Sleepless Nights Support Thread

[Fuze]

Oh my goodness ladies I am at the end of my tether! Sorry this is going to be long.......We came down to my in laws for Xmas 4 days ago and she just will not sleep in her Moses basket! At home she was sleeping 9pm to 3am having a feed (breastfed for an hour) then back to sleep until 6am or 7am for another feed and then she would nap on and off while feeding until 9am.
The last 4 nights she has been going down in her Moses at her normal time but ever night has been waking an hour earlier ever night (3am, 2am, 1am then last night midnight). She wakes, has a feed then I wait until she is totally asleep and then put her back in her bed but she wakes after 5 mins and cries and cries until you pick her up. I feel really bad because I kept falling asleep with her on me and I am worried I have done damage or hurt her or that I'm going to. I feel so bad.

 

[girl friday]

Is the house warmer/colder than home?
Is there room in the bed for you to bring LO in too? You could use pillows around her to make a nest.

 

[Fuze]

We went out yesterday and bought a cot for her which can stay here at her grandparents for when we visit. She went down in her cot but she kept waking every hour and would not settle unless fed, she would breastfeed for 10mins and then fall deeply asleep again and she went back down but would be up again anywhere between 15mins-45mins later.
Thinking about it the temperature in the house is alot warmer than at home,perhapse it is that.
I would love to co-sleep as she sleeps so well on me but there is not much rOom in the bed as me and my husband are very tall and quiet broad shouldered, and also I am so so scared of hurting her.
Thanks for the advice though.

 

[Twincesses]

It eventually gets easier!

My twins are 7 months and seeping through mist nights!

 

[Jennbear]

@Fuze - my LO does this every time we stay away for the weekend. I think it's because they know they're not at home and it's a different environment. As soon as we get home he's back to normal. Sorry that's no help but you're not alone xx

 

[Fuze]

Hey guys, thanks for the advice. We came home early from our visit down south. To top everything off she caught a cold and so has not been able to lie down due to that. I just got so tired and wanted my own bed. We will see how things go now we are home.

 

[lcgoodac]

Argh my 1 year old just won't sleep! He was an absolute gem up until 6 months old then just turned! He has good days and bad days. Tonight he went down at 6.30ish which is his usual bedtime by 8pm ish he was crying , so by 10pm he had woken 4 times this time he was screaming like I've never heard him before . Everytime I try put him back down he cries! I'm getting towards the end of my tether now! We are ttc # 2 so need him to snap out of it soon! X

 

[girl friday]

What does he nap like in the daytime? What time is he normally up for the day?

 

[Kelly M]

I'm joining the club. I am soooooo tired!!!! My lo is so fussy. I just want a nap. That's all I'm asking for. Two solid hours.

 

[MommaAlexis]

Lara is sleepimg fine but I have chickenpox no sleep, in pain. Switched her to her crib no problem. Next up is getting her out if swaddling, zomg. February first!

 

[MiniKiwi]

Argh my 1 year old just won't sleep! He was an absolute gem up until 6 months old then just turned! He has good days and bad days. Tonight he went down at 6.30ish which is his usual bedtime by 8pm ish he was crying , so by 10pm he had woken 4 times this time he was screaming like I've never heard him before . Everytime I try put him back down he cries! I'm getting towards the end of my tether now! We are ttc # 2 so need him to snap out of it soon! X

Is he always like this? Or any chance he could be sick? My LO had a uti and that was the first sign, she was waking frequently especially early in the night and crying Anyway, I hope you both get some rest soon

 

[girl friday]

Ok, hands up ladies. Who's baby stole my baby's sleep?!

DS2 has gone from doing:
Sleep 5 hours
Feed/nappy/feed 1-1.5 hours
Sleep 3 hours
Feed/nappy/feed 1 hour
Sleep 2 hours

To doing an initial chunk of 4-5 hours, then waking after 2 hours for the rest of the night. As a result he's so tired that he won't stay awake to feed properly and it becomes a visious circle.

DS1 was an AWFUL sleeper. His entire routine (feed/nappy/feed/sleep) was 3 hours at best all night.
DH thinks that DS2 is going down the same route, though DS1 never slept as well as DS2 in the early days.

We EBF and DH keeps making comments about me having a low supply, could my milk have dried up, we'd know what he was getting if FF, that his friends LO2 due in March will be FF "no question about it".

We've got through the early growth spurts, bronchiolitis (at the same time as the 6 week growth spurt) and are currently both being treated for thrush. Could the thrush be contributing?

We've not changed anything about his routine, he still gets fed then put in his basket the same way. He's still swaddled in a swaddleme. He still has the same level of blankets.We're still keeping the house the same temperature. We've tried the next size of nappies.

We are at a complete loss and getting more and more tired.

Daytime naps have also reduced in length and end up in the reduced feed/sleep cycle too.

I've tried stripping him down to his nappy during feeds and had limited success.

The thing is, with a toddler around too and very short daytime naps, there's little chance for me to nap during the day and DH needs sleep to be able get through the day at work.

Sorry for the rant.

 

[gardenofedens]

Hi everyone, I think I may have posted in here several months back when DD was just born but here I am again! She had been sleeping through the night beginning at six weeks always giving me at least a 6 hour chunk of rest before nursing again and in the past couple weeks, that's completely changed. I feel like I have a newborn again with her waking every 1-3 hours all night! I'm sure it will pass, but for now....I'm so tired!!!

