Sleepless Nights Support Thread

[Skippa84]

Please help advise me. My baby seems to not want her middle night feed anymore which is great but she's still in the habit of waking. She doesn't take a dummy and doesnt suck thumb. How's best to deal with this? X

Update... I started giving her water and she's goes of after two aucks on bottle. The problem i'm having now is she doesn't have her morning bottle. Shall I try some porridge which she normally has at night feed so it's like a breakfast?

 

[Sunnie1984]

Grrr I'm stll up, have been since 1am and it's now past 4am.

LO went back to sleep after her feed at 1am, but she has a cold, so she was gurgling and snuffling and grunting in her sleep and as she's in our room I pretty much lay awake until 3am, thinking she was about to start screaming.

She didn't cry until 3am and she's hungry as usual. And as usual, because of this cold, she ended up throwing up most of what she'd eaten and then searching for more.... twice.

She's now roughly asleep on the sofa next to me, but still grunting and snorting. I'm waiting another 5 minutes before I put her back down and try to sleep as DH is in work tomorrow.

This sharing a room has got to stop, we spend the whole night waking each other up, and it can't be good for her sleep. She sleeps so well in the day.

DH is currently opposed to this, but this is day 3 back at work after paternity leave and he's coming round to the idea now he's expected to function at work as well as have LO in our room.

 

[AngelUK]

Skippa I am so sorry I have no advice as one of my twins wakes much more often at night and I don't know what to do either. Just wanted to let you know there is someone out there who did actually read your post and feels for you! How old is your LO?

 

[Shadowy Lady]

Sunnie - I have our LO in our room too and since she feeds every 2-3 hours, my DH is currently sleeping in our guestroom.

Update on me - we got LO a co-sleeper which she's liking much more than the bassinet. I've decided now that she'll be in it until she grows out of it before moving her to her crib in her own room (so prob at 3 months). I'm getting better at napping during the day which really helps keeping me sane

 

[yegane]

Stuck!

 

[honeybee2]

I read in a magazine that preventing their day time naps is a very bad idea. Having no sleep will make them incredibly grouchy and will interrupt their own routine, especially at night. Being over tired I guess.

 

[Skippa84]

Angeluk thanks! I have got her down to waking once for milks and then once for assurance around 5am so quickly get her back down if she goes. She is 5months old but had a bad start from birth with being back to back, forceps then with reflux, colic, hand foot and mouth and a cold. And of course the jabs threw her out each time. She's just starting to adjust. How about you? X

 

[MommaAlexis]

I have one of those U shaped breastfeeding pillows, she only sleeps propped up so I put her in the middle propped up on it and sleep with her beside me. Works great, she gets her own little space but I can still snuggle her and she sleeps 3-4 hours at a time with it. Thank god for that pillow lol I also started mixing my milk with a small amount of colic water and her time awake (screaming) is waaaay less. Here's to some more sleep!! I hope!! Day two with pillow and colic water

 

[Shadowy Lady]

So my baby slept from 8:30 pm to 1:30 am last night without waking!!!! But after that she would wake up every hour, booo! then again she slept through between 6:30 am to 9:00 am.

At least I got a good 5 hour stretch early in the night....

 

[lauraemily17]

So my baby slept from 8:30 pm to 1:30 am last night without waking!!!! But after that she would wake up every hour, booo! then again she slept through between 6:30 am to 1:00 am.

At least I got a good 5 hour stretch early in the night....

That's great for a 3 week old. You might want to consider doing a dream feed. Wake your lo up around 11 for a feed then she may do her 5 hours then so you get the full benefit.

Introducing a dream feed was the best thing we ever did. We also feed him up lots before going bed. He did almost 8 hours the past 2 nights! It was heaven having uninterrupted sleep!! I really hope this is going to happen more often & not just be a taster of what we could have!!

 

[Shadowy Lady]

So my baby slept from 8:30 pm to 1:30 am last night without waking!!!! But after that she would wake up every hour, booo! then again she slept through between 6:30 am to 1:00 am.

At least I got a good 5 hour stretch early in the night....

That's great for a 3 week old. You might want to consider doing a dream feed. Wake your lo up around 11 for a feed then she may do her 5 hours then so you get the full benefit.

Introducing a dream feed was the best thing we ever did. We also feed him up lots before going bed. He did almost 8 hours the past 2 nights! It was heaven having uninterrupted sleep!! I really hope this is going to happen more often & not just be a taster of what we could have!!

sounds amazing. Do u bf as well? I ebf my LO and thinking of either giving her em in a bottle around midnight or do ur dreamfeed trick. At what age did u start dream feeding?

 

[MommaAlexis]

What does dreamfeeding mean?

 

[lauraemily17]

We started a couole of weeks ago as he was always doing his longest stretch from 8pm then could be up every 1/2 hours from 1am on a bad day & even on a good day he'd have us up at 1 & around 4 often taking over an hour to feed & get him back to sleep.

I combi feed so he gets a bottle before his bath then is breast fed after his bath to sleep. We then give him another bottle for his dream feed.

