Sleep hell :'(

[Princesskell]

No way!!

Hopefully just a blip....keep you on your toes!! Xxx

 

[Princesskell]

How is sleep for everyone????
We keep boomeranging between 1 wake up and feed to anything up to 10
Can't believe I'm still in sleep hell!! Good job he's cute!
I know I need to night wean now as that is the last resort, but he's still not eating very well in the day so I'm thinking he possibly still does need the milk??

 

[calm]

For me Saturday was hell. No sleep, AT ALL. I get depressed and angry when this happens. I mean, sleep is not fantastic anyway, but no sleep, it just kills me Thankfully last night was not too bad, though I had to co sleep with one twin. Wind, teeth, leaking nappies, and separational anxiety seems to be the culprit my end

 

[Princesskell]

Ugh I knew I shouldn't have written on this post about 1 wake up...stupid tempting fate. Last night was hell plus 100 ��
He first woke as we went to bed at 11ish...first mistake as I should have gone to bed earlier. Then he just roared on and off for 2.5 hours. He would settle if I went in and stroked his back, would sometimes give us 10 minutes after I left the room and then standing up again screaming. I tried offering water, even picked him up near the end, which as usual made it worse. Only managed to settle him by feeding him at 1.30 which was quite early for his night feed and then he was up again from 4 and then unsettled after. Think I must have had 2 hours of sleep tops...ugh.

I just don't understand what is wrong. He self settles fine in the day and goes to bed awake and alone please somebody help??

 

[lauraemily17]

We're back in sleep hell. I swear to god this child was sent to make me crazy with sleep deprivation.

He gave us about 3 weeks of sleeping through the night maybe 5 out of 7 nights. And by sleep through he still woke but just shuffled around his cot for a bit grunting but settling back to sleep by himself.

That was about 2 months ago now. We have since been back to him waking up pretty much every night. Once again there's no pattern to it. He always drinks a bottle of milk but on a good night he'll go back to sleep with an hour. We're going through a run of bad nights right now where he'll be awake for a few hours.

I am back to feeling crazy tired and frustrated. I'm now studying too and really struggling to actually retain and remember anything. My head is so foggy. Im trying to use the time he's awake tonight to do some reading for my course on my phone but Reuben doesn't like that. In fact I can rarely use my phone while sitting with him now. it either distracts him and he tries to grab it or like tonight he's just cried at me.

Apparently I'm an idiot for wanting to do something for myself after giving my sole, body and mind to my children for the past 4 years. It's only a 6 month course too, even that is too much to ask apparently.

I'm sorry you're going through hell too. I have no suggestions just know you're not alone.

 

[Princesskell]

Oh I'm sorry Laura I bet it's worse that you have experienced a good run and then back to hell!!
I feel the same as you with the foggiest. I went back to work in September and am really starting to feel the year without sleep taking its toll! He is always worse on a Sunday night as well

 

[SpringCrane]

I didn't read through this whole thread, but I did just want to say my kid was a terrible sleeper from about 4 months - 20 months. Then, bam!, he slept. I think he finally got to a point developmentally rather than us doing anything in particular... But it will get better I came out to the other side being a huge advocate for doing WHATEVER gets the whole family the most possible sleep. I started to feel a lot better mentally when I stopped worrying about sleep issues. I used to take pretty meticulous notes, talk about it, research it, dwell on it... And I just decided to stop around 18 months, and felt much much better mentally (even though we still weren't sleeping).

Really, I just wanted to say HUGS.

 

[Princesskell]

Thank you SpringCrane I need a reminder like yours every now and again!!
I bet we will even miss this sleep hell when these babies are grown!

 

[izzlesnizzle]

Hi can I join in? My ds is 10.5 months and we're back in purgatory. Ww 46 going on and sleeps gone crazy again. He goes to bed at 6.30pm and wakes at 9.30pm then wakes two, three times a night and can be awake for up to an hour or just calls out or chats loudly so it wakes us up even though he's in the next room. Naps have gone out of the window. Only cat napping 30 mins in the morning and an hour if we're lucky in the pm from two 1.5 hour naps. And taking up to 45 mins to settle for naps. He's so grumpy and whingy most of the day and has starting having spectacular tantrums.

Last night I put toys in his cot before I went to bed and he stayed put til 6.30am playing. Don't know what time he woke up but it's an improvement on him standing up in his cot at 5am screaming at the top of his lungs! Ugh!

