<yawn> anyone else got a developmentaly leaping, forgotten how to sleeping, growth spurting baby?

[Indith]

Want to come be sleep deprived with me?

Ds2 is 6 months old. By this age ds1 was sleeping 13 hours a night. I feel all misty eyed at the memory.

He started self settling at 4 months but then the 4 month regression hit and we've not seen that again but he as fairly settled, feeding 3 hourly and going right back to sleep.

Currently he is trying desperately to crawl. He fights sleep like crazy, hardly naps in the day even on the school run or in the car. If at home and I put him down he is awake and screaming within 5 minutes while trying to do press ups and crawl around the bed. When he finally gives up in the evening and either feeds to sleep or lets dh walk him around the house til he drops off he wakes several times during the evening screaming and tossing around and will not let dh settle him any more. He wakes constantly at night, I'm talking every half hour or so and for the first half of the night latches on and feeds back to sleep but then in the middle part is so bloody full of milk he won't latch on and just head buts me and hits me before he settles in to feeding again towards 4am.

This had bloody well better be a developmental leap that passes soon. So, so tired.

He woke this evening and screamed and screamed and screamed. He even screamed at me when I tried to latch him on. Poor baby really doesn't seem to be able to stay asleep any more even when he is desperate to :(

[Indith]

You all have sleeping babies don't you. Well I'm off to crawl into bed next to my baby and see what tonight brings.

[Bicnod]

Mine is 14 months and occasionally taunts me by sleeping through, then it's back to sleep deprivation hell.

His brother was the same and started sleeping through consistently at 22 months.

Oh god. Still another 8 months to go

What I'm trying to say is you have my sympathy!

[SarryB]

Yes, yes, yes and yes.

LO is 20 weeks old. Teething, waking for feeds about 3-6 times a night, not wanting to sleep between 3am and 7am. Grrr. Where did that lovely baby go who was sleeping 10 hours in a row? Also, constantly full of farts which I can't seem to get out.
So tired.

[BikeRunSki]

Me too. DD is 10 months old, sleeps through about once a fortnight, but that is with getting up at 5.30am. DS on t'other hand slept like a baby from 6 months, although now is unsettled before 9pm. DD crashes at 6.20 pm. I am putting them to bed for 3 hours. Then I manage about an hour and a half until I crash around 10.30; then DD is up in night a couple of times and up for the day at 5.30am. I have tried to coordinate their bedtimes, I really have, but I have a natural born owl and lark.

[BikeRunSki]

Oh yes and the farts. What's that all about?

[SwivelHips]

I have a farty, fidgeting 14wk old currently on his second feed today.
If he gets 4 month sleep regression then ffs what would that be. He wakes every 2 to 3 hrs as it is. We have nowhere to go.
So tired :/

[Cydonia]

Yes, me too. DS is almost 16 weeks, was sleeping fairly ok til he hit the 12 week growth spurt early and that seemed to roll into early 4 month sleep regression. Last night was up with him 5 times, tonight I thought we'd cracked it as his first stretch of sleep was almost 5hrs! I got 3 whole hours sleep together!! But it's going downhill now, he's currently thrashing around in his cot grunting and farting. His eyes are closed but surely he can't be asleep?
I was thinking of seeing a cranial osteopath, it was the one thing I didn't try when he had colic. If it is wind/ digestive issues I suppose it's worth a try?
If it wasn't for MN I would think I was a total failure. All the babies at the various groups I go to and all my friends babies are either sleeping through or just waking up once or twice. I don't even think they're lying as they look genuinely horrified that I'm up every two hours.

[Suchanamateur]

Yes yes yes. DD 6 months and after a blissful week of self settling, and sleeping long stretches is now refusing naps, taking forever (2hrs plus) to go to sleep, waking up at the arsecrack of dawn and treating her cot like a fairground ride. DS is watching ALOT of cbeebies and I an torturing myself that she is getting significantly under the amount of sleep age should.

We eventually resorted to cc with DS at 10 months which worked like a dream. But can't see how you sleep train a baby that doesn't cry just rockets around their cot...

Sympathy to all

[Indith]

Mmmmm I love you all.

Ds2 was so bloody AWAKE last night. Not fussing just AWAKE and cooing and blowing raspberries on dh when I comandeered him to help settle him.

We alraedy co-sleep so not entirely sure what else to do to get more sleep. Anyway when he is in fuss mode he doesn't just feed and let me sleep he bobs on and off the breast and hits me. Charming boy.

He juse needs to work out this crawling thing! He is sooooo close!

Still, dd started sleeping through fairly consistantly aged 3 ish. Sort of. Ok more like 3 and a half and she still wakes most nights.

But it will pass right? One day they will be old enough to leave home. Then I'll sleep.

[Suchanamateur]

Awake and raspberry blowing is the worst. At least when they're crying, you know you've got a fair shot at getting them back down.

Only 8.30 and first nap of the day already over. Ugh.

Our developmental 'spurt' has now been going on 3 weeks. At this rate it'll pass just in time for the 8 month sleep regression. And I thought 6 months was meant to be a good time for sleep...