 

[charlie15]

Girl Friday, I have had the same problem with my LO with falling asleep at the breat. One thing that was recpmmended to me by a lactation consultant was manual breast compression, kind of like manually Pumping the breast but you do it far back away from the nipple. Apparently the most common reason babies fall asleep on the boob is when your flow is slow so this gives them a squirt and wales them up!! As well as giving them more milk. I will hunt down the website that shows you what to do when I"m on my lap top and post it.

The only other thing that I can say is that at 8 weeks they won't really have any routine, things will change from one day to the next and that normal for a while.My LO slept 6 hours for 2 nights then last night was awake for a feed every 2 hours. At this age there needs change all the time, especially when growing. I take the 6 hours as a lovely bonus but the regular feeds as normal and hope that by 12 weeks she's managing through the night a bit longer.

 

[HappyAnjeL]

hello.. Joining this thread as Abigail was a great sleeper from 2 weeks -6 months ... Now its a Hassle to get her to sleep at all.. Sometimes she will sleep on me but most nights I fight to get her to sleep and she's been waking up every 15-30 minutes most of the time. She's been waking up screaming and sometimes she takes a while to settle back down, sometimes goes right back out if I pick her up.. OH often tries but cannot console her ..she screams and cries mama until take her if he tries (which upsets him to no end that he can't comfort her)... She also won't go down at all if she's not out cold.. If I put her down drowsy she wakes and pulls herself up or cries.. I thought it was just a sleep regression but its been almost 5 weeks of this..I don't know what to do..

 

[Kelly M]

Ok, hands up ladies. Who's baby stole my baby's sleep?!

DS2 has gone from doing:
Sleep 5 hours
Feed/nappy/feed 1-1.5 hours
Sleep 3 hours
Feed/nappy/feed 1 hour
Sleep 2 hours

To doing an initial chunk of 4-5 hours, then waking after 2 hours for the rest of the night. As a result he's so tired that he won't stay awake to feed properly and it becomes a visious circle.

DS1 was an AWFUL sleeper. His entire routine (feed/nappy/feed/sleep) was 3 hours at best all night.
DH thinks that DS2 is going down the same route, though DS1 never slept as well as DS2 in the early days.

We EBF and DH keeps making comments about me having a low supply, could my milk have dried up, we'd know what he was getting if FF, that his friends LO2 due in March will be FF "no question about it".

We've got through the early growth spurts, bronchiolitis (at the same time as the 6 week growth spurt) and are currently both being treated for thrush. Could the thrush be contributing?

We've not changed anything about his routine, he still gets fed then put in his basket the same way. He's still swaddled in a swaddleme. He still has the same level of blankets.We're still keeping the house the same temperature. We've tried the next size of nappies.

We are at a complete loss and getting more and more tired.

Daytime naps have also reduced in length and end up in the reduced feed/sleep cycle too.

I've tried stripping him down to his nappy during feeds and had limited success.

The thing is, with a toddler around too and very short daytime naps, there's little chance for me to nap during the day and DH needs sleep to be able get through the day at work.

Sorry for the rant.

I have no advice but wanted to say I know what it's like, my dh makes comments about wanting to bottle feed all the time. He keeps saying how much easier it is because I have an oversupply that chokes lo and sprays milk everywhere and he starts crying. I keep saying lo will grow and not choke so much eventually but dh keeps saying "we could just give him a bottle". It's so annoying!

 

[girl friday]

Last night was a little better, he woke after 5.5 hours, was up for just under an hour, the slept for 2 hours, awake for 30 mins, then asleep for another couple of hours when his big brother woke and started shouting.

I do the breast massage anyway, but when he's really tired and in a negative cycle he can fall asleep after just a few sucks and choke on my let down.

I'm glad I'm not the only one with a DH who hints at adding a bottle to improve sleep, we know from DS1 it won't.

 

[kettle28]

My DD was born on Sat and so far she has not slept much during the night. She is okay at sleeping on me or OH but will not settle down in her moses basket.
It is killing me the lack of sleep and is not helping to the baby blues.
Everyone tells me that babies have night and day mixed up but this doesn't seem to be the problem as she still sleeps.
Any advice?

Snap! 8 day old, first week not in anything at all bar me or DH arms, you can't sleep when baby sleeps if they are sleeping on you!!!

Starting now to go in basket but has to be asleep first, also DH holds him away from his body to drop off so he's not missing body heat when he goes into basket, I can't manage it 100% as my arms not big/long enough!!

He's in basket now, I'm on sofa with duvet and can't drop off as he keeps fidgeting in his sleep and in alert to every move!! Tried in bedroom but too hot and he ends up in with me and last night didn't sleep at all, hoping he'll feed now in 1/2 hr then try Moses basket again-fingers crossed

 

[CoffeePuffin]

Think we have hit the dreaded 4 month sleep regression. But right now bubs is sleeping, has been for the past 2 hours and I'm shattered but can't sleep! Typical.

 

[MommaAlexis]

We had an issue with her sleep for about two weeks, but I just kept her on the same schedule and it worked eventually.