Sleep Sense Support Group!

[CatStorey]

Cat - does chloe stay asleep once there? are main prob is she keeps waking up and not being able to go back (5 times a night at mo). We are quiet as mice so know it isn't that (and she slept through a mega thunder storm the other night).

Great news though! Gives us hope!

Yes, she does now.
Sometimes she does wake for a few mins and gently cries or groans but I leave her for a few mins before going in and 9 times out of 10 she will go back to sleep herself.The longest I left it without going in was 10 mins and she went back to sleep herself about 5 mins after I went in the room.
The first couple of days doing SS she woke around 1am-2am I think and cried for over an hour but I think that was cos I stopped giving her a bottle in the night and she was confused.

Before SS she woke every hour, then every 15 mins through the night, not settling for ages each time too.
But now she has her muslin and her thumb she has learnt to use those to get herself back off to sleep without needing my help.

Did your lo have a dummy? Chloe did and it took a few days for her to wean her off it. She needed to learn to use her thumb and blankie instead.

Not sure what else to suggest I hope things will get better. With her being ill maybe its just knocked her for six

 

[TennisGal]

Hi Cat - so glad things are improving!! Such good news! Awww, weaning is really good fun. DD sees her little bowl and starts getting very excited, she even tells me off if I take too long. I've started letting her just have a go at feeding herself - she digs her hands in, and we have a one spoon I do, one spoon she does agreement I think it has disrupted her sleep a little, but she went to sleep without any protesting tonight...so really hoping we all have a better night. I just hope her teeth appear soon, because I hate watching her have teething pains

I am t-iiiired, ladies. I've eaten past the ears of said bunny, and DH and I are going to watch some tennis...Do you ever have those days where you feel like you haven't sat down at all?! lol

 

[history_girls]

All the time TG! My days always feel like that even if LO naps on me!

Thanks Cat - here is hoping when we get going again it will help us to -she did stop doing it when we first started ss.

Well back to ss last night in its pure form. 35 mins of screaming to go to bed (no dummy, no cuddles nothing). Then awake at 9.30 and 20 mins of screaming and back to bed. OH did both of those as he isn't as soft as me now - it used to be the other way around.
Bottle at 11.15 which she gobbled (think she is catching up). Then awake at 3 ( I was weak and gave dummy bad bad mummy) but nothing then until 7.40 (two murmors but she put herself back).

So better. Holiday will probably mess it all up and she is travelling 600 miles tonight in her sleep!

Hope all are well - better go as I made OH take the baby to the supermarket with him so I could pack. ermm...... don't think he counts BnB as packing! eeek!

 

[polaris]

TG - so glad it isn't an ear infection - hope she gets back to normal soon. Weaning sounds like great fun - can't wait!! - even if it is disrupting her sleep a little bit, poor thing.

HG - well done getting started again. Hope you have a fantastic holiday.

CatStorey - wow it is amazing to hear about how much better your LO is sleeping now! And not so long ago I remember you were posting about feeling so disheartened and wondering would it ever improve - it just shows it is really worth persisting with it because things can change so quickly once they start to improve!! Well done on all the hard work!

Well we were back to waking up for the day at 6.15 a.m. today - I did try feeding him and putting him back down to sleep but no joy - I left him in the cot for about 20 minutes chatting to his blankie in fantastic form but definitely not sleepy! However he went down beautifully for first nap of the day at 8.25 and is still asleep now one hour later! Yay!

 

[TennisGal]

Morning ladies!

HG - have a wonderful holiday! Am sure you will. Glad that Phoebe is taking more milk, too. Big weight off your mind!

P - you are really cracking the naps...great news

Well, DD woke up at 3:30 for a feed, then again at 4:30 - she came into bed with us, smiling away, but was not happy when she went back to her cot. We tried shushing and calm words....and then realised she was hungry! She had another feed, went back to sleep until 8am!

We're supposed to give two solid feeds according to the book today, but am ignoring that - DH and I think one is enough for another couple of days, just letting her tummy get more accustomed to what's going on.

 

[PieMistress]

Hi All,

Haven't posted (again!) for a couple of days as it feels like we have taken about 10 steps back and I'm just so knackered i've got time for a bit of facebook ad that's it! Okay so his sleep through till 5.30am was a total one off and again last night he woke before midnight (10.50pm!!! that's been unheard of since he was about 6 weeks old!) so OH tried to settle him (for 40 mins) but to no avail. We then tried cooled boiled water (controversial I know but HV suggested we try it) but he spat it all out down his sleeping bag so gave him a feed. He then took another 45 mins to settle - and after a feed too?!!! What on earth is going on with our wee boy He then proceeded to wake up pretty much every hour until another feed about 5.30am.

