Sleep - are we obsessed or is it just me?

[jaynz]

Why are we so obsessed with sleep?

And why are babies labelled as bad sleepers?

I don?t know anyone who really sleeps all night. We all wake up, fart, adjust the blankets, sniff, fluff the pillow, scratch our bums and go back to sleep again. Then say we slept all night

I say this because I was staying at my Mums (who I love dearly) and she asked how our night went ? ds was 9m. I said really good, he went to bed at 9.30, and woke at midnight, 3 and 5.30 then up for the day at half 7. She was flabbergasted saying how did I cope etc etc.

Is it just me? Am I really missing out? Or have we somehow just decided how long babies should sleep for no good reason?

[nappyaddict]

i must say i would find that exhausting but i do tend to need a lot of sleep. on the nights i don't work i go to bed at 10 - get up at 7 and still have a 2 hour nap in the day time and i need it. obviously i can go without it if i'm out for the day but then come 7-8pm i'm exhausted and ready for bed.

[Othersideofthechannel]

I don't think babies or young children can or should sleep solidly for 10 - 12 hours at night but at some point, sooner or later depending on the child, they learn to settle themselves when they wake in the night.

Is your baby feeding three times in the night or just needing you to settle him?

[jaynz]

Oh he's feeding alright! I'm 16 weeks pg but so far haven't noticed any changes in my supply, plus he's been a frequent feeder since birth, so nothing new there!

I am coping fine with the amount of sleep I do get - in between lying awake stressing about selling the house etc! - so it seems that everyone has a problem with my sleep except me!

[littleducks]

tbh, with my first dd when i came home with her i found it iniatally a shock then was fine with her wakings but when i stopped breastfeeding and she continued to wake several times a night (15 months) it got a bit tiring now she is nearly two and still not sleeping without disturbing me i am tired.

I have a newborn and have fallen asleep breastfeeding and winding and woken up without a clue where he was, which is dangerous and worries me.

I did co sleep with dd till she moved to her own room but wouldnt dare let her sleep in my room now as she would hurt or suffocate baby accidently while i slept through it.

[milliec]

Message withdrawn

[CantSleepWontSleep]

Blimey nappyaddict - you sleep more than my 2 year old! She slept 7:45pm-6:15am, with no nap (and did tumbletots and PE at school during the day) yesterday, which is fairly typical for her.

[shabster]

littleducks - I had twin boys first time around and I so identify with the falling asleep whilst feeding!! One night I was BF twin 1 and my husband was bottle feeding twin 2. We were both sat up in bed. About 2 hours later we both woke up. Twin 1 was using me as a dummy with a big 'windy' grin on his face and breast milk all under his chin and twin 2 was using his bottle as a dummy!!!

DH and I woke at the same time and tried pretending to each other what great parents we were. Those were the days of terry towelling nappies and so all four of us were lying in a heap of breast milk, soggy nappys, and sweaty bodies - Nice

Please dont report me to NSPCC it was 1982 and twin 1 is about to make me a first time gran so I dont think there was any lasting damage.

[shabster]

Oh yes and DS4 (10yrs) nicknamed the Prince of Darkness for his sleeping habbits.

Didn't sleep for more than about 4 hours a night till he was 5yrs old. Now, as the teenage years approach, he wont go to sleep till about 1am and he is already 'mooching about' upstairs and has been since about 6am.

Cant believe it is anything I am doing wrong

[nappyaddict]

CSWS - on the odd occasion i don't have ds to get up to i sleep 10 hours straight through.