cc.. night 1 with ds.. some support please people!!

[InsaneDuck]

As title says, tonight is night 1 of cc our 15mth old ds. He has never ever slept through the night and never ever ever self settled, I end up having to sit up cuddling him back to sleep every night, every couple of hours . I'm at the end of my teether and about to break from utter exhaustion as can not catch up with sleep myself in daytime as have other dc to care for.
So am giving cc a go as a last resort to try hopefully get our ds to self settle and hopefully sleep more than a few hours at a time..
I'm just after some support really as know I'm in for a battle tonight

[TeenageMutantNinjaTurtle]

Gah op I feel for you. Hope it works out

[InsaneDuck]

So do I! I cant keep these nights of very little sleep up for much longer. Bed time for ds is coming up quickly (7.30) and I know he is going to just scream and scream the moment he goes near his cot

[Swifey]

Sending you loads of luck, I have done it with my ds, and whilst for two nights it was horrendous (I won't pretend otherwise) it was only two nights, and then he went from waking about 4 times a night to once, and then all good!! It's really worth it, be strong even when he's screaming. Remember, he is warm, fed and safe, he's just 'creating'. Good luck, do you have RL help too?

[SweepTheHalls]

It's tough, but so worth it. Keep strong, 2/3 nights and it will have made the world of difference. Good luck

[InsaneDuck]

Thank you. My dh, although is wonderfull when he is home, he works stupidly long hours and is never home for bedtimes and is useless throughout the night.. grrr so really I'm on my own on this one.
I know ds will just be crying/protesting because it's out of his comfort zone..

Well best be off to start bed time routine now. wish me luck guys.

[TeenageMutantNinjaTurtle]

Two hours in and no update op. It's either going really well or really badly....

[InsaneDuck]

An update on how the evening went..

Ds Finally fell asleep about 11. He was not a happy chappy with me. Never heard him protest like that before, it was awful and it made me feel like the worse mummy ever. But I stuck with it.

Once ds was finally asleep he slept soundly ALL night for the first time ever

[InsaneDuck]

I'm a bit unsure on what to do regarding nap time if anyone can help?
Do I continue how I've always done it by cuddling him to sleep or carry on with the cc with naps too? Or wait untill I've sorted the bedtime issues out first then tackle nap times?
Not to sure which way would be best?

[LimesMum]

I'm pretty much doing the same thing with my 8.5 month DD but she is very stubborn and this is my third time trying it before giving up in despair!!!

Bed times seem to be improving very slightly but nap times are impossible, the crying is a hundred times worse and goes on and on and on.

So after my previous 2 failed attempts I am now trying to do bed and nighttime first and get her to nap any way I can and will try them later

I tried it at 5 am wake up this morning too but that also failed so may not keep going with that one either?!!

I am definitely not the best person to be giving advice but just thought I'd share what I've been doing in case it helps at all

Good luck, don't give up like I have previously!!!!

[YouAreMyBread]

I'm considering resorting to this with my 20 month old DD, but she's still breastfeeding, never slept in a cot, always been in my bed I don't even know where to start!! You have my sympathy, I'll be checking this thread to see how it goes, good luck.

[YouAreMyBread]

Oh and I forgot to addy DD wakes every hour!!!! It's killing me!

[SweepTheHalls]

I would crack bedtimes, then move onto naps as you don't want him to be overtired by bedtime, or it will be even harder. Hope tonight goes well. IMO, controversial as it is on MN, it works really well if you are consistent.

[InsaneDuck]

In the end I didnt have to worry about nap time as ds fell asleep in the buggy whilst we were out for a walk to shops with my other dc.
It makes sense to work on bedtimes before nap times, so think will give it a week of good nights before starting work on naps.

Night 2 went well, too well in fact! Put ds down for bed at 8, he protested for around 15mins, then just babbled for a further 30mins (i left him to his babbling as seemed happy so didnt want the risk of me checking on him making him upset again) and just drifted of to sleep and didnt wake till 6.30 this morning !
That cant be it surly, seems to good to be true that ds has sussed it already... I'm awaiting a relapse back to the old waking every few hours, needing cuddles, habit...

[InsaneDuck]

Tonight is not going so well, 45mins of protesting so far and showing no sign of stopping any time soon

Ds didn't have much of a nap today so was a bit overtired this eve, even though I had moved bedtime earlier half an hour obviously that wasnt enough to stop the overtiredness meltdown

Must count to 10, and stick with it.. finding tonight rather hard, if I'm honest.

[LimesMum]

How did he get on in the end insaneduck? Hope he stayed asleep again?

[InsaneDuck]

Yes once he finally did fall asleep at about 10.30. Slept through till 5.45 this morning that is still a vast improvement on how the nights used to be like.

Hoping for a proper nap time today so not so grumpy come bedtime tonight.

[mewkins]

There is I think always a regression after a few nights and then they get better and better at falling asleep with occasional bad nights just to keep you on your toes. Have a plan as to what you will do on the bad nights and be consistent and he will get the hang of it xx

[InsaneDuck]

I'm always consistent in everything I do with the dc (dd2 is a nightmare for needing a strong and strict routine, so something have always done) just hearing ds cry like he does is so overwhelming

We are currently decorating so I'm using that as a distraction, would never of guessed stripping wallpaper could be so therapeutic!

Ds has had a very good nap today, so any protesting tonight will be purely down to him being angry which makes me feel so sad.. have to keep reminding myself its for the better in the long run, as hard as that is to think in the moment of all the madness..

[SweepTheHalls]

It is so much better for the whole family in the long run, good luck!

[InsaneDuck]

Thank you, and yes I know, I'm already feeling the benefits of having more then a few hours sleep a night. The other dc can sense it also, dd2 (3.6yrs) said today "mummy your smiling!" it made me cry that she had said that! but it made me realise how down I have been recently with the lack of sleep.

A better night with ds tonight, only had to go to him twice and after the second time he quietly nodded off . He has been quite restless though but has settled himself back down after only a few mins of quiet crys, so I'm feeling rather hopefull tonight.

[LimesMum]

Sounds like a success insane duck. We are also doing better with bed time and she is crying for much less time, last night was asleep by 12 mins with only one visit for stroking.

Are you doing cc in the day? I'm using buggy or car for naps to ensure she gets enough sleep, not sure if this is the best idea?

My biggest struggle is the 330 wake up at which I simply cannot resettle her from, sometimes she stays awake from then. Cc doesn't work but if I feed her I can sometimes get her down again after, is this wrong??!!

We are off on holidays in a few days which is bound to mess it all up again

[InsaneDuck]

I couldn't say whats right or wrong, each of our dc are so different and what works for 1 may not for another.

Last night was not the best, ds woke like clockwork every 2 hours , but I continued with the cc, only took a 2-3 visits each time, even though it woke dd1, who was far from impressed! (must have a girly night to apologise once this is all over! )

I still haven't started cc for nap times yet, figured I need to get bedtimes sorted first as ds is a monster when overtired!