So. Do they ever miraculously just start sleeping well?

[susiemj]

Miraculous stories here please! Do they every just, one day, SLEEP. Just in case. Just in hope.

[Romy7]

yes.
dd1 did as soon as i got her to sleep more in the day (yeah, really)

ds1 did the minute i turned off the boob taps. (well, ok 2 days after)

dd2 was a bit more gradual....

[Slubberdegullion]

yes!

A blessed miacle when it occurs.

dd2 didn't sleep through until she was 2.5. Hours of crying and messing about every single goddamn night*.

I posted here (in desperation) and someone suggested I put her in with her sister, and the miracle occured.

So, yes it does happen, there is hope

You have my sympathies. Sleep deprivation is such a nightmare.

[purlease]

DD slept through at around 6 months - just before I went back to work. Before then she was awake at 12, 3 and 6.

[susiemj]

Roll up! Roll up! More please! I'm so happy to have some hoe.

Had just got DD into some sort of order with the No-cry Sleep Solution even though waking up every 2-3 hours (she had been waking every 20 mins during and after an illness). But we've just come to my parents as DH on business trip for three weeks and all hell's broken loose. No goin gin cot. Won't nap without me. Grumpy and whingy all day. Nightmare.

Bring me light. Bring me hope.

[susiemj]

.

[TillyScoutsmum]

Yes - dd suddenly started sleeping through about a week after her first birthday. She'd been in a routine of waking twice, then we had a few days of every couple of hours and then the next night, she slept through

Its been 2 blissful months ....I still can't quite believe it

[Verso]

Yes - dd was a nightmare sleepwise until eight months... then the VERY day before I went back to work (I seriously wasn't sure how I was going to cope) she slept through the night. I couldn't believe it.

THERE. IS. HOPE!!!!!!!!!!!

[FattipuffsandThinnifers]

Yes, honestly it will happen! DS slept through the night for the first time the very night I stopped the dream feed, going onto solids, and going into his own room, at about 6 months. And ditto what Romy said, it seemed the better the daytime nap pattern, the better the night-time sleep. How old is your DD?

[susiemj]

She's 6 months. I give her two naps of two hours per day. It was working (waking up only 2-3 times per night) but then started to get worse. Now I've come away from home it's awful. She will only sleep with me (was taking to her cot) whihc has never happened before. It feels like she feeds all night. I've lost track of wakings completely.

[essexgirl31]

Yes yes yes!

I put my DS in his own room at 10 months and after 2 unsettled nights he slept through.

He'd been waking every 2 hours until that point and was really hard to get to sleep. We tried everything apart from controlled crying. At that point I had resigned myelf to going with it and just waiting for him to sort himself out. He did. I must admit when he went into his own room we did leave him to settle himself. He cried for a couple of minutes then fell asleep. A miracle!!! I never ever thought it would happen.

Hang on in there.

[lou031205]

Yes - DD1 2 years - just did it.

DD2 - just search my name, and you'll get the story, but short version is 11 months old, stopped night feeds 2 weeks ago, stopped BF 1 week ago (almost) - has been sleeping through for 1.5 weeks.

[wasabipeanut]

Yeah, ds sorted himself out at about 7 months all of a sudden. Prior to that we had at least one and more usually two wake ups a night and he'd take sometimes up to an hour and half to settle!

In our case it coincided with solid food intake ramping up. Could have been a coincidence but I suspect not.

[FattipuffsandThinnifers]

Is she weaning onto solid food yet? She may still be waking in the night if milk is no longer enough to satisfy her. You could try giving her some solid food for supper/before bedtime. Also, it took my DS longer to get used to set daytime naps in his big cot and in his own room - wish I'd put him in there during the day sooner TBH. I know opinion varies on this, and co-sleeping is lovely, but I think the sooner they get used to sleeping alone, soothing themselves to sleep the better. You might have to be ruthless for a couple of days!

Sounds like you've got her into a good daytime pattern though so hopefully the nighttime will follow soon... and might just be temporary if you're away from home at the moment. Good luck - and it will get better, promise!

[Habbibu]

Oh yes, and it does indeed feel like a miracle. DD was a great sleeper until 6 months, when it all went cockeyed. Now it feels astounding to come downstairs after putting her into bed after stories, and not hear a peep all night. Some nights she'll wake, and she goes through the odd patch of a few nights running, but generally, she's great, and it feels amazing!