I should say that though cc worked well, DS hasnt consistently slept through since 18 months (now 2.5) but at least he's easier to settle than the baby.

[Indith]

Yup. Ours has been going on for weeks too. We had lovely self settling followed by 4 month regression followed by some stabilisation and doing 3 hourly feeds which was lovely then teething which has run into another regression/developmental leap at 6 months.

9.20 and we've not had a nap yet even though I have just got in from the school run so he has been in a sling for an hour. How many babies do you know who can resist an hour in the sling without falling asleep!

Dd was a terrible, terrible sleeper and I had PND and severe sleep deprivation. My eyes ended up so sore and my vision would blur and I'd pass up on plans to meet friends because I knew I wasn't safe to drive. I get so scared when we hit these phases because I feel myself slipping the same way.

I'm not a big believer in cc though sometimes it has its place. Ds1 slept well but then we moved hosue twice within a few months and he had a run of ear infections. After that his sleep went to pot but he would wake at night and scream at me and if I tried to feed him to sleep he pushed me away and screamed even more. He must have been 10 months ish at the time. Eventually we left him to scream because cuddling him just seemed to be making it worse and he was asleep within a few minutes and started sleeping through again. Dd you could never jsut leave to scream, you had to stay with her and cuddle her as she screamed because she just increased tension by screaming and would carry on for hours and hours.

We shall see with ds2. I'll let him get to grips with crawling and then see where we go. I am trying to find a balance between his developmental leaps and needs, the older dc's needs and my needs too. I start at university in March full time on a demanding course so I kind of need sleep by then.

[Seriouslysleepdeprived]

Having the same problems here. DS has never been a great sleeper but I consoled myself with at least he self settled from 13 weeks.

That all went out the window with the 4 month sleep regression, followed by a holiday & now he won't sleep at all!! He was up seven times last night. Still no nap today as yet despite being in the buggy for 40 mims. Nightmare.

Stresses me out big time. Not keen on CC either, especially was he doesn't really cry.

He's 5 months so its teething & weaning next...do they ever sleep?!

[SarryB]

Tired. Stupid 4 month sleep regression - has anyone else noticed that their baby is doing the same behaviours as when they were smaller too?

LO has gone back to arching his back and refusing BF again, just like he did when he was 0-2 months. Arg. Really don't want to give him more formula.

[Seriouslysleepdeprived]

Yes DS has been doing this & I realised he wasn't hungry. He has started going 3-4 hourly between feeds. Not always but sometimes he's just doesn't fancy it I guess .

[Suchanamateur]

DD does this when she's overtired. And biting (but that might also be teething). Fun.

[Mitsouko]

Hi there and sympathies! My DD is 6 months this week and rarely sleeps more than 2-3 hours at a time. Every once in awhile she might do a 4-5 hour stretch, usually from 8ish to 12 or 1am, but it doesn't happen often. She's also quite unsettled in her sleep and often needs hourly shush pats to keep herself from waking up and getting hysterical.

She's struggled with sleep from birth, really so we've never had a good stretch. She had terrible colic until 10 weeks and has reflux as well. I've not slept more than 3 hours at a time since my last trimester, so really beyond exhausted by now.

Everyone says it gets easier, but I'll believe it when I see it!

[SarryB]

I know what you mean mitsuko - everyone always says 'it'll get better by 3 months', then it's 'it'll get better by 5 months' and so on. You must be so knackered.

[Mitsouko]

Yes, indeed...I well and truly am. At least she is my first, don't know how I'd manage a toddler with a baby like DD.

'Self-settling' is a completely alien concept to her. Whenever we've tried she just goes from nice and drowsy to fully awake and hysterical within the space of 5 minutes. Have been giving it a go a few times each week just as an experiment, but it really stresses DD out. I'm not a believer in CIO so here we are, feeding and cuddling and rocking to sleep...all night long.

Hoped that at 6 months it would be getting easier but cest la vie. According to my mum I was a horrendous sleeper until age two, so maybe its genetic...or karma!

[Indith]

I.Am.Losing.The.Plot.

Although so is ds2 it seems.

[Cydonia]

Here was me thinking that when we got to 6 months and started weaning it would improve..... :(

[artifarti]

I have found you all! DS2 is 5.5 months and for the first 14 weeks I was Mrs Smuggy of Smugsville - he was sleeping 8 hour stretches at night, self-settling down for a little nap whenever he felt the need, charming and chilled when awake...

...then we hit the damned 16 week regression early and it all went out of the window. Waking up 3 times is a good night; now he's teething it can be every 1-1.5 hours. It's impossible for him to nap in his cot, not least because DS1 (just turned 4) careers around like a lunatic, shouting and 'dropping' lego. All naps now demand pram or sling and naps don't last longer than 50 minutes, if I'm lucky. Can't wait for DS1 to start school next week so I can try to get a better routine and stop yelling at poor DS1 .

[Suchanamateur]

So glad am not the only shouty mummy out there :(. I thought the whole point of second or third children was that they were really easy, slept anywhere because they had to do it all to the chaos backdrop of number 1. My 'I will only sleep in a cot mummy and then only when you've patted me to oblivion' delightful DD clearly doesn't know this.