Sleepless Nights Support Thread

[Kelly M]

I've been on this thread so many times since my lo was born last December. He's almost a year now and he still wakes every 2-3 hours at night, sometimes more if he's teething. He screams bloody murder all night long. I've tried literally EVERYTHING. Sleep training, cc, no sleep associations, room colder or hotter, he has a comfort object in his crib at all times, darker or lighter in his room, homeopathic remedies, more napping, less napping, earlier bed time, later bedtime, white noise, no noise, same bedtime routine for months, no nursing before sleep, you name it I've done it for at least a week at a time to make sure. Literally all the things I have read or heard or thought of I have tried. NOTHING gets him to sleep longer than a couple hours at a time. I'm going out of my mind and tired of waiting for a good nights sleep! I'm out of options except to just wait it out I guess. He's been to the doctors many times and none of them find anything wrong with him. I'm so tired of it!!! SO SICK of being woken up a thousand times a night to him screaming. Guess I'm just venting....

 

[purplelou]

kelly - I have no advice really but just wanted to let you know someone was reading!
we had the same with our little girl , who is just one, until she was 10 months, things have improved after sleep training but still we have a few wake ups every night.
do you have a sleep clinic near to you?
I know in the UK there are a few around for babies/children who have similar problems. might be worth enquiring?

 

[Deethehippy]

Does your little one sleep during the day Katie? I know that it has been proven that sleep breeds sleep, so the more naps/longer the naps in the day, the better they sleep at night - the opposite to what you might think! Can you encourage a nap time (say mid afternoon or something?)

I am going through a bit of a bad patch with my twins sleeping at the moment, the problems is that even if one sleeps all night, the chances are the other one won't so i never get a good night! plus they have both just had colds and tummy upsets so it's been worse

We just need some !!!!

 

[Arisa]

Im so sorry ladies
for the first year my little girl was a doll, she settled into a routine and that was with a trip to england and back all within in six months but since she hit 15 months its been hell, really really hellish. My girl sleeps for one to two hours then screams, then she has a bottle and then a nappy change then another hour or two then more screams.

She has stopped sleeping twice through the day and only does one to one and a half hours in the morning now and is crawling but not walking.
she is eighteen months old, i am on my knees every night praying she will start sleeping like she used to and go back to being that bit easier.
She is clingy and demanding all the time, as cute and loveable as she is
I find it hard being around her, is that terrible???

 

[bluelivza]

ıt's really hard sleepless nightsss( but soo sweet to see ur baby smile to u..

 

[teacup22]

Newbie...
Hi!
Does sleep deprivation make anyone feel physically ill? I can't decide I I'm coming down with something or if it's just the lack of sleep!
Sure my body will get used to it soon, DS didn't sleep well until he was nearly 2 so I best get used to it lol

 

[NerdyMama]

Teacup Yea it can make you feel sick and more prone to as well. :/ sorry everybody. Is sleepless. In the same boat... Both my kids are constantly waking and I feel like I'm about to snap... I just want to sleep!!!!!! I never thought I would want to so bad i would cry.. Eh. It's been a bad night...

 

[keese22]

Lo is 9 months. Never been a great sleeper but this is ridicoulas . It all went wrong when he got ill 3 weeks ago and slept with is. now trying to get him back into his own bed which he is now. His current sleeping /feeding pattern...(he is bf and a bottle refuser. I would e happy to continue feeding him if it was a couple of times a day and once at night)

Up at 0430-5 feeds
Nap at 0730 for about an hour. He self settles for this. Put him down. He winges and cries for about 5 mins and then goes to sleep.
Lunch 1130 and nap straight afterwards for sbout1.5-2 hours . Again self settles.
2 offer a feed..usual refuses (feeds all night!
Dinner at 5
Bath 0530
06 feed
0630...self settles.

So before it all went wrong he might go till 02ish have a feed then back to bed till 6 which is fine i don't expect him not to feed but the last 2 weeks have looked something like this and as DH is away in doing it all and I'm exhausted. In teary. In short tempered. I need to do something but I don't know what.

So bed at 0630.
Wakes 0830, 1030. 1am and 0430. I think the problem is when he was ill I was feeding him as I wanted to keep his fluids up as he was ill and need comfort. Now he doesn need it would just like it.

I tried to do cc last night as that's how we got him to sleep in the place and he normally winges for about 5 mins then goes to sleep. He cried or about 40 mins last night and I gave in as I'm so exhausted. What do I do. Do I tackle one night feed at a time? I don't want to cosleep as no one sleeps well. I'm a bit touched out with breasteedig and sick if being pinched and slapped . I'm ready to throw in the towel and run away for a decent nights sleep.

Thank you for ready. I realise this is long and ranty! Any advise

Forgot to add he doesn't eat that well. Most days he refuses breakfast because he's fed all night. Snacks are a new thing and getting him to bf during the day in impossible. I feel like his timings and everything need to be reset

 

[nimbec]

Hi all i'm so so sorry you are all feeling like this i can soooooooo relate! Harrison has not ever slept longer than a 4hr block & that was ONCE!! normal is bed 7.30 & bottle wakes 10.30 bottle 2/3am 5am 7am sometimes doesnt sleep between 5&7 i'm EXHAUSTED!!! and i've tried CIO sleep training EVERYTHING I hate hearing him cry plus he is a big baby 23lbs at 9 .5 months 95th percentile & the HV says he's hungry!!! BUT he hardly drinks milk in day just point blank refusus eats 3 good meals i'm at a TOTAL LOSS !! any suggestions?? i've tried adding stuff to 11 pm bottle no help! He is lactosee intollernant so on a special formula so i cant use hungry baby milk!!