I guess it could be one of any number of things? Teething (although his cries weren't painful cries), he had his jabs the other day so maybe a side-effect from that? growth spurt (but is 14w so not sure), or just generally keeping us on our toes! I look and feel terrible and even worse I have to go into the office to work this afternoon as part of a keeping in touch day

Am also now paranoid that he isn't getting enough calories from me. I haven't introduced formula yet but will have to before I go back to work in July. I know that my body will/should produce what he needs but it's just a worry isn't it, maybe i'll think about mixing some EBM with formula and see how he gets on - might as well introduce it gradually anyway.

I did email Dana and ask for her advice. He has (touch wood) been napping well though and managing 1hr 30 mins in his cot, so usually naps about 4.5hrs a day in total?

History - have a lovely holiday, where in Scotland are you going?

TG - Glad the weaning is going well! We went to a weaning session yesterday but we are a while from starting yet as Kyle is only 14 weeks. It's a sign they are growing up isn't it!

P - Congrats on the naps going so well with Thomas I wouldn't mind a 6.15am get up if I had managed a decent nights kip!! Kyle will probably have to get up at that time when I go back to work! Poor toot!

CatStory - fantastic to hear you are making such good progress!!!

I need to make the most of the time now Kyle is having a nap but so much to do! Should I sleep! But also have to make myself look presentable for work (a mission given how utterly rough I look today!) and sterilise bottles/defrost some EBM for OH for this afternoon!!

Tea and Toast first though

Happy Easter!!! x

 

[history_girls]

PM - good luck sounds like you have a busy day ahead! Could be a growth spurt or the jabs!

Well DD has gone down for a nap so I can pack yippee!! Her nanny and grandad (the in laws) are having her this arvo to give us time to load the car - I hope they are prepared!

We are off to a place called Ardnamurchan to stay in a lighthouse. We go every year and it's brill. But a long way from here!

 

[TennisGal]

PM - we found DDs sleep was disrupted after her jabs, she wanted to be on me or DH the whole time. I hope you have a better night. I bet he is getting enough calories - I go through this worry quite frequently, but if he's gaining weight and doing enough wet/poopy nappies, that's a very good sign.
DD started teething very early, the gums can flare up every now and then from a young age. Is he dribbling a lot?

Hope your day in the office goes well AND, sounds like you have naps cracked!

HG - sounds looooooooooooooovely, bet you can't wait?!

Have a lovely Easter all my fabulous SS Mummy's - big Easter eggs for all!

 

[polaris]

Argghhh, Thomas won't go to sleep! He has been screaming for the past half hour and nothing I do makes any difference! I have come down for a five minute break as I am starting to lose the plot. I don't know what is wrong, he has settled so well at bedtime for months now.

I let him fall asleep on me feeding for an hour earlier on - do you think that could be why he won't settle now? Or could he be coming down with something and that's why he wanted to sleep on me earlier too? Going back up now, might try feeding him again.

 

[polaris]

Well by the time I got upstairs all had finally gone quiet. I stood listening outside the door for a bit because I didn't want to wake him if he was dropping off to sleep. Hope hope hope that is him off to sleep now. I feel so stressed and miserable, I don't know what was wrong with him, he doesn't seem unwell and was in great form before going to bed. But he hasn't cried like that at bedtime since I don't know when. Not since he started self-settling at bedtime anyway.

Am expecting a disturbed night tonight.

 

[PieMistress]

Hi P - sounds like Kyle in that I can't remember the last time he was that unsettled during the night. It's quite disconcerting isn't it. I expect two steps forward, one step back but not twenty steps back which is what it felt like last night!

Hopefully Thomas will prove you wrong and sleep through I am also expecting a disturbed night ... we are going to make the bed up in the camper van though so that perhaps one of us can get a decent nights sleep, at least till things calm down and/or Kyle moves into his own room. xx

 

[polaris]

Hi P - sounds like Kyle in that I can't remember the last time he was that unsettled during the night. It's quite disconcerting isn't it. I expect two steps forward, one step back but not twenty steps back which is what it felt like last night!

Hopefully Thomas will prove you wrong and sleep through I am also expecting a disturbed night ... we are going to make the bed up in the camper van though so that perhaps one of us can get a decent nights sleep, at least till things calm down and/or Kyle moves into his own room. xx

I just feel so awful for him too - it's horrible to see him so upset and not knowing why. I hope you have a better night with Kyle tonight - maybe it was the after effects of the jabs causing him to be so unsettled. Thomas is fast asleep now, I sneaked in and checked on him when things had been quiet for a while.