[spiritofstlouis]

DS started sleeping through the night all by himself when he turned one (he'd done the odd night before). Things got better from 7 months but then he had illness, teething, etc... I did contemplate sleep training but I'm glad I waited. He then went through an early rising phase but also stopped by himself- remember to repeat the mantra- "It's only a phase!"

[ShortandSweet]

My DD sleeps through but is up every single morning at 5am and she is 2.2yrs. She goes down at 8pm.

I wish I could get her to sleep longer but it doesn't happen.

[callmeovercautious]

DD was more of a gradual all nighter. But there is hope honestly

Obviously she is upset about being away from home and her Daddy. Are you doing bedtime as closely as possible? Can you move the travel cot so it is facing the same way e.g if opposite window at home then opposite window at your Ps?

It works for us when we go away and DD is a VERY sensitive sleeper, the slightest thing messes her routine up.

If she will only sleep on you in the day then I suggest you de-camp to the bedroom and lie down with her. At least you will both get some rest, I do this if DD is poorly and being clingy. I don't normally co-sleep but I was amazed the first time I did it. She has not developed a dependance on it either which is good as DP can't sleep if she is with us!

[susiemj]

Well, I managed to put her in the cot between 9pm and 2.30 last night, so that's progress. After that she came in with me. She only woke twice again though, so that's better too.

She's 6.5 months and eats solids well. It hasn't made a discernible impact on her sleeping though.

I got a bit desperate because I'd been trying so hard and doing well with her at home. I will keep on doing our routine but I just wanted to know if sometimes they just START with little change in things from mum and Dad.

Thanks for replying. If you have time, did you do anything different, or did they just go.

I am especially wondering about those of you who moved them into another room. Maybe this is worth a try? Did you do any kind of withdrawal thing?

[bumbo64]

Out of interest...can anyone suggest any day time nap routines for a 6 month old. My ds usually sleeps in the morning for about an hour, just after lunch for another hour, then again at about 2.30/3pm for another hour. I don't let her nap after 5pm. This is only approximate timings, and are mostly a bit random. I could structure my first babys naps a bit better when I only had him to think about. But my second baby has to grab sleeps when she can, and is not always in her cot. I also think that sorting out their daytime sleep helps with night time sleep, but can't see how I'm going to get there at the moment!
Everyone says second babies are a doddle. Not the case with mine!!
I really feel for you susiemj. Sleep deprivation is a nightmare. I'm just hoping it will all sort itself out like it did with my first. I'm longing for a night of uninterupted sleep!

[desperatelyseekingsleep]

DS1 - yes, miraculously started sleeping through at about 22 months. before that he was an utter nightmare, waking every night, having night terrors etc etc - pure hell. DS2 is now putting us through the same hell (in fact, even worse) but he's only 11 months, so I feel there's a long way to go .

[susiemj]

bumbo - accroding to the No-cry Sleep Solution, 6 month babies should have 3-4 hours a day. Since I started doing this with DD she has taken to it like an angel. She sleeps at pretty much the same times each day for two hours each.She;s a much better-humoured baby now and 'asks' for naps as sson as the time comes like clockwork. Did so within days.

She sleeps at 10 and at 3.

Her night time sleep imprved after this, though still poor.

[bumbo64]

Thanks! Will try that!

[susiemj]

O! And p.s. I do everything I can to keep her asleep for those two hours, including feeding back to sleep if necessary.

[LuckySalem]

Hi girlies,

DD just miraculously did it one night after I "ignored" her. She had got into a habit of waking at 1am (the only time she was waking at the time till 6am) so after speaking to HV's they suggested I just stroke her back and let her settle herself but only if she was "crying" not if she was wingeing (there is a difference with her, lol) so when she cried I tried stroking her which made her scream louder so in the end I sat talking quietly to her whilst leaning over the cot and she fell asleep (the HV has suggested moving further back in the room each time she woke etc but I didn't like that bit) she woke again at 1am the next night I did the same and the night after that she slept through.

DD will be going in her own room this weekend. Will see if that makes her better for longer lie ins (instead of 5am wake up and play calls) lol

[FeelingDeviant]

Yes, DD slept 7-7 at 5months-ish, when she could turn herself from back to sleep on belly.
I, on teh otehr hand, kept waking to check she was okay and hadn't suffocated herself by burying head in mattress.