Haven't slept longer than two hours straight for 16 months...

[Smiles123]

Hi everyone,

I'm literally at the end of my rope and hoping someone has some advice or has been here and can tell me it gets better.

My son is 16 months old and has always had trouble sleeping. It started when he had reflux and I had to hold him up after feeds but he STILL will not sleep for longer than two hours at a time overnight waking for a feed.

I've tried controlled crying and spent £400 on a sleep consultant and it didn't work. I consistently did as I was told by them and night weaning didn't work even when my partner took over for the night.

We live in a terraced street so I can't let him cry indefinitely. I am so stressed it's really effecting my health and my ability to function during the day.

He will nap short naps am/pm and goes down fine at 7. Will then wake between 8-9 and will not go back to sleep for hours and is then up every two hours till morning to feed.

Please tell me there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

X

[diddlediddle]

I am sorry you have had such a rough time, it sounds horrendous.

I want to highlight this to you though:

"I can't let him cry indefinitely"

I think this means you must be giving up and feeding him, because you feel you can't continue, which will perpetuate the waking. The only way to stop babies waking to feed is to not feed them, in essence.

What plan did you follow with the sleep consultant? At what point did you decide it hadn't worked? Some children do still need one feed overnight when they're a bit older, but 16 month olds definitely don't need feeding every two hours from a nutrition perspective.

Is he on reflux medication? Could he be waking in pain?

If you are no longer feeding him and you've not fed him at night for weeks and he's still waking and crying for hours on end without ever stopping then I would definitely see a doctor.

[DinosaurOfFire]

Jay Gordons nighttime weaning worked for us, www.drjaygordon.com/blog-detail/sleep-changing-patterns-in-the-family-bed you gradually increase the time between night feeds, and have a "milk free time", we did 10pm till 6am in the end. Do you have a partner who could take over in the night-time to give you time to rest?