To ask for help here, am losing my mind

[Thisisfuckingawful]

I cannot go on like this anymore, I am going insane.

I have not had more than 3 hours of broken sleep a night for 3 months. DD2 7mo is hyperactive. She is awake for hours every night and is manic, arms and legs flailing. If we pick her up she smiles, chatters, grabs our face. If we leave her she cries. She wants to play all night.

If we cosleep she grabs at my face and clothes for hours. If I try to feed her she bites me. She lies in her cot and shakes her head frantically from side to side, like she is trying to keep herself awake. Tonight the head shaking was so bad I thought she was going mad. She keeps this up for hours at a time, she rarely sleeps for more than an hour.

It is taking it's toll on the whole family. I am a different person. I'm so angry all the time, I swear at DH and we argue constantly. My marriage is falling apart. Dd1 is 3yo and her behaviour has got so much worse because i'm so miserable. I don't know what to do. I've just made dh sleep on the sofa and dd2 is playing with a toy on the bed.

Please please help

OP you said that you found the Analytical Armadillo post on Duracell bunny babies helpful, did you see there has been a facebook group set up by AA for support? www.facebook.com/pages/Duracell-Bunny-Babies/192807194136654

Am sorry I am not able to offer direct support as I have not experienced this, however I do have a friend who has and her baby had tongue tie as well.

Just to add - does she need milk based on her diet or could it be tweaked to remove need? She does seem to be telling you she doesn't want bm. Dd was seriously non tactile and hated the bf hold. Would not bf from 7 m and really didn't seem to want the comfort (now loves physical contact). Would take a bottle if her back was to my belly and she was sitting up looking out.

Sorry final thought - could you do a food diary too? May allow you to see patterns.

Yes definitely try contacting Analytical Armadillo in person - I don't know whether she would charge but it's worth trying, right?

Definitely call Milk Matters. It costs you the price of the call only.

I really feel for you. My 1yo son is a bad sleeper too. Wakes hourly most nights to feed and doesn't nap unless I feed him to sleep in a dark room. It's really put DH off having another. Is it possible to get someone to take eldest for a few days so you can work on naps and getting youngest back into a nap routine? It sounds like a cranial osteopath would help too. Sorry if you've already tried that.

I'd also consider an elimination diet too to see if something is setting her off. Maybe cut out the major allergens one at a time for 2-3 weeks and see if it helps, or drasticly, cut them all out and reintroduce one by one.

If tongue tie is an issue then NHS should help, but you need to push for it.

sparkle its funny what you say about bananas, Ive also heard they can make a hyperactive child worse if they eat a lot of bananas. Dont know why or how though.

op My dd2 was like your dd, She just never seemed to sleep, she was always active and hated milk, would arch her back and yell and do anything to avoid feeding. She was eventually diagnosed with silent reflux though and treated accordingly. i dont think I ever had a full nights sleep until she was 3.5, Now she sleeps all night.

oh and dd3 used to do the headshaking when she was tired, she has grown out of it now though and is 20 months nearly.

I remember I used to rock back and too involuntary when I was child free as I was so used to doing it constantly with dd2. She was so high needs it brought me to the brink and you soo have my sympathies. Hope things get better for you all

This is what I've had to do with my last baby each weekend - get my hubby to take the baby from 10pm till 2am and then 3am till 7am. At 2am you can breast feed the baby but only for an hour - both breasts. In the mean time hubby needs to sleep in babys room and keep lights dim. You get to sleep with ear plugs somewhere distant in the house.

Also remove any caffine from your diet. Coke, coffee, choc keeps mine awake.

Wrt bananas - could it simply be that they're high in sugar? Are your babies the same with pineapple (also high sugar)?