Thought I had it cracked!!! Aargh!!!

[thatdarncat]

DD is 28 weeks. Back story, very hungry baby and poor sleeper for the first 6 weeks, alternating between longer sleep periods and being up all night/fretful. Refused all routine. When she got to 11 weeks I was tearing my hair out and decided enough was enough, and introduced 3 hour EASY, which took about 5 weeks to come to fruition but worked wonders. Then had frequent night wakenings for 2 weeks, and ever since was a dream baby (regular naps and a full nights sleep). Weaning is going well and she is now on 4 hourly feeds (at her demand not mine). That was going well for two weeks and now she is all over the place. She doesn't want to settle but is not hungry, just wants to play and doesn't want to be left alone. I've lost count of the number of times I've had to go into her room tonight since 2am. I could cry. I hate posting on here to moan and know I've had it good recently but it wasnt always like that and I struggled terribly when she was a newborn, for lots of reasons, and the feelings of panic and anxiety at the thought of weeks of this are just too difficult to comprehend
Any advice welcome please - and no, she isn't hungry, believe me - I've been attacked on threads before for this.

[thatdarncat]

Can I also add that I think a teeny part of this is other family members not respecting our routine some days. How do you tell them that they cannot call the shots?? And DH doesn't sing from the same song sheet but then again it's not him getting up 15 times a night?? I'm sorry, I'm making an utter prat of myself here, I'm so exhausted. Please help.

[MooseBeTimeForSpring]

I'm afraid this is the time when separation anxiety starts to kick in. Hang in there. It does get better!

[notadoctor]

Poor you - that sounds really tough. Try not to worry of beat yourself up. It sounds to me that this is just a phase your baby needs to go through - rather than being because of anything you're doing. Sometimes, I think we can put pressure on ourselves to 'fix' our babies when actually they're just little individual bundles of emotions, struggling to get used to the world. Personally, I tend to think there's only so much we can do to influence thier sleep behaviour. I'd suggest you to stick to your routine for awhile - rather than making any drastic changes too soon - and hopefully that will help this phase pass a bit faster. If things stay difficult I'd reccomend the No Cry Sleep Solution for some gentle ideas to nudge them to better sleep habits - these should fit with your existing routine.

Good luck and hang in there!

[Poshers]

I'm with you :) I had NO sleep last night. DS waking every 30mins ... I nearly cried all night. I don't know the answer but I'm by your side with the anxiety & panic. It's horrendous! However ... I am told "it will pass & it's a phase" I've just necked a berecoca ... and will be getting lots of fresh air today :) roll on bed time for HOPEFULLY more peace xxxx

[thatdarncat]

Let's hope so Poshers, poor you, sounds like you had it far far worse. Thanks everyone for their support and words of wisdom, I suppose it will pass but like all bad times you just never see the finish line.
Xxx

[carolinementzer]

I feel for you! I had a terrible time with my daughter's sleep - a lot sounds very familiar. She was a mummy and breast addict and a terrible teether and I was juggling husbands horrific work schedule with an awake baby.

In the end we tried loads of different techniques and eventually she became and excellent sleeper. I felt completely on my own as all my friends babies slept relatively well in comparison. Anyway, to cut a long story short I set up a blog to help mum's like me. It talks about quick settling techniques like acupressure, plus the use of homeopathy for teething and bach flower remedies for emotional clingy babies. If you're interested here's the link to my blog -
mydaughterwontsleep.com/about/
Good luck, and best wishes x

[thatdarncat]

Thank you carolinementzer xxx