He is developing so fast at the moment, I was wondering if that might be causing him to be a bit unsettled. Before his bath, I gave him about half an hour of naked time on a big towel on the floor and he was really enjoying pivoting himself round in a circle using his arms and even looked like he was trying to pull his knees up underneath him into the crawling position - he seemed so pleased with himself - but maybe that was part of the reason why he couldn't settle down to sleep? Or maybe he was hungry? I feel terrible that I don't know what was wrong with him.

 

[jacs]

Hi, I'm similar to PM - had such a rubbish few days, that any spare time I've had I haven't wanted to talk about sleep - it's taken over my life!!

Basically, we've gone from fabulous long naps, undisturbed nights and quick settling, to yelling in the cot, frequent night wakings and early wakings.

DH and I are knackered and don't know what to do. We aren't doing anything differently. I wondered about teething, but he's been like this day and night for days, and hasn't been attacking his gums any more than usual!

Does anyone know, are you allowed to email Dana at any time, or do you have to stick to the telephone times you're given? Also, is emailing only with the more expensive package (I only paid for the cheapest one)?

Sorry to see others having rough ride at the minute - fingers crossed for a better day for all of us today!

 

[PieMistress]

Does anyone know, are you allowed to email Dana at any time, or do you have to stick to the telephone times you're given? Also, is emailing only with the more expensive package (I only paid for the cheapest one)?

Sorry to see others having rough ride at the minute - fingers crossed for a better day for all of us today!

Hi Jacs, I emailed them and asked if i could email questions rather than phone because of the time difference and they said ok. I emailed them on Weds I think, but had no reply yet. Perhaps we could share our Qs and As afterwards?

We didn't have a better night - 2 night-feeds (half past midnight and half past five) although he did then go back to sleep till 8am. He's had a nasty rash now for about a week but the HV is being oh so vague about what it could be, think it's time for the GP maybe and that could be keeping him unsettled at night as it's on his back?

xx

 

[polaris]

Oh no, what's with all the rubbish sleeping at the moment?

Jacs - so sorry that your LO is not sleeping well at the moment. It's so confusing when they have been sleeping well for so long. Really hope it is just a phase and you'll be back to undisturbed nights very soon.

PM - hope you get some answers from the GP about the rash.

We didn't have a great night last night either - but it could have been worse. Feeds at 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. but at least he settled straight back to sleep afterwards, woke briefly at about 3 a.m. as well but settled himself back to sleep. Didn't wake up until 7.40 so I had a bit of a lie in at least. I am wondering if Thomas is having another growth spurt as he just seems really hungry all the time at the moment and wants to feed all the time during the day too.

 

[ms0206]

Morning ladies
Sorry I haven't posted in a while. It seems we are all in the same boat at the moment.
For us nap times have become a complete nightmare again. We are only getting 10-20mins at the max which results in going to bed at night difficult. I haven't been doing anything different! I have also emailed questions regarding naps so hopefully I will get some answers soon. Jacs I only paid for the cheapest package but I think you can still email them and ask them questions.

 

[jacs]

Thanks guys, I emailed and asked if I could email (!)

Yeah PM, good idea to share Q and A's - we all have similar problems I think.

PM - let us know about the rash, HV should refer you if she's not sure, how annoying!

Polaris - does sound like a spurt doesn't it? How are naps going today?

ms0206 - sounds like us! Naps are getting shorter which is probably why nights are getting crappier too. I feel your pain!


Well, we've had one very short nap, and now Evan has been up for two hours, which is usually his maximum. However, he is quite happy playing so I'll leave him a bit - not sure if I've been putting him down too soon again.
Fingers crossed!

 

[polaris]

Sometimes it feels like Thomas's life has been one long growth spurt so far - with just the occasional short breather in between.

Naps are still going well here though - just had an hour and a half in the cot with no crying beforehand. I find the morning nap is normally the best though and it gets increasingly difficult to settle him as the day progresses.

 

[suzanne108]

Is there a sleepsense book? X

 

[Cattia]

Hi ladies, sorry I have not been in a while. Sorry to see so many of us are having sleep regression issues but kind of glad it's not just me! Abigail had got to having just one feed per night, but for the past two weeks or so she has been waking up around four times per night! I have tried leaving her for ten minutes but she just gets more and more worked up and I end up having to feed her. We have also tried getting OH to get up and settle / burp hger but as soon as we put her back down she starts crying again until I feed her. I think this all started when she was in hospital (she was only actually in for one night!) she had a bad tummy for a week after that and lost weight. The HV thinks she is trying to put back on the weight she lost and that is why she is feeding so mucn more, but I am not so sure since she isn't feeding any more often in the day, tbh I think she has just got into a disturbed sleep pattern. I have also given up on longer naps and she is just taking four short naps during the day. It's not ideal but at least she goes down OK in her cot for them. I hope some of you are having success!