 

[calm]

That's the time mine started a bad regression Izzles, I think its because they are learning so much at that age that they find it hard to wind down and sleep, their brains are on overflow!

 

[treeroot]

My little man is just over 5 months now, the last month or so has been awful.

I gave in and had to start co-sleeping. It's meant that he goes back to sleep fairly easily (most nights) after waking, but every night has been different.

I'm glad to see that others have gotten out of this phase...but it looks like we'll just be heading back into it in a few months.

Also, (I was thinking about starting a separate thread for this rant), why does all the advice lecture on "keeping" your baby up too long? Are you freaking kidding me? I would love for him to go to sleep 1.5 hr in between naps. I'm trying to get him to sleep but the kid won't settle until 2.5-3 hrs have gone by! Where does this notion come from that you can somehow force your child to sleep? I know I should stop reading sleep stuff on the internet...it's just so all-consuming.
He went from napping and sleeping in his crib to napping in my arms and sleeping in my bed.



And now an off tangent rant/comment: I'm not getting out much, other then almost daily strolls in the park or maybe one or two shop visits a week, I'm just at home trying to manage to get dishes and laundry done.

 

[izzlesnizzle]

Tree I introduced a dummy at 5 months which transformed sleep for us. He has it at sleep times but I try to limit it in the daytime unless he's really grizzly and whingy.

At 5 months he was having three naps and a 6.15pm bed. He was waking once for feeds at night but the dummy really helped for any other wake ups especially with the early 5 am wake ups. I used to pop him on his side with his arm cuddling a teddy, put his dummy in and stroke his head a few times and shush him then quickly leave the room. He would generally go back to sleep for an hour or so.

Once he hit 6 or 7 months he dropped that third nap and he went onto the 2,3,4 schedule and he started weaning. It's then that sleep really improved for a while and naps got longer.

However sleep as per my last post has gone pretty bad. Taking 45 mins to settle for naps, standing up as soon as I lie him down and crying holding onto the bars, only cat napping 30 mins, refusing to go to bed, messing with his bedtime milk, trying to push it away and biting the teat and not drinking, then taking ages to settle and waking up at 9.30pm. I don't know what I'd do without his dummy. I know I have to wean him off it at some point but if he didn't have it he'd just scream the house down....and he has a very loud voice!

 

[treeroot]

Tree I introduced a dummy at 5 months which transformed sleep for us. He has it at sleep times but I try to limit it in the daytime unless he's really grizzly and whingy.

Thanks for sharing!

Unfortunately for me, he won't take the dummy

Now, I do believe he's at the lower end of the sleep-needs scale as he's always taken less sleep.
I just wish I didn't have to be walking around with him for a long time for him to settle to sleep without a fuss.

 

[lauraemily17]

Some babies definitely need less sleep. I have 2 who are totally opposites. The eldest at 1 slept 12 hours straight at night then had a good 2.5 - 3 hour nap after lunch. His younger brother sleeps for about 10 hours at night, regularly wakes up still at night and his nap can be anywhere from 30 mins to 1.5 hours but most often the lesser end of the scale. He is a shock to our system!

 

[treeroot]

sleeps for about 10 hours at night, regularly wakes up still at night and his nap can be anywhere from 30 mins to 1.5 hours but most often the lesser end of the scale. He is a shock to our system!

That's my guy right there!
He takes three naps right now...never over 1.5 hr and usually 30-45 min.

 

[hopingwaiting]

What's sleep?? My kid doesn't need it. Hes 7 months old and just go's. His bed time is around 830 even though its nine and he's on the floor playing. People say he should go to bed earlier but as of right now he goes to bed between 830-10 wakes up around 2 to eat then never sleeps past 7. Even on weekends never sleeps in. Will take a 20 min nap at 9osh then sometimes he naps at one sometimes he doesn't. He will take about quick nap at 5. Just the length of the car ride from daycare to home. Most nights he sleeps with us which I tried to break spread and it completely back fired. Made it way worse. One day I shall sleep.....

 

[izzlesnizzle]

Sleep was ridiculous last night. He woke 8 times from 9.30pm onwards. tried to put him down for a nap and he took 45 mins of screaming before he finally passed out. he started babbling yesterday afternoon making da dada and rarararara noises and just wants to do it all the time now. It would be cute if it wasn't at sleep times. I'm not finding it very cute, I have a big sense of humour failure because I'm so tired!!!