A dream feed is where you feed your baby before they wake for a feed, usually when you go to bed. The idea is they don't wake up properly to do it but it fills their bellies so they then sleep for longer. It's taken persistence to get to where we are now, to start with he'd wake up properly & wouldn't go back to sleep for over an hour. Now he barely wakes, takes most of his bottle & goes straight back to sleep. Ideally you shouldn't change their nappy unless necessary as that tends to wake them up more. My lo now fits into Pampers superdry which is really helpful & he no longer poos at night.

I wish we'd have tried it a lot earlier. I don't think it'll work when he starts his next growth spurt but otherwise it seems to be working brilliantly. Keeping everything crossed it continues!!

 

[MaskedKitteh]

My LO is 10 months and has NEVER slept through the night. He wakes 4 times before I come to bed and once or twice after that. Then he insists on getting up for the day at 6am

He's a horrid sleeper, I don't know what to do anymore, I'm just so exhausted. Currently it is midnight and I'm trying to send him back to sleep whilst using my phone to post this.

I just feel like I'm at the end of my tether.

 

[pinkandfluffy]

My LO is 10 months and has NEVER slept through the night. He wakes 4 times before I come to bed and once or twice after that. Then he insists on getting up for the day at 6am

He's a horrid sleeper, I don't know what to do anymore, I'm just so exhausted. Currently it is midnight and I'm trying to send him back to sleep whilst using my phone to post this.

I just feel like I'm at the end of my tether.

My first was like this (((hugs))) - I would say the more and more mobile he got it gradually improved and he was sleeping thru completely by 17 months - that was without me doing anything to help him along either xxx

 

[Shadowcat]

Hi ladies - my LO is just over two weeks and does his longest sleep stretch during the late afternoon (3pm'ish to 7 or 8pm). Is there any way at all to push this later? Last night he was up at 8, 9, 11, 1:30, 3, 4, 5:30, and 6:30. DH is going back to work today and we're both exhausted!!!

 

[eulmh82]

Hi ladies - my LO is just over two weeks and does his longest sleep stretch during the late afternoon (3pm'ish to 7 or 8pm). Is there any way at all to push this later? Last night he was up at 8, 9, 11, 1:30, 3, 4, 5:30, and 6:30. DH is going back to work today and we're both exhausted!!!

at 2 weeks old you kind of just have to go with it. My Lo would do 4 hours stretches in the day and never went more than 3 hrs at night at this stage. But we started a bedtime routine at 3 weeks old so I bathed him at 8pm and then took him to the bedroom and he used to doze on and off on my bed. We' do a feed at around 10- 10.30 - whenever he asked for it and then we'd put him down and he actually soon got the hang of this and started doing 10.30- 2.30 and then 6.30. He's now 6 mths old and knows bath time is bed time. However he has never slept through. last two nights he;s gone 6.30-7.30 am without a feed but he wakes at least twice a night for his dummy -I just want a whole night;s sleep -don;t think I;ve had one for about a year now!

 

[Noelle610]

Hi ladies - my LO is just over two weeks and does his longest sleep stretch during the late afternoon (3pm'ish to 7 or 8pm). Is there any way at all to push this later? Last night he was up at 8, 9, 11, 1:30, 3, 4, 5:30, and 6:30. DH is going back to work today and we're both exhausted!!!

You poor thing! My LO was like that as a newborn. Sounds exactly like her.

During the day, try your best to open windows, let in lots of light and make your usual noise. During her short periods of being awake, take her outside for a walk or sing to her. Really emphasize that it's daytime. At night, be sure that it's dark and quiet (except for white noise, if you use it). During feeds, keep light dim and don't talk. Just be very calm and soothing. This will help her start to distinguish day from night. This is a phase and it will sort itself out, I promise! I made the mistake of doing night feeds in front of the TV and I think it was more stimulating than I ever imagined.

If you're not exclusively breastfeeding, I suggest sleeping in shifts. I used to go to bed when LO went to bed and then sleep until midnight or so. Then DH would go to bed (so he could get enough rest for work) and I would take over. If DH has some time prior to work, let him care for the baby in the early morning hours and you take a nice nap at that time.

You WILL get through this! Lots of coffee

 

[MaskedKitteh]

My LO is 10 months and has NEVER slept through the night. He wakes 4 times before I come to bed and once or twice after that. Then he insists on getting up for the day at 6am

He's a horrid sleeper, I don't know what to do anymore, I'm just so exhausted. Currently it is midnight and I'm trying to send him back to sleep whilst using my phone to post this.

I just feel like I'm at the end of my tether.

My first was like this (((hugs))) - I would say the more and more mobile he got it gradually improved and he was sleeping thru completely by 17 months - that was without me doing anything to help him along either xxx

Thanks. He's a very mobile 10 month old, cruising everywhere and taking a few steps here and there! However, last night, for the first time, he slept through!!!

 

[CoffeePuffin]

Would like to join in on this thread. I have a two week old so am having sleepless days and nights!