Its nice to know i'm not alone but i wouldn't wish this on anyone!!!

 

[NurseSooz]

Teacup - sleep deprivation makes me feel ill. Sorta spaced out, echoey and anxious. I get jittery and dizzy. Honestly when I first experienced it I thought I was dying of something as I felt so unwell. I've always been someone that needs a lot of sleep. I struggle now when dd still gets up 1-3 times a night. I totally feel your pain. Do you get similar symptoms? Stay strong. We'll get through it. Sadly my DH doesn't understand what it feels like to be this tired. He thinks if I have an extra hour in bed then I'll feel fine. I read about"sleep debt" which is the amount of sleep you tally up when you're sleep deprived. It takes a long time to make it up. I found that napping during the day makes me feel worse. Mega empathy hugs

 

[pink_bow]

I was hoping I wouldn't need to join this thread but I need to speak to other people who are in the same boat


My little girl wakes up screaming (for no apparant reason) near enough every 2 hours during the night and it is just so tiring. At one point she was such a good sleeper which makes it even worse!

 

[Erinbyilmaz]

I don't even know where to start. My son is now 6 months old, and since he was ten days old he has woken up every 15 minutes to an hour at the longest stretch. My husband is working so I am the one up every twenty minutes. I am only able to function because one night every weekend my husband will watch the baby for me while I get a solid sleep. When I hear mothers complaining about their child waking twice a night, I am so jealous! I wish that I could get my child down to two night wakings.

He wakes up at 7:30 am and has two naps a day. One at 10:30 and one at 2:30. They usually last about an hour each. His bedtime is 7:00 pm. We put him to bed at 7:00 and he is very easy to get to sleep, but he wakes up frequently from then until morning, no long stretches. I have tried getting him to drink more in the day time and less at night time. The only thing that has done is make it harder to put him back to sleep as pacifier and bottle won't soothe him now since he isn't hungry. I have tried teething tablets, cosleeping, you name it!

Please help, I can't go on like this, I want to enjoy playing with my son in the day but my head and eyes hurt too much !

 

[PoppyPainting]

Pink bow; I suspect you may beooking at the 8 month sleep regression. When this happened to my dd she came out the other side of it with a growth spurt and learning how to crawl. It was hell and possibly worse than the 4month regression. Try to ensure you don't create bad habits now like getting up and playing with toys! Also I'd ignore the statement you read all the time about babies this age no longer needing to feed at night. Feed quietly, be boring and try to encourage self settling after each wake up. Good luck xx

 

[PoppyPainting]

Erin, can you get your baby double checked all over by doctor? Not trying to worry you but that sounds like unusually short periods of sleep. Having eliminated any health concerns check his sleeping conditions for anything that could be making him uncomfortable eg too hot too cold etc. Is there anything different happening at nap time that makes him a better sleeper?

I'd say naptimes and bedtimes sound about right for his age. Having looked at all angles I personally would try sleep training. Many disagree with it I know but it may be your best solution. Leave him to try to self settle for one minute, then look in on him, then 3 minutes etc. You will have a frustrated baby who will cry to get you to help him self settle but, fingers crossed he'll learn to settle himself at the end of each sleep phase....

 

[pink_bow]

Pink bow; I suspect you may beooking at the 8 month sleep regression. When this happened to my dd she came out the other side of it with a growth spurt and learning how to crawl. It was hell and possibly worse than the 4month regression. Try to ensure you don't create bad habits now like getting up and playing with toys! Also I'd ignore the statement you read all the time about babies this age no longer needing to feed at night. Feed quietly, be boring and try to encourage self settling after each wake up. Good luck xx

Thank you I usually just go and sshh her back to sleep. I'd not really though about her maybe being hungry and needing a feed. Might try that tonight, thanks again xx

 

[Heather.1987]

Hi! I have a 3 week old baby FTM. We put baby down for bed anywhere between 8-10pm (depending on when last feed needs to be) and no matter what time we put him down or how long he has been awake he refuses to fall asleep for bedtime. It ALWAYS takes him 2 hours to finally sleep. Last night he was up from 6pm to 11pm...no napping at all within that time frame (with a 9pm bedtime)! Once he falls asleep he will sleep for 3 hours then wake then repeat the 3 hours sleep then wake for the rest of the night/morning/day. I am exclusively pumping because I don't have the patience for him to feed off me for an hour and then still be hungry...so I can pump for 15 minutes and feed him a bottle at the same time at night. So much quicker! So hi!

 

[Kelly M]

I don't have much advice for anyone here as my son is 13 months and still wakes numerous times screaming at night. He's always been this way and I've literally tried every trick in the book. Every. Single. One. I thought things would surely be better by now! But nope.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Jade had two night feeds last night!

 

[LuluSS]

I don't have much advice for anyone here as my son is 13 months and still wakes numerous times screaming at night. He's always been this way and I've literally tried every trick in the book. Every. Single. One. I thought things would surely be better by now! But nope.

Same boat! I can't even get my 13 month old to sleep in his own bed. We co-sleep and breastfeed and I don't see any of those things ending anytime soon because he wakes up so much.

He will wake up 2-4 times in the first two hours after falling asleep! Plus a few more times throughout the night. The only way to get him back to sleep is nursing

 

[mammy2oaklen]

My nearly 8 month old feeds twice at night its exhausting especially when all these people around u tell you their babies sleep through. Im sure it'll get better eventually I just sleep when I can dh gets up at 6am with both kids and I get 1 1/2hours then