who bounds in at 6 too
It's weird as he is obviously not waking for food but is easily settled by feeding. He doesn't have a dummy but easily self soothes in the day for naps.
Any advice anyone?? Xxx

 

[AK89]

Mine is exactly the same.. I'm just putting it down to all the changes she's going through at the moment. She's mastering rolling over, she's wanting to get at/grab EVERYTHING, she's so much more aware/alert in general! I think it's just all this physical/mental development that's messing with her sleep. My DD was an amazing sleeper up until a couple of weeks ago which was around the same time I started to notice her go through these massive changes. It's called the Wonder Weeks isn't it?? Google it

At the moment my DD is having to be rocked entirely to sleep, like ALL the way, then she wakes up at least 2 or 3 times when before she'd got it down to 1. Don't think it's always particularly for a feed but that always calms her down / gets her back off to sleep. I'm currently feeding her again only about an hour after I initially put her down and THAT was much later than normal too! This clicks going forward business hasn't helped..

I've resorted to bringing her into bed with us more times than I care to admit now haha.. It's just so tempting! It's like a) sit up and fight to stay awake for 20-30 mins then get her to go back down in her cot OR b) snuggle up with her in bed and just pop a boob out every time she fusses! Haha..

I just hope this is just a phase, and one that doesn't go on for too much longer!

 

[lauraemily17]

I thought we'd cracked it but nope. Reuben went down at 7.30 and woke at 8.15, 9.15 & 10.15. He's still awake now after 1.5 hours.

I really don't know what to do. Some nights I'll heat him self settle no problem then others, like tonight, he cries out every time. I'd thought about wonder weeks but this has been going on for a month & he only hit a wonder week a couple of days ago. Perhaps it started early for him?!

I know what you mean about the temptation to just bring them into bed. I'm seriously considering putting a proper bed in his room so we can sleep there! But then I fear he'll be sleeping with me until he's 10!

 

[Princesskell]

I don't think ours is the wonder weeks because we never have the un-wonder weeks!!! Although rolling has made the problem much worse
We don't really have the cuddle in bed solution either it's boob or nothing really he won't even fall back asleep if I rock him.
Saying that we are in the middle of a slightly better night tonight

 

[AK89]

I don't think ours is the wonder weeks because we never have the un-wonder weeks!!! Although rolling has made the problem much worse
We don't really have the cuddle in bed solution either it's boob or nothing really he won't even fall back asleep if I rock him.
Saying that we are in the middle of a slightly better night tonight

Oh I don't think a cuddle in bed would actually get my LO off to sleep in itself! I breastfeed her while she's lying in bed next to me.. then she just seems to stay asleep longer in there and it's so much easier when she next wakes up cos all I have to do is pop a boob out lol. She wouldn't go to bed til about 10 last night (normally 7.30-8) then she was up again at 11 and I had to feed her back to sleep cos bouncing didn't work and she went back to sleep at 11.35 but wouldn't go back in her cot, just in bed with me :/ She just won't go in her cot sometimes! It's so tiring :/ She woke again at about 1.30 and is now up and has been since 5.20. I know I'm probably creating problems for myself in the future but I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it I think and try not to stress about it..

 

[vickyandchick]

Mine can't be the wonder weeks, it's been going on for about 2 months now
LO slept for 2 hours and then was awake every half hour- an hour last night; I look and feel like death.
I usually bring him into bed with me around 5/6 so he can sleep nurse and I get a bit more sleep