Up with baby and feeling a bit low, anyone around?

[Groangroangrown]

DD (5 months) sleep has gone a bit to pot recently, which I sort of expected and by other babies standards she isn’t too bad, but she’s waking around midnight and at around now. With this wake up the big problem is it takes ages to get her back to sleep.

I also have a three year old who wakes at 6.

I am so tired. I love them both but I just need sleep so badly. I coped a lot better with DD than with the first one because I know what it’s like but it is getting to me now a bit.

Sorry you're feeling down. Hope you get some sleep soon xx

Hugs. It's a rubbish stage.

Is there anyone to get up with your 3y old instead? Or can they be cajoled into TV on the tablet for a bit so you can at least stay in bed?

It is a really tough stage. Lots of caffeine and sugar helps.

Oh love, it's hard. Are you on your own? Anyone who could take the 3yo out at babies nap time?

Thanks. He will watch some TV on the iPad but he never shuts up 😂 so it’s not exactly restful. Just feeling a bit irritated here and it’s not her fault but she’s just lying kicking and squirming and I wish she’d just sleep 😩

Yep, right there with you with a just-turned-7 month old. Apparently 3am is the perfect playtime!
Luckily for me I can't sleep anyway tonight as I've a rubbish cold so I'm just blearily staring as she crawls about and chews her books.

@storminabuttercup , he does go to nursery for three days a week but it’s tricky. DD is on three naps a day and because of the nursery run two of those are then so no downtime for me.

It is hard with two and I expected this but at the moment it feels particularly difficult. The amount of sleep I’ve not been getting isn’t sustainable but there literally isn’t a solution to it. It’s shit!

Me too with an 8 month old and 3 year old who will be up at 6. Argh! Wish I knew how to get more sleep.

I have a horrible feeling she’ll be up until around half four / five and then I’ll just have gone back to sleep and ds will wake.

Sending hugs!!

Got our little one down finally 0045 and then couldn’t sleep….. his fans just got in from work so enjoying cheese on toast and gin!!

Lots of coffee tomorrow I feel as we have visitors 🥱

Same, it’s actually DS birthday so no hope of any quiet time and then the day after he has another birthday party I’m taking them both to. The irony is that there will be many family and friends round but none of the fuckers will take the kids so I can sleep! (I know, I’m being a cow.)

Here in solidarity!
Currently up feeding 11 month old DD. This is only wake number 2 so tonight is a good night by her standards. We can be up every 90-120 minutes which is fun!
Luckiky DP gets up with her and DS’s 9&5 in the morning and I get to have a lie in at the weekend. Is this an option for you?

Ugh @Libmama its awful. I keep thinking at least she doesn’t do that but sometimes the two of them tag team (DS does normally sleep through but has had a few colds and bugs of late.)

DH does get up with them but it never feels hugely relaxing as I’m expressing milk for DD so have to do that. Then I’m constantly thinking of the thousand things that need doing - and they really are needs not be with crazy high standards. And of course tomorrow is likely to be a bit chaotic anyway.

I'm with you @Groangroangrown - 7 mo old DD is going through a spate of waking up for ages in middle of the night. I'm so tired

She’s just slowly going back to sleep now so my prediction was about right.

Ds, just sleep till 7 or so, there’s a love 😂

I love Mumsnet for threads like this. I've got mastitis and feel rough and am awake with my restless 1 YO. I'm exhausted and my preschooler will be up at 5.30!! Take comfort in there being literally millions of mothers up all over the world in the shoes as you OP ❤️

Are you still expressing milk even though she's five months old? I think that would be exhausting. I really feel for you. It's so tiring when you're woken up again and again. 💐

@Groangroangrown your def not being a cow, why not casually drop it into conversation see if anyone would take the kids so you could get a rest? People forget how hard this stage is with kids, we've nobody to even ask & it makes me sad.

I've been up with 7 week old DS on & off, DH just had to go into 3yo DD as she started calling for us she'll be up at 6.30am no doubt. I'll never take sleep for granted again. Sending solidarity.

@Groangroangrown what's her daytime nap routine like ? What time does her last finish/ is there enough of a wake window x

I didn't see this but I was also up with 4mo DD, and while I'm lucky that my older DD will usually not wake till after 7, my DH works nights permanently so I never get any form of lie in and the nights are mostly on me apart from the odd bit of weekend help when he's at home. I totally get you about the not being able to switch off even when he takes the baby, I usually just end up lying there listening to her cry with him wondering why she's not asleep yet 🤦 mine was sleeping through so I thought I'd cracked it, but then the regression started about three weeks ago.

It's so tough but I keep reminding myself that the last three years with elder DD have gone by in a flash and before we know it these babies will be toddlers and will (hopefully) be sleeping much better/longer/more independently. That's one of the things that is easier with the second child, you can see the light at the end of tunnel rather than the void you stare into with the first. I hope you get some proper sleep soon !!

@cinnamonbiscuit definitely, it’s not forever. I think what I’m struggling with is lack of time to do anything, not just ‘me time’! This answers @mrssunshinexxx as well because yesterday was all topsy turvy. DD normally goes to baby sensory on Fridays and DS is at nursery but her baby sensory wasn’t on this week and he can’t go swimming Saturday due to his birthday. I had a hair appointment in the afternoon and since DH had the day off decided to take ds swimming morning, dropped off at nursery for lunch then had my hair done. It should have been a lovely day except the hairdresser took forever - I don’t want to sound mean but she kept stepping back to make an observation about my hair - ‘oh your hair is …’ until I wanted to scream! For one thing I was really looking forward to a bit of quiet time and for another she knew I was anxious about leaving dd. So normally DD has three naps a day but yesterday I think she fought it until she conked out with tiredness then had a late one. So she didn’t get to sleep until 830, then woke at 11, then 3 and at 3 didn’t go back off until half four.

Like you dd was sleeping through sometimes but we’ve been hit. She also seems ravenous at the moment!

@determinedtomakethiswork yes - really hoping to get to six months!

@Groangroangrown totally hear you, I could have written some of this tbh 😅 I spend a good proportion of the day worrying about naps, particularly the last nap because I feel it can completely mess up bedtime if it's in the wrong place. I actually dread days when I know we have to go out around 3pm because I know she'll nap in the car or the pram and it's too early!! Cannot wait until we go down to 1/2 naps, my first DD did that obscenely early and they've both only ever done 30/40 min naps so it won't bother me in the slightest, way easier to organise!

I'm not breastfeeding but we've hit this really annoying point where the teats she's on right now are a bit too slow and she's getting frustrated, but the next size up is way too fast and so I think maybe she's getting fed up and not taking quite as much milk as she needs to get her through the night. Hoping I can fix this soon 🤞but appreciate I may just have to wait for her to sleep through again.

I hear you as well re not having any time to do anything - I actually feel lucky if I manage to wash my hair twice a week at the moment, often I have to decide between having a shower and sorting through the gargantuan pile of laundry/giving a child a bath/dragging them both to the supermarket. Clinging on to the fact that by the summer hopefully our schedules will